ADRA-UK Shoebox Appeal 2010by Bert Smit, executive-director, ADRA-UK

Aserious famine is threatening the lives of tens of thousandsof children in the world’s poorest country, Niger. To help thesurvivors, and to bring a little hope into their lives, ADRA-

UK is planning to send the 2010 Shoebox Appeal to Niger.Beneficiaries will include orphans and impoverished childrenaged 5 to 12.

Because the shoeboxes are going to Niger, we want to bemore specific about what you can pack. When the shoeboxesarrive in January, Niger will have just come out of the biggestfamine it has ever faced in its history. The surviving children willneed encouragement and a little token of our care. We are askingyou to pack school supplies and a personal hygiene kit.

School supplies can include items like pens, pencils, note-books, and so on. In each box, please include soap, washcloths,a toothbrush and toothpaste. Flip-flops are also good items toinclude.

Please do not pack any food items or sweets, or anythingthat will melt; for example, crayons.

Any kind of small toy is fine, but secondary. No battery-operated toys please.

ADRA-UK is working with its local partner, ADRA-Niger, forthe distribution of the shoeboxes.

Now, here are some important instructions:1. Please plan to have the shoeboxes delivered in Watford by

14 November for shipping to Niger that week. 2. Wrap each box and mark clearly if it is intended for a boy or

girl, and the age group. Please consider making gift boxesthat can be given to either a boy or a girl, as this will help inthe distribution.

3. It will take about six weeks for the container to arrive inNiger, with distribution taking place in January 2011.

4. Shipping the container to Niger will cost £6,500. We are asking for your help with this. Please include £1 for each shoebox you have prepared, by taping it firmly to the outsideof the box. ADRA-UK will pay for the custom duties and distribution in Niger.

For more information please contact Hilary on 01923-681723or email her at: info@adra.org.uk

Messenger 3

Boosting energy Part 8

Social impact. Have you ever spoken to someoneand, at the end of the conversation, felt tired,drained, or even depressed? Identify ‘toxic’ individuals who pull energy from you by their constant complaining. Help them to see that Godloves them, and share Christ’s love with them.

Recharging emotional energy and social connectionLetting go of grudges is health-enhancing as wellas energising. According to a study in the journalPsychological Science, nursing a grudge stimu-lates the mind and body to react as if underchronic stress. This increases your heart rate and blood pressure, and can impair your immunesystem and exhaust you over time. However, practising empathy and forgiveness helps to regulate your body’s stress response.

Komaroff, the editor-in-chief of the Harvard

Emotional and social impactHow much impact do our emotions have on our energy levels? Research demonstrates thatnegative emotions drain our emotional, physicaland mental energy.Anger. The ways in which anger is expressed canbe damaging. Aggressive outbursts stimulate theautonomic physiological reaction, producingadrenaline, which places the body in a state ofdistress. This constant ‘flight or fight’ responseputs the nervous and immune systems underpressure, which zaps energy.Worry. Constant worrying drains the brain of energy and of its ability to focus. Excessive worryreleases stress-related hormones which, overtime, drain the body’s energy reserves.Resentment. Holding on to resentment causesstagnation, bitterness and a critical spirit whichsaps the joy of living.

Health Letter, states that discussing negative feelings with another person reduces the ability of those feelings to sap your stamina.

Altruistic actions can put pep in your step. A study cited in the Journal of Health and SocialBehaviour found that individuals who engaged in volunteer work had higher energy levels andexperienced greater happiness and physicalhealth, and a better mood. Our Church offers several opportunities to volunteer. However, volunteermatch.org and charityguide.org are other outlets for volunteering.

Reduce stress. Identify stressors in your life,and issues which zap your energy. Develop astrategy to reduce over-exertion and emotionalstress. Acquire resources on stress managementto assist you.

Good health!2 Messenger

meaning of Daniel 8:14, Hebrews 9 andRevelation 14:6-12. He’s right of course.But is that what Adventism means to me?The Adventism that is at my core was

not learned from an Adventist College. Itemerged from home, church, school anduniversity, and ripened during the tenyears in which I taught and engaged inchurch planting in the ’70s.• My Adventism is the Adventism ‘that

won the war’! It is a movement of destiny,called out for a special purpose and givena prophetic schema, through which wecan have confidence that ‘behind, above,and through all the play and counterplayof human interests and power and pas-sions, the agencies of the all-merciful One[are] silently, patiently working out thecounsels of His own will’ (Education,173). Our prophetic and apocalyptic back-ground tells me that the world is more likea ship than an iceberg. Scenes of miserybelow-decks notwithstanding (whichthose of us on deck are responsible forimproving), our prophetic context enablesme to believe that God’s hand is on thehelm, and that the heavenly Harbourawaits our arrival. When we reach theHarbour all wrongs will be righted. Thevery best is yet to be.• My Adventism is built upon the Book.

