Meet The Immigrant Who Pioneered Soul Liberty for a New Nation. Romania s Evangelistic Meetings Likened to Growing Snowball

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1 Adventist Heritage Center From: Sent: To: Subject: Adventist Review on behalf of Adventist Review Monday, February 20, :02 PM Adventist Heritage Center Monday Trending Meet The Immigrant Who Pioneered Soul Liberty for a New Nation Romania s Evangelistic Meetings Likened to Growing Snowball In Rural Curaçao, Adventists Seek, Serve Elderly in Community In Troubled Brazilian State, Adventist Youth Perform Acts for Peace Japan s Adventists Commit to 10-Month Evangelism Training Effort 1

2 Login Search Subscribe Menu Trans-European Division Requests GC Approved Ministerial Credential Cliff s Edge - God s Errors? Senate Chaplain Barry Black, Adventist Pastor, Keynotes U.S. National Prayer Breakfast Romania s Evangelistic Meetings Likened to Growing Snowball 1702 An Evening of Enchantment Raises Over $1.1 million Over 1,000 guests attend event in support of Loma Linda University Children s Hospital (LLUCH) Meet Th Soul Li On Pres Roger W SUBSCRIBE+NEWSLETTER+ IN THIS ISSUE+NEWS+ARCHIVES+ READER RESPONSE+MEDIA PARTNERS+ SCREENING ROOM+GRACENOTES+ PHOTO SUBMISSIONS

3 In Troubled Brazilian State, Adventist Youth Perform Acts for Peace Prayer in the streets, in-home Bible studies respond to emergency POSTED FEBRUARY 16, 2017 s violence and police-related labor actions grip the southeastern Brazilian state of Espírito Santo, young Seventh-day Adventists are performing acts of peace. A The state, situated along Brazil s Atlantic Ocean coast and home to 3.8 million people, has been wracked by violence and disruption after state police were unable to work when family members blockaded their barracks. According to media reports, Espírito Santo is one of several Brazilian states suffering budget cuts during a time of national fiscal crisis, and those cuts have had an impact on public services. In the midst of this, the region s Adventist youth are taking peaceful action. Last weekend, in the city of Serra, a group held a march in the streets of Porto Canoa neighborhood with messages of hope and comfort for the population. The youth also invited local residents and businesses to pray for the Capixaba municipalities, which have been facing a public security crisis since the police action began on February 4. Young people sing and pray in front of the Military Police Battalion, in Colatina, in the north of the state of Espíritu Santo in southeastern Brazil. Photo: Adventist Youth Group of Colatina We were already praying for this situation, but [last Sabbath] we went on the streets to bring the word of God to the people, who were still very apprehensive. In the streets, in the shops, where we passed, we asked the residents if we could pray with them. Many participated and were immensely grateful. We feel motivated and strengthened by God," said Matheus Fávero, a church member. At Colatina, a group of Adventist youth gathered in front of the Military Police Battalion to sing and pray with the people who were there. In the Bible, Second Chronicles says that if we humble ourselves, seek and cry out to the Lord, He will hear us and heal us. We must have our land healed. So we come together and cry out together in prayer, said Alex Christian Will, Colatina regional pastor. He said the initiative is also important because it involves young people in preaching the gospel.

4 They like to work inside and outside of the church. This is a way of awakening them and engaging them in this mission, Will added. Due to the wave of violence the Capixaba municipalities have faced in recent days, some Adventist churches were closed on Sabbath, February 11. Meetings were held in member homes when access to a congregation wasn t possible. In Grande Vitória, sermons were broadcast online. And in the municipality of São Mateus, in the north of the state, more than 20 families gathered in small groups to study the Bible and intercede for the peace and tranquility of the Capixaba municipalities. If we humble ourselves, seek and cry out to the Lord, He will hear us and heal us. We can learn from all situations. At this moment of crisis, we saw the importance of being in communion with God and with our brethren, noted São Mateus pastor Aécio Goecking. According to Hiram Kalbermatter, church president for the central and northern areas of the state of Espírito Santo, participation in small groups strengthens Christian relationships. Kalbematter said, This is a glimpse of the last days. Just as the early church gathered in homes because of persecution, there will come a time when the church will be divided into small groups. We have to prepare for [that time]. As the oldest publishing platform of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Adventist Review (est. 1849) provides inspiration and information to the global church through a variety of media, including print, websites, apps, and audio and video platforms.content appearing on any of the Adventist Review platforms has been selected because it is deemed useful to the purposes and mission of the journal to inform, educate, and inspire the denomination it serves.unless identified as created by Adventist Review or a designated member of the Adventist Review staff, content is assumed to express the viewpoints of the author or creator of the content. News & Features Current Adventist News Download The Adventist World Week of Prayer Edition Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events Subscriber Access Subscriptions Renew Account Forgotten Password Report Trouble Update Mailing Address About Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Departments Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Resources Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2017, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

