Adventist World May 2023 English

To the Whole World

16 He Did It

The Synergy of Synchrony

By Justin Kim

A lot divides us as a church. With nearly 22 million members, we are in constant threat of global discord, which is why we must continuously emphasize what unites us as a movement. We are united in what we believe about God: the 28 Fundamental Beliefs. We are united in how our governance is conducted: the Church Manual. We are united when we study the Bible with the Sabbath School Bible study guides. We are united in mission, in giving, and in service for Christ. Last, we are united in our global communication through the journals of the Adventist Review and Adventist World

With other unifying events such as the General Conference Session, camp meetings, and other regional convocations, Adventists devote a premium to these resources. Why? Because of synergy.

The world is comprised of nearly 200 nations, thousands of cultures and languages, tens of thousands of people groups, and, after November 2022, 8 billion individuals. The church has been tasked to reach this entire world: “to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people” (Rev. 14:6).

How can our movement do that, especially one that is unstable, transient, division-prone, and full of fallen and broken human beings? Vesta M. Kelly said, “Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together.” Unity points our movement to focus, purpose, order, resources, momentum, and ultimately, synergy.

What exactly is synergy? It’s the extra output that is greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, if A and B are 1 each, but combining A and B equals 5, that extra 3 is precious synergy. Unity isn’t some political, fluffy mantra, but a medium for productive results. And we miss out on this synergy when we work in isolation.

Not a national, local, or congregational movement, the last-day remnant church is a global one. With potential to overcome global discord, imagine how much synergy is possible with 22 million working together. Furthermore, not only horizontal synergy, but imagine how much vertical “synergy” is possible when linked with divine resources. Not a homogeneous church of one country, one culture, one language, or one people group, but “there is one body and one Spirit, . . . one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph. 4:4-6).

Better is a house in synchrony than in solitude. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and in the great love of our Father, may we stick together to complete the mission mandate of Jesus.

Sandra Blackmer

Jae Man Park

Cover image: Pacific Press Publishing Association

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.

ADRA volunteers unload heaters provided through ADRA Romania after a 7.8 earthquake struck southern and central Türkiye and northern and western Syria on February 6, 2023. ADRA was one of the first NGOs on the ground after the disaster.

Photo: Nikolay Stoykov/Adventist Media Exchange (CC BY 4.0)

More Than 1,500

The number of Seventh-day Adventist communicators, digital evangelists, and influencers throughout Chiapas, Mexico, who gathered for a first-ever Global Adventist Internet Network (GAiN) conference. The event took place on February 17 and 18 in Tuxtla Gutiérrez. The hundreds crowding the Chiapas Convention Center, mostly young people, were encouraged to embrace every opportunity to serve the church with their gifts and with tools provided during the event.

—Sugih Sitorus, president of West Indonesia Union Mission, during the opening service of a new hospital in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The 51-bed, state-of-the-art hospital will offer comprehensive medical services to the inhabitants of Palangka Raya and nearby communities. General medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and critical care are among the services the new hospital will provide.

Adventist Review Newsletter

—Paul Ranking, thrift shop manager, about a new collaboration between Avondale University and one of the largest thrift shops in Australia, run by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). The collaboration between the two entities brings affordable counseling to the local community.

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—Gilbert Cangy, director of the South Pacific Division Centre for Discipleship, about the Catalyst initiative. This program is for young people and others searching for their purpose. The experience is immersive: participants spend a week in the wilderness before heading to Avondale University to gain a deeper understanding of Scripture, to learn Christian history, and to understand the uniqueness of the Adventist message. The program takes three months to complete.

More Than

6,000

The number of new baptized members at the end of the Earth’s Final Countdown hybrid evangelistic series in Davao, in southern Philippines. The hybrid evangelistic initiative took place at the Davao del Sur Coliseum in Digos City, where more than 10,000 church members gathered, and it was simultaneously broadcast on more than 27 Adventist radio stations and eight television stations.

“After our working extensively with the community, one of the largest needs we’ve identified is mental health. So we think offering counseling at an affordable rate will help.”

“We believe Catalyst will see the emergence of a new culture of engagement for our young people in the church, so they are equipped and empowered to take their place at the center of the life and mission of the church. They will be a huge asset to growing our local churches and church plants—this is a tangible way to future-proof our church.”

“The Adventist hospital in Palangka Raya will offer critical health-care services to our community while maintaining a dedication to quality and compassion. It will be a place where individuals and families can receive medical care and emotional and spiritual support, which is critical to healing,”

—Luis Rivera, president of the Puerto Rican Union, to attendees of a lay, ministerial, and Sabbath School festival. The event sought to acquaint pastors with the GROW Your Church initiative of the Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Department of the General Conference. It also sought to support a church community that has been significantly affected by emigration in recent years. More than 700 lay leaders from across the island gathered at the Eliezer Meléndez Youth Center in the capital city of San Juan.

More Than

12,000

The number of church members that marched through the main streets of Bogotá, Colombia, in celebration of the church’s 100-year existence in the city. Senator Lorena Ríos Cuéllar of Colombia awarded a special recognition to the Seventh-day Adventist Church from the country’s Senate Committee for the spiritual, social, and humanitarian contribution of the church. The event also saw a special inauguration ceremony of the Esperanza Colombia Radio 96.3 FM station, which was acquired in 2022 thanks to the support of Adventist World Radio (AWR). The station reaches 14 million people in Bogotá and the metropolitan region.

—Ron Genebago, Southern AsiaPacific Division youth ministries director, about the 2023 Global Youth Day (GYD). This year’s event, dubbed “Love Is a Verb,” was a call to action for young people to positively impact their communities and the world. Young people involved in GYD initiatives were able to choose from a range of service activities, including providing food to the homeless, visiting elderly individuals, cleaning up the environment, and much more. The objective was to make an impact in the lives of individuals who are in need.

Photo: Mateo Orozco

“The Lord is coming, and He is counting on each member to fulfill His mission. Go back to your churches and share the fire you have received here. A fire always starts with just a spark. If you become that spark, it will eventually become a fire. Then we will finish the work and go home, because His light shall prevail.”

“The theme ‘Love Is a Verb’ emphasizes the need of putting love into action. It is not enough to merely speak about love or express your feelings for someone or something. Love requires action. It asks us to break out of our comfort zones and do something to serve others.”

Explosive Growth Drives Adventist Church in Africa

Andrew McChesney

“The Holy Spirit is moving in a powerful way in Africa as the Seventh-day Adventist Church experiences explosive growth that is giving members extraordinary opportunities to witness,” General Conference president Ted N. C. Wilson said after a whirlwind tour of eight countries.

Wilson, whose trip included visits with heads of state and tribal royalty, praised the faithfulness of church members and said Africa serves as an example of what the Holy Spirit can do worldwide.

“God is doing something amazing in Africa,” Wilson said. “We praise His name for the enormous growth and influence our members are now having on society because of their sheer numbers and faithful witness.”

The three-and-a-half-week visit started in Zambia, which has 1.2 million Adventists and, in 2015, was the first African country to reach 1 million members. Worldwide, the Adventist Church has 21.9 million members, according to the church’s Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research.

After Zambia, Wilson visited Kenya, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He wrapped up the trip with stops in

South Africa, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Lesotho, and Namibia.

Along the way, Wilson, accompanied by his wife, Nancy, visited Adventist hospitals, universities, schools, media organizations, and supporting ministries, and preached to crowds numbering in the thousands in packed stadiums and halls.

“We had wonderful meetings with our church members, who are on fire for TMI, ‘I Will Go,’ and evangelism,” Wilson said. TMI, or Total Member Involvement, and “I Will Go” are world church initiatives that challenge every church member to share their hope in Jesus’ soon coming with someone else.

Wilson also offered spiritual encouragement in one-on-one talks with such African leaders as Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema, an Adventist; Kenyan president William Samoei Ruto; and Democratic Republic of the Congo president Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo.

Other dignitaries he met included Lubosi Imwiko II, a Zambian tribal king whose predecessor gave land to the church where Yuka Adventist Hospital now stands; Mangosuthu Buthelezi, 94-year-old prince of the Zulu Kingdom in South Africa whose mother was an Adventist;

members of the Eswatini royal family, a number of whom are Adventists; the vice president of Namibia; the deputy prime minister of Lesotho and two national lawmakers who are Adventists; and a Kenyan governor and a group of national lawmakers who are Adventists.

Blasious Ruguri, president of the East-Central Africa Division, whose territory includes Kenya, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said he was especially moved by the meetings with the presidents of Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“It was a great blessing for both of them,” said Ruguri, who attended the meetings. “Pastor Wilson shared a number of things with them, including the closeness of the coming of the Lord Jesus as seen by the signs we all can see clearly.”

According to Ruguri, “members felt highly energized when the world leader read scriptures and quotes from the Spirit of Prophecy showing the important place they occupy in the drive to finish God’s work.”

Gideon Reyneke, executive secretary of the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division, described the impact of Wilson’s visit as “huge” on the division, whose territory includes South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Namibia.

