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06/2020 Amid Pandemic, Students Testify Online Page 5 The Welcoming Jesus Page 10 The Power of Strategy Page 22

The Church I Want to Belong to Is...

WELCOMING AW06-20ENG

The Church I Want to Belong to Is...

WELCOMING 10 The Welcoming Jesus

13 They Saw Us

Oleg Kostyuk

Sharon Tennyson

12 Everybody’s Welcome!

14 The OneKilometer Greeter

Karen Holford

Michael Ryan

15 Why We Keep Coming Back 16 Global View Who We Are as a Church Robert Costa 18 Devotional Whose Fight Is It, Anyway?

Daniel Bruneau 20 Faith in Action God Answers Prayer Rodrick Chinodakufa 21 Millennial Voices Connect, Worship, Grow Beersheba Jacob 22 Feature The Power of Strategy An interview with Michael Ryan 24 Feature The Great Equalizer Michael Kruger 26 Bible Questions Answered Uniquely His 27 Health and Wellness Protecting Your Child’s Well-being When Confined to Home 28 May I Tell You a Story?

“Though the Winds Blow . . .”

30 Growing Faith Welcomed to Sabbath School

A One-Minute Blessing

BY BILL KNOTT

I watched him gracefully slip in and out of church pews from front to back—eyes twinkling, a smile always creasing his face. Church members would lean forward as their pastor approached, eyes fixed on his, eagerly anticipating the benevolence of his greeting.

“So how is the Knott family doing this week?” he would ask as he bent over the pew in front of us, making certain to look directly at my wife and me, and both our teenaged sons. He radiated a warmth we had yet to experience from many others in those first months in a new congregation.

Though he spent at most a minute with each family, there was never a sense of hurry about his greeting. Often the first notes of the organ prelude announcing the coming worship service would find him leaning over one more pew, reluctant to abruptly end the kindness on which so many fed.

And so I entered worship smiling on most Sabbaths—no longer distracted by the unsolved challenges of the last week; content to be among those I was just getting to know; ready to be open-hearted with my God. I sang more fully, prayed more fervently, and listened to the Word more attentively because I had been welcomed by a gracious servant of God. You already know the homily that usually would follow here—the one about not forgetting to entertain strangers (Heb. 13:2).

But months after I was no longer a “stranger” in that congregation—well after I had become a local elder and Sabbath School teacher—it mattered greatly to me week by week that I was blessed and greeted by my pastor, and when he retired, by others who understood and carried forward the gift he had been giving us.

Just now, we yearn to regain what we took for granted just three months ago—the handshake or the arm around the shoulder; the in-person smile that conveys warmth as no virtual expression ever can; the solace of sitting beside—and with—other believers in moments of grief or gladness. More than 80 years ago, Dietrich Bonhoeffer grasped how crucial this experience is to our story of faith: “The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.” * When this affliction ultimately ends, we have an unparalleled opportunity to make the places where we learn the Word and worship together sanctuaries of kindness and connection.

The church I want to belong to is . . . welcoming. * Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd. Kindle Edition.

We believe in the power of prayer, and we welcome prayer requests that can be shared at our weekly staff worship every Wednesday morning. Send your requests to prayer@adventistworld.org, and pray for us as we work together to advance God’s kingdom.

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News Moment

A tornado touched down just feet away from the It Is Written ministry headquarters in Collegedale, Tennessee, United States, on April 13, 2020. Drone footage shows that the tornado flattened dozens of trees just on the other side of the building’s driveway. The storm came just days before It Is Written was set to begin Hope Awakens, a virtual online evangelistic series.

Photo: It Is Written

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News in Brief

2,000 The number of homeless people served in a single week by a group of Seventh-day Adventist volunteers on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Volunteers have been providing soup dinners every day and lunches on Sabbaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many local businesses, including restaurants, have temporarily closed, and the usual available sources of food for the homeless are scarce.

Health Workers Gap Frontline health workers play the most critical role in fighting a pandemic. A recent study shows that by the year 2030 there will be a shortage of 15 million workers worldwide.

Source: Liu, J.X., Goryakin, Y., Maeda, A. et al. Global Health Workforce Labor Market Projections for 2030. Hum Resour Health 15, 11 (2017). doi.

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“Tell your children what you do to calm yourself down when you begin to feel anxious, so they can learn some tips from you to help them manage their own fears.”

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-Karen Holford, a psychologist and family ministries director of the Trans-European Division, about how parents can help children deal with anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Holford also suggests listening carefully to what they say, checking in daily, practicing balanced honesty about what’s happening with the pandemic, and modeling gratitude.

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“God is counting on you to be an anchor of stability and a pillar of hope.”

–Ted N. C. Wilson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in a video message for the global membership of the Adventist Church. In the midst of the pandemic, Wilson has encouraged members to be stabilizing forces in their communities, while staying grounded in Scripture and prayer.

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The magnitude of the earthquake that struck Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, on March 22. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the country in 140 years. Government leaders instructed residents not to gather and to keep their distance as the city dealt with the double challenge of an earthquake and a pandemic. The Croatian Conference office of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the central church building, and several pastoral apartments were damaged.

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News in Brief

“One thing all humans need is food. Eating with someone is a positive way of doing ministry.”

–Simon Martin, Trans-European Division (TED) discipleship coach for Scandinavia, speaking to 77 Scottish church leaders at Crieff Seventh-day Adventist Church during an annual leadership training day. Martin shared that food has played a significant role in his own ministry, allowing him to develop relationships and lessening the fear of interacting with strangers.

120 The number of years of ministry celebrated by the Tacubaya Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mexico City, Mexico. The church in Tacubaya was the first Seventhday Adventist church organized in Mexico. In 1891, an Italian Adventist missionary arrived in Mexico City to distribute 2,500 copies of The Great Controversy, a book written by Ellen G. White. That effort led to the establishment of the first local church.

The Adventist Church in Mexico has five major church regions that operate more than 4,691 local churches with more than 781,000 members.

“Circumstances do not shape the mission. Mission shapes the circumstances.

Mission does not cease in a time of pandemic.”

–Evangelist and pastor Mark Finley in his devotional message shared with members of the Executive Committee of the Seventh-day Adventist Church during Spring Meeting 2020. Finley emphasized that the apostle Paul’s experience with social isolation and shut doors highlights the unexpected opportunities available for ministry and mission in the midst of the current pandemic.

Ten Million The amount of Mongolian tughriks (about US$3,600) awarded to a Seventh-day Adventist radio station in Mongolia that recently won the National Best Children Content for Radio contest. The winning program is produced by Khemnel Radio, a station managed by the Mongolia Mission of Seventh-day Adventists and supported by Adventist World Radio (AWR). The children’s program seeks to promote Mongolian history and heritage, while teaching integrity and values to children.

Photo: Khemnel Radio, Mongolia Mission AdventistWorld.org June 2020 AW06-20ENG

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News in Depth

Amid Pandemic, Students Forgo Global Youth Day Activities to Testify Online

Mexico’s Montemorelos University reaches out to the cyber community with messages of hope.

By Laura Marrero, Inter-American Division News

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic that drove world church leaders to suspend Global Youth Day (GYD) activities planned for March 21, 2020, young people at Montemorelos University (UM) continued their impact activities online.

More than 1,600 students and young adults from the Adventist community in Montemorelos had been scheduled to take to the streets to “be the sermon” on March 14. Instead, young people accepted a social media challenge as an alternative way to testify online throughout the week.

“In response to the sanitary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, we had to suspend our plans for outdoor impact activities,” said UM president Ismael Castillo.

Addressing students at a special gathering, Castillo said, “As the country is going through this difficult situation, we have to look for the moments in which young people like you are needed to serve the country, the region, the municipal district, and this community.”

Neyeni Cruz, coordinator of Dou-

los Youth Ministries, said, “We wanted to continue to encourage young people to ‘be the sermon’ and show their resilience in the midst of difficulties, using these times as opportunities to transmit hope during this special Week of Prayer.” Doulos Youth Ministries includes Adventurers, Pathfinders, and Master Guide clubs in the area around the university, as well as local youth ministries.

Young adults from Doulus Youth Ministries proposed what they called the “I Care Challenge” to include the GYD logo in their profiles in their various social media accounts, inviting others to care for the planet and to especially pray for the current situation the world is going through.

They were encouraged to post prayers in Instagram and Facebook posts and WhatsApp groups. “‘I care’ for my friends was the challenge on day three for young people to come up with creative ways to greet one another, avoid physical contact, and testify more actively. On day four it led us to care for the things we do not know about—

for example, paying for someone’s bills or groceries,” Cruz said.

UM students and other young adults were asked to use the hashtags #GYD2020UM and #GYD20 during the week.

Noemí Jiménez, a second-year communication student, said it was easy to be part of the online impact.

“I know that the impact we need to have must be constant, not just for this week, but daily. We may be the only one to share a message, photo, video, or memory verse with another person,” she said. It’s not only about impacting other persons, but also about being blessed and strengthened as one generates positive content, she added.

“These types of situations help us grow and learn, and allow us to get out our creative ideas,” Cruz said.

“These are challenging moments, and more will come our way as Christ’s second coming approaches.