5 Login Search Subscribe Menu Trans-European Division Requests GC Approved Ministerial Credential Cliff s Edge - God s Errors? Senate Chaplain Barry Black, Adventist Pastor, Keynotes U.S. National Prayer Breakfast Romania s Evangelistic Meetings Likened to Growing Snowball 1702 Meet The Immigrant Who Pioneered Soul Liberty for a New Nation On President s Day, we do well to remember Roger Williams and his boldness Mission Region Motorcy center f SUBSCRIBE+NEWSLETTER+ IN THIS ISSUE+NEWS+ARCHIVES+ READER RESPONSE+MEDIA PARTNERS+ SCREENING ROOM+GRACENOTES+ PHOTO SUBMISSIONS

6 Andrew McChesney Editor, Adventist Mission Romania s Evangelistic Meetings Likened to Growing Snowball Pastors had worried about poor weekday attendance, but turnout is proving strong POSTED FEBRUARY 17, 2017 U nexpectedly large crowds are flocking to Seventh-day Adventist evangelistic meetings in Romania and Ukraine despite hurdles such as armed conflict, national rallies, and a shouting priest. The Total Member Involvement (TMI) evangelistic meetings, many led by lay people, are being held in eight countries this month and next as part of a major evangelistic endeavor that church leaders hope will spread across Europe. The first wave of two-week meetings will wrap up at 500 sites in Ukraine this weekend, while more than 1,300 sites in Romania will be entering their second week. Meetings also are being held at hundreds of sites in Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, and Russia. In all, meetings are to take place at more than 4,300 sites. Adventist Church president Ted N.C. Wilson, who is leading meetings in Floresti near Romania s capital, Bucharest, said he is thrilled with the high attendance in the predominantly Orthodox country. One conference leader said, This is like a snowball, and it s getting bigger and bigger, Wilson said after participating in a video conference call with Romanian church leaders. There seems to be a very positive emphasis all around the union. He said he was especially excited that lay people are leading meetings at hundreds of sites. This is what TMI is all about, he said. TMI is a world church initiative that encourages every church member to share the gospel in their communities. Among the Romanian speakers are two 12- year-old children, Wilson said. This is like a snowball, and it s getting bigger and bigger. Several Romanian pastors acknowledged in interviews that they had worried that nightly attendance would be low if meetings were held on weekdays. But sites across Romania have reported a strong turnout, including many guests. We were told that no one would come during the week, said Duane McKey, the world church s TMI coordinator. They said there would be one or two guests. But some nights this week have been the largest so far. Read also: Enormous Evangelistic Endeavor Kicks Off in Eastern Europe Model for All of Europe Who would have ever thought that in one small country about the size of the Michigan Conference a church territory in the North American Division we would have over 2,000 evangelistic meetings, McKey said. Amazing! This is a model for all of Europe. Church leaders are paying special attention to how the meetings are being received in Romania, which has a highly secularized society like much of Europe. They view the country as a testing ground for expanding TMI meetings to the rest of the continent. Most Romanian meetings opened amid some of the largest anti-government rallies in the country s history. But the street demonstrations, which peaked at 500,000 people