“People saw and experienced that they are a significant part of the remnant family of God across the world in the Seventh-day Adventist Church,” he said.

Addressing church members everywhere, Wilson added, “The end of time is upon us, and the Holy Spirit is moving in a powerful way. Jesus is coming! Get involved!”

Photo: Andrew Silumesi/NKJ Media

Ted Wilson takes eight-country trip to encourage members.

Ted and Nancy Wilson greeting some of the more than 5,000 church members who were attending a meeting in Kitwe, Zambia, on January 28, 2023.

Adventist University in Argentina Opens Creation Center

Marcos Paseggi, Adventist World

In March a new resource center officially opened on the campus of River Plate Adventist University (RPAU) in Argentina. The new venue houses a museum and a laboratory and geoscience research classroom. Geoscience Research Institute leaders and school officials held a ceremony and preview of the facilities in late 2022. During the event leaders shared a brief outline of the project, including its physical plant specifications and goals.

Special guests at the ceremony included General Conference Geoscience Research Institute (GRI) director Ronald Nalin, South American Division GRI director Marcos Natal, and paleontologist and former RPAU GRI director Roberto Biaggi. RPAU leaders also attended the ceremony.

“I thank God and the GRI leaders for their support and active participation to make this center come true,” RPAU president Horacio Rizzo said. “This center will exert a powerful influence in our region and beyond to promote a creation-based worldview.”

Natal agreed. “I thank the Lord for being able to witness this moment. This kind of project is extremely important for the Adventist Church’s mission and the identity of its members as God’s people,” he said.

Nalin also shared his joy at participating in the ceremony and emphasized its significance. “This is another example of education within a framework of the connections between science and faith,” he said. The new RPAU GRI director is Samuel Abdala, who previously worked on projects at the GRI headquarters in Loma Linda, California, United States.

After the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony, leaders and guests toured the venue and browsed the resources already on display.

“This center has two people groups in mind especially,” Nalin said in an interview. “First, students, who often arrive at this higher educational institution without knowing enough about earth origins. This place will provide them with the knowledge, the didactic and educational tools, that will help them to find valuable answers to their questions,” he said.

The second group, Nalin continued, is the general public. “Undoubtedly this center will generate a network of connections with other educational institutions in the area that will visit the center,” he said.

“It will also draw researchers with geological or paleontological knowledge, who will be able to contribute to the discussions. Interactions such as these are usually very productive.”

Rizzo agreed. “This center is more than a museum. It is a custodian of local resources, with the goal of increasing, from a scientific point

Photo: River Plate Adventist University of view, the arguments that support a creationist worldview,” he said. “This is a space that will welcome area residents to explore resources that are usually not so easy to see. An example of these resources are fossil remains to be displayed.”

Beyond the scientific approach to the center, Rizzo emphasized, “one of the stated objectives of the new center is to acknowledge God’s creative hand in everything and admire the bountiful evidence found in our region.”

The new center will include the David Rhys Museum and the Geoscience Research Laboratory and Classroom, and it will serve as the branch office of Geoscience Research Institute at RPAU.

The David Rhys Museum will encourage the conservation and protection of the local paleontological, geological, and biodiversity heritage, leaders said. The Geoscience Research Laboratory and Classroom, on the other hand, will help students to learn more about topics related to biodiversity and the earth sciences.

Facilities include a museum and a laboratory and geoscience research classroom.

Church leaders and school officers participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new resource center.

Adventist Church in Costa Rica Inaugurates Radio Studio, Offices

Libna Stevens, Inter-American Division, and Adventist World

Seventh-day Adventist leaders in the South Central American Union Mission (SCAUM) inaugurated studios and offices of Radio Lira, a radio station operated by the Adventist Church, during a special ceremony in Alajuela, Costa Rica, on March 13. Officials of Adventist World Radio (AWR), a General Conference radio ministry, and regional administrators reflected on how God had led them to the 9.8-acre (nearly four-hectare) property overlooking the city of Alajuela.

“This is a miracle from God,” SCAUM president Ricardo Marin said. Marin thanked AWR for signing over the property. “We praise God for His goodness and vow to continue spreading the gospel of salvation,” he said.

A UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP WITH AWR

Radio Lira, established in 1983, has a unique relationship with AWR, one of its general vice presidents, Ray Allen, said. “This [property] used to be the center of AWR for this region,” Allen said. “I remember programs produced here . . . being broadcast shortwave to all Spanish-speaking countries.” The studio building was the AWR headquarters of the Americas, Allen explained, serving the Inter-American and South American divisions of the Adventist Church.

According to Allen, they tried to sell the property in 2004 because several AWR offices had to close in the region. “Anyone who came to look at it would say, ‘No, that’s not for me,’ and we wondered, How come? Look how beautiful . . . How can you resist a land like this? But

God kept this land as if saying, This site needs to be retained so you can continue to proclaim the gospel.

In a sense, Allen said, “this is a reinauguration. We have been here before with God, and today once again with God. May God continue to bless this property so the love embodied in the three angels’ messages can reach many more souls for God.”

The signing for the property took place in 2022 at AWR headquarters in the General Conference building, in Maryland, United States. Marin publicly thanked AWR president Duane McKey and former IAD president Israel Leito, who were instrumental in the transfer process.

SPREADING THE GOSPEL

Leaders believe that God preserved the property and its purpose for mission. “Everything we do should be about preaching this beautiful message of salvation, and we vow as a church to continue advancing and growing,” Marin said.

SCAUM communication director Royner Ramirez oversees production at Radio Lira, along with

a production director, a program director, a marketing director, and an assistant production director. Together they keep the station running 24 hours a day.

“We want to set up a proper Hope media center right here on this property to target viewers who need to know about Jesus and His love,” Ramirez said. A small television studio has been set up, but plans are being made for a complete media center.

“GOD’S BOOMERANG EFFECT”

Miguel Lara, who has been employed at Radio Lira for nearly two decades, said it is surreal to be back on the property doing what he has loved to do for so many years. He began working there as a student when he was 19 years old.

“I consider it a privilege to be part of a place where so much has been produced to spread the message of hope,” Lara said.

In a sense, Radio Lira is following in the footsteps of AWR, taking steps where AWR left off, Allen said. “I call it ‘God’s boomerang effect,’ where it all circles back.”

Photo: Libna Stevens/IAD

Property was a gift of AWR to the regional church administration.

Leaders tour the main production studio at the new Radio Lira offices

On ChatGPT, Education, and Compassion

Artificial intelligence must move from being datadriven to value-driven.

During a recent training I attended on crisis management, our instructor spent an inordinate amount of time praising ChatGPT. As I had no idea what he was referring to, I sneakily looked it up on my phone. ChatGPT, or Chat Generative Pretrained Transformer, is basically a chatbot, software used for online chat conversations, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and designed by OpenAI, a research laboratory in California, United States. ChatGPT can provide you with strikingly humanlike answers to any prompt.

But there is more! ChatGPT can write computer programs and compose music. It can even write essays and poetry. Demonstrating both its simplicity to use and powerful outcome, our instructor gave us a demo. All he did was connect ChatGPT to Google Forms and asked it to write the index for a paper on “crisis management” and some paragraphs too. After waiting just a couple of a seconds, voilà! In

front of us was a remarkably coherent and accurate text.

COPYRIGHT MATTERS

After I picked up my jaw from the floor, I asked what any author worth his/her soul would have asked: “What about copyright?” After all, ChatGPT was trained using a massive quantity of data from the Internet, some of which is copyrighted material. It turns out this is somewhat of a gray area.

At present, it is unclear if ChatGPT alters original works sufficiently to avoid copyright infringements. What’s clear is that OpenAI is not liable for damages. So if users are faced with a lawsuit, they are pretty much on their own.

Copyright implications aside, one thing is for sure: with Google also releasing its own chatbot named Bard, AI has become a part of our daily lives, now more than ever.

SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION

Almost everyone in my family is a teacher. So, unsurprisingly, once the training was over, my mind went straight to implications for education. Picking up the phone, I called my twin sister, Inés, who is a headteacher at a bilingual school in Argentina.

We talked for a while about how AI will force educational institutions to rethink plagiarism. But

soon we were navigating deeper waters, discussing assessment criteria and the core goals of education.

“I think AI developments will force us to focus even more on emotional literacy and critical thinking,” my sister said. “In a time when a computer can give you an answer in a nanosecond, our emphasis must be on discernment, not content regurgitation.”

WHAT ABOUT THE CHURCH?

As a church, we have often taken the simplistic approach of demonizing new technologies when faced with complex scenarios such as this. I believe this is a terrible mistake. First, such technology is not going to disappear, but also, the longer we delay engagement, the more vulnerable we are to potential abuses and less able to impact society for good. After all, unless the salt mixes with the food, it cannot give it flavor!

In addition, we must advocate for the value of compassion as a key component of AI. Compassion is not a word often associated with it. But I hope one day it will be. At least, it could be if we start teaching AI literacy and ethics. We can ensure that AI developments like ChatGPT significantly improve our lives and our society. Compassionate AI is not only possible but also absolutely necessary.