So these are the times to share impact activities that can show how we are concerned for our world and what is happening.”

Photo: Bruce Mars 6

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News in Depth

Adventist Church Assists Former Boko Haram Fighters With Food

In northern Cameroon, leaders help meet the food needs of former combatants.

By Abraham Bakari, West-Central Africa Division, and Adventist World

Regional leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church delivered more than 20 tons (about 40,000 pounds) of food to the Regional Committee for Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of the Extreme North of Cameroon in Maroua on February 28, 2020. Beneficiaries were former combatants of the Boko Haram organization.

Special guests at the ceremony were Midjiyawa Bakari, Extreme North Region governor; Elie Weick-Dido, Adventist Church president in the West-Central Africa Division (WAD) region; and Vincent Roger Same, WAD evangelism director.

More than 1,000 church members, administrative and military officials, area residents, and media outlets were present to witness the delivery of the donations. Local church leaders included Richard Hendjena, North Cameroon Adventist Conference president; Issa Babba, executive secretary; and treasurer Ndoumie Tchamaya, who was in charge of putting the donations together.

According to church leaders, donations included corn flour, cooking oil, rice, millet, and salt, worth more than 5 million Cameroon francs (about US$8,600).

In his remarks, Governor Bakari thanked the Adventist Church for its responses to the requests made by the head of state.

“In 2016, the [Adventist] Church had already brought donations worth more than 21 million Cameroon francs (about US$36,000) to the victims of Boko Haram and our valiant defense and security forces,” Bakari said. “The government

Volunteers help unload part of the 20 tons (more than 40,000 pounds) of food to help feed almost 1,000 former combatants of the Boko Haram organization who have decided to lay down their arms.

Photo: West-Central Africa Division

has not forgotten this gesture, which will serve as a model for future generations.”

Addressing Weick-Dido, Bakari added, “This gesture . . . reflects the importance that the Seventh-day Adventist Church attaches to the final return and consolidation of peace in the Extreme North of Cameroon, as well as to the well-being of its population.”

According to local officials, donations will be used to meet the basic food needs of almost 1,000 former Boko Haram combatants who have decided to lay down their arms.

One of the highlights of the ceremony was the prayer for Cameroon.

Weick-Dido prayed for Cameroon officers and the people of the country. Before praying, Weick-Dido exhorted Cameroonians to embrace “peace, forgiveness, reconciliation, and love while participating effec-

tively in national construction.”

According to Weick-Dido, this is not an overnight process. “It is not by pressing a button that one can develop a nation. Each country needs the contribution of its children. Those who have gone astray can try the prodigal son’s experience,” said Weick-Dido.

A solemn worship service ended the pastoral visit of the WAD president, with almost 5,000 people assembled on the premises of Maroua Adventist School. In his message entitled “The Tragedy of Missed Opportunities,” Weick-Dido called Adventist members not to despise the time of visitation, the time of grace, the time of probation, and the time of blessing; but to make the most of every chance to bless others.

“We must, therefore, remain vigilant,” he said.

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News Focus Middle East and North Africa Union (MENA)

5,120 The membership of the Middle East and North Africa Union as of December 31, 2019

“All over Lebanon our families are finding creative ways to spend their time.”

–Rick McEdward, president of Middle East and North Africa Union (MENA), referring to ways in which Seventh-day Adventists in MENA have been creating and sharing meaningful content online during quarantine related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them, a family performed a traditional Lebanese Christian prayer song in their home that reminds believers not to forget other human beings. The song was shared on Facebook for encouragement.

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“It’s amazing to me that MEU’s history begins with a Bible worker who knew the potential of a public campus ministry, who engaged the students he met, and who opened his home to teach them the Bible.”

–Larry Lichtenwalter, president of Middle East University (MEU). Located in Beirut, Lebanon, the University recently commemorated 80 years of operation with storytelling, music, and moving testimonies. The weekend focused on the pioneers who invested their lives and resources in the development of the university, along with leaders who led the school during Lebanon’s 15 years of civil war.

1,400 The number of trees planted by Pathfinders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to help combat climate change. The planting project was a part of the Plant a Legacy initiative spearheaded by a private school in Dubai. Seven Pathfinders, four Adventurers, two parents, and 15 Master Guides in Training and Master Guides from the emirates of Sharjah and Dubai in UAE participated with many others in planting a total of 15,000 Ghaf trees in 65 days. (^-)

The number of years that Adventist archaeologists have been involved in expeditions to Jordan. Their work has encompassed three sites—Tall Hisban, Tall al-’Umayri, and Tall Jalul—which came to be collectively known as the Madaba Plains Project, centered at two Seventh-day Adventist institutions in the United States: La Sierra University in California and Andrews University in Michigan.

The milestone anniversary was celebrated with an event themed “Reinventing Biblical Archaeology: Results After Excavating 50 Years in Central Jordan.”

Photo: Middle East and North Africa Union 8

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Perspective

Worship May Never Be the Same The impact of coronavirus and social distancing on the way we worship I haven’t been to church for many weeks. That’s not something you’d expect to read in Adventist World.

Going to church on Sabbath morning has been part of my DNA for more than a half century. I grew up in an Adventist family, and going to church was a given. As a teenager attending public schools in Germany, I looked forward to spending Sabbath with my friends at church. I was involved in many church activities.

Since then, I have taught Sabbath School classes, preached sermons, served potlucks, and enjoyed sweet fellowship with other followers of Jesus almost every Sabbath.

I confess, sometimes we sat too much. The sermons were not always gripping, and the music was at times slightly off-key. But it was church—my church.

COVID-19 has changed all of this.

Many countries have mandated some type of stay-at-home or shelter-in-place order. That means that many of us haven’t seen friends from church for a while.

Except, that’s not really true.

Here’s an example: For the past eight years we have hosted a Tuesday night Bible study at our home.

It started as a way of keeping my teenage daughters connected to

By Gerald A. Klingbeil, associate editor, Adventist World

their church during the week. They have long ago left home to pursue their studies, but the Bible study has continued. We usually have between 10 and 15 people attending.

We have averaged more than 30 people online over the past months.

Zoom has become our best friend.

While we couldn’t physically meet with others, we seem to have gone back to the model that worked for the early church—but virtually.

Small-group meetings or Bible studies hosted on Zoom, Skype, or WhatsApp, and prayer meetings on call-in numbers, have mushroomed.

They filled the void left by the COVID-19-related restrictions.

Church historians agree that worship during most of the first two centuries A.D. was centered in house churches, or, perhaps better, “household churches.” Acts 12:12 describes a prayer meeting in “the house of Mary,” pleading for the release of Peter. Paul includes many greetings to individuals hosting gathering places for Christians in their homes (1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philemon 2; Rom. 16:5, 23; etc.).

Household churches had the advantages of intimacy and increased safety, and were culturally appropriate.

Let me suggest four takeaways about the current moment as we reconsider worship.

First, worship is not only a well-structured activity exclusive to Sabbath mornings. We worship—individually and corporately—because we recognize our need for a Saviour.

We knew that before COVID-19, of

course. But somehow our inability to meet in our local congregations has highlighted this anew. Worship is a mindset and attitude, not a moment.

Second, more than ever I have felt the importance of the intimacy of worship. Small groups—virtually or sitting together in a real space— offer this advantage. While I love organ music and enjoy ethereal choir music, I value even more knowing the joys and burdens of my fellow worshippers. That’s difficult (though not impossible) to accomplish in a large congregation.

Third, worship within the context of a house setting offers accountability. With only 10 to 20 people (or even fewer) attending, I know every member personally. I miss them when they are not present and will contact them. My impression is that we need more intimacy and accountability in Adventist worship, and less formality and distance.

Fourth, I predict that house churches will see an uptick even after we look in the rearview mirror at the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, in some parts of the world with limited religious freedoms, house churches represent the most vibrant, yet veiled, face of worship.

They offer more safety, and a viable alternative in urban centers with skyrocketing real estate prices.

Perhaps what I’m rediscovering is that church—with or without physical buildings—has always been and will always be about living with God, united closely with others in community and mission.

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The Church I Want to Belong to Is...

WELCOMING

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any people divide their social world into “us” and “them.”

“Us” is usually a group of people who have similar social, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds and share interests, as well as political and religious views. “Us” is a group of people with whom we feel comfortable.

“They” look different, think different, and speak different. Most of the time we limit our interactions with “them.” Some argue that this tendency to divide between “us” and “them” is hardwired into us and is crucial for our survival. That’s why it’s always present in human society, they suggest.

Jesus, however, offers a different perspective. He went beyond the categories of “us” and “them” as He sought to point the world to God’s value system. If we claim to be followers of Jesus, we need to follow His example of being unconditionally welcoming.

The church I want to belong to is really welcoming. Let’s take a closer look at one particular story in Jesus’ life that demonstrates how radically welcoming He was.

One of the most dramatic actions of Jesus is the cleansing of the Temple. It’s documented in three of the Gospels. This is how Matthew records it: “Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.

And He said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer,” but you have made it a “den of thieves.”’ Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ they were indignant” (Matt. 21:12-15).