The critical skills I acquired as a historianhave been applied to the Book, moreespecially to the New Testament books,and I am convinced of their validity asfirst-century documents written by per-sonal witnesses to the Jesus story. Theirevident inspiration and the truth of whatthey contain compel me to believe boththeir narrative and the explanation (largelyprovided by Paul) of what that narrativemeans. We call the meaning of the narra-tive the Good News. After centuries inwhich only a few had a glimmer of theGospel, the great sunburst of its messagecame with the Reformation. After decadesof absorption in formulating sound, Bible-

based doctrines, I believe that the sun-burst of the Good News exploded amongAdventists in and after 1888. Some stillresist it, but here it is: Salvation comes bygrace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.We don’t and can’t deserve it. It comesbecause Jesus offers it and, by faith, weaccept it. The decisive, irreversible victoryin the conflict of the ages was through thedeath and resurrection of the Son of God.• My Adventism says that I am joyfully

obedient to God’s commands not in orderto be saved, but as a love response to theOne who gave all to save me. The sameAdventism accepts the law as given byGod for man’s good. ‘The Sabbath wasmade for man’ and mankind has alwaysneeded it – but never more so than in ourdemented world. The Sabbath has alwaysbeen a blessing to me. It causes me topause and take in distant vistas – and tohear the Voice of God. In a two-hour TVbroadcast about our beliefs, I heard anoutspoken opponent say that he enviedAdventists their Sabbath.• My Adventism has Jesus at the cen-

tre from first to last and puts greatemphasis on a constant study of the fourGospels. It is in the Gospels that theauthentic Christ is to be found. Jesus isthe perfect revelation of God. God isChristlike and in God is nounChristlikeness at all. The imperative ofmy Adventism is this: ‘Lift up Jesus, youthat teach the people . . . . Let all yourpowers be directed to pointing souls, con-fused, bewildered, lost, to “the Lamb ofGod”. . . . Let the science of salvation bethe burden of every sermon.’ (GospelWorkers, 160).Hey! I’m out of space and I’ve only just

got started!What does being a Seventh-day

Adventist mean to you? Write under 700words and email them to EditorDNM@mac.com, or post them to the address inthe colophon.

with David Marshall

AAn email from the General Conferencereminds me that this month marks the150th anniversary of the name ‘Seventh-day Adventist’. In October 1860 our pio-neers, after prayerful consideration, chosethat name over a number of alternatives.The GC wants to know what it means tome to be a Seventh-day Adventist. Thatquestion has let loose all manner ofthought currents, and I need to imposesome sort of discipline on them.The first thought that came to mind

was something said by a ConferenceYouth leader when I was a teen. He admit-ted that the Church and its name hadbeen a source of embarrassment to him inhis teenage years. So much so, in fact,that on Sabbath mornings he would sidleout of his front door, his body flat againstthe wall, and peer down the street as if hewere about to commit a felony, and then,if the coast was clear, he would try tocomplete the half-mile between home andchurch in under two minutes. His aim wasto travel between home and church – andback again two and a half hours later –without being recognised!Ruefully, I remember telling him that

that had never been an option for me. Welived in a village in which everyone kneweveryone else, and everything about eachother. Even had that not been so, wewere, as a family, much given to door-to-door witnessing of various kinds and, inthe autumn, often ran evangelistic cam-paigns in the church which we made surewere well advertised. Ours was an extro-vert kind of Adventism. Some doubtlessresented us for it. However, when thebombs were falling on a nearby city duringthe Blitz, forty non-Adventists crowdedinto the ground floor of our house on aweekly basis to hear Pastor R. D. Vineexplain, with the aid of Daniel 2:43, 44,why Hitler couldn’t hope to win the war.Of course, the teenager who could

cover half a mile in two minutes was thevictim of peer pressure. He matured to bea fine pastor and church leader. By thenhe was proud to be an Adventist. So I confront the question again. What

does it mean to me to be a Seventh-dayAdventist?Casting around, I have found an article

by George Knight about ‘where Adventistscame from and what their name means’.For Elder Knight it has much to do withWilliam Miller, Joseph Bates, the true

• Hope for the day aftertomorrow

• Daniel’s amazing timeprophecies

• Sooner than you think

• Ben Carson, the faith of a surgeon

• The Pope – Faiths in collision

£60 buys 200 copies

What does being aSeventh-day Adventist

mean to you?

year, they were prepared by Anne. Abigaildoes the graphics. Heather has asked for athird year of children’s pages from Anneand Abigail. Anne has asked me what sortof feedback I have had and I have giventhe answer: None.

The reason why the Children’sMinistries department asked the Editor forthe centre spread of alternate issues, andthe reason why the Editor said ‘Yes’, is thatwe want to give the children a sense ofbelonging and importance in the Church.

Have we succeeded? Is there a betterway of giving our children a sense of own-ership? Do they need a little paper of theirown? Is the best way to give children asense of belonging to involve them inchurch services?

We have had lots of feedback about thePope. Can we hear some about our chil-dren’s pages – at least, about our chil-dren? What are your ideas about how bestwe may serve them?