7 and weakened as the meetings picked up steam, have not affected attendance negatively, church leaders said. Neither did a village priest who tried to disrupt a meeting at a rural church, said Ștefan Tomoiagă, president of the Adventist Church s Romanian Union. The priest, aged about 30, stood outside the church until 20 minutes before the meeting ended, screaming and telling non-church members not to enter, Tomoiagă said. The priest stood at the church s gate until around 6:40 p.m. in a sign that even then people remained outside who wanted to enter, he said in an to church leaders. I invite you to pray especially for this church. Attendance is also a robust 50 to 60 inmates a night in a Romanian prison where Bruce Parrish, a retired employee of the U.S. prison system, is leading meetings. The meetings are going well but it is hard because the prison will not let me use my laptop, Parrish said. We have to use their computers. Read also: 2 Million GLOW Tracts Being Shared in Romania and Ukraine Preaching in East Ukraine In Ukraine, presenters spoke about an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on their meetings. May-Ellen Colón, a U.S. citizen who is leading four meetings daily, said attendance is strong at her four sites in eastern Ukraine, which has been mired in conflict for the past two years and experienced renewed violence as the meetings began. More than 200 visitors, plus church members and children, are attending the meetings consistently at the four sites where I am working, said Colón, director of Adventist Community Services International and an ADRA liaison. God is blessing His people all over this territory as the preachers stand up on the pulpits and preach the Word. She said at least half of her attendees have been displaced by the conflict. Some have lost all, and many are struggling and destitute, she said. In central Ukraine, Tiago Leao, a recently baptized young man from Brazil, said he spends all day preparing his presentations for evening meetings in Uman, a town of 87,000 people. The response of the church is fantastic, Leao said. This is the most amazing experience of my life. He was echoed by Arturo Gutierrez, a Mexican national who is leading meetings in Chernivtsi, a western city of 255,000 people. Last night I made a call for people to give their lives to Christ and 13 non-adventists stood up, he said. Please pray for them to keep their decisions. The two men shared their experiences with Ramon Canals, who is coordinating the Ukrainian meetings and works as associate director of the Adventist world church s Sabbath School and Personal Ministries department. Canals forwarded their s to Adventist Mission. God is blessing His people all over this territory as the preachers stand up on the pulpits and preach the Word, Canals said Thursday. He said one of the Ukrainian sites has 140 guests nightly and 60 of them have already made decisions for baptism. The evangelistic meetings, which started in Ukraine on Feb. 3 and are modeled after a major effort that resulted in 110,000 baptisms in Rwanda last year, are being held in waves across the eight European countries over the next few weeks. Another 500 meetings are planned for Ukraine after the first meetings conclude this weekend. But church leaders said it was too early to estimate how many people would be baptized. In Romania, the first major baptisms are only expected in June so baptismal candidates will have sufficient time for Bible studies.

8 As the oldest publishing platform of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Adventist Review (est. 1849) provides inspiration and information to the global church through a variety of media, including print, websites, apps, and audio and video platforms.content appearing on any of the Adventist Review platforms has been selected because it is deemed useful to the purposes and mission of the journal to inform, educate, and inspire the denomination it serves.unless identified as created by Adventist Review or a designated member of the Adventist Review staff, content is assumed to express the viewpoints of the author or creator of the content. News & Features Current Adventist News Download The Adventist World Week of Prayer Edition Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events Subscriber Access Subscriptions Renew Account Forgotten Password Report Trouble Update Mailing Address About Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Departments Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Resources Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2017, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

9 Login Search Subscribe Menu Trans-European Division Requests GC Approved Ministerial Credential Cliff s Edge - God s Errors? Senate Chaplain Barry Black, Adventist Pastor, Keynotes U.S. National Prayer Breakfast Romania s Evangelistic Meetings Likened to Growing Snowball 1702 An Evening of Enchantment Raises Over $1.1 million Over 1,000 guests attend event in support of Loma Linda University Children s Hospital (LLUCH) Mission Region Motorcy center f SUBSCRIBE+NEWSLETTER+ IN THIS ISSUE+NEWS+ARCHIVES+ READER RESPONSE+MEDIA PARTNERS+ SCREENING ROOM+GRACENOTES+ PHOTO SUBMISSIONS