The Welcoming Jesus

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Jesus had just entered Jerusalem triumphantly. Passover, one of the most important Jewish religious festivals, was about to begin. Historians estimate that Jerusalem’s normal population was about 30,000, but during Passover it grew to 180,000. God’s Temple in Jerusalem was one of the most holy places on earth for Jews living in the first century. It was where heaven and earth met.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, most people in the city knew little about Him. Jesus’ Galilean entourage shouted “Hosanna [“save us now”] to the Son of David.”

People realized that something unusual was happening. A large crowd followed Jesus as He entered Jerusalem in an unusual way. Jesus was riding on a donkey.

Might He be the Messiah, or just another troublemaker (verses 10, 11)?

OUT OF HERE!

What Jesus did immediately after entering Jerusalem shook the city and its religious establishment to its core.

He went into the city’s holiest place—the Temple—and cleansed it. The Temple was not just a single building in the time of Jesus. The entire complex on Mount Moriah consisted of the portico, the court of Gentiles surrounding the sanctuary, the court of women, and the sanctuary itself in the middle. The total circumference of the sacred precinct was about a mile (1.6 kilometers).

This was the heart of Judaism. It was the only place where sacrificial worship to Yahweh could take place.

The Temple always had to be ritually pure. Everything that was brought into the Temple had to be ritually clean, and all who entered it had to be purified.

But it was only the facade that was “pure,” for the “heart” of the Temple needed serious cleansing. The Temple had become the place where the rich got richer.

To preserve the “purity” of the Temple, the only place one could buy an offering was in the Temple. The only “pure” money that could be used was Temple money made from silver of the highest quality. Money changers cheated worshippers by setting exorbitant exchange rates.

Some religious leaders had become corrupt and driven by ambition. Other religious leaders were so focused on being “pure” themselves and making the Temple ritually “pure” that they had lost touch with real people. Recent archaeological discoveries show that one of the wealthiest neighborhoods of Jerusalem was the priestly quarter.

Many of their houses had multiple ritual baths to assure that priests would not mingle with common people and thus become impure following their purifications. Priests used a private bridge linking their quarter with the temple.

By cleansing the Temple, Jesus wanted all who were involved in these religious exercises to understand something extremely important.

Jesus welcomes the imperfect of this world and heals them in the Temple.

IT IS WRITTEN

The first thing Jesus said after cleansing the Temple was “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves’” (verse13).

Jesus quotes here Isaiah 56:7. In its original context it actually reads, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Mark 11:17). The Temple was meant to be a house of prayer for Gentiles and Jews.

But the sanctuary was closed to the Gentiles, and the court designated for them had been turned into a marketplace. In fact, around the sanctuary at regular intervals stood stone slabs with severe warnings for foreigners not to enter the Temple at any circumstance under threat of execution. God’s Temple was supposed to be a place where the good news could be heard by all people. Israel and its leaders, however, had forgotten that mission.

Jesus’ next action is even more striking. Immediately after He had cleansed the Temple, “the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them” (Matt. 21:14). The blind and the lame were not allowed into the Temple precincts, according to tradition. They were considered to have serious defects, not fit to be in God’s holy Temple. Jesus welcomes the imperfect of this world and heals them in the Temple. Note, Jesus did not heal them before they entered the Temple; He healed them in the Temple.

The welcoming Jesus expects His followers to realize that all people living on earth are their sisters and brothers. We are family. We are called to be the compassionate hands of Jesus that welcome and embrace all. The mindset of welcome and care transcends all barriers separating us—including those forced on us by a worldwide pandemic. That’s why followers of Jesus are committed to overcome racial, political, religious, or social boundaries. This is what it means to follow the example of Jesus and love to the end, as He did.

It’s the only way forward.

Oleg Kostyuk is cocreator of a 10-part documentary series about the impact of Jesus’ life and teachings, Revolutionary, aired on Hope Channel. He is married to Julia, a family nurse practitioner.

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The Church I Want to Belong to Is...

WELCOMING

Everybody’s Welcome!

Making newcomers feel at home in church means everything.

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he sudden English rainfall was so heavy I couldn’t see where I was going. I finally arrived at the small guesthouse soaking wet, plastered in mud, and fighting back tears of exhaustion and frustration.

The door opened. My host welcomed me with a smile, wiped off my suitcase, and took it to my room. “Never you mind, young lady, we’re here to welcome whoever comes through our doors, no matter how messy they are!” It was one of the best welcomes I’ve ever had.

I’ve wondered, what would happen if everyone were welcomed as warmly as this in all our churches every week?

FROM THE HEART OF GOD

Every genuine welcome starts in the heart of God’s love. When we focus on God’s incredible love for us, and His free acceptance of us no matter how messy we are, our hearts become more open to accepting others.

Jesus warmly accepted such messy people with imperfect lives as Zacchaeus, the woman caught in adultery, the woman at Jacob’s well, diseased lepers, and lots of noisy, sticky children. Paul tells us to reflect on how Jesus has accepted us, so that we can truly understand what it means to accept others (Rom. 15:7). He tells us to treat everyone equally, and with the greatest respect, whatever their age, gender, ethnicity, status, and dress (Rom. 12:10, 16).

BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS

Most of us have some barriers in our lives: attitudes and fears that hold us back from welcoming others generously. I’m an introvert, and it can be really hard for 12

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me to meet new people. So I have to make a conscious decision to step forward and greet strangers.

What are your barriers, and what do you need to do about them? Read Psalm 103 and list all the ways that God lovingly welcomes you. Let His love transform the way you think about others, so you can lovingly welcome a new person into your community, just as Jesus did.

HOW CAN I MAKE YOUR VISIT SPECIAL?

Think about a time you felt especially welcomed.

Share your ideas with others in your church and explore how you could offer the best possible welcome in your church. Imagine how Jesus might welcome people if He were one of your greeters.

After greeting visitors, personalize their welcome: “What can I do to make your visit today comfortable and special?” Maybe they’d like to sit quietly at the back, or to have someone to sit with them who is trained to guide visitors through the service. Listen to their needs and try to meet them in the best way possible.

When you arrive shivering in subzero temperatures, it’s comforting to be offered a hot drink. Not all your visitors will have eaten breakfast. Providing a basket of fruit or a tray of healthy snacks shows that you care about their physical needs as well as their spiritual ones.

EXPLAIN YOUR WORSHIP SERVICE

Explain and introduce your church services every week. Those leading out in the service should always tell people when to stand, sit, or kneel, and explain clearly what to do during the foot-washing and Communion services. Unexpected parts of the service can be very uncomfortable for visitors when they realize Photo: Mario Purisic AW06-20ENG

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that everyone, except them, knows exactly what to do.

Respect a visitor’s choice to sit and observe.

WELCOME CHILDREN TOO

Welcome visiting children as warmly as Jesus did.

Provide something child-friendly in every service so they feel involved in the program. When you win children’s hearts, you win the hearts of their parents.

Children are not wired to sit still and be quiet for long periods, and they can find doing so distressing. So welcome them by providing bags of quiet Sabbath toys to use during the service.

THE MOST IMPORTANT TEST

I have a friend who has two simple goals for each person who comes through the door of his church each week: by the time they leave the building they need to experience the God who loves them unconditionally, along with at least one other member who also accepts them without conditions. Loving God and loving others are the two key principles of his congregation. His church flourishes and grows because people feel loved and welcome.

The warm welcome of God’s love is irresistible. Let it flow through you into the hearts of everyone you meet, at church and in your everyday life. Make it possible for new faces to want to come back and experience that amazing love all over again, week after week.

Karen Holford is family ministries director of the TransEuropean Division.

e moved to St. Albans, United Kingdom (UK), from Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, in July 2018. We visited area churches looking for our new home. The first church we visited for many Sabbaths was beautiful, including friendly greeters holding the sanctuary doors open for us, smiling as they handed us our bulletins. The congregation inside was ethnically diverse. The musicians leading out were talented.

The potlucks were delicious and well organized.

We were invited and stayed a couple times, enjoying it very much.

We also visited a small church in London, where my husband, Mack, gave the sermon a couple times.

That church was very different in that both the Sabbath School and the divine service were loosely organized. We were warmly welcomed. But the more-than-one-hour drive each way wouldn’t allow us to even consider that as a home church.

The next church had limited parking, and the sanctuary would get quite warm. The potlucks were well organized, but again the physical space was very close and seemed chaotic because of the tight quarters.

The thing that was different about this last church, however, was a couple of the greeters in particular. The important thing was that they saw us. They were not looking through us to the people behind us, or chatting with the other greeters over our heads. It wasn’t long before they were welcoming us by our first names. This little church, packed to the seams every Sabbath, was full of friendly energy. It’s now our church home, and we’re there because of this.

Sometimes Mack and I are greeters, holding the heavy church doors open and taking note of people’s names and how visitors came to be there that Sabbath.

I’ve found that being a greeter helps you play “matchmaker” in introducing capable people to ministries that need help. It pays to be a friendly face and instrument of hospitality in our church settings.

Sharon Tennyson serves as distribution coordinator for Adventist World.

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The Church I Want to Belong to Is...

WELCOMING B Y M I C H A E L R YA N , former vice president of the General Conference

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ust swarmed through rusted-out holes in the floorboard of the mission’s blue Datsun pickup. Its muffler announced our progress as we jarred along the dirt-road craters of the capital city.