Email me at: EditorDNM@mac.com.

Abuse and AIDSDear EditorRegarding the articles by our president, DonMcFarlane, I agree that we must be under-standing of all faiths, but I would not havewelcomed Pope Benedict XVI because ofother reasons: his cover-up of the abuseand rape of children, which was committedby some of his priests, and his irresponsi-ble attitude towards the AIDS crisis.MRS VERA LINDSAY, GRANTHAM

4 Messenger Messenger 5

The Children’s PagesDear ReaderFor almost two years, MESSENGER hasused the centre spread of alternate issuesas children’s pages. This is one of theissues containing a children’s centrespread.

Do children use these pages as theChildren’s Ministries department hopedthey would? Are there ways in which theycould be improved? The first year, the chil-dren’s pages were prepared by Karen. This

eternal life, however uncomfortable it maybe.

Our emphasis is usually on the changeof the Sabbath, but other false teachingsregarding St Peter, baptism and transub-stantiation are highlighted in this booklet.KEN CLOTHIER, TEIGNMOUTH

Editor: See the 15 October issue.

The spirit of AntichristDear EditorI agree with what you say in the early partof your Editorial (1 October), but not withwhat you say at the end. You say that theReformers did not identify the Pope as ‘theantichrist’. You are wrong. They did, and Iwill not let you get away with it.MAURICE ASHLEY THORLEY, WELLINGBOROUGH

Editor: You would be right not to let me getaway with it had I, in fact, said it. I didn’t.The Reformers called the Pope ‘antichrist’and a number of names that sounded evenworse. Indeed, name-calling flawed thecorrespondence of even the best reformers(such as William Tyndale) and the bestRoman Catholics (such as Sir ThomasMore).

A long time (centuries) before theBishop of Rome put on his triple crown, theApostle John, the only Bible writer to usethe term, said ‘many antichrists’ and ‘thespirit of antichrist’ had already entered theChurch (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3). That sug-gests to me that ‘antichrist’ is about morethan the Pope. My Editorial paraphrasedthe words of the SDA Bible Commentary

(Vol. 7, page 644) on 1 John 2:18, where itreads, ‘John did not have any one particularmanifestation [of antichrist] in mind, butclassed all heretical opponents of truth as“antichrists”.’ On 1 John 4:3 theCommentary affirms ‘that the prophecyconcerning antichrist was even then,already, being fulfilled.’ Down the centuriesa great many popes have displayed ‘thespirit of antichrist’, but so have others whohave never worn a triple crown.

BedwettingDear EditorMy name is Gillian Mapp and I am com-pleting my doctoral training in CounsellingPsychology at City University, London. Formy thesis I am investigating the effect ofpersistent bedwetting. I am looking for indi-viduals who have been wetting from ayoung age into adulthood. They do not cur-rently need to be wetting the bed, butwould need to be willing to share theirexperience of bedwetting in a confidential,audio-recorded interview lasting approxi-mately 60-90 minutes.

The research is being supervised by Dr Jacqui Farrants. Email: j.farrants@city.ac.uk, tel: 020 7040 0172. It hasgained ethical approval from the university.I also abide by the conduct of the BritishPsychological Society.GILLIAN MAPP gillian.mapp@gmail.com

Redundances in the NEC Dear EditorThe comment that ‘the NEC was obliged tomake painful cuts to its workforce to

ensure a healthy finance’ (MESSENGER 17Sept, page 11) puzzled me. The currentCoalition Government would appear to bedoing likewise. ‘The cost of servicing theneeds of the membership has far out-stripped [the Conference’s] income.’ Did no one see the problem coming and takecorrective measures earlier, before suchradical ones were necessary?

Because of what has hit the Britisheconomy, two million people are unem-ployed. How many NEC people were laid off to save the £400,000 mentioned as thesum needed ‘to balance the books’? Wouldit make more sense to have Adventistfinance experts running things rather than pastors?GARFIELD MCINTOSH

Editor: Sorry, Garfield. I’ve had to distil youdown a bit. I hope I’ve kept the sense ofwhat you were saying.

FOCUS, Vol. 31, No. 3Dear EditorThank you for the wonderful transformationyou have made with FOCUS. It will be areally practical facility to interest people inour beliefs. I have just received No. 3, Vol.31, together with my MESSENGER dated17 September. In view of the excellent articles in FOCUS I am ordering a supplyfor my missionary endeavours.D. M. EVANS, WARRINGTON

Editor: Thanks, David. That is the lastissue before I retire. I’m glad you think I’vegone out with a bang!

Well-deserved retirementOn Sunday 12 September, members of the Great Yarmouth church arranged a retirement celebration for their minister, Pastor Michael Walker, and his wife Pearl.