Only then will AI be able to make a significant contribution to our mission.

Photo: Zac Wolff

To the Whole World

BY SANDRA BLACKMER

The interview with Bill Johnsson was done on February 2, 2023, a few weeks before his unexpected death on March 11. The text remains as it was originally written.—Editors.

He had the date written in his calendar—February 18, 2004. William (Bill) Johnsson, then editor of Adventist Review, had scheduled an appointment with his boss, General Conference president Jan Paulsen, to discuss a problem. But when he walked into Paulsen’s office that day, the president quickly brushed aside Johnsson’s issue and raised one of his own.

“We need a magazine, a common vehicle, to help keep Adventists united throughout the world church,” Paulsen said. “And I would like the Adventist Review staff to explore ways to do that.”

The specific assignment? To send the church paper to approximately 1 million homes worldwide at no cost to the members, and to focus first on those world regions in which English is used. If funds later became available, the publication could be translated into additional languages.

Paulsen then added: “There is currently no budget available for this plan, and we can provide you with no extra staff. So after you’ve done all the work, it could come to nothing, because the money might not be there.”

EMBRACING THE IMPOSSIBLE 1

The task was daunting, but “Bill was immediately very enthusiastic about it,” Paulsen says. “What a wonderful idea—if we can pull it off,” he recalls Johnsson as saying.

Johnsson’s recollection is similar. “I was totally surprised,” he says, “but, frankly, very pleased.”

Describing the core mission of the publication as helping to “bind the church together to enhance the unity of our wonderfully diverse church,” Johnsson says he “personally felt it was a great need. A million thoughts went racing through my mind. I was only a couple months from my seventieth birthday, with plans to retire in the next year or two, but I let Elder Paulsen know that yes, I would be behind it; and I would try to get my staff to come on board as well.”

The idea for a global church paper wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment one for Paulsen, who served as General Conference president from 1999 to 2010. He’d felt a burden for many years to develop ways to strengthen unity among Seventh-day Adventists throughout the church’s 13 divisions and field offices.

“When I came to the General Conference as a vice president in 1995, I had already lived in several countries and was kind of an internationalist. I was always very concerned about how this Adventist family was going to hold together,” he says. “It weighed heavily on my mind. How are we going to hold together as an international family, being as diverse as we are? The differences between cultures are not marginal—they are huge.”

Paulsen notes that a sense of curiosity exists among church members about what the international Adventist family “looks like” outside their own region. And, he says, they wonder how those differences impact the church.

The questions in the minds of church leaders as they considered the feasibility of a global church magazine, Paulsen says, were: What are the core values that define us as Seventh-day Adventists? Do these values change as they are transferred elsewhere? In my culture do some values hold greater weight than in your culture? “These are difficult issues,” he says.

“This was to be a paper that would nurture, inform, stimulate, and affirm our shared values,” Paulsen explains. “It was to tell our members that we are together as one family around the world.”

“As the church grows and expands quickly, we need to be sure there is something that reaches out and embraces the new community of Adventists. In that sense, it was also to be an evangelistic tool,” he adds.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

Johnsson then took the challenge to his staff.

“I called the staff together almost immediately and laid out what the chief had told me; but I also shared with them that currently there was no budget for this, and no additional help would be provided. There was just the vision, which might come to nothing,” says Johnsson, Adventist Review editor from 1982 to 2006. “At the time, we went to press every week, so we already had plenty to do. So, understandably, one or two of the staff were a bit reluctant to take on the project; but they quickly came around. The staff did wonderfully well with it.”

Roy Adams, an associate editor, was one of those who was hesitant to take on such a huge additional responsibility.

“We were already putting through four editions of Adventist Review each month: North American Division, World, Cutting Edge, and AnchorPoints,” says Adams. “And lurking in the background of the relentless deadlines those editions entailed was the fact that a General Conference Session was coming, an

event that entailed months and months of exhaustive preparation, not to mention the “rat race” to cover the event itself. And the fact that the directive came with no promise of additional staff brought thoughts of Egyptian taskmasters demanding Israelite slaves produce bricks without straw.

“But once I got over those initial emotions, my sentiments fell in sync with the aim and purpose of the new venture,” Adams adds. “I’ve always felt that if ours is a global enterprise, then our principal leaders ought to have an organ for ongoing direct communication with the entire Adventist community worldwide. That conviction led me to put my shoulders to the wheel, joining the rest of the staff in pulling off the difficult assignment.”

Johnsson describes the plan to develop the global church paper as multidimensional. The various aspects included editorial, design, production, distribution, finances, and its impact on the weekly Adventist Review. The more he and the staff thought about it, the bigger and more complicated the task became, he says. “It was a breathtaking assignment, comprehensive, global in its dimensions.”2 Printing possibilities needed to be explored, not only in North America but in other world regions as well. Johnsson also had to consider the shipping options and how to get the magazine to the people reasonably quickly. He realized he needed someone to help with gathering all the data, so he presented the dilemma to his staff during a weekly staff meeting. Later that same day Merle Poirier, technical coordinator for Adventist Review at the time and who currently serves as operations manager for both magazines, offered her assistance.

“Merle gave invaluable aid,” Johnsson says. “She has a mind that is very strongly detailed, and she’s also very good with organization. It was a wonderful fit for us.”

“There were no models anywhere that we could look to,” Johnsson adds. “To have one magazine sent to the

I was convinced from the very beginning that the Holy Spirit was helping us to pull this together.

whole world—maybe only Adventists would come up with a plan like that,” he laughs.

The Review staff also needed a paradigm shift in their way of thinking. Instead of producing content for a largely North American audience, they now had to think globally.

“It needed to be a world magazine,” Johnsson notes. “I told the editors not to use American phrases and idioms, to avoid illustrations from America. We had to find content that would play for the world church. It was a very tough transition for us.”

THE QUESTION OF FUNDING

Along with the hope and the dream, there was the practical question of funding. Where would the money come from? Johnsson believes the Holy Spirit provided the answer through Steve Rose, GC undertreasurer at the time, and now serving as treasurer for the Chinese Union Mission.

“Contrary to what some people think, the General Conference does not have any deep pockets or unlimited funds. It has a small contingency fund, but otherwise, all the funds are budgeted out. So there was no deep pocket to go to,” Johnsson says. “But Steve worked very closely with us, and his heart was in the project. He had this hope that the church in South Korea might provide the answer.”

Church funds that normally would be transferred to the General Conference had been building up in South

Korea. Government regulations, however, didn’t allow the funds to be transferred in hard currency; only in won, the Korean currency. To convert to hard currency, the funds would be heavily taxed.

“Steve and I traveled to South Korea and met with a top tax lawyer,” Johnsson recalls. “He laid out the law, and the conditions seemed impossible. To unlock the funds, the publisher would have to be the church in South Korea. It could not be the General Conference. And so we came back from Korea thinking, What’s going to happen?”

P. D. Chun, recently retired as president of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division, then stepped to the fore. “Let

There were 1.1 million copies of the first issue of Adventist World printed in September 2005.

Bill Johnsson, editor, with Bill Knott, associate editor (both center) met with the Korean administration and editors to discuss the Adventist World project. Elder P. D. Chun is third from left.

me have a try,” Johnsson recalls Chun as saying.

Chun met privately with a high-ranking official, who—after he listened to the church’s dilemma—said, “Yes, that is the law. But exceptions can be made.”

Two South Korean publishers from the Adventist Korean Publishing House in Seoul were added to the editorial team, and the magazines for Korea were printed in the Adventist publishing house there. Chun became a member of the Adventist World board. So with those adjustments the General Conference could remain publisher of the magazine, and the money was legally unlocked and used to fund the project.

“I regard this as the biggest miracle with Adventist World—the way in which funds became available, and quite late in the process,” Johnsson says. “Only the Lord could have done this.”

“It was amazing how this task, which was almost unimaginable, all came together so quickly and worked—including the funding,” Paulsen says. “I believe it was a product inspired by heaven.”

THE CRISIS POINT

The Review and Herald Publishing Association (RHPA), in Hagerstown, Maryland, played a large role in the planning and development of Adventist World. They didn’t, however, have sufficient technical staff to cover all aspects of the design. So Dever Designs, owned and operated by Seventh-day Adventist Jeff Dever, was hired to develop the initial template for the new 32-page magazine with a look that would work for regions such as Africa and Europe as well as North America. RHPA, though, was to handle the monthly design.

“As the launch date for the first issue of Adventist World loomed on the horizon and the deadline neared

for the designed files to be sent electronically to all the presses [in addition to RHPA, the presses included a second one in the United States, Korean Publishing House in Seoul, and Signs Publishing Company in Australia], we realized we wouldn’t make it without help,” Johnsson says. “That was a crisis point. We were to launch the magazine at Annual Council at the GC headquarters in September [2005], and this was early August. I was on vacation at the beach with my family that week when it became apparent that we had a big problem.”

