Adventist world leader honored with Festschrift
Loma Linda, California, United States—During the worship service in the Loma Linda University Church of Seventh-day Adventists on January 23, 2010, Jan Paulsen, the president of the world church of Seventh-day Adventists, was presented with a 446-page Festschrift, containing essays written by 28 scholars.
The occasion for this special tribute was Dr. Paulsen’s 75th birthday, celebrated in January. This seemed to be a fitting moment to express the appreciation of the worldwide Adventist Church in a tangible way.
The book, titled Exploring the Frontiers of Faith, contains studies on a range of topics: theology, history, ethics, and education. Most of the authors have, at some time in the past, come to know Dr. Paulsen personally—as he has served over the years as a pastor, university professor, and administrator.
The book has been printed and published through the Advent-Verlag in Lüneburg (Germany), the main German-language publishing house in the Adventist Church. A special feature of the book is its final section, a list with the names of almost 1,000 persons worldwide who wanted to congratulate Dr. Paulsen for reaching this milestone in his life and thanking him for his lifelong dedication to the Adventist Church.
The book will be available to the general public through the Adventist Book Centers (www.AdventistBookCenter.com) in the United States and through the Adventist book sales channels elsewhere. [Borge Schantz]
ADRA in Haiti
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States—An international emergency response team from the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) arrived in Port-au- Prince, Haiti, January 15, 2010, after entering from the Dominican Republic, bringing with them water treatment systems, tents, mobile clinics, and medical personnel to help alleviate a growing humanitarian crisis.
The group, which departed from the Dominican Republic’s capital of Santo Domingo, arrived at the border town of Jimani, about 150 miles from Port-au-Prince, during late morning to find scores of Haitian refugees entering the Dominican Republic on foot and by car in search of medical care at a local medical clinic. According to a firsthand report, severely injured survivors were being airlifted from Haiti aboard helicopters and brought to Jimani, which serves as one of two main cross border thoroughfares, where a unit from the Puerto Rico Air National Guard has set up a command center.
“There are a lot of people leaving Haiti. Many are injured, including children, and they need immediate assistance,” said John Torres, senior public relations manager for ADRA International, who is traveling with the team.
According to Torres, the situation on the ground is dismal. Buildings have been destroyed, fuel shortages are widespread, and the humanitarian situation has become severe.
“There are a lot of dead people,” Torres said, while riding through Port-au-Prince aboard an ADRA convoy. “It looks like the city has been bombed. People are trying to dig by hand and move the crushed concrete. On the grounds of the presidential palace, thousands of people are staying in makeshift shelters.”
During its initial response, the agency expects to distribute more than two million water purification tablets, provide medical treatment through a team of doctors and emergency medical technicians, and dispense antibiotics, over-the-counter medications, and other medical assistance. ADRA has already committed one million dollars to its response in Haiti, and more aid is expected to arrive shortly.
ADRA is a nongovernmental organization present in 125 countries, providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race, or ethnicity. To send your contribution to ADRA’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund, please contact ADRA at 1-800-424-ADRA (2372) or give online at www.adra.org. [Hearly Mayr]
Lectureship series on preaching
What are the greatest challenges facing preachers in the twenty-first century? How do we move congregations from disconnected traditional models of ministry to ones that speak pointedly to our pluralistic generation? How do we proclaim the “everlasting gospel” in ways that are relevant to contemporary culture?
To address these crucial questions, the Bradford-Cleveland-Brooks Leadership Center, located on the campus of Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, has established an annual lectureship series on “The Art and Craft of Prophetic Preaching.” This series recognizes that the preacher is not simply a reflector of the times, but a prophet to the times. As a prophet, he or she is called to shift congregants from lax traditionalism to active engagement in spiritual and social renewal. Indeed, it is through the preached word that the prophetic aspect of leadership finds expression.
The lecture series takes place March 7–9, 2010, at the C. E. Mosely Complex on the campus of Oakwood University. For more information, visit www.blblc.org. [Harold Lee]
