Austria: Ellen G. White Research Center opens on anniversary of White's Death

Bern, Switzerland—A new Ellen G. White Research Center opened at Bogenhofen Seminary in Austria, July 16, 2016, the 101st anniversary of the death of the cofounderof the Seventh- day Adventist Church.

The new research center is the 20th worldwide and the first for the German- speaking countries of Central Europe: Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Germany. It aims to help a new generation in Europe gain a greater appreciation for White and her ministry, church leaders said.

“The new research center will pro- vide exceptional insights into our early Adventist history and will be an invaluable resource to strengthen our identity and foster a new sense for our unique mission,” said Erhard Biró, president of the church’s Baden-Wuerttemberg Conference in southern Germany.

The research center’s director is Markus Kutzschbach, who also holds a position as an executive director of Adventist Heritage Ministry, an entity that works closely with the Ellen G. White Estate to secure the Adventist past for the future and maintain his- toric Adventist sites in North America, Europe, and elsewhere.

The opening of the new research center coincided with the first Gift of Prophecy symposium in the Adventist Church’s Inter-European-Division. For three days, nine scholars from the White Estate, the Biblical Research Institute, Andrews University, and Bogenhofen Seminary shared their research and insights into the theol- ogy, ministry, and life of White. “

The symposium was very valuable because of the excellent presentations and personal testimo- nies of the speakers,” said Christian Grassl, president of the Austrian Union of Churches Conference in Austria.

Attendees were able to purchase copies of two books--The Gift of Prophecy in Scripture and History, edited by Alberto R. Timm and Dwain N. Esmond, and Glimpses Into the Life of Ellen White, by James Nix—that were newly translated into German from English and released by the seminary.

Participants expressed delight with the information that they learned. “I came to the symposium because in my home church I did not hear much about Ellen White, and if people talked about her, they did so in a very one-sided and critical manner or they used her in an extremist way,” said a participant from Germany. “I wanted to hear from people who are knowledgeable about Ellen White, and they did not disappoint me. My questions were answered, and I am returning to my home and church with joy, new enthusiasm, and a greater appreciation of Ellen White and her wonderful ministry.”

[Frank Hasel/EUDNews]

Totally blind professor helps make studying the Bible easier for the blind 

Orlando, Florida—More and more blind people have dreams that involve studying the Bible in the original languages. Such a journey presents some most difficult obstacles. Developing ways to overcome these obstacles has been the work of the Semitic Scholars group, three blind or visually impaired individuals who have recently won the top prize in the 2016 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards from the National Federation of the Blind.

In 2010 I, Ray McAllister, became the first totally blind person to earn a PhD in Hebrew Bible. To do this, I needed documents of the biblical text that a blind person could read but that had more technical characters and markings than the standard braille Greek and Hebrew original language texts provided. After I had graduated, I turned my attention to solving this problem. I developed coding for the symbols not already set up in braille. Once I developed these symbols, I needed to have them peer reviewed.

Sarah Blake LaRose, a professional braille transcriber and professor of Hebrew, provided guidance to help me complete a system that I could use to prepare texts that the blind could use, converting the Aleppo Hebrew Bible, accents and all, into braille. I also converted many other Hebrew documents, Semitic inscriptions, and Greek documents into braille. Then, In 2014 I wrote a Hebrew course for the blind that addresses many difficulties the blind have in learning Braille Hebrew and what they should know about how Hebrew works for sighted eyes.

In 2014 I began collaborating with Duxbury Systems, a company that produces software, to convert documents of various languages into braille. I began working closely with Matthew Yeater, the current president of the National Federation of the Blind of Michiana. Mr. Yeater and I set up the code for Syriac in braille, and I coded Coptic. Syriac is similar to Hebrew but uses a different alphabet. Coptic is a late form of Egyptian but has letters based on Greek.

It is now possible to use Duxbury to convert many ancient texts to braille. Recently I have begun converting public domain Greek works of Plato and Aristotle into braille.

My dreams for the future of this project are simple. I wish to have more texts in these and more related ancient languages in braille formats for the blind. I will be testing my Hebrew course this fall at Dubuque University in Iowa, teaching it by distance education. It is my prayer to negotiate with scholars around the world so I can have access to the text materials I need. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/2bOGLnF. [Ray McAllister]

In the Bahamas, former Adventist leader laid to rest in state- recognized funeral

Nassau, Bahamas—A former president of the former Bahamas Conference in the former West Indies Union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Pastor Silas N. McKinney, was laid to rest in a state-recognized funeral. High-ranking government officials and church leaders were in attendance. Pastor McKinney died July 16, 2016, after battling an illness for several years. He was 89.

Prime Minister of the Bahamas Right Honorable Perry G. Christie congratulated the Adventist Church for being a “major contributor in how the church should interact with the state and for being a strong advocate for religious liberty,” an accomplishment started by Pastor McKinney.

Known as a true evangelist, a champion for the cause of Jesus, and a vibrant church leader, McKinney was the first Bahamian president of the church in the Bahamas. McKinney served the church for more than 41 years as district pastor, mission president, conference president, and union president. He also served as chairman of the West Indies College, now Northern Caribbean University (NCU), and Andrews Memorial Hospital in Jamaica.

Pastor McKinney is survived by his wife Ruth, whom he was married to for 60 years, and their four children, six grandchildren, and one great granddaughter.

[John Garcia/Inter-American Division Staff with Nigel Coke] 

Nationwide mourning for late leader of Adventist church in Papua New Guinea

Silver Spring, Maryland, United States—The death of the fifty-four- year-old president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Papua New Guinea Union Mission, Geoffrey Pomaleu, prompted nationwide mourning. Pomaleu’s body was flown around Papua New Guinea (PNG) for seven funerals over four days, the Papua New Guinea Today news site reported. “The people of PNG are very sad, and the hope of the resurrection of all the believers when Jesus returns is very real to them,” said Glenn Townend, president of the Adventist Church’s South Pacific Division.

Pomaleu, a longtime church admin- istrator who was elected president of the Papua New Guinea Union Mission in September 2015, died in a hospital in Lae on July 4, 2016, a day after collapsing at a camp for pastors’ children. The cause of death was an internal infection complicated by heart trouble and other health issues, Papua New Guinea Today reported. His first funeral service was held in Lae, followed by services in Port Moresby and the country’s third-largest city, Mount Hagen. After services in Madang, Hoskins, and Kavieng, the coffin arrived in Pomaleu’s home village on Manus Island for final burial. [Adventist Review staff]