The evening began with a fellowship lunch prepared by the members of the church. This was followed by aPowerPoint presentation highlighting the key events of Pastor Michael and Pearl’s ministry, and a quiz in which they answered questions related to their past. Then there were speeches, in which various members voiced theirappreciation for Michael and Pearl’s support. The evening was attended by several friends of the church, includingcampaign interests.

Pastor Walker has been a minster of the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft district for five-and-a-half years. Duringthis time, he ran a two-and-a-half year evangelistic campaign in both towns, which resulted in many friendshipsand bridges being built, one baptism and one regular attendee. Additionally, he conducted six baptisms, one ofwhich took place in the local prison. He was very involved in the prison ministry as well as in the health outreach.

Michael Walker has been known for his evangelistic campaigns, both in Britain and abroad. He took an archaeological approach to proving the validity and authenticity of the Bible. Pastor Walker planted several churches and baptised many people. He worked closely with ADRA and on several occasions took a lorry full ofsupplies to Slovenia.

Pastor Michael will be remembered, not only as a hard-working minister, but also as a supportive one.Moreover, he has been known for his sense of humour, a characteristic essential in the ministry.

Pearl has been an exemplary minister’s wife, supporting Pastor Michael in everything he did. She was activelyinvolved in the campaigns by leading in discussions andacting as a secretary. Her friendly and cheerful personalityhelped to build good rapport with the campaign interests.Additionally, many people of Great Yarmouth heard aboutJesus through the VOP cards that Pearl has been puttingthrough their letter boxes.

Michael and Pearl Walker brought many people toChrist. Only in Heaven will we find out the true extent of their ministry. We would like to give God thanks andglory for their hard work, and wish them a happy and well-deserved retirement. IZABELA CLARRY

How many people in the world exist on ‘onedollar a day’? How many people in the UKare in debt? And what is the current stateof the British economy? Did you know that

the money you own or earn does not belong toyou, but ultimately to God? How do you feel aboutwealth and poverty?

If you were interested by these and many otherquestions concerning money, wealth, debt, moti-vation, career choices and enterprise, you wouldhave enjoyed the first SEC Youth and FinanceConference held at the Advent Centre. The eventwas sponsored by the SEC Stewardship depart-ment and the London Adventist Credit Union, andwas organised by Dr Richard de Lisser, SECStewardship director.

Among the distinguished speakers for the day was Cliff Hylton, Men’s Ministries associatedirector of the SEC, who delivered the morningdevotional. The title of the presentation was‘Change you can believe in’.

Following Cliff was Herta von Stiegel, an inter-nationally renowned tax lawyer and banker, who isalso a member of the Central London church.Herta opened her presentation by speaking aboutthe biblical view on money. ‘Money is a neutralentity – a force for good or for evil depending onthe emphasis that is placed [on it] by the individ-ual who handles it’, expounded Herta. In her seminar, she also spoke about materialism – theundue regard for the material, rather than thespiritual or intellectual, aspects of life. Accordingto Herta you are a materialist if you serve wealth(Matthew 6:24), love wealth (Hebrews 13:5, 6), orwant wealth (1 Timothy 6:9-11). She went on tosay that you are not necessarily a materialist justbecause you have a lot of money, work hard foryour money, or make a lot of money. She conclud-ed this section of her talk by stating that you arenot necessarily a materialist just because youenjoy material things or have nice things, and

asked direct questions of the young people regarding their possessions.

Principles of Personal MoneyManagement was the final part of Herta von Stiegel’s seminar. The focuscentred around strong Adventist stewardship principles: • God is the owner of everything• The purpose of our lives is to glorify

God• Tithing is an antidote to materialism

(when you give, you have an opportunity to let go)

• Unmanaged debt is dangerous• God wants us to prosper.

At the end of the question-and-answer section of the first session, PaulThompson (a company director andmember of the Institute of CreditManagement and Institute of Directors)gave a dynamic presentation on debt.Paul’s thesis was based on the conceptthat money is the new ‘fruit’, like thatoffered to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Hewent on to discuss the biblical view ofdebt as described in Proverbs 22:7,Deuteronomy 8, and parts ofDeuteronomy 28. Paul also stated that one of thenew forms of slavery is debt, to which many in theWestern world have fallen victim.

In this presentation Paul asked some verydirect and challenging questions concerning debtand our Christian experience. After an interactivesession with the young people, Deborah Harris (achartered accountant, CEO of DHU Associates andthe chair of the London Adventist Credit Union)spoke in her usual passionate way about the needfor financial management.

Following a hearty lunch, K. T. Abbequaye, aretail bank manager for the HSBC group, ledbreak-out groups with the youth, asking the

question,‘Is wealthor povertya result ofcircumstance or behaviour?’ The question sparkedmuch discussion and debate among the youth andadults present.

‘I believe that it is time that we educated ouryouth in the twenty-first century to be financiallyliterate. These are our upcoming tithe payers andwage earners,’ said Dr de Lisser, reflecting on theday, ‘and we need to encourage them not only toachieve but to dedicate their talents and themoney they earn to God’.