10 Meet The Immigrant Who Pioneered Soul Liberty for a New Nation On President s Day, we do well to remember Roger Williams and his boldness POSTED FEBRUARY 20, 2017 Reprinted with permission Editor s note: On Monday, February 20, the United States celebrates the federal holiday of President s Day, honoring the Feb. 22 birthday of George Washington and all the presidents of the nation. In 1939, Charles Small Longacre wrote an article about a man whose view of freedom of conscience largely influenced the freedoms enjoyed in this nation. We believe Longacre s words are worth reflecting on during this holiday. R oger Williams was the apostle of religious liberty of soul liberty in the New World. He had the high honor, in the providence of God, of being the first man to establish in practice the emancipation of the conscience of man from the fetter of politicoecclesiastical rule. He became the harbinger of religious liberty in its true sense and reality, and pointed the true way for the greatest Republic of a free and democratic people. We Americans owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Williams as preacher, prophet, and statesman which we cannot pay in any better way than to defend and preserve the precious heritage of civil and religious liberty which he has bequeathed to posterity for the benefit of all mankind. His ideal of the proper relationship of church and state and his political philosophy and principles of government perhaps cannot be summed up in a more concise form than in his own words: The civil sword may make a nation of hypocrites, and anti-christians, but not one Christian. Forcing of conscience is a soul-rape. Persecution for conscience [hath been] the lancet that letteth [the] blood of kings and kingdoms. Man hath no power to make laws to bind conscience. The civil commonwealth and the spiritual commonwealth, the church, not inconsistent, though independent, the one on the other. The civil magistrate owes to false worshipers, (1) permission, (2) protection. If this fundamental principle of civil government had always been recognized and followed, there never would have been any religious persecution in this world. No one was to suffer any civil disability by reason of his religious favor, provided he respected the equal rights of all others. Roger Williams not only believed and taught this principle of government, but he practiced it. After having successfully operated this experiment in Rhode Island for twenty-seven years, he embodied, in 1663, in the memorial charter for the Commonwealth and English Colony of Rhode Island his fundamental tenet, as follows: No person within the said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be in any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any differences in opinion, in matter of religion, who do not actually disturb the civil peace of our said colony; but that all and every person and persons may, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, freely and fully have and enjoy his own and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious concernments, throughout the tract of land hereafter mentioned, they behaving themselves peaceably and quietly and not using this liberty to licentiousness and profaneness, nor to the civil injury or outward disturbance of others. In this charter are set forth the matchless provisions which were incorporated one hundred and twenty-six years later in the Federal Constitution of the United States of America, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and similar provisions in the respective State constitutions.