Jeff Dever, at short notice, agreed to help, and took on the responsibility to flow in the content and design the magazine.

“Dever Designs worked day and night, and we met the deadline for the presses,” Johnsson says.

Dever Designs continued as the designer for Adventist World through 2017.

THE LAUNCH

The concept of Adventist World was voted at the church’s 2004 autumn business meeting, and a presentation of its design was made July 2 at the following fifty-eighth GC Session in St. Louis. The first issue was launched in September 2005; and according to the minutes of the Adventist World publishing board of October 3, 2005, the first printing comprised 1.1 million copies. An estimate for the annual cost was $2.5 million. The minutes also noted five editions: Korea, South Pacific, North America, Inter-America, and Trans-Europe. The cover story for the first issue was titled “The Underground Church.” With the magazine’s potential use as a sharing tool, Johnsson estimated a possible 5 million readers of each issue. The magazines were shipped directly to the divisions, and the divisions then took the responsibility to transport them to the various unions, conferences, and churches.

“At the launch some people said, ‘This is an idea that will be gone once you retire, and they’ll move on to something else,’ ” Johnsson recalls. “But here it is, 18 years later. Praise God!”

When considering the fast-paced development of Adventist World—from its conception in February 2004 to its birth in September 2005—Johnsson says, “The Lord made it happen.

“Those months were very intense and involved. The magazine took over my life. I would go to bed with some challenge, not knowing where we were going, and the next morning I would have the answer. That happened over and over and over. This was of the Lord.”

Paulsen agrees. “I was convinced from the very beginning that the Holy Spirit was helping us to pull this together,” he says.

Claude Richli, who served as associate publisher, reviews proofs of Adventist World Digest with Calvin Joshua at the Oriental Watchman Publishing House in Pune, India.

Claude Richli

EXTENDING THE REACH

Although the first issue of Adventist World was printed in English, church leaders were determined to extend its reach by increasing the number of languages. Bill Knott, who was elected editor of Adventist Review and Adventist World magazines following Bill Johnsson’s retirement at the end of 2006, invited Claude Richli in 2007 to join the staff. Richli was associate executive secretary of the East-Central Africa Division at the time. He had traveled extensively, was able to speak several languages, and felt at home on three continents. That background, he suggests, is the reason Knott tapped him for the job of associate publisher and marketing director.

“I believe he thought I would bring a lot of connections that would facilitate the expansion of the magazine,” Richli says.

“I saw the magazine as having great potential, particularly in Africa, because many members there didn’t have a lot of spiritual growth materials available to them. I also recognized its possible use as an evangelistic tool.”

During Richli’s eight years with the Adventist Review/ Adventist World office, which later adopted the acronym ARMies, Adventist World reached a global distribution in 33 languages (in print and online) in more than 150 countries.3 The total number of print copies grew to about 1.5 million, using 19 printing and publishing partners around the world.4

Today about 1.6 million copies are distributed to 10 of the 13 world divisions 11 months of the year and published in nine languages.

In October 2020 the launch of a new WhatsApp channel made it possible for the more than 2 million Kiswahili-speaking and -reading Adventists to access Adventist World in their language.5 ARMies staff also now produce video and audio stories on how God changes people’s lives.6

Recognizing a need for a church paper reduced in length for some unions and smaller world regions, Richli initiated the production of Adventist World Digest. The Digest has 16 pages of adapted Adventist World material and is produced quarterly rather than monthly.

“The Adventist World Digest was customized to fit the needs and the financial feasibilities of local unions,” Richli explains. “It grew very rapidly.”

LOOKING BACK

When he looks back on his experience with Adventist World and its rapid growth and world reach, Johnsson gives all the praise and glory to God.

“The biggest concern of my heart the whole time I

was editor of Adventist Review was its declining circulation,” he says. “That was what troubled me, and we worked hard to try to bring it up. But the Internet was coming in, as well as online publications. It was a losing battle. When I took over the editorship, I used to tell people that I wouldn’t sleep well until we hit 100,000 in circulation. So we tried and tried, but the numbers kept falling. Eventually I became reconciled: It’s not going to happen. And then at almost the very last gasp of my work, here’s Adventist World. When I saw that first issue printed at the four different presses but the same magazine, I was overcome. The print run was 1.1 million, and I had dreamed of 100,000.

“That’s the Lord we serve. He’s a God of abundance, beyond what we ask or imagine. Our God is truly a great God.”

1 This subhead title is taken from William Johnsson’s book Embracing the Impossible (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 2008) and used with permission.

2 Ibid., p. 215.

3 https://adventistreview.org/author/claude-richli/

4 Ibid.

5 https://www.adventistworld.org/millions-of-kiswahili-speakers-can-now-read-adventist-world-in-theirmother-tongue/

6 https://www.adventistworld.org/media/

18 years.

Sandra Blackmer, now retired, served as an assistant editor for Adventist World and Adventist Review for more than

The print run was 1.1 million, and I had dreamed of 100,000.

Claude Richli stands on the floor of the Review and Herald Publishing House with pallets of Adventist World ready to be shipped around the world.

Claude Richli

He Did It

BY JAE MAN PARK

When a new path is being opened, unexpected obstacles are inevitable. The process of launching Adventist World was the same. Jae Man Park, editor in chief of Korean Publishing House, met and listened to the story of Elder Pyung Duk Chun, who helped in the laying of the foundation for the project.

Park: From the time Adventist World was first published until a few years ago, you have worked as the international publishing manager for this magazine. I heard that Korea played a part in this project. What was it?

Like other unions and conferences, the Korean Union Conference sends offerings to the General Conference, including those from Sabbath School. But these offerings have been tied up in Korea for decades without being transferred abroad. Sending

moneys abroad was not possible, because of the regulation of the Foreign Exchange Control Act in Korea. The amount was substantial. It is a principle of the Adventist Church that offerings should be used according to the intended purpose of the giver, but circumstances made it impossible. This certainly caused many doubts, but there was no way to solve it. Then Adventist World was discussed.

How did the General Conference communicate with the world church then?

The Seventh-day Adventist Church had and still does have a representative periodical, Adventist Review, but its readership is mostly in North America. There was no denominational magazine that was distributed around the world for free. At the time, there were other ministries publishing their own magazines and distributing them to the world. Jan Paulsen,

then General Conference president, regretted that there was no official representative magazine of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the world church.

As a result, a proposal was made to create an international magazine. The necessity of distributing such a magazine came to the forefront in an effort to further unify the world church. Additionally, a world magazine would help members easily accept the 28 Fundamental Beliefs of the church, share the latest world news, and encourage missions.

So Adventist World would catch two birds with one stone?

You’re right. It was a good idea to use the offerings tied up in Korea for this ministry. But when we got to work, it was like belling a cat. At that time the General Conference handled the matter through a leading law firm in Korea, but they said they received only negative

Adventist World magazines bound for shipment at Pacific Press Publishing Association.

Photo: Pacific Press Publishing Association

responses from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (currently the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism), which manages the publication of magazines in Korea. In order to publish an international magazine based in Korea, more than 50 percent of the publishers and writers must be Korean. At that time, I was the only Korean involved in this project.

When did you discover this difficulty?

I remember it was early 2005, when I had already retired two years before after serving as president of the Northern Asia-Pacific Division. The General Conference Session in July 2005 was just around the corner. They had a plan to distribute the first issue of Adventist World during that session, but we couldn’t even take that first step.

To be honest, I didn’t like the way the law firm handled things when I watched from the sidelines. Since they had been paid, they might have looked into it, but they didn’t seem to have an active willingness to solve it. So I don’t know where such an idea came from, but I told the officers of the General Conference and William (Bill) Johnsson, “When dealing with things like this, there are often other doors open that most people don’t know well. If you leave it to me once, I’ll try to open the door.” Then everyone asked with surprise, “What are you trying to do?”

What was your suggestion?

I told them, “I can’t guarantee that I will make it, but I will try. If you can’t get through the main gate, I’ll look for the back gate. My apartment also has a back gate, but people like to go around, so it is the door that’s officially used. There must be a door like that.” When I

had been having a hard time using the funds at the Northern Asia-Pacific Division, I had contacted a senior official at Korean Financial Supervisory Service that I know, and said, “We have a problem, so please help us if there is a solution. I’m not asking you to teach us illegalities, but to teach us other ways for us to access.” I felt it would be a loss to say everything about our situation, but sincerity works. That’s what I told the people of the General Conference: that I would find a way.

What did you do then?

I went to see the staff of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. One of the directors in the Korean Union Conference said he knew someone he studied with in graduate school who was an auditor in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. So we went to visit him together. We talked openly about our situation and asked for help. As it turned out, the approval of magazines was not done by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, but by the provincial government office. But I didn’t have to go to the provincial office. When he contacted the provincial government

office through a phone call from his office, a path opened up. Afterward I was granted permission to register. The problem was solved without spending a penny.

When I told the General Conference it was “OK,” they didn’t believe me. The registration permit was issued in July of that year while the General Conference Session was being held. I received it by fax from Korea, translated it, and delivered it to them.