Top: Herta von Stiegel, aninternationally renowned taxlawyer. Above: K. T. Abbequaye,bank manager for the HSBCgroup, and FinancialAdvisor Alfred Officer were among the first-classfinancial brains who lenttheir expertise to the conference. Right: CharteredAccountant Deborah Harris.

Letters

The Church and the PopeDear EditorI am writing in response to the article bythe BUC president, Don McFarlane (‘Canthe Adventist Church Welcome PopeBenedict to Britain?’, 17 Sept).

While I agree that many RomanCatholics are sincere Christians who aredeserving of our utmost Christian love,does the Pope have the same character ashis followers? Isn’t it important forProtestants not to be deceived into ‘joininghands’ with the beast power?

I do not believe for a moment thatChrist would welcome the Pope. Go to any of the Gospels to see his continuousrebuke of the Pharisees (and they were his own religious leaders), yet he had compassion on the people because of their ignorance.

The Catholic Church as an organisa-tion, and the Pope as its leader (and mostpowerful person on the planet), are fullyaware of both the plan of salvation and theplan of Satan. He has chosen his path. Wemust not side with the enemy.JANET OTTEY, WOLVERHAMPTON

Editor: Did you miss Pastor McFarlane’sarticle in the 15 October issue?

Welcome the Pope?Dear Editor,Our loving, warm-hearted and compassion-ate president of the Adventist Church in the UK, Pastor Don McFarlane, posed theabove question and proceeded to explainwhy his answer was in the affirmative. Onthe other hand, there were quite a fewvoices, even among practising Catholics,who opposed the visit, based on a long listof legitimate concerns and deeply painfulgrievances. A Yahoo search of ‘Protest thePope’ yielded 7,620,000 entries. Despitethe ‘Protest the Pope’ rally organised by theNational Secular Society and attended byan estimated 10,000 to 20,000 protestors,the Papal visit was to all intents and pur-poses a resounding mass-media politico-religious success. Papal visits are plannedyears in advance at the highest levels ofgovernment. Despite their pomp, pageantryand popularity, such visits are nonethelessfilled with disturbing, far-reaching signifi-cance, and will no doubt impact the nationin last-day events according to our under-standing of prophecy. The seeds have beensown, the harvest is on the way.DR PASTOR CLAUDE LOMBART, DARTFORD

Re: Pope’s visitDear EditorPastor D. McFarlane’s article in 17September issue and the editorial in 1October issue both have merit. However,the words of Ellen White in the bookEducation (in which she admonishes us tostand for the right though the heavens fall)are also apposite.

The Roman Catholic Catechism ofChristian Doctrine (available at most book-stalls in Catholic churches for about £2) isa real eye-opener. How should we react, forinstance, to the statement ‘The Pope is theSpiritual Father of all Christians’? Or whatabout ‘The church [meaning the RomanCatholic Church] is the one Ark of Salvationfor all’? The booklet mentions that ‘Thewicked shall live and be punished for everin the fires of hell’. That sounds to me like

Truly, there was joy as Breath of Life’s ‘ReachingOut’ revival series climaxed on 2 October. Nightafter night, the church assembled to encounter therich blessing of the Word in song along with thespoken Word. Our pastor, Dr Patrick Herbert, deliv-ered apt messages which addressed our Church’ssituation, and yet at the same time drew visitorsand non-members into a closer relationship withJesus Christ.

Dr Herbert used such titles as ‘You Know’,‘When the Music Stops’, ‘Refusing and Choosing’,‘Dead but Speaking’ and ‘You Can’t Touch This’,all of which heightened the listeners’ curiosity anddrew them to a fresh understanding of God’sWord.

Throughout the two weeks, numerous giftswere given out as we were blessed with an abundance of regular visitors. We are praying that, through this venture, they will in timebecome members of our church.

On Sabbath 2 October, the beginning of theBaptism Month in the West Midlands, there was

joy. Five souls – Daran Edwards, Kuda Gonyora,Fiona Mantack, and Shane and Sean Williams –made their decision for Jesus Christ by walkingthrough the waters of baptism. This was a partic-ular surprise as three from one family (Fiona andher sons, Shane and Sean) made their decisionafter going home and considering Friday night’smessage, ‘Payday Someday’.

Donna Haslam helped us to put the baptism ofher sister, Fiona, into perspective by telling us alittle of Fiona’s journey. We were told that Fiona’sjourney into the Breath of Life church started overten years ago. Even though she took a break fromthe church, she came back and has been a regu-lar visitor for the past six years.

Donna, who is also a member of Breath of Life,had to testify that it was during Fiona’s ten-yearjourney that she herself gave her heart to theLord. She told us that, when Fiona was seriouslyill, she (Donna) felt impressed to go to the churchand pray for Fiona. After asking Fiona which washer church, and finding out that it was Breath ofLife, Donna found herself there praying for her sister and never stopped coming; she made herstand for the Lord several years ago.