11 Thus Roger Williams became the builder of the ideals of a new nation, which was destined to influence the ideals of many other nations. The equality of all men and of all religions before the law, without special privileges and preferences to any, was the cardinal principle in the government founded by Roger Williams. He not only legislated for his day, but, as he hoped, for all times hereafter. As long as men conducted themselves peaceably and civilly, they were not to be punished on account of their religious beliefs or practices. No one was to suffer any civil disability by reason of his religious favor, provided he respected the equal rights of all others. Especially was Roger Williams opposed to any financial alliances between the church and the state such as compelled people to be taxed by the state for the aid and support of any sort of religion. He did not believe that any person elected to public office should ever take advantage of his public office through legislation or the administration of his civil duties, to promote the religious interests of religious organizations, nor should he ever attempt to settle religious controversies by law, or give preference by judicial decisions to religious opinions, creeds, usages, or customs. His attachment to the equality of all men before the law, placed a self-restraint upon the exercise of his own liberty concerning his own religious creed while exercising the functions of public office. Roger Williams lived in advance of his age. The New World was not yet ready to adopt his liberal ideals. While he held strong religious convictions, he did not allow those convictions to develop in him the spirit of intolerance toward his opponents. The most difficult lesson which mankind must learn and keep constantly in mind, especially when one is entrusted with power and authority over others, is that religious truth, which we deem most precious and paramount, can never be advanced through coercion upon others. The purest faith can become corrupt by the employment of unholy and unsanctified means and measures to promote it. In fact, the adherents of the purest and most exalted faith are ever tempted to employ the instrument of misguided zeal in the hope of its advancement. Roger Williams lived in the days when bigotry and intolerance were making war against all who attempted to follow their own religious convictions independently of the established state religion. Whatever religion happened to be the state religion, whether Protestant or Catholic, the individual who had religious opinions of his own was not allowed to practice them. He was haunted and hunted night and day, and denied all semblance of liberty both civil and religious. It cost something to be an independent and free Christian in those days of religious intolerance and persecution. The great apostle of soul liberty was the instrument that gave inspiration and guidance to the shaping of the fundamental law of a nation which was destined to become the champion of the rights of all men. Roger Williams denied the right of the civil government to rule in all things, both temporal and spiritual. All governments in Europe were either totalitarian or authoritarian in form or in practice. No man could call his soul his own. He existed solely for the benefit of the state. All his activities in life were regulated, regimented, and restricted. Some of the governments in Europe today are reverting to the medieval type, and the results are conditions similar to those of medieval times. Whenever the consciences of men are controlled by the civil authorities, the destruction of liberty both civil and religious always follows. Wherever religious dogma is made subservient to the authority of the state, those who dissent from the state religion are regarded as enemies of both religion and the state. Those who attempt by legislative authority and arbitrary power to dominate the consciences of all men in all things, both temporal and spiritual, do so under the mistaken conception that they are keeping the true religion from being perverted and corrupted; but as a matter of fact, these self-appointed protectors of religion become, through their ill-conceived and misguided zeal and devotion, the real perverters and corrupters of religion. Roger Williams struggled manfully to put an end to religious intolerance and persecution. By advocating the principle of essential justice and the equality of all men before the law, irrespective of religious creed, nationality, or race, he struck a death blow to the totalitarian and authoritarian forms of government. His seed of truth and

12 liberty and justice for all men alike, found deep root in American soil, and it was in America that he finally succeeded in establishing his ideal form of government that after which the American Republic was modeled more than a century later. We must look to Roger Williams, more than to Jefferson or Madison, as the true builder of our American Bill of Rights, because all the provisions of civil and religious liberty as set forth in the matchless Constitution of the United States, were incorporated in principle in the charter of Rhode Island as conceived and framed by Roger Williams. Both Jefferson and Madison had the writings of this first and greatest of all Americans who formed the ideals and principles of civil government in Rhode Island, and they gave vital breath to those immortal and immutable principles of human rights and liberties in the Declaration of Independence and in the Bill of Rights of the Federal Constitution of the American Republic. The great apostle of soul liberty was the instrument that gave inspiration and guidance to the shaping of the fundamental law of a nation which was destined to become the champion of the rights of all men. It is only as we continue to live in the spirit and devotion of these great ideals of human liberty, of the inalienable rights of all men, and maintain and preserve both our civil and our religious freedom, which has been bequeathed to us as a precious blood-bought heritage, that we can hope for protection, for peace, for prosperity, and for human happiness, and that we can be saved from the errors and delusions which have led astray the nations of the past. As the oldest publishing platform of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Adventist Review (est. 1849) provides inspiration and information to the global church through a variety of media, including print, websites, apps, and audio and video platforms.content appearing on any of the Adventist Review platforms has been selected because it is deemed useful to the purposes and mission of the journal to inform, educate, and inspire the denomination it serves.unless identified as created by Adventist Review or a designated member of the Adventist Review staff, content is assumed to express the viewpoints of the author or creator of the content. News & Features Current Adventist News Download The Adventist World Week of Prayer Edition Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events Subscriber Access Subscriptions Renew Account Forgotten Password Report Trouble Update Mailing Address About Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Departments Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Resources Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2017, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