And that’s how the stage for the publication of Adventist World was set?

Although we were not able to publish the first issue in time for the July General Conference meeting, we started publishing the September issue as soon as we received approval. Jan Paulsen and Bill Johnsson think I did some kind of magic, but that’s not the case. We all know who is good at turning crises into opportunities and stumbling blocks into stepping-stones, right? Yes, He did it.

Interviewed by Jae Man Park, Ph.D., editor in chief of Korean Publishing House; Adventist World editor based in Seoul, Korea.

Jan Paulsen, then General Conference president; P. D. Chun, then Northern Asia-Pacific Division president; and Bill Johnsson, then editor, Adventist Review and Adventist World

NoDistractions

theRunning Race

Excitement was in the air as thousands of people from across Greece and beyond eagerly made their way to the grand Isthmian Games, held every two years not far from the ancient city of Corinth.

In the spring of A.D. 51 the apostle Paul had been in Corinth for some months, preaching and meeting people, including fellow tentmakers Priscilla and Aquila. Tentmaking was an excellent business, especially during the time of the huge sports festivals, as “the spring air [was] chilly enough to require shelter; and frequent showers and violent gusts of wind that buffet the Isthmian region make such shelter imperative”1 for the many guests who flocked to the area for this important sports festival. Paul and his friends no doubt had many customers, and through their business not only provided shelter but were also given opportunities to share the gospel.

The games themselves were a huge attraction, and no doubt the apostle heard much about them, and could very well have witnessed them himself. He would have seen the incredible dedication of the athletes who devoted everything to the one goal of “winning the race.”

Later he used this illustration when writing to the church in Corinth: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it” (1 Cor. 9:24). Here the apostle is referring to the Christian race. He continues: “And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things” (verse 25).

COMPLETE FOCUS

Serious athletes take time to practice and prepare. They are careful. They organize and train with one objective in mind—to win. It requires focus, determination, and discipline.

If you have run in a race, you know not to even glance behind you. If you turn to see how close the competitor is, you will lose precious seconds and may lose the race. The one focus is the finish line. You cannot be distracted by anything.

Paul points out that in the Isthmian Games, there was only one winner in each event—no second or third place. Only the winner received the prize. He adds, “Now they do it to obtain a perishable

Photo: Paul Bradbury / OJO

crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (verse 25).

Winners at the Isthmian Games received a crown of special leaves encircling their heads. They were taken to their home cities, where a new gate was cut into the city wall and named after them. They received great honors, but it was temporary. How long does a crown of leaves last? Just a few days. A few years later, people looked at the city gate and wondered who the person was that deserved such an honor.

In this world achievements are very temporary. But you and I are in a race. As Paul wrote in Philippians 3:14, we “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

God is calling each one to be a part of His mission to reach the world for Him. He does not want us to get distracted in any way. And the beautiful thing about the Christian race and bringing people to the foot of the cross is that everyone can be a winner in Jesus Christ. As we focus on this race, we are headed toward an imperishable crown.

HEAVENLY REWARD

Won’t it be wonderful when we get to heaven? There will be an innumerable number of people there, and by God’s grace you and I will be there too. Christ will take time to place a crown on your head, and it will be an imperishable crown. It will not fade. But we’re going to take those crowns and put them at the feet of Jesus, saying, “Heaven is cheap enough.” In other words, whatever I gave up for being a follower of Jesus was insignificant, because Jesus has given me salvation and eternal life through His grace and His blood. What a wonderful opportunity for us to share with Jesus our amazing gratitude for running the Christian race and not being distracted.

Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 9:26: “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty.” That is, we don’t just run aimlessly without a goal, “not as one who beats the air,” he says, alluding to participants in the Isthmian boxing matches. They didn’t just box into the air; they made everything count. Concluding the passage in verse 27, Paul writes, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” Brothers and sisters, do not let the devil distract you in any way from the race you are running to have eternal life through the grace and blood of Jesus, and to share it with someone else.

The apostle John explains well the purpose of sharing the hope we have when he wrote, “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).

Total Member Involvement is saying, “Yes, Lord, I will go.” I will be part of revival and reformation. I will be part of mission to the cities. I will be part of comprehensive health ministry. I will be part of community services. I will be part of sharing Adventist literature and the book The Great Controversy with people. Don’t let anything distract you from this amazing opportunity to allow God to work through you.

UNITY IN MISSION

Inspired counsel tells us, “Strive earnestly for unity. Pray for it, work for it. . . . Crucify self; esteem others better than yourselves.”2 Don’t allow the devil to bring disunity into your local church, family, workplace, community, or your association with His precious, wonderful church. Let self be lost in Jesus. Let your focus be on Him

and on the goal He has. God is calling each of us to be united in Him as we press forward toward the mark, the goal of your high calling in Jesus Christ.

As you share this message, God is wanting to use you in a most remarkable and powerful way. Keep your eyes on Jesus, and never take your eyes off the precious Word of God. Never take your eyes off the instruction given in the Spirit of Prophecy. Never be distracted from personal prayer. Be a student of the Word and be part of God’s people, who are people of the Book. And never get distracted from sharing with others the wonderful Word of God—the truth that has set you free, the truth that has made you who you are as a Seventh-day Adventist at the end of time, waiting for Jesus’ soon return. Keep your eyes on Jesus, for He is coming soon!

Ted N. C. Wilson is president of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church. Additional articles and commentaries are available from the president’s office on Twitter:

@pastortedwilson and Facebook:

@Pastor Ted Wilson.

1 Oscar Broneer, “The Apostle Paul and the Isthmian Games,” The Biblical Archaeologist 25, no. 1 (February 1962): 20.

2 Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1948), vol. 9, p. 188.

God is calling us to be united in Him as we press forward towards the mark, the goal of your high calling in Jesus Christ.

A Look at Ellen White’s Bookshelves

In early November 1871 Ellen White interrupted a letter she had been writing to her teenage son Willie to keep an appointment in Boston, Massachusetts, with the celebrated health reformer Diocletian Lewis. A few weeks earlier she and James had left their home in Battle Creek, Michigan, for a two-month itinerary throughout the northeastern United States. Now they were staying at the Stratton home, not far from the doctor’s residence.

Resuming her letter to Willie after the visit, Ellen White related how they had first been seated on a sofa and then “elevated by steam power up four stories. When up at this distance,” she continued, “we were in the doctor’s parlor. . . . We found a very affable, social, open-hearted man.”

With their common interest in the benefits of exercise and the use of natural remedies, Ellen White reported that their “interview was the most pleasant. We chatted as familiarly as though meeting friends of long acquaintance.” During their conversation Dr. Lewis invited the Whites to visit the famous Boston Athenaeum Library, one of the foremost semiprivate libraries in the world.

Ellen White was captivated by her surroundings. “It is quite a sight,” she wrote, “curiosities in the form of books of almost every date. Some hundreds of years old. The style of type, margin of books, arrangements of matter, were a literary curiosity. Books, books, books on every shelf, from story to story, of every description, of every order.”1

Her fascination with the variety of literary productions confirms what other records bear out—that Ellen White was a great lover of books, one who enjoyed the sights and smells of old bookstores and the satisfaction of finding just the right volume to add to a growing library.

Ellen White also encouraged others to acquire quality reading material, recommending, for example, Conybeare and Howson’s Life of St. Paul as “a book of great merit, and one of rare usefulness to the earnest student of the New Testament history.”2

PERSONAL AND OFFICE LIBRARIES

Ellen White owned two libraries—a personal one and one for her office staff. An inventory

Discovering the Spirit of Prophecy

Photos: Courtesy of the Ellen G. White Estate

of both collections taken shortly after her death reveals that she had acquired approximately 1,400 titles. However, as nearly 600 of them were purchased in 1913 from her secretary, Clarence C. Crisler, it is likely that most of those were never used by her. A realistic number of volumes that she had accumulated over the course of her lifetime would be around 800. Today the Ellen G. White Estate has about 500 of her original library books, the oldest of which was printed in 1600.3 Forty of them contain her handwritten signature inside the cover and occasional marks within the text.

How do we know that it was Ellen White who marked the passages, since she purchased some of them at secondhand bookstores? Ellen White had her own characteristic style in the way she treated her books, just as some of us highlight and underline passages, while others of us wouldn’t think of writing on a page.

Unlike J. N. Andrews, who corrected misspellings and added further references while reading a book, Ellen White had a style that was much “gentler.” There are occasional ink-stained fingerprints on the edges of the pages, but the printed text is devoid of any obtrusive marking. It wasn’t her practice to underline. Rather, she made simple vertical pen strokes in the margins, hardly more than ¼ inch in length, next to lines that drew her special interest. Sometimes she would make a small “x” beside the paragraph or simply fold back the corner of the page.