What a story! One sister leads another sister tothe Lord in spite of illness, and now today bothare truly ‘sisters in Christ’.COMMUNICATION SECRETARY

6 Messenger

Members and friends of ASImet at a conference centre inDenham, Buckinghamshire,

on Sabbath 18 September. The aimof the meeting was to re-launch ASI-UK (which has been without a presi-dent since November 2009) and tore-affirm our commitment to shareChrist with our work colleagues.Laudable as this objective may be, itis not without its challenges, includ-ing national indifference to religionand a climate of militant atheism.

The main focus of the morningsession was a sermon from PastorSam Neves, who is the pastor of theWimbledon church as well as thepadre for ASI. Pastor Neves, in hisown inimitable style, reminded us ofour God-given responsibility to sharethe message with our colleagues atwork. ‘Go out and prophesy again’,was the theme of his message. Achallenge; a duty; a phrase to shakeus out of our complacency, or dis-couragement, or whatever barrierhas dimmed our sense of mission.

It was encouraging to hearreports in this session of projectswhich ASI has supported in the past,

and which have made a significantdifference. The spirit of generositywhich underpinned this was high-lighted by a pledge to support amajor Edge TV project to transmit theGospel message into many homes.The offering of £7,700 reflects theeagerness which members have toexplore any means which may suc-cessfully convince our nation thatour message is life-changing.

The afternoon session was differ-ent: first of all, the new president,Jim Cunningham, was introduced tothe members. Jim, a retired headteacher, has taken up the challengeof moving ASI-UK forward. Specialguest Angel Duo, president of ASI-Europe, gave a presentation on theway in which different chaptersacross Europe affect the spread ofthe Gospel. They have different cul-tures, resources, talents and out-comes, but we all share the samegoal. We are extremely grateful forthe financial support they have givento the ‘Youth for Jesus’ programme,which is led by a student member,Charlotte Bramble, who has a pas-sion for giving young people in our

land a truly life-changing hope.SEC Personal Ministries Director

Terry Messenger’s presentationreminded us that our Christian influence in the workplace could betransformative, depending on howwe react to our professional respon-sibilities, colleagues and managers,and the difficulties that may affectus. We spend enormous amounts oftime with our work colleagues. Theymay not always be receptive to whatwe say, but they cannot ignore whatwe do.

How impoverished our lives andconferences would be without music.Recall, Victoria Balan and KerhysSterling enriched our conference with their musical gifts.

After a period of socialising,members and visitors returnedhome, perhaps more reflective,aware of the enormous challengefacing our movement. They appreci-ated the companionship and sharedfellowship, but were reminded of thecharge given to us by Christ 2,000years ago.

Messenger 7

ASI-UK re-launchby Jim Cunningham, president ASI-UK

‘Holy peoplescare me!’The annual Welsh Mission Day of Fellowship is held every autumn

at the Pavilion in Llandrindod Wells. This excellent venue, situatedin beautiful mid-Wales, is in just the right location to allow mem-

bers from both north and south Wales to get there in a reasonabletime.

Our speaker this year was the North England Conference president,Pastor Ian Sweeney. As the Welsh Mission’s nearest neighbour, wehave always had a good relationship with the North EnglandConference, regularly benefiting from their lay preachers and enjoyingthe company of their memberswhen they visit for holidays and thelike. However, it was a special privi-lege to have Pastor Sweeney wor-ship with us and to learn directlyfrom him something of the chal-lenges that the NEC faces, as wellas the vision that he has for thefuture of the Church.

In his morning sermon, entitled‘Holy people scare me’, PastorSweeney told the gritty real-lifestory of a family that had been tornapart by religious fundamentalism.A woman, who was believed to bedenigrating the family religion andits traditions, was murdered by herbrother in order to ‘preserve God’s honour’. ‘When people strive forholiness they can become very dangerous’, Pastor Sweeney said.

Using the Genesis story of Cain and Abel, together with a widerange of personal anecdotes, Pastor Sweeney pointed out that living aholy life is not necessarily a rewarding experience; in fact it can leaveyou with absolutely nothing. Particularly within the Seventh-dayAdventist context, holiness can ‘leave you without a job, friends, oreven a spouse’, he said. ‘Our holiness doesn’t obligate God to us inany way.

‘Striving for holiness can also lead directly to sin,’ Pastor Sweeneycontinued. ‘Saul killed Christians almost as an act of worship. ThePharisees plotted to kill Jesus because he threatened their religion. Inour own churches we see arguments, strife and division, all over thisissue of holiness.’

Despite the negatives, however, holiness is something that allChristians are to pursue. Pastor Sweeney said, ‘God knows the truthabout every one of us. One day he will intervene and then everyonewill know.’

Mrs Jennifer Sweeney attended the day with her husband, and gotthe children involved in telling the story of the Good Samaritan. Otherparticipants included Pastor David Foster (who led out in the SabbathSchool), Pastor and Mrs Clyde Moore and their team (who providedinnovative activities for the younger children), and Pastors JeremyTremeer and Jovan Adamovi (who, with the help of the youth, gave anentertaining report of the English Language School project that theyran in Serbia this summer).