13 Login Search Subscribe Menu Trans-European Division Requests GC Approved Ministerial Credential Cliff s Edge - God s Errors? Senate Chaplain Barry Black, Adventist Pastor, Keynotes U.S. National Prayer Breakfast Romania s Evangelistic Meetings Likened to Growing Snowball 1702 An Evening of Enchantment Raises Over $1.1 million Over 1,000 guests attend event in support of Loma Linda University Children s Hospital (LLUCH) Meet Th Soul Li On Pres Roger W SUBSCRIBE+NEWSLETTER+ IN THIS ISSUE+NEWS+ARCHIVES+ READER RESPONSE+MEDIA PARTNERS+ SCREENING ROOM+GRACENOTES+ PHOTO SUBMISSIONS

14 Japan s Adventists Commit to 10-Month Evangelism Training Effort Week-long revival meeting, October campaign planned POSTED FEBRUARY 15, 2017 S eventh-day Adventists in Japan, a nation with one of the largest unreached people groups in the world, are committing to months of evangelistic training and outreach to bring the Three Angels messages to its 121 million people. Ron Clouzet, Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) ministerial secretary, will lead a field school of evangelism this year. Along with public meetings, a ten-month comprehensive outreach strategy is planned. Clouzet met with pastors from the West Japan Conference and the Okinawa Mission in the city of Osaka from January 19 to 21. In Tokyo, organizational meetings took place with the pastors of the East Japan Conference, and then, a second meeting with about 150 lay leaders from various Tokyo churches. The meetings were held at the Amanuma Church, a large church associated with Tokyo Adventist Hospital. The last meeting was transmitted live online to other churches throughout Japan. Seventh-day Adventist pastor Ron Clouzet, ministerial secretary for the church's Northern Asia-Pacific Division, at the training event. Photo: NSD Seventh-day Adventist pasto Japan. Photo:: NSD The first major training weekend will take place March It will focus on personal evangelism as well as specialized training for effective prayer intercession on behalf of those who do not know Christ and His Word. Part of the prayer training will deal with the formation of prayer-walking teams. With so many people in Japan who do not know Christ, as many as 99 percent of the population, serious intercession must be done for everyone, leaders say. Other evangelistic training events will follow in April, May, and July, on how to reach out to former members, how to give effective Bible studies, and how to form missiondriven small groups. In April, Clouzet will hold a week-long revival meeting at Amanuma, and other churches will be able to view the meetings online. The revival will focus on the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit, and the hope that is ours for real, lasting change in our lives. Late in August, the participating churches will begin 40 days of special prayer prior to the evangelistic meetings. Each participating church is committing to doing at least three outreach events in the next nine months. The events, designed to build relationships with non-members, are expected to include stop-smoking clinics, vegetarian cooking schools, English language classes, and Vacation Bible Schools, among other options. In September, it s expected a major preharvest event will take place, probably a series of five lectures on worldviews and Christian apologetics aimed at people with a secular

15 mindset who do not even believe there is a true, personal God. The capstone evangelistic meetings will be held October Clouzet will present a range of topics during that three-week period at the Amanuma Church. Congregations throughout the country can participate live online, or conduct their own set of meetings for at least ten of those nights. Evangelistic visitation training will take place during those three weeks, and resources will be made available to all those who attend. Simultaneous children s meetings will also be encouraged. About a dozen Seventh-day Adventist churches have made an initial commitment to participate. At the end of the series, the last training event will implement a mentoring and assimilation program for new believers. The expectation is for the participating churches to experience true revival, a renewed sense of Adventist identity, and more commitments to baptism than typically seen in a given year. About a dozen Seventh-day Adventist churches have made an initial commitment to participate, officials said, and it s hoped more will sign on. As the oldest publishing platform of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Adventist Review (est. 1849) provides inspiration and information to the global church through a variety of media, including print, websites, apps, and audio and video platforms.content appearing on any of the Adventist Review platforms has been selected because it is deemed useful to the purposes and mission of the journal to inform, educate, and inspire the denomination it serves.unless identified as created by Adventist Review or a designated member of the Adventist Review staff, content is assumed to express the viewpoints of the author or creator of the content. News & Features Current Adventist News Download The Adventist World Week of Prayer Edition Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events Subscriber Access Subscriptions Renew Account Forgotten Password Report Trouble Update Mailing Address About Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Departments Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Resources Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2017, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