A WINDOW INTO HER COLLECTION

What kinds of books did Ellen White have in her libraries?4 Not surprisingly, she collected books on the topics that held the greatest interest to her—Bible history and commentary, the life and teachings

of Christ, health, education, church histories and biographies, and practical Christian living. She used many of them in her own writing. While Seventh-day Adventist authors are certainly among the titles, the vast majority are non-Adventist authors. Part of the reason for this is the limited number of Adventist-authored books in Ellen White’s lifetime.5 Ellen White did not believe that any one person or group held a monopoly on truth. In reply to a question about his mother’s reading habits, W. C. White wrote:

“I have been present when conscientious souls would quote what she [Ellen White] had written as authority for putting all reading, except the Bible, away; and I was most interested to hear her statement when her attention was called to this. She took the position that these things written by godly men, containing expositions of Scripture, and presenting Scripture truths, were also to be included in our reading.”6

Though we must sift what we read with the “gospel sieve,”7 not mistaking error for truth, Ellen White recognized that the Holy Spirit impresses many and varied minds with gems of truth in the study of God’s Word.

This window into Ellen White’s libraries reveals her keen

appreciation for good literature, but she fully knew the shortcomings of mere human productions.

“Of all the books that have flooded the world, be they ever so valuable, the Bible is the Book of books, and is most deserving of the closest study and attention. It gives not only the history of the creation of this world, but a description of the world to come. It contains instruction concerning the wonders of the universe, and it reveals to our understanding the Author of the heavens and the earth.”8

That Author still lives and is the one we soon shall meet.

1 Ellen G. White to W. C. White, Nov. 10, 1871 (letter 17, 1871).

2 In Signs of the Times, Feb. 22, 1883, p. 96. She also suggested

J. H. Merle D’Aubigne’s History of the Reformation as an “interesting and profitable” holiday gift book. See Review and Herald, Dec. 26, 1882, p. 789.

3 After Ellen White’s death many of her books were given to Adventist educational institutions or sold.

4 The full inventory may be accessed at https://library.llu.edu/ heritage-research-center/egw-estate-branch-office/egw-private-and-office-libraries.

5 A 1911 Catalogue of Publications from the church’s International Tract Society listed fewer than 30 non-Ellen White English titles.

6 W. C. White to L. E. Froom, Feb. 14, 1926.

7 Referring to church members being cared for at popular health institutions, Ellen White wrote that “they have to carry along with them at all times the gospel sieve and sift everything they hear, that they may choose the good and refuse the bad” (Testimonies for the Church [Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub.Assn., 1948], vol. 1, p. 490).

8 Ellen G. White, in Review and Herald, Aug. 21, 1888.

Tim Poirier is the vice director of the Ellen G. White Estate.

Ellen White was a great lover of books and found satisfaction in finding just the right volume to add to a growing library.

Top: A book purchased by Ellen White at a secondhand store.

Bottom: Ellen White’s marks in the margin of one of her books.

160 Years Later

The May 26, 1863, issue of the Review would certainly be full of news, especially after the conference in Battle Creek, just 55 miles away from Sarah Philo’s home in Bunker Hill, Michigan, United States. She opened the periodical and nodded along eagerly as she read that the delegates had drafted, debated, and adopted a church constitution. Why had they organized? Sarah read: “. . . for the purpose of securing unity and efficiency in labor, and promoting the general interests of the cause of present truth, and of perfecting the organization of the Seventh-day Adventists.”1

Sarah knew all about promoting the cause of present truth. She’d accepted the third angel’s message just seven years earlier, at the age of 60, after seventh-day Sabbathkeeping Adventist preachers had visited. At first she’d been the only one in her area to keep the seventh day,2 but Sarah led by example, and by 1861 a nearby woman was keeping the Sabbath with her.3 In 1862 she wrote to the Review, asking for “Brother Cornell” to come and stay a week in Bunker Hill, challenging, “You strewed the seed when you was here; come and see if it is not coming up.”4 And the seed had indeed grown! In April 1864 John Byington—then General Conference president—oversaw the organization of an official church in Bunker Hill, with 18 members,5 of which Sarah was surely one.

When Sarah died on January 9, 1877, much of Adventist history had not yet happened. The Adventist Church had a total of 18 conferences, including the Texas Mission and the European Mission, where John N. Andrews had been sent just three years before as the church’s first official overseas missionary. Then the church had 478 churches and 11,708 members. It was just a year before Sarah died that the Western Health Reform Institute had become the Battle Creek Medical and Surgical Sanitarium. The church would not reorganize itself nor move Battle Creek College out of Battle Creek to Berrien Springs for another 24 years. Its headquarters and the Review and Herald Publishing Association would not move to Washington, D.C., for several years beyond that (and it would be 106 and

112 years before those institutions would move to Hagerstown and Silver Spring, Maryland, respectively). Sarah could not have known that, as of December 2021, the Seventh-day Adventist Church would officially have 742 local conferences and missions, 95,297 churches, and 21,912,161 members.

Most people have not heard of Sarah Philo, but the life Sarah lived, “devoted to those truths which she held most dear,”6 has a legacy of its own, 160 years after the Seventh-day Adventist Church organized in 1863. Sarah’s patient and persistent seed-sowing resulted in many of her descendants also working hard to promote the general interests of the cause of present truth.7 What seeds are you sowing today?

1 “Report of General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists,” Review and Herald, May 26, 1863, pp. 204, 205.

2 Review and Herald, Dec. 16, 1858, p. 31.

3 Review and Herald, Sept. 24, 1861, p. 135.

4 “Extracts From Letters,” Review and Herald, Jan. 7, 1862, p. 47.

5 “Report From Bro. Byington,” Review and Herald, May 10, 1864, pp. 188, 189.

6 Hannah Janes, “Obituary Notice,” Review and Herald, Feb. 15, 1877, p. 55.

7 For the example of her great-grandson, see https://encyclopedia.adventist. org/article?id=D8BQ.

Sarah Philo’s great-great-great-greatgranddaughter, Ashlee Chism, a trained archivist, works in the General Conference Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research.

Photo: Galeanu Mihai

Reality Check

It seems unreal!” Have you ever received a similar response from a person you were hoping to encourage? Or from someone you were trying to cheer up? “Unreal” was not something I was prepared to counter. I had no words to follow this statement, so I listened and asked myself if I was pitching something that was too far-fetched.

During the past few months I have treasured the interaction with my fellow students in Ukraine. I have the privilege of teaching them English online as part of my scholarship work here at AIIAS. The Level 2 English classes commenced online in August of 2022, with hopes to continue face to face within a couple of months. But then their paperwork dragged on, and the Ukrainian students’ hopes to be at AIIAS began to dwindle away. We started out as a class with five students, and by November of last year there were two who chose to continue studying.

In an attempt to encourage them, I shared devotional thoughts focused on Bible passages that would bring comfort and hope. We would spend some time sharing our current experiences or prayer requests. At times I would describe life in the Philippines, especially life here at AIIAS. I would speak of blue skies, warm weather, a green campus, showers of rain, a park for their children to play in, and so on, hoping to bring life to the picture they had of AIIAS.

“Unreal”: the response of one of my fellow students hurled me to a reality check. Compared to their reality, what I was sharing seemed

unreal. For me, a person who is pragmatic, who easily spots what’s missing, who dissects and overanalyzes situations, hope can fade in an instant. Would I be able to see the Shepherd in the midst of the chaos my fellow students were experiencing? In the midst of an airstrike, with continuous power cuts and lack of heating, would I still see the Shepherd who protects and provides? Would my hope stand firm?

I have recently been learning that being hopeful is a choice. When we find ourselves up against giants, we can choose to abide in or abandon this hope we profess to hold on to. Hope grows in the most unlikely places. It breathes life into the weary and brokenhearted. Hope is the olive branch in the beak of the dove after an apocalypse. Hope comes to life when we reach the end of ourselves and find our lives in the hands of Someone so much bigger than we are.

The hope we have in Jesus Christ is sure, true, eternal, personal, and available for all who are willing to choose it. Our hope comes from God. His promises are eternal, for He never changes.

In the face of daunting circumstances, I pray that I will have an “unreal” hope.

Beersheba Maywald-Jacob is a Ph.D. student in intercultural studies and mission at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) in Silang, Philippines. She is married to Andrew and has a newborn.

Hope grows in the most unlikely places. It breathes life into the weary and brokenhearted.

Lessons Learned

Thirty years ago on April 19, 1993, horrible images shocked the world. Members of an end-time apocalyptic cult in Waco, Texas, United States, perished in flames. Many of them chose to die because they believed it was a necessary part of purification by fire before the Advent of the kingdom of God (Dan. 8:14, KJV). One woman, according to eyewitnesses, emerged from the flames but tried to return in order to fulfill the mission to die. She would have if not prevented by a federal agent.

Eighty-two men, women, and children died in that fire all because one individual claimed to have been chosen by God to reveal end-time secrets of the seals in the book of Revelation. He maintained he was not only the seventh angel of the trumpets but also the “lamb of God himself.” This splinter group of the Seventh-day Adventist Church ended in an incredible tragedy.