Three small underground Seventh-day Adventist churches had survived the brutal slaughter that had ravaged the southern part of the country. A United Nations-negotiated peace had prompted church leaders to invite me to help lay plans for spreading the gospel. As desperation hung in the air, I focused on remembering that Jesus was here.

Forty-two church members attended the seminar. I sensed their passion. They planned, talked, and imagined 12 new congregations, an ADRA office, and an FM radio station into existence. I’ll never forget their burning question on the last afternoon. “Pastor, yes, the Holy Spirit will provide the power of heaven, but Pastor, how will we do it?”

Convicted that simplicity would serve best, I said, “It’s simple, but there must be no exceptions. If you want the church to grow, every person, regardless of talent, must have a job doing something for the Lord—every person.”

Sixteen months later I sat in one of the mismatched chairs of the mission office. Fourteen new congregations had been established, making a total of 17 congregations in the capital city.

ADRA occupied an office just down the hallway. In the background, Christian music played from the Seventh-day Adventist radio station, the only FM radio station in the entire city.

Everything was a miracle. “It’s simple,” said the mission president. “Work and pray. That’s it: work and pray.” With the joy of the Lord he informed me I would meet the new members on Sabbath at a citywide camp meeting.

Sabbath morning found me walking the short distance from the hotel to camp meeting. At a busy intersection I noticed a young man moving rapidly from person to person, handing each a piece of paper. I thought he was likely a tailor, mechanic, or barber advertising his shop.

He handed me a paper I could not read, nor did I try. For while I could not read the paper, I immediately recognized the logo of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

“You’re a Seventh-day Adventist?” I asked.

“Yes, two months ago,” he replied.

Knowing we were still some distance from the camp meeting, I asked, “Why are you here?”

With a blast of broken-English he said, “Mister, at Seven-day Church everyone has a job for the Lord—everyone.”

“What’s your job?” I asked.

With a look of holy pride he answered, “Mister, I am a one-kilometer greeter! There are seven of us.”

I quickly reviewed the work of the local church nominating committee. I recalled recommending elders, deacons, Sabbath School teachers, treasurers, Pathfinder leaders, Community Services leaders, and a host of others.

But nowhere, absolutely nowhere, could I recall any position known as a one-kilometer greeter.

That morning I stood to speak to 1,200 Seventh-day Adventists. I began by asking, “I want you to stand if you are here for the first time because you were invited by a one-kilometer greeter.” I counted 28 people.

The creativity of the Holy Spirit challenges every church to ask, “What’s our version of the one-kilometer greeter?”

The OneKilometer Greeter

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Why We Keep Coming Back Earlier this year we asked our followers on social media, “Do you attend a welcoming church? In what ways does your congregation make you feel welcome?”

We received responses from all over the world. Here is a sampling.—Editors.

The congregation gives me a warm welcome. It doesn’t allow me to be left behind. It treats me as a family member.—Sha Yan, Philippines.

The church I belong to goes beyond saying “Happy Sabbath” to more meaningful connections, such as asking about family members, daily life, or what went well or not during the week. I feel safe to share my failures, my pain, and my joys.

We pray for one another and check in often for updates.—Esther, United States.

My church allows me to grow spiritually, relationally, and emotionally. I am not the same person I was when I first came to Younger Generation. I have learned that nothing I can do will make God love me any less. He will pull me through difficult situations, just as He did in the past. The love of God has redefined every part of my life.—Jennifer, Florida, United States.

My church has friendly greeters who welcome everyone. Some members offer hugs or handshakes.

It feels that we’re all part of a big family.—Marcia, Ohio, United States.

We sing songs in the hymnal in three different languages to accommodate every dialect. Our small chapel is always full to capacity. There is nothing more I could ask God for than the joy and blessings I receive at Sony South Seventh-day Adventist Church.— Astrid, Migori, Kenya.

Our mission statement is: “Connecting With Jesus, Connecting With People, Connecting People With Jesus.” We are deliberate about focusing on members, but also intentional about greeting visitors and making sure they are not left to fend for themselves. We have multiple ministries that include a variety of interests, ages, members, and nonmembers.

Are we perfect? No. But together we are deepening our personal relationship with our Lord and learning to share the good news.—Michaelynn, Oregon, United States.

Every church I have been in has been friendly, greeting me warmly, asking me to take part in teaching or Sabbath School, even before I asked for a membership transfer.

My part is to help make our church warm and welcoming. My job is to greet people, to notice sadness, to try to heal broken hearts, to help with financial issues.

We should ease any burden we can. Everyone wants to belong, and we can all help people feel welcome.—Kay, United States.

I feel welcome (and proud) because of how guests and members are treated at my church.

No distinction is made between race, age, education level, or economic status. No matter what car someone drives, or what education they have, this is where I feel truly at home.—Kathy, Maryland, United States.

I came from a dysfunctional family. When I was 5, my Adventist neighbors invited my brother and me to attend Vacation Bible School. We didn’t have nice clothes, but I’ll never forget how the teachers accepted us warmly and taught us a lot of songs, including the Pathfinder song (“Oh, we are the Pathfinders strong”). That made me feel dignified and important.—Nii Reh, Philippines.

The Virginia Beach Seventh-day Adventist Church is the most loving and friendly church I have ever known. We are constantly aware of improving the way we greet and make comfortable all new visitors and members, inviting them to fellowship lunches and upcoming events and giving them a welcome gift.—Carm, Virginia, United States.

I don’t want anyone to feel that I have it all together, that I always love my family, friends, and fellow church members as perfectly as God loves me.

Loving others as God does cannot be done alone or in the dark; it requires a community.

It requires a place that welcomes you exactly how you are. In my early high school years I found Younger Generation to be a place that fostered the love of Jesus and welcomed me to do the same.—Roman, Florida, United States.

You can come to my church with your brokenness. Church members fast and pray for you, carry you in prayer. I love my church family. They are God’s hands and feet, making a difference in my life.—Theresa, South Africa.

I feel welcomed by warm smiles, hearty handshakes and hugs, and the feeling that I miss much when I am not worshipping with my church family.—Dale, Michigan, United States.

AdventistWorld.org June 2020 AW06-20ENG

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Global View

Who We Are as a Church Our place at this moment of history

In this time of global crisis it is important to have a clear understanding of our identity and purpose. This article is for such a time as this. It is abridged from ExecutiveCommittee.adventist.org/newsletter/.—Ted N. C. Wilson, president, General Conference.

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s our church just one more church? What sets us apart from the rest of Christianity? What justifies our existence?

God answers these questions. He sees us in the context of the great controversy: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

This statement defines our identity and purpose. But can’t the rest of the Christian world claim the same thing? Yes, in part, but not in its entirety—and that small margin makes all the difference.

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THE DIFFERENCE

We are a church that presents the whole truth. Many churches lead people to Jesus. But if the great truths for this hour are excluded, it’s an incomplete gospel. The Bible should always be presented as a whole. Deception is mixing truth with error, and more subtly, not telling the whole truth. We can guard against this by refreshing our origins, identity, message, commitment, and mission from our homes, pulpits, and classrooms.

We are not just another church.

We are the final movement God raised in a prophetic time, with a prophetic message centered on Jesus and His grace to restore the whole truth and prepare the world for His return.

“Seventh-day Adventists have been chosen by God as a peculiar people, separate from the world,” wrote Ellen White. “By the great cleaver of truth He has cut them out from the quarry of the world and brought them into connection with Himself. . . . The greatest wealth of truth ever entrusted to mortals, the most solemn and fearful warnings ever sent by God to man, have been committed to them to be given to the world.”1 The apostle Paul said the church is “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). For that purpose, God called Israel (Deut.

7:6-9; 14:2; Isa. 60:1-3) to be His special people. He did not leave it to them to choose how to live, how to worship, and how to evangelize, but He gave specific instructions.

Unfortunately, ancient Israel failed; but God’s plan didn’t end.

At the precise prophetic moment something big happened in heaven, something “as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross”2—God opened the books.

The world had to know.

Photo: Robert Weidemann AW06-20ENG

A PROPHETIC BIRTH CERTIFICATE

For that, God raised a people from disappointment—prophesied

by Jesus in His vision to John centuries ago (Rev. 10:5-11)—to a sacred appointment, to restore all the light of His truth, presenting “with a loud voice” the three most solemn messages of love ever given (Rev. 14:6-12).

That disappointment was the birth certificate of the true people of God. If the last church hadn’t arisen from a disappointment during the prophetic moment by studying Daniel’s prophecies, it could not be the true church. When our pioneers diligently studied the Scriptures to discern what had happened on October 22, 1844, they situated themselves by faith where Jesus is ministering.

Shortly thereafter God gave the gift of prophecy to this people, thereby defining the two outstanding characteristics of the end-time remnant: those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 12:17; 19:10). These two components appear together in Scripture, and they define the true people of God (Isa. 8:19, 20).

In Ellen White’s first vision, God clearly established the rise, course, and destiny of this movement. If the truth of the heavenly sanctuary is not understood, the plan of salvation is not fully understood.

BEWARE OF DISTRACTIONS

Certain distractions and dangers can undermine our identity, purpose, and mission as a remnant.