16 Login Search Subscribe Menu Trans-European Division Requests GC Approved Ministerial Credential Cliff s Edge - God s Errors? Senate Chaplain Barry Black, Adventist Pastor, Keynotes U.S. National Prayer Breakfast Romania s Evangelistic Meetings Likened to Growing Snowball 1702 An Evening of Enchantment Raises Over $1.1 million Over 1,000 guests attend event in support of Loma Linda University Children s Hospital (LLUCH) Meet Th Soul Li On Pres Roger W SUBSCRIBE+NEWSLETTER+ IN THIS ISSUE+NEWS+ARCHIVES+ READER RESPONSE+MEDIA PARTNERS+ SCREENING ROOM+GRACENOTES+ PHOTO SUBMISSIONS

17 In Rural Curaçao, Adventists Seek, Serve Elderly in Community Ceremony honored those 80 and older, goal is to build bridges I POSTED FEBRUARY 19, 2017 n a small picturesque village on the southwest part of Curaçao, a group of Seventhday Adventists took the time to celebrate some of the oldest members of the rural community after the mass service at the local Catholic Church in Lagun. The church, which reportedly had been experiencing poor attendance, was packed Sunday, January 15, as 14 villagers, ranging in age from 80 years old and up were honored in a special program and presented with a wooden token engraved with a Bible text. Our members wanted to foster contact with the community with this special initiative, said Pastor Shurman Kook, president of the church in Curaçao, who took part in the ceremony. Kook, who is a native of Lagun and who was an altar boy at that very church, said it was important to connect with the community within their context, a context predominantly Catholic. It was a mission driven activity that sought to lead to more friendly relations, so arrangements were made with the priest for the ceremony, organizers said. Fourteen elderly and their families attended a special program organized by Adventists in the rural community of Lagun in the southwest part of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles, on Jan. 15, Image Courtesy of Shurman Kook Pastor Shurman Kook, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Dutch The group of 30 Adventists who commute to another village each week for church services at an Adventist Church, wanted to get to know their fellow villagers more. Morela de la Cruz, whose mother was among those recognized, said that it was a unique and historical moment to see members of the Adventist Church together with members of the Pro Village Foundation for our elderly and their relatives, on her Facebook page. After the service, attendees were interviewed in order to document some historical and cultural data about the 150-year-old village. The activity became a great success as individuals and organizations in the community gave their support to the program, said Kook. Kook said that some of the members were apprehensive about organizing an activity in a Catholic church during the mass, but the organizers insisted that it was part of InterAmerican Division s Lord Transform Me strategic plan to connect and share with the community, encouraging trust, credibility and respect for the Seventh-day Adventist Church group. There are plans for additional activities starting in March with a storytelling morning where the elderly will reminisce about their early life in the village, as well as seminars on health, education, family life, and biblical issues. Adventist members there want to bring people together to connect and share our unique message and lifestyle, Kook said.

18 Curaçao is home to the Dutch Caribbean Union Headquarters which was organized in 2015 with a region comprised of the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. There are more than 9,024 Seventh-day Adventists worshiping in 44 churches and congregations in the Dutch Caribbean territory. As the oldest publishing platform of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Adventist Review (est. 1849) provides inspiration and information to the global church through a variety of media, including print, websites, apps, and audio and video platforms.content appearing on any of the Adventist Review platforms has been selected because it is deemed useful to the purposes and mission of the journal to inform, educate, and inspire the denomination it serves.unless identified as created by Adventist Review or a designated member of the Adventist Review staff, content is assumed to express the viewpoints of the author or creator of the content. News & Features Current Adventist News Download The Adventist World Week of Prayer Edition Online Exclusives Gracenotes Events Subscriber Access Subscriptions Renew Account Forgotten Password Report Trouble Update Mailing Address About Issue Archives Our Roots and Mission Staff Writer's Guidelines Advertising Kit Adventist World Departments Reader Response Photo Galleries Prayer Requests Partners Resources Contact Free Newsletter Photo Submissions Downloads Sunset Calendar Church Locator RSS Feed Advertising Questions Copyright 2017, Adventist Review. All rights reserved worldwide.

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