LEADING PEOPLE ASTRAY

Offshoots or splinter groups often begin because one or more individuals break in their understanding of what the church teaches. Eventually they are disfellowshipped from their local church because their teachings become too extreme. Then they determine to reform the very church they left because they believe it is the church that has apostatized, not them. Next they focus on recruiting other Seventh-day Adventists on the pretense of forming what they believe to be the future 144,000. This leads to a need for a future move to Jerusalem, where the new kingdom of God will be established.

How can a tragedy like the one that occurred in Waco be avoided? Understanding the following lessons can help to prevent us from drifting from genuine biblical faith.

„ The absolute principle of the Seventh-day Adventist faith is the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ. All heresies, ancient or modern, diminish or assume the absolute rights of Jesus, the only Lord and Savior.

„ Jesus Christ is our only hope (1 Tim. 1:1). This is foundational to the Advent movement.

„ No one should submit his or her conscience to the control of any other person. Do not follow any human being, but God alone. God has direct access to us, and we have direct access to God.

„ The era of mediation has ended. Jesus assumed all the functions of God’s previous representatives. Jesus (God) is the only king (son of David), the only priest (son of Abraham), and the only sacrifice. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

„ Leaders of so-called reform Adventists who claim to have been designated by God to lead God’s end-time people falsely assume God’s unique rights. Only God is qualified to lead His people.

„ Only God can bring about revival and reformation. Revelation repeatedly admonishes: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). No human can take the place of the Godhead. Christ is alive. The Holy Spirit is the living omnipresent Spirit of God.

„ Leaders of apocalyptic end-time sects misinterpret the Bible. They use and abuse words of authority. They assert and dominate instead of serving—exactly the opposite of what Jesus said should be done.

„ No one has exclusive secrets on the interpretation of apocalyptic texts. Be careful when someone says only they can interpret Scripture. The Bible is given to all to study and learn of God’s will for His people (Rom. 12:2; 2 Tim. 3:14-17; Acts 17:11; Eph. 6:11-17).

What can happen when the Bible is misread and people’s freedoms are abused.

„ God wants to save people, even His enemies. Beware of those who claim to be the only faithful and chosen ones tasked with punishing the wicked—those who do not think like them.

„ Love is absent from their narrative and literature. The main language used is fear, often violence, and announcements of destruction for the wicked. God doesn’t want the wicked to perish, but to repent and be saved. God wants all people to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2).

„ Belonging to a sect, apocalyptic cult, or church is not equivalent to being saved. Jesus is the only Savior. Salvation comes from the Lord.

„ How one reads the Bible and the methodology used is critical. For example, the misreading of Psalm 45 led Vernon Howell (aka David Koresh) to claim he had to take his followers’ wives in order to produce 24 children to be princes in the new kingdom. In addition, his belief and misinterpretation of the seven seals of Revelation and the seventh angel led to the catastrophic outcome at the compound in Waco, Texas.

„ It is important to maintain one’s freedom of conscience. No one should be coerced or frightened into their beliefs. Only God is worthy to be followed.

„ The Seventh-day Adventist Church cannot be held

What Happened in Waco, Texas?

responsible for offshoots who claim the name Seventh-day Adventist but drift into extremism. The church is protected by clearly articulated official statements voted at General Conference Session, the executive committee of the General Conference, and the administrative committee. Official documents include the 28 Fundamental Beliefs, working policy, and the Church Manual. These prevent any one person or group seizing the right to control minds or impose goals found outside the mission of the church.

To those tempted to follow leaders who claim to represent God, may I remind you that if someone is being guided by God, one of the clearest pieces of evidence is revealed in the fruit of the Holy Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22, 23, NRSV). The fruit of the Holy Spirit is incompatible with violence and/ or controlling minds created in the image of God. May “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,” keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:7).

Ganoune Diop, Ph.D., is the director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Visit www.adventistliberty. org/tragic-end-of-an-apocalyptic-sectat-waco,-texas#_ftn2 for full article.

In the 1930s a man dissatisfied with the Seventh-day Adventist Church broke away and founded his own movement called the Davidians. After he died, another man took control, renaming it the Branch Davidians. By 1962 this group had settled on a large compound in Waco, Texas.

The sect searched the Bible for clues on how the world would end, particularly studying the book of Revelation. In 1978 the second leader died, leaving his wife to lead the group as a “prophetess.” Several years later Vernon Howell arrived at the compound. He became involved with the former leader’s wife, eventually taking full control in 1990.

Howell changed his name to David Koresh, claiming to be a “messiah” and “the lamb” in Revelation that could open the seals of the book of Revelation. Some of his practices included taking many “spiritual wives” from among his followers to father his children.

Eventually the United States government confronted the Branch Davidians on charges related to the violation of firearm regulations as well as child abuse. A siege resulted, lasting 51 days before federal agents moved in. As a result, fire broke out, destroying the compound and killing 82, including more than 25 children. It was later discovered that some inside had died by fatal gunshot wounds.

During the siege four federal agents were killed in a gun battle, making the total number who died at Waco 86.

Two or One Message

I can provide you only a sample of Paul’s approach to Jews and Gentiles that would hopefully motivate you to study the subject in more detail on your own. I will comment on one passage in which Paul addresses the Jews and another that is addressed to a predominantly Gentile community. I use the passages as examples.

1. TO THE JEWS

The first text is Acts 17:2, 3: “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.’ ” The message contains the following elements. 1. It was based on the Scriptures, a common source of authority, and thus facilitated the dialogue. 2. It was about “the Christ,” the promised Messiah, the hope of Israel. 3. It was about the biblical suffering Messiah—His death, resurrection, exaltation, and His second coming (cf. Acts 3:20). 4. It was about the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies in the person, work, and experience of a man called Jesus. Paul proclaimed to the Jews “the Christ.”

2. TO THE GENTILES

Writing to Gentiles, Paul states: “You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from dead— Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath” (1 Thess. 1:9, 10, NIV). His message to them contained at least the following elements. 1. Proclamation of a monotheistic

faith—the worship of the true God. 2. The death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God, implying that Paul told them about the person and ministry of Jesus and shared with them the significance of His death on the cross. He gave them the gospel of salvation—Christ “died for us” (1 Thess. 5:10, NIV). 3. Christ’s coming from heaven—this also implies that Paul taught the Gentile converts about the ascension of Jesus. The message contained a significant dosage of Christian eschatological expectation. It was a message of hope that pointed to the future, to the time the Son of God, Jesus, would return. 4. Paul offered them an apocalyptic worldview with two main components: First, the soon return of Jesus to consummate their salvation—a movement from the cross to glory—and second, their deliverance from the wrath of God at the final judgment and the destruction of the wicked (1 Thess. 1:4-7).

3. THE CORE OF THE MESSAGE

It is clear that the message of Paul was fundamentally the same for Jews and Gentiles: The gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus was understood to be the Jewish/biblical Messiah and the Savior of the world in that He died for both Jews and Gentiles. With the conversion of the Gentiles the work of instruction had just began. It was important for them to understand the full implications of accepting that there was one God and to live in the expectation of the coming of Jesus, who, through His death and resurrection, saved them.

Ángel Manuel Rodríguez, Th.D., is retired after a career serving as pastor, professor, and theologian.

Paul preached to Jews and Gentiles. Which aspects of his message did he emphasize when speaking to each one?

Hypertension

How Can I Control My Blood Pressure?

I am a university student in a low- to middle-income country. Both my parents have high blood pressure (hypertension). They take their medications semiregularly, but what other measures will help them (and potentially me) control blood pressure?

The most effective and safest approach to managing hypertension is the combination of medication and a healthy lifestyle. Elevated blood pressure is a serious condition that significantly increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. World Health Organization (WHO) statistics1 estimate that 1.28 billion adults worldwide have hypertension, with two thirds living in low- and middle-income countries. Hypertension is a leading cause of premature death.

Less than half of the adults who have hypertension are on treatment. Approximately half of the individuals in the world who do have hypertension are unaware of the diagnosis, and of those who are on treatment only 20 percent have their blood pressure adequately controlled. In more than 90 percent of cases there is no specific identifiable cause. Hypertension is largely genetically determined but significantly influenced by lifestyle choices.

Hypertension has been called the silent killer, as those who have high blood pressure often have no symptoms. When symptoms do occur, they may be severe in nature and associated with heart attacks, stroke, or kidney damage. It is therefore important that screening be intentionally and regularly done to identify those at risk.

This is an ideal opportunity for our church congregations to serve communities with health screening and health education programs. Healthy lifestyle choices are essential for wellbeing in general, but even more so in the presence of hypertension. Anyone identified as having abnormal blood pressure should be referred to health clinics for evaluation and treatment. Medications are often needed to ensure adequate blood pressure control and should always be used as an adjunct to lifestyle modification.2

Basic lifestyle interventions help reduce the disease burden of hypertension and include avoiding tobacco and alcohol, losing weight as needed, and maintaining a normal body weight/body mass index (BMI). In consultation with one’s physician, daily physical activity is

encouraged: 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise each week is recommended. Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise each day.