To stop presenting present truth.

The everlasting gospel was the plan of salvation presented to Adam and Eve. There is also present truth within the context of the everlasting gospel. What is the present

truth for this hour? The truths centered on the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary, where Jesus ministers today.

To focus only on social justice and humanitarian aid without leading people to Jesus and the full gospel message.

Many secular entities do excellent social work. But social aid and social justice are not our final mission as a church. Passages in Micah 6, Isaiah 58, and James emphasize the help we should offer others. Jesus Himself did good works, but His mission was not just to relieve suffering, but to save the human race. He lived His religion—showing love and compassion within the context of His mission. It is important to help people with their temporal needs, but we cannot stop there. We need to lead people to the foot of the cross and the full Advent message.

To imitate other denominations in their liturgy, music, and growth methods. For Israel, imitating others had catastrophic results (Num. 22-24). Some seek ideas from sources that deny great biblical truths, then apply those methods in our churches. What motivates us to adopt the worship style and growth methods of churches the Bible describes as “Babylon”? God never suggested that Israel adopt the methods or worship style of the surrounding nations to reach them.

To emphasize an existentialist Adventism in which discipleship is separate from doctrine. If we speak only about the Master and His virtues but do not teach what the Master asks us to teach, how good can we actually be as disciples? How can new believers teach others the truths they did not learn?

When preaching ceases to be prophetic, doctrinal, and Christ-centered and is based only on grace, it leads to personal conformity and satisfaction, where genuine revival

is impossible. A gospel of grace produces liberalism; a gospel of warning produces fanaticism. We are neither fanatical nor liberal. We are disciples who receive and accept the grace to live in commitment.

OUR GOD-GIVEN RESPONSIBILITY

Do we grasp the responsibility placed by God on us in these last days of the great controversy between Christ and Satan?

Wrote Ellen White: “In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light from the Word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import—the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention.”3 What a privilege and responsibility! We know how things will end.

One last generation will stand firm and love the Lord so much that it will obey Him. They will be sealed for eternity, established in all biblical truth so they cannot be moved.

That generation will participate in wonderful things—the latter rain and the completion of God’s work.

The earth will be illuminated with the glory of God (Rev. 18:1).

My prayer is that we will be that last generation. Maranatha.

Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1948), vol. 7, p. 138.

2 Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1911), p. 489.

3 E. G. White, Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 19.

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Robert Costa is an associate ministerial secretary and worldwide evangelism coordinator for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

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Devotional

Whose Fight Is It, Anyway?

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t wasn’t what we wanted to hear. The specialist physician was discussing another treatment plan, for the first treatment had been unsuccessful. He described a new plan of attack to get to the bottom of the many unknown causes of the health challenges I had been battling for the past two years. He was purposeful but gentle in his eye contact as he confidently articulated the new plan. By all accounts he had an impeccable bedside manner—an unspoken language all its own that I unconsciously reciprocated.

As he left the room, directing us to the administrative desks to make a follow-up appointment, I couldn’t hide my discouragement. Fear crept into my heart. I had been unwell for two years, and we had still found no answers. Instinctively, my wife squeezed my hand and told me to go ahead and make the follow-up appointment. It was her quiet encouragement to keep pushing through.

did you know?” I saw tears roll down her face. I felt my own tears welling up in my eyes. We both knew that this was no coincidence—God had spoken to us in a very special way.

At that very moment I sensed God’s blessing through a palpable peace that swept my heart and mind. The fear of the unknown was gone. Sure, there was a new treatment plan I would have to embark upon, but I knew the burden of this battle was not mine to carry.

AN ASTONISHING ENCOUNTER

A POWERFUL PROMISE

I hurriedly walked to an empty chair along the row of administrative desks, longing to wrap up the appointment. As I sat down, a woman behind the desk smiled broadly and began inquiring about the best dates for my follow-up visit. As she looked through the schedule on her computer, I noticed a small Bible tucked away to the right of her workspace.

Forgetting the discussion of dates, I inquired about the Bible—mentioning that it was comforting to see it on her desk. She smiled again, then paused and pulled out a notecard from underneath the papers on her desk. She told me that she had brought her Bible to work because she was writing a card to her son, who was in a drug rehabilitation program, but couldn’t find the verse she had on her mind. She believed the verse was in the New Testament, and just as she was about to describe the sentiment of the text on her mind, I impulsively blurted out: “It’s Philippians 4:19. ‘And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’ Is that the verse you’re looking for?”

I felt my heart thumping. Where had that come from? I thought. She stared at me in utter surprise, a look I will never forget, and quietly said, “Yes. How

Fear of the unknown can be crippling. King Jehoshaphat, one of Judah’s good kings, knew that too.

The joint forces of Moab, Ammon, and Edom were amassing their armies on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, ready to attack. Scripture tells us that “Jehoshaphat feared” (2 Chron. 20:3). In response to this fear, he turned his attention to God and prayed an emotionally raw prayer, claiming God’s past promises of leading His people to safety (cf. verses 5-12).

He didn’t pray in vain. God heard his anguished plea for help

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Photo: Alex Perez AW06-20ENG

I felt my heart thumping. Where had that come from? I thought. and spoke through an ordinary Levite named Jahaziel.1 Through Jahaziel God gave a promise to King Jehoshaphat and his people that would silence their fears: “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s” (verse 15).

God told His people “not to be afraid” before declaring that the battle itself—that which they feared the most—was not actually theirs. Notice, God did not say that His people would not have to face the enemy. King Jehoshaphat still had to meet the combined armies, but, crucially, Israel would not have to fight the battle. God lovingly took away the most harrowing part of the experience, the battle itself, and carried it squarely on His own shoulders.

A GOD WHO FIGHTS FOR US

This promise is echoed loudly throughout Scripture. There is perhaps no more powerful articulation of this promise than when it was spoken to the Israelites trying to flee the suffocating suppression of Egyptian tyranny. The early moments of release into freedom

seemed fleeting as their hearts quickened to the all-too-familiar sound of the unchained chariots of Egypt’s fiercest warriors eagerly pursuing them. Israel’s fear was further compounded when they realized that their path forward was blocked by the Red Sea. They felt trapped. Moses, however, was unshaken. With a rallying cry he rose up, and boldly told the Israelites not to be afraid, for “the Lord will fight for you” (Ex. 14:14).

God’s promise, given through Moses to the Israelites during the Exodus, is no different from the promise God gave to King Jehoshaphat. God would bear the burden of the battle. It’s a promise we can confidently claim in our own lives today as we face COVID-19.

But there is something deeply personal in the way Moses articulated this promise. Read carefully the words again: “The Lord will fight for you.” The statement illustrates a choice. Our heavenly Father chooses to fight for us. This provides a powerful glimpse into His character and His undeniable love for us. God goes to any length to fight for us.

The cross is the best evidence.

Let this thought sink in for a moment. There are no more profound words of assurance in our walk with God than to know that He is willing to fight any battle necessary to bring us back to His heart.

Whatever fear we may hold, whatever battle we may be trying to fight alone, we are invited to claim the promise that the burden of the battle is not ours to carry, because God fights for us. Ellen White put this magnificently: “Do not be troubled.

Jesus loves you, and will care for and bless you. The active, aggressive battle you can no more fight, but you can let Jesus fight it for you.”2 Intriguingly, Jahaziel means “God sees.” His name already carries a promise.

2 Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases (Silver Spring, Md.: Ellen G. White Estate, 1990), vol. 12, p. 304.

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Daniel Bruneau takes care of creative strategy and branding at Adventist Review Ministries. He and his wife, Sierra, and their recently born daughter, Adelaide, live near Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

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Faith in Action

God Answers Prayer

But sometimes in unusual ways!

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od sometimes answers prayers in mysterious ways. He answered my prayer through my angry mother.

I was raised in a Methodist family but rarely attended church. When the rest of my family went to church, I would stay home and read. I was an avid reader and devoured everything readable, except religious material.

My older brother, Romeo, had joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and he had many religious books—but I had no interest in reading them. I thought Christian books were boring. Later, when my brother got married and left home, he took all his books with him except for one—The Great Controversy.

Things became a bit financially tight for our family, and no extra pocket money was available. That meant I couldn’t buy books. I became desperate for something to read. So one day I picked up The Great Controversy and flipped through its pages. I noticed the phrase “investigative judgment.” I didn’t know what that meant, but it intrigued me because it sounded like a detective story.

Christian books might not be so boring after all, I thought, and sat down to read it.

A LIFE-CHANGING BOOK

I was impressed with the book. It wasn’t what I’d expected, but I wasn’t disappointed. I wanted to read more by the same author.

“Have you more books by Ellen White?” I asked my brother.

He looked at me with puzzlement. Then he gave me Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, The Desire of Ages, Steps to Christ, and others.

I read them all, and they changed my life. I now felt a need to accept Jesus into my life, and I wanted to go 20

to church. But I wasn’t sure which church to go to—the Methodist church of my family, or the Adventist church.

I prayed to God for guidance.

AN ANGRY MOTHER

One day my mother became very angry at something I’d done. She shouted, “You’re so unruly because you don’t go to church! This Saturday you must start going to the Adventist church that your brother goes to. He was once just as unruly as you are. But after he became an Adventist, he became a good man and married a good Adventist woman. I want you to go to that church!”