Dr Theo Gokah, elder of the Cardiff North company, hosted the con-cluding musical part of the day. Featuring praise and worship songsfrom the Swansea Afterglow team, as well as solos, group items andconcert piano pieces, there was something to suit all tastes.

More than 150 pictures from the day can be seen on the WelshMission website at: www.adventistwales.org

Men of excellence – come to Chatham!Sabbath 22 January 2011 will be a big day at the Chatham church. Local membersare currently going door-to-door throughout the community, inviting men to our men’sday, which will lastfrom 9.30am to 6pm.We would like as manyAdventist men as pos-sible to come. PastorIan Sweeney will be ourspeaker. His theme:Men of Excellence –Standing tall in a fallenworld.RAYMOND MUTUMHE

Praise and Worship leader Duane Sanders from the Swansea Afterglow

Guest speaker, NEC president, Pastor Ian Sweeney

Sabbath School discussion group

Anita-Zelina Frazer from Rhyl talks about the youthtrip to Serbia

30October to

6November

Weekof Prayer

Sisters in Christ

Count how many times Josaid thank you:‘Thanks, Mum’, Jo said, whenher mum gave her pancakes for

breakfast.‘Thank you’, Jo said, when her teachers told her

she was a very good speller.‘Thanks, that hit the spot’, said Jo, when Samgave her a share of her granola bar.

‘Thank you’, Jo said, when the lady at the shop helped her to find abasket.‘Dear Uncle Ted, thank you for the new iPad. I feel very lucky’, Jo wrotein her email.

What do you think made Jo a grateful girl? This is what she prayed inher prayer last night. . .‘Dear God, thank you for the fun I had at school today. Thank you formy new iPad. Thank you for Uncle Ted, amen.’ Have you said thankyou to anyone today? I am sure most of you have.Jo knows something very important – God gives us everything we have.Like her, will you remember to say ‘thank you’ to him too?

A wordsearch with a hiddenmessage from Luke 17Find the words in the grid. Words cango horizontally, vertically anddiagonally in all eight directions.When you are done, the unusedletters in the grid will spell out ahidden message. Pick them out fromleft to right, top line to bottom line.

A family thank-you listHow about starting a thank-you list with your family? Eachnight after dinner, take turns by letting one person writesomething for which they are thankful. You’ll beamazed to read through all your blessings by theend of the week.

A thank-you noteWrite a thank-you note to yourpastor, or Sabbath Schoolteacher, or someone else whoshares God’s love with you.Post it and see what a blessingyour note will be.

Thankful heroesYou could also make a list of all the events in the Bible you can remember wheresomeone said thank you or showed their gratitude. Then make another list of all theevents in the Bible you can remember where a person or group forgot to say thankyou. I wonder which will be the longer list?

Thank you, thank you, thank youOne day when Jesus lived on earth,he saw ten men who all had asickness called leprosy. Jesus made themall well, but only one man said ‘thank you’ tohim. Have some fun reading the story for yourself in Luke17:11-19 and then try this craft activity.

You will need:Eleven plastic spoons, felt-tips, an egg carton for a dozen eggs and scissors.

What you need to do:Use the felt-tips to draw faces on the backs of the spoons. Give them differenthairstyles and colours, beards and moustaches to represent each of the lepers andJesus.Remove the cover of the egg carton and turn the bottom section over, then slide aspoon handle into the centre of each eggcup. Place Jesus in an end cup.Use the spoon puppets to tell the story of Jesus and the ten lepers. Let thesespoons remind you to thank God for his gifts to you.

Anne Pilmoor & Heather Haworth

H E T H D E R M E D

E V W H N E I E M E

S E I I L F L L A K

G T N L J I E A E N

T L S U L P S S E A

E F O A E A E U E H

N T G R A N G R D T

T H S A Y C R E M N

F A I T H K E J D H

I M S A M A R I A T

FAITH

GALILEE

GLORY

HEALED

JERUSALEM

LEPERS

MERCY

NINE

SAMARIA

TEN

THANKED

VILLAGE.

Feedback from children who visit Christian Stars children’s pages – or from their parents – is welcome. The address iswww.adventistinfo.org.uk/departments/childrensministries.php. Heather Haworth, Children’s Ministries director, BUC

Feedback from children who visit Christian Stars children’s pages – or from their parents – is welcome. The address iswww.adventistinfo.org.uk/departments/childrensministries.php. Heather Haworth, Children’s Ministries director, BUC

Ihave known about Special Needs Camp for sev-eral years, because my brother has been volun-teering there since the early nineties. I have

even visited for the day on two occasions, but thisyear’s camp was the first I had attended for thefull week. The following are my impressions:

One of the first things one encounters atSpecial Needs Camp is the enthusiasm of thecampers. From the very first day, it is apparentthat campers do not return year-on-year becauseit is their only option for a holiday, but becausethey love it! Camp is, without a doubt, one of thehighlights of their year. As I observed the campswing into gear in the first day or so, I noticedthat, for many campers returning for another year,their expectation was that camp would be exactlywhat it had always been: a welcoming, safe,happy holiday, with familiar friends (campers andstaff) and familiar routines (mealtimes, bedtimesand activities) that they would enjoy afresh withthe same level of excitement and joy that they didlast year. This year, once again, the campers oldand new were not disappointed.