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and the DASH Low Sodium studies3 confirmed the importance of nutrition in the management of hypertension. The DASH diet emphasized consuming more fruits and vegetables, reducing foods with saturated and trans fats, and reducing total salt intake to less than one teaspoon of salt (sodium chloride) per day.

There are ongoing discussions regarding salt and salt sensitivity, but the overall recommendation for best health outcomes is to cut back on sodium intake whether one has hypertension or not. Read food labels and go easy on adding salt to your food.

Jesus calls us to be “the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13). Consume it, however, in limited quantities!

1 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertension

2 https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/344424/9789240033 986-eng.pdf

3 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200101043440101

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.

Photo: Cesar Wild

When God Calls

“Yes, hello. I am calling from the office of Ronald Reagan, the governor of California. Thank you for taking my call. The governor would like to speak with the president of your church, a Reverend Robert Pierson, I believe? Yes, I will hold. Thank you.”

The call was, as they say, “out of the blue,” and would cause ripples around the world.

tiny villages scattered throughout the island’s steep hills. Everywhere he taught and demonstrated the essentials of good health he had learned as a student and teacher at Loma Linda University’s School of Public Health: clean water, simple food, and exercise.

The “exercise” part was easy, but his focus on cleanliness, diet, and water were new ideas for the locals.

When they arrived in PNG, infant mortality was running around 50 percent. That means that more than half of the babies died before they were 2 years old, and Dr. Farag was on a mission to change that. “Let’s clean up your water sources, move the animals out of the house, and make sure your babies are vaccinated,” he taught everyone who would listen.

After three years of walking, talking, and demonstrating better ways of living, he had started a school of nursing and a school of public health, and opened 60 rural clinics. Best of all, the infant mortality rate had dropped to 2 percent in the highlands.

Three years in, when the church offered the family a well-earned furlough/vacation at home in America, they were exhausted and eager!

HEALTH REFORM FOR CALIFORNIA

“Hello there. Pastor Pierson? This is Ronald Reagan, and I have a personnel problem I believe you might be able to solve for me. His name is Dr. Saleem Farag, and although he is scheduled to return as a missionary in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, I need him to stay here and serve as the director of health for the state of California. Might that be possible, sir?”

BY DICK DUERKSEN

Dr. Saleem Farag’s parents were the first people baptized as Seventh-day Adventists in Cairo, Egypt. His father, a prominent executive with the Egyptian railway, lost his position over Sabbath observance and then struggled to provide for his wife and eight children. The experiences from those years in Egypt helped form Dr. Farag’s strong commitment to listen for God’s call, and then follow wherever He might lead.

One of those calls was for Dr. Farag, along with his wife, Grace, and their three small daughters, to move to Papua New Guinea, where he was to serve as health director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. While Grace cared for the girls, Dr. Farag went on “walkabouts” to hundreds of

But Dr. Farag wanted to do more than visit relatives and sit on a back porch. He wanted to learn more about public health, to discover better ways to purify water, and more. One day he saw that California’s new governor, Ronald Reagan, was inviting health-care professionals to apply for the job of writing a position paper on health reform for his administration. Dr. Farag smiled and began writing.

His application joined dozens of others on the governor’s desk—and quickly rose to the top. Though he was “a missionary on furlough from PNG,” he was now also working for Ronald Reagan, writing a proposal that would transform health care in the state of California, that would make it more practical, more focused on children and on caring for the “whole person” rather than hospital care.

“May I Tell You a Story?”

Photo Courtesy

When the governor read Dr. Farag’s proposal, the family was already packed and on a ship heading back to Papua New Guinea! When their ship docked in Honolulu, a message was waiting for them from Governor Reagan. “Come back,” it read. “I want you to serve as director of health for the state of California!”

“I am pleased, and sorry,” Dr. Farag responded. “Pleased you approve the proposal, and sorry I cannot accept your offer. I have made a commitment to go where God calls me and must return to Papua New Guinea to help improve the health of the people who live in the highlands.”

Governor Reagan listened to Dr. Farag’s response and immediately told his office to call the president of the Adventists!

A HIGHER CALLING

Never before had a state governor asked the church to cancel a missionary’s call and bring the family home. When President Pierson hung up the phone, he called several of the vice presidents, and then the president of Loma Linda University, to ask what he should do. The Farags got the answer when the ship arrived in Sydney, Australia.

“Brother Farag,” the note began. First there was a nice paragraph commending Saleem for the good work he had already done in PNG, and the next paragraph told the Farags to get on the next ship and return quickly to California. “We believe,” the president said, “that you have been given a higher calling.”

The next eight years were a whirl of committees, hearings, planning sessions, and positive community change in California. Then, as often happens in politics, Governor Reagan, a conservative Republican, moved on when the people elected Jerry Brown, a liberal Democrat, as governor. Dr. Farag began packing his bags.

“I was not at all sure where we would go,” Dr. Farag remembers, “but I knew I would no longer be serving with the governor of California.”

Then the governor called. The “new” governor.

“I’d like for you to continue to serve as

the director of health for the state of California,” Governor Brown said. “I’ve learned that you are not a political person, but that you serve evenly, honestly, and fairly. Kind of like Daniel! I appreciate your work and would like to have you on my team.”

The Farags unpacked their bags and settled in for a new ministry adventure.

“There’s one other thing,” Dr. Farag told the governor. “I am a Seventh-day Adventist and so will not be available for work from sundown Friday until after sundown Saturday. I hope that is OK.”

“No problem,” answered the governor.

SABBATH OVER POLITICS

The phone rang one Sabbath morning, just as the family was leaving for church. It was Governor Jerry Brown.

“We’re having an urgent cabinet meeting in about an hour,” the governor said, “and I think you have some information that would be important to the discussion.”

For a moment Dr. Farag’s mind went back to a day when his father had taken him to see the mummy of the pharaoh who had taken Moses’ place. “The pharaoh is here,” his father had said, “but Moses is in heaven.”

God’s call was clear.

“I said I was sorry I could not come, and gave a careful explanation,” Saleem remembers. “Then I went to church with my family, knowing I had probably just lost my job.”

Monday morning the governor called another meeting of his close advisers, including Dr. Farag.

“My husband went to the meeting expecting to be fired for missing the Saturday council,” remembers Grace. “Then, when the governor came in and sat in his chair, he turned to his secretary and said, ‘Please make a note that Dr. Farag is never to be called on Saturday. That is his Sabbath.’ ”

To be continued in the June issue of Adventist World

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

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.

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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. Bible texts credited to NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission.

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Vol. 19, No. 5

Heavenly Housing

When I was a kid in primary Sabbath School (a long, long, long time ago), we sometimes sang a song that started like this: “I will wear a crown, in my Father’s house . . .” After we sang that song, the teacher would explain that in heaven we would live in beautiful homes—mansions, as the Bible says—and since we are sons and daughters of the King, we would wear crowns. It sounded amazing.

Have you ever been somewhere and seen a beautiful place to live, like a palace or mansion? They are usually bigger than anything you’ve ever seen before, and if you had taken a tour, you would

have seen more bedrooms than there were people to fill them! Maybe living in that type of place sounds like it would be lonely after a while—unless the entire town lived there too. And maybe your idea of a beautiful house is smaller and cozier, and would smell like bread or cake was baking all day. Others might enjoy a house near the ocean, where they could fall asleep to the sound of the waves crashing. And there are those of us who love to wake up to a view of snowcapped mountains from a warm, pretty chalet.

Whatever your idea of a fantastic home looks like, God has already planned it for you in heaven. And not only will it

be a beautiful place to live, but you will also be surrounded by the people you love—Jesus included! Many of us would agree that what makes a house a home is the wonderful people inside it.

The next time things seem hard, or you are having a particularly annoying day, remember this: the best is yet to come! For all those who love Jesus and want to be with Him forever, living for Him means He’s preparing things for us that will be so much better than anything we have here on earth.

Claim the promise in the Bible treasure on the next page and look forward to heaven—who knows, we might be neighbors!

Let’s Build a Mini Grass House!

This is a fun craft that can be as creative or as simple as you like!

What You Will Need:

z a variety of ordinary household sponges (unused or cleaned well)

z markers

z ruler

z a plate

z sharp scissors

z toothpicks

z glue

z spray bottle filled with water

z fast-growing grass seeds (you can try wheat berries, chia, or alfalfa seeds, for example)

How to Do It

1 Rinse the sponges well. Allow them to dry just until damp. This is very important.

2 Using your marker, draw shapes for doors and windows. Using your scissors, cut out the shapes.

3 Build the house on a counter, piece of wood, tabletop, or another sturdy flat surface. Use toothpicks or glue to hold the sponge pieces together.

4 Spray the house with water, using the spray bottle. Get it really damp, but not soaking. Now sprinkle the grass seeds on the house.

5 Give your sponge house another good spray of water. Place it in a sunny spot to help it grow quickly.

6 Trim the grass as it grows, and water it with a spray bottle. If you like, add decorations, such as beads or glitter.

Bible Treasure

“ ‘In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’ ”

John 14:2-6