She stormed out as I sat in silence. I then realized that God had used my angry mother to answer my prayer.

FOLLOWING GOD’S LEADING

The following Sabbath I went to the Dangamvura Central Adventist Church in Mutare, where I lived. Mutare is the fourth-largest city in Zimbabwe, situated on the eastern border with Mozambique. It was the same church my brother Romeo attended, and he gasped when he saw me walk in.

“You mean those books achieved what I failed to do for so long?” he asked.

I joined a Bible study class, and a year later I was baptized. In time I became a deacon, later head deacon, then an elder. I also married a wonderful Adventist woman. We now have two children.

God used a book, a lack of finances, and an angry mother to lead me to Him. I’m eternally grateful.

Rodrick Chinodakufa is a freelance writer who lives in Mutare, Zimbabwe.

June 2020 AdventistWorld.org AW06-20ENG

Millennial Voices

Connect, Worship, Grow

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veryone seeks love, connection, and rewarding relationships.

Often, when we experience a challenge in sharing or expressing our opinions or emotions, we tend to disconnect and, at times, disappear.

I’ve seen this happen to the youth in our church—even as a teenager living in Lebanon or in India. Adventist researchers have long told us that the number of young people worshipping in our churches on Sabbath has been in decline. I have seen this in the places around the world where I have lived. I have long wondered about this challenge and often looked for solutions and ways that work. I found one possible approach when I came into contact with the Grow Community in Manila, Philippines.

My first experience worshipping with the Grow Community was during a retreat the church had organized. The worship was simple and rejuvenating. I was instantly drawn by welcoming smiles, the warmth of the praise, and the quality worship service. I felt inspired by the excitement of the young adults who contributed to the worship. That was my generation. As people shared, I felt at ease to open up and share in turn.

I got into a conversation with one of the members, and she related the inspiring journey of this community of believers. As she described how Project Grow blossomed into the Grow Community, from a group of friends in a café to a community of worshippers, her testimony reflected hope, gratitude, and a continual dependence on God’s leading.

On another occasion I witnessed a baptism. The entire congregation surrounded the pool in celebration of a newly surrendered life. The

fellowship lunch, followed by group discussions and activities, added meaning to the worship service. As I spoke to the pastor, I could see his passion for God’s work taking root in the lives of the members. Project Grow was truly a place “where God’s story and our story meet,” as found in their online description. When our stories meet God’s story, transformation is inevitable.

As I witnessed this, I was reminded of a statement by John Piper: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”* That day I was immensely blessed by the worship experience.

It’s easy for worship to become isolated from our everyday experience.

At times it becomes an obligation to be performed instead of a response to God’s amazing love. When worship is driven by our spiritual walk with the Lord, our lives reflect His love, grace, and compassion.

All over the globe young adults look for evidence that God is real. They wish to belong to a church made up of people who know God and who are willing to help others know Him. When we experience meaningful worship day in and day out, others, especially young adults, are attracted to the God we worship. When people are valued and accepted, they feel welcomed. They experience true worship and the transforming power of God’s grace. Church, a community of believers, is where disconnected young people connect with their Maker. * John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions, 3rd ed.

(Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010), p. 31.

Beersheba Jacob serves as human resources coordinator and assistant to the vice president at Lowry Memorial College, Bangalore, India. She is married to Andrew.

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Feature

The Power of Strategy I Will Go is the 2020-2025 strategic plan of the world church.

Adventist World associate editor Gerald Klingbeil met virtually with Michael Ryan, former General Conference vice president who now serves as assistant to the president. Ryan chairs the strategic planning committee of the world church and introduced the 2020-2025 strategic plan, I Will Go, at the recent Spring Meeting of the General Conference.

You have been involved in strategic planning for the church for the past 15 years. Why is it important for the Adventist Church to think strategically? Shouldn’t we just get on with the Great Commission?

God is the most organized and detailed planner we will ever know. He tells us through the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy what the Great Commission really means. The Holy Spirit guides men and women to work with angels in delivering God’s plan of hope for a lost world. Strategic planning intentionally endeavors to align the energy of the church with the mission as defined

by God in His Word. Our strategic plan is developed in the context of (1) accepting the clear biblical mission mandate; (2) working with quantitative and qualitative data as a resource; (3) working with all of God’s partners to develop effective and efficient plans; and (4) sharply defining the mission, vision, and resources of the church.

Why does the plan have three different sections, focusing on mission, spiritual growth, and leadership?

These three core subjects are the great inclusive themes of the Bible.

Much of the organization of God’s work throughout the Bible is structured around these three themes. Together they provide a home for focused objectives that begin to narrow our efforts and guide the church to avoid such things as becoming political lobbyists or seeking the approval and recognition of the world surrounding us. Focusing upon these three themes 22

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not only responds to what God has asked us to do, but because they are biblical, they establish a foundation for God’s blessing.

Which of the 10 objectives do you find the most important, and why?

That’s a difficult question. The foundation of the church is Jesus, and our relationship with Him determines the purpose of our lives and our destiny. However, the church is organized for the purpose of mission, and mission benefits from the wide application of all the gifts God provides His people. All 10 objectives are vital to the life of the church. I like to say, “A fan operates best with more than one blade.”

What does this plan mean practically for individual church members? How can they get involved?

The meaning of I Will Go cannot be misunderstood. Get involved!

We are a church of many gifts and talents. All these gifts and talents are worthless outside the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Even the most humble or simple talent, used with the Holy Spirit’s blessing, can transform the world. I challenge every leader to find ownership for each key performance indicator (KPI). I challenge every member to study the KPIs—pray about your involvement in each of the three themes. Ask God to direct and help you. Then roll up your sleeves and go to work. God will help you. He will help us as a church. Through I Will Go, Jesus will reach the world.

Photo: Julentto Photography AW06-20ENG

ILaunch WILL GO Weekend July 3-4, 2020

Join us for a time of stories, testimonies, videos, music, and prayer.

Enjoy presentations by Mark Finley (evangelist and author of the third quarter 2020 Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide focusing on Total Member Involvement) and Ted N. C. Wilson (president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists).

Friday evening, July 3, 2020 Sabbath morning, July 4, 2020

For viewing details, visit IWillGo2020.org/launch

Capture the vision of the Reach the World: I Will Go strategic plan.

WE WILL GO I WILL GO

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I WILL GO

I WILL GO

I WILL GO

I WILL GO I WILL GO

I WILL GO

Feature

The Great Equalizer The world is learning what the vulnerable have always known: there is no hope without education.

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or many of us, these past few months have allowed us to experience what it’s like to have an out-of-school child. Not home for the summer or holidays, but homeschooling, trying to maintain curriculum goals on schedule without proper access to all the things that make school great.

This disruption to normal life— among other side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic—will prove to be a footnote in the narrative of our lives: the time we all tried homeschooling. For some, it reinforces the value of the education system.

For others, it was an unexpected distraction filled with blanket forts, virtual learning, and endless sessions of arts and crafts.

If normalcy is here by the time you read this, we will be glad that our children are no longer out of school but simply enjoying a break.

Months from now, they will likely return to their educators, resources, playgrounds, and peers, and it will be a bittersweet back-to-school time once again.

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EMPATHY BORN IN CRISIS

For 264 million children—the number of kids worldwide who are not attending school—looking forward to classroom time is a cruel daydream. Now that our own children have missed out on their normal educational routines, if only for a few months, we can begin to imagine what it would be like if temporary disruptions to schooling became permanent.

Imagine for a moment that your 8-year-old child has never been to primary (elementary) school. Your child has never participated in a class discussion, has never raised a hand to answer a math problem, has never had a formal opportunity to learn to read and write. For 25 million children in this age group, that scenario is reality. Your hypothetical 8-year-old would be counted among the children who have never seen the inside of a classroom, and—without intervention—likely never will.

Those statistics are even worse if that child is a girl or a refugee

or requires special education.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), twice as many girls as boys will never start school.1 In addition, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) states that refugee children are five times more likely to be out of school than their nonrefugee peers.2 The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that 90 percent of children with disabilities in the developing world are not in school.3 This is Rafeef’s world. The 10-year-old Syrian refugee suffers from a debilitating genetic disorder in her spinal cord, and though she may not know these official statistics, she certainly knows how it feels to be out of school. Because her condition affects her vision, mobility, and ability to learn in traditional settings, Rafeef requires special assistance. But in Lebanon, where Rafeef lives, special assistance can be hard to come by.

“Children with special needs Photo: ADRA AW06-20ENG

require special care,” says Rita Haddad, a project manager for ADRA in Lebanon. “Even girls without special needs are undervalued here in Lebanon. A girl with special needs is given no priority.” ADRA ABILITY is a project tailored to the needs of children with physical and mental challenges such as Rafeef, and is working with her and her family to provide what ADRA believes to be inalienable: equal access to quality education.

Now Rafeef studies one on one with Ahlam, a tutor with the ADRA ABILITY project. Together they work through a curriculum designed to meet her needs. “In Lebanon, if you don’t help girls with special needs, they have no future or hope,” Ahlam says. “A girl with a disability is thought to be incapable of anything. The parents will just try to marry her off to a much older man.”

Early marriage and disability are only two of the many circumstances that keep kids out of school. Other factors include

war, poverty, natural disaster, and hunger. In Maputo, Mozambique, chronic malnutrition rates are more than 30 percent, and ADRA has found half of the students in the area to be underweight. To counter this, ADRA partners with Rise Against Hunger, providing hot lunches of rice and soy with dehydrated vegetables fortified with multivitamins. For some students, this school feeding initiative (SFI) provides the only meal they will receive each day.

Just ask Elison. The sixth-grade student would often miss school so he could help his parents, or because he was simply too hungry to walk to school and focus on his studies. Now the 12-year-old can finally sit in a classroom and focus on the lesson, instead of the gnawing hunger in his stomach. “We don’t always have food at home,” he says. “My parents don’t have work, so I don’t bring food to school.”

By providing a nutritious hot lunch each day, ADRA encourages children to recognize school as a place to feed body and mind. As a result, children now attend school in record numbers. “There has been an increase in the number of students,” says Rumbi Muzembi, emergency response coordinator for ADRA in Mozambique. “We started with 9,366, and now we have 13,453 students.”

Those numbers are consistent across southern Africa, where the project has been implemented.

Since 2017, ADRA’s school feeding initiative has been improving nutrition and access to education for nearly 50,000 schoolchildren in Mozambique, Eswatini, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, and Malawi.

EVERY CHILD. EVERYWHERE. IN SCHOOL.

of children, and in light of dire statistics that continue to paint a grim picture for children everywhere, ADRA and the Seventh-day Adventist Church have partnered to ensure that every child, everywhere, has a chance to go to school.

The campaign “Every Child.

Everywhere. In School.” is a partnership built on a common mutual goal: to serve so all may live as God intended. This partnership unites the global faith community of the Seventh-day Adventist Church with the technical skills and historic success of ADRA. By mobilizing the faith community, influencing world leaders and decision-makers on education-related policies, and implementing projects that build on successful programs such as ADRA ABILITY and SFI, ADRA and the Adventist Church believe we can ensure every child everywhere has an opportunity to go to school.

Education changes lives.

Education elevates children out of conflict, disaster, and poverty.

Education equips children with tools for success. And education inspires children to dream big.

With your help, we can extend hope for a bright future to every child, everywhere.

To learn more about how ADRA is supporting out-of-school children and how you can help, visit ADRA.org/ InSchool. www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/ twice_as_many_girls_as_boys_will_never_start_school_says_une/ 2 www.unhcr.org/en-us/missing-out-state-of-education-for-theworlds-refugees.html 3 www.globalpartnership.org/blog/children-disabilities-face-longest-road-education 1

Michael Kruger, originally from South Africa, is president of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.

Because of the success of ADRA’s many projects to improve the lives AdventistWorld.org June 2020

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Bible Questions Answered

Uniquely His Q

Why is human life considered so valuable?

Like the animals, we live, then die.

A

Even those who deny the existence of God marvel at the nature of a life in a cosmos that, in what they regard as an accident, is found only on this planet. For those who accept the biblical narrative of Creation, human life is even more valuable and mysterious. Let me share a few thoughts.

1. A DISTINCTIVE ORIGIN OF LIFE

In any of its forms, life on this planet is a wonder and a mystery. Scientists are still searching for the origin of life, suggesting that it is part of a cosmic narrative—the narrative of cosmic natural evolution.

The biblical description of the origin of human life (Gen. 1; 2) comes to us in the form of a narrative that is simple and profound. God created humans differently from any other life-form on the planet (Gen. 2:7). The text shows that in some ways we are like other living creatures, formed from the ground and having the breath of life (verse 19), but also that we are fundamentally different from them. While God caused animals to form from the ground through His spoken Word and having the breath of life, in the case of humanity He was a craftsman, forming a human being in His image and likeness, then breathing on him the breath of life (Gen. 1:26, 27; 2:7). This life originated in a unique way.

2. A DISTINCTIVE TYPE OF LIFE

On the sixth day God created the mind—a self-conscious life that looks at itself and wonders about its creation (Ps. 139:14). The human brain examines itself in the laboratory, and it is surprised and amazed at its own complexity and at the intricacies of its nature and function. It remains a mystery to itself. This unique piece of matter instinctively searches outside itself for 26

ultimate meaning; it searches for mind, not inert matter, to explain itself. It is satisfied when the Lord speaks, revealing to itself its origin and uniqueness.

It is also unique in that it can explore the rest of the natural world. There was something wonderful, majestic, and mysterious in nature; and nature was invited to explore itself through the only center of created consciousness on the planet, the human mind.

Through this self-exploration, creation was going to be able to uncover the expression of God’s wisdom and power encoded within itself. God created mind to communicate with Mind.

3. A DISTINCTIVE PURPOSE FOR LIFE

The fact that human life was created in the image of God implies that humans are to reveal His character.

The first time He is introduced to us, God is a person at work, a creative person; the first thing He asked from humans was to be creative and productive. Their work contributed to preserve the beauty and order of nature.

During Creation week, God modeled for humanity their role as living creatures. They would be productive during six days, then on the seventh day they were to rest in order to commune and enjoy fellowship with the divine Mind. During the week human productivity would enrich the existence of all creatures by being totally and absolutely oriented toward the other.

Human life is actualized through creativity and productivity intended both to benefit others and to glorify God. This is the unique role of human life.

At times our lives may not manifest the divine ideal, because selfishness still lingers. But Christ took our unproductive lives upon Himself on the cross in order for us to receive from Him the imputation of His own life, the most creative and productive life in the universe. His sacrifice makes our lives infinitely valuable.

Angel Manuel Rodríguez is a former director of the Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference. He is now retired, living in Texas, United States.

June 2020 AdventistWorld.org AW06-20ENG

Health & Wellness

Protecting Your Child’s Well-being When Confined to Home We invited Dr. Kiti Freier Randall, a renowned pediatric neurodevelopmental psychologist who serves as director of Psychological Services for the Department of Pediatrics at Loma Linda University Health Care, to help us with this question.—Doctors.

With stay-at-home mandates, teleworking, and children doing school (and everything else!) from home, how can we prevent screen and device use from becoming even more addictive?

V

iewing content must be monitored and limited. Particularly now, screentime should be used for two primary purposes: at-home schooling and to build on healthy relationships. Other uses should be restricted to no more than one hour per day for children 2-5 years old, and no more than two hours per day for those 6 years and older.

Also, no screentime during meals and at least 90 minutes before bed is recommended because of its impact on metabolism and sleep. For families who already have children with technology addiction, a helpful resource is Reset Your Child’s Brain, by Victoria Dunckley.* Plenty of rest, eating well, and drinking lots of water will boost immune and mental health and resilience. Patterned movement (exercise, not just activity) is a powerful alternative to “techno-isolationism” in young families and critical to immune health. Engaging with our children in jumping jacks, skipping rope, or animal races (hopping, crawling) will benefit both them and ourselves.

Routine is critical for our well-being. God gave us a world of routine (weekly/seasonal cycles). Despite the disruption, self-impose a schedule as close to your regular routine as possible. This is particularly important for children; they need to “trust” their environment. Having a routine provides them with the expectation of how things will go, and they won’t want to “test the limits” as often. Include time with

parents or older siblings for arts and crafts, storytelling, and music. Develop the schedule together with the family so they’re clear on new expectations.

Service is another area that boosts immune health and builds resiliency.

Be creative as to what service looks like during a stay-at-home mandate. Cleaning your children’s closet/room with them, making donation boxes, sending self-made cards and letters to family and friends (particularly seniors), calling grandparents, helping with household activities—all these things, when done together with parents, provide a boost to well-being.

One of the most impactful elements on immune health and resiliency is that of gratitude. Spending the first moments of each day in a spirit of gratitude can create a less stressful environment for the whole day.

Finally, the key to curbing an appetite for technology and building resiliency and our immune system for all of us is relationship! How do we do that while keeping social distance—which is critical in our global battle with the coronavirus? Words are powerful; please keep a physical social distance (six feet, or two meters), but maintain social support and emotional connection. Let’s be even more mindful now that as a family we can send a prayer, smile, letter/card, e-mail, phone call, video, or social media contact. Let’s keep one another supported in healthy relationships.

Most important, make your family’s priority the transforming relationship with our Divine Healer. * Victoria L. Dunckley, M.D., Reset Your Child’s Brain (Novato, Calif.: New World Library, 2015).

Peter N. Landless, a board-certified nuclear cardiologist, is director of Adventist Health Ministries at the General Conference.

Zeno L. Charles-Marcel, a board-certified internist, is an associate director of Adventist Health Ministries at the General Conference.

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“Though the Winds Blow . . .”

Y

“May I Tell You a Story?”

BY DICK DUERKSEN

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June 2020 AdventistWorld.org

ou will not recognize the structure as a church. If you notice it at all, it will be because of a shiny motorcycle parked outside, or from the sound of gospel music coming through the doorway.

But the black-plastic lump is a church, a beautiful Seventh-day Adventist church standing on the side of a main road in the islands of the Sundarbans in West Bengal, India.

Grandma started the church when her daughter-in-law, a young Gospel Outreach worker, shared many unbelievable and wondrous stories of “the God who loves you.” Not being able to contain her excitement, Grandma invited neighbors to join her in studying the Bible and praying. The meetings quickly overflowed from her simple kitchen to the small strip of clay that served as the entrance to her two-room home. ***

It was a perfect spot for the growing group of new Christians to meet.

Cramped but cool beneath the spreading limbs of a giant tree.

The congregation quickly outgrew the entryway.

“No one owns the land at the edge of the road,” one of the new believers told Grandma. “Let’s build a church here beside your house.”

“Won’t the government be angry?”

“Not until they choose to widen the road!”

The worshippers had no money to purchase building material like concrete, bricks, or steel, but collected an offering that covered the cost of a load of long bamboo, a load of black plastic, and a cartful of bright-green plastic with dark-green stripes. They tore strong strips from their banana trees and used those to tie the bamboo into a church structure. No one remembers how much time it took, but before long the church was ready for services.

One worshipper, a woman, took her brass temple idols into town and had them recast into a church bell. Then on a memorable Sabbath morning she told what she had done, and hung the new bell from a bamboo rafter at the front Photo: Dick Duerksen AW06-20ENG

of the church. They borrowed a simple sound system, polished the floor, and covered it with orange-and-yellow plastic, hung shiny bangles from the roof, and opened the door on Sabbath morning.

The church, prettier than a stainedglass cathedral, now has nearly a score of men and even more women sitting on the floor, reading Scripture, singing energetically, listening to sermons, and praying long, emotional, hope-filled prayers every Sabbath. And Friday evening. And many other times during the week when members feel the pull of worship.

Since Grandma’s daughter-in-law, the Gospel Outreach worker, is in her 30s, the church quickly filled with her friends and other young men and women from the community. More and more came to visit, and the members added a table up front, a storage cabinet for Bibles, a lightbulb, an electric fan, and a red-and-white cross with a purple flower lei (or garland).

On Sabbath afternoons teachers and students from the nearby Sundarban Seventh-day Adventist School come to the plastic church, share in a quick potluck meal, then divide into a dozen groups to visit everyone who lives nearby.

The students, many of whom come from Hindu, Muslim, or animist backgrounds, give Bible studies and invite neighbors to come to the church for singing, prayers, and worship. Neighbors love the students, and church attendance is beginning to stretch the plastic walls. *** For the past few years students from Sunnydale Adventist Academy in the American state of Missouri have been coming to the Sundarbans on mission trips. They have gone door to door in villages, played soccer with the children, and led evangelism meetings in small churches. During March 2020, Sunnydale students joined with students from the Sundarban Adventist School to hold evangelistic meetings at the plastic church.

Together they taught wonderful stories of “the God who loves you,” stretching the church walls even further.

In November 2019, West Bengal was struck by Bulbul, a monster cyclone.

Thousands of trees were uprooted and tossed through houses. Dry land became mud and washed away. Roads were destroyed by raging rivers. Buildings were crushed and blown and smashed.

Remember the “limbs of the giant tree” that had sheltered the worshippers when “church” was in the entryway to Grandma’s house? Grandma prayed about the tree all night during the cyclone, pleading with God to save the tree and the church. Late in the night Grandma heard the wind attack her tree. The “crack” and “crash” that nearly bounced her out of bed. Terrified, she crawled to the doorway and found limbs, leaves, and branches blocking the entrance. Expecting that the church was now just trash beneath the tree, she returned to bed in tears.

The next morning most of the church family came to see what had happened.

Pulling the branches and leaves aside, they saw that the tree had fallen in the small slot between Grandma’s house and the church. It filled the entryway that had served as the “old church,” but left the “new church” and Grandma’s house unbroken.

News of “the tree that fell but saved the plastic church” spread through the villages, and people came to admire God’s careful work. Many stayed for worship.

Come early if you plan to visit for Sabbath worship this week. The plastic church will be overflowing. Bring your Bible and hymnal but prepare to leave your shoes beside the front door. You’ll love the singing, the prayers, the testimonies, and the sermon. Stay all day if you’d like, but be sure to take a look at the tree stump out back. The limbs and leaves are long gone, but you’ll notice that the stump still leans toward the entryway to Grandma’s house. It points toward the one safe spot where it could fall and do no damage. Right where angels helped it to fall. Right into the arms of “the God who loves you.”

Publisher The Adventist World, an international periodical of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The General Conference, Northern Asia-Pacific Division of Seventh-day Adventists®, is the publisher.

Executive Editor/Director of Adventist Review Ministries Bill Knott International Publishing Manager Hong, Myung Kwan Adventist World Coordinating Committee Si Young Kim, chair; Yukata Inada; Joel Tompkins; Hong, Myung Kwan; Han, Suk Hee; Lyu, Dong Jin Associate Editors/Directors, Adventist Review Ministries Lael Caesar, Gerald A. Klingbeil, Greg Scott Editors based in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA Sandra Blackmer, Stephen Chavez, Costin Jordache, Wilona Karimabadi Editors based in Seoul, Korea Hong, Myung Kwan; Park, Jae Man; Kim, Hyo-Jun Digital Platforms Director Gabriel Begle Operations Manager Merle Poirier Editorial Assessment Coordinator Marvene Thorpe-Baptiste Editors-at-Large/Advisors Mark A. Finley, John M. Fowler, E. Edward Zinke Financial Manager Kimberly Brown Distribution Coordinator Sharon Tennyson Management Board Si Young Kim, chair; Bill Knott, secretary; Hong, Myung Kwan; Karnik Doukmetzian; Han, Suk Hee; Yutaka Inada; Gerald A. Klingbeil; Joel Tompkins; Ray Wahlen; Ex-officio: Juan Prestol-Puesán; G. T. Ng; Ted N. C. Wilson Art Direction and Design Types & Symbols To Writers: We welcome unsolicited manuscripts. Address all editorial correspondence to 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600, U.S.A. Editorial office fax number: (301) 680-6638 E-mail: worldeditor@gc.adventist.org Web site: www.adventistworld.org Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible references are taken from the New King James Version®.

Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Texts credited to NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission.

All rights reserved worldwide.

Unless otherwise noted, all prominent photos are © Getty Images 2020.

Adventist World is published monthly and printed simultaneously in Korea, Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, Germany, Austria, Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States.

Vol. 16, No. 6

Dick Duerksen, a pastor and storyteller, lives in Portland, Oregon, United States.

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Growing Faith

Fun-filled pages for younger ages

Welcomed to Sabbath School

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hen I was a kid, I hated visiting new churches. You see, I was kind of a shy person as a kid (even now). It’s tough for me to go to new places where I don’t know anyone and feel comfortable. When we traveled and visited a local church and I had to attend their Sabbath School, it was a difficult experience. Kids would often turn around and stare at me. No one would smile, except at the kids they already knew. Sometimes the teacher was very friendly 30

June 2020 AdventistWorld.org

and welcoming, but I would get really embarrassed if they called my name out, because then the kids would all turn around and stare at me again. I couldn’t wait for it to be over so I could hide in the pew with my family during the service. Have you ever felt like this?

Do you know what really helps newcomers to a church or Sabbath School, or Pathfinder club, or even just to potluck?

Friendly faces and people just making others feel at home and welcome. When those things

are not there, don’t be surprised if you never see those visitors again. And you know what?

That’s a really sad thing.

So what can you do? Read through these tips to find out!

1. Put a smile on your face.

Smile, smile, smile. If you aren’t feeling “smiley” that day, ask Jesus to help you make it real.

When you look around and see a shy new face, that smile can act like a welcoming beam of sunshine.

2. If you see someone new come to Sabbath School and Illustration: Xuan Le AW06-20ENG

BY WILONA KARIMABADI

Bible Treasure “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Rom. 15:7, ESV).*

look around for a place to sit, invite them over to sit with you.

If they plant themselves in the back row because they feel better there, get up and join them.

3. Introduce yourself. “Hi, I’m Wilo. What’s your name?”

4. If there are parts of the program that involve splitting up into groups, make sure you include this new person.

5. If there is a snacktime or some other special thing after class is over, show impeccable manners by serving your new friend first.

6. You might be shy yourself, so I completely understand that being this outgoing can be tough for you. But at the very least, you can wave “hello.”

7. If your Sabbath School doesn’t have this in place yet, talk to your teacher about getting a nice but inexpensive little gift for new people. And go a step further by volunteering to be the kid that spots new kids and gives this special gift to them. This is also a great way to start a conversation.

I hope you will take these tips

and make your Sabbath School a truly special place for anyone who wanders in.

LET US KNOW!

If you have other great suggestions for welcoming new faces to your church and Sabbath School, we’d love to hear about it. E-mail kidsview@ adventistreview.org. *Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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EMERGENCY RESPONSE

These are unprecedented times, and the world is facing uncertainty and fear.

ADRA remains committed to serving all humanity affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, as a humanitarian organization, we can’t serve without you.

Help us provide continued support to help those most in need.

This crisis isn’t affecting just some, but all.

Let’s help each other, together.

Donate today at ADRA.org/EndCovid19.

20-043.08 | Photo: © 2020 ADRA Argentina | Elián Giaccarini

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