The second thing I noticed about Special NeedsCamp was that the enthusiasm and excitement of the campers matched the dedication and caredisplayed by the staff. One can only be impressed,and remove one’s proverbial hat in salute,because of those good folk who give their time toprovide this most excellent service. As a first-timer at Special Needs this year, I was in goodcompany; there were eight people who had chosento take on the challenging role of carer for the firsttime. Being a carer at Special Needs camp is not

a job for the faint-hearted, but rather for the big-hearted.

But what of the bouncy castles? Well, thebouncy castles are really indicators of activity. Yousee, Special Needs Camp is not for the idle. Thereis worship time to start and end the day; there arecrafts to make, each day, in the hall; there aredaily trips to local attractions; sports, games,afternoon tea in the village and ice creams on thebeach; a video diary of each day to watch, and, ofcourse, two large bouncy castles. Special Needs isa lot of fun!

I think the highlight of the week for me was thecamp concert. At the concert I saw, in equalmeasure, the tragedy and triumph of the camp. Inmany regards most of the campers at SpecialNeeds Camp are held captive, limited by mentalcapacity and, in some cases, physical impairment.The concert was, however, a real eye-opener; see-ing shy, awkward individuals‘come alive’ as swinging, sway-ing, jumping, singing stage per-formers made me cry withaffection. Jesus said, ‘Thethief’s purpose is to steal andkill and destroy. My purpose isto give them a rich and satisfy-ing life.’1 It is Satan’s plan torob everyone of God’s intendedlife, but at Special Needs Campthis year I saw, for campersand staff alike, a glimpse of hisabundance: abundant joy andlove and grace. Jesus also said,

‘when you did it to one of the least of these mybrothers and sisters . . . ’2 Refreshingly, I believe,though the world might consider them so, not asingle one of the campers at Special Needs Campconsiders themselves to be ‘least’, and as suchtheir enthusiasm for life – and camp – is infec-tious. If you’d like to ‘get infected’, and experiencea glimpse of the abundance of God’s Kingdom foryourself, then why not consider volunteering atSpecial Needs Camp for 2011?

For more information contact Joy Bussey at:js.bussey@ntlworld.com.

1John 10:10, NLT. 2Matthew 25:40, NLT.

Messenger 11

On 26 September, all roads ledto a packed Newbold church,where the Cornerstone Bible

Fellowship Association (CBFA) hosted the ‘Donutman concert’.CBFA is a gathering of NigerianSeventh-day Adventists in the UK.

The theme of the light-heartedconcert was a presentation of JesusChrist as a priceless Friend to chil-dren and their families. The eventwas co-ordinated by Anu Molomo(the Children’s Department leader of CBFA) and Toyin Aworinde.Preparations involved fasting andprayer, and numerous rehearsal sessions with CBFA children, whodoubled up as backing singers.

Toyin’s teenage daughter hasbeen a fan of the Donutman since

she was 1, and perhaps this is thecase with several other children. He presented wholesome Christianentertainment to attendees whotravelled from as far as MiltonKeynes, Watford and Chelmsford. He also gave away lots of doughnutsto the children, and treated them tothought-provoking acts and rendi-tions of his classic songs. One ofthese was ‘Life without Jesus’,which received a thunderous ovation.

Feedback has been positive: ‘Afantastic event in a great setting’, ‘Iam glad we came all the way fromChelmsford’, ‘Thanks for a lovelyafternoon – the kids loved it and sodid I’, ‘I enjoyed myself more thanthe kids did’, and ‘May God blessyou and everyone who was involved

10 Messenger

The God Debate came toNewbold College’s SalisburyHall on Tuesday evening, 5

October. Writer and broadcasterRabbi Jonathan Romain, minister atthe Maidenhead Synagogue, deliv-ered the 2010 Beach Lecture – aJewish response to scientist RichardDawkins’ best-selling book, TheGod Delusion. The rabbi’s audienceconsisted of Adventists from theNewbold community and otherChristians from the Binfield,Bracknell and Wokingham churches.There was a small group from thelocal Bahá’í community and asprinkling of agnostics. If there wasa professing atheist in the 300-strong audience, he or she didn’tspeak up!

In this sympathetic context,Rabbi Jonathan began with a concession to Dawkins – the recognition that there are ‘dinosaursand lunatics’ in all religions. Hedescribed as ‘my lunatics’ thoseJerusalem Jews who stone a work-ing ambulance on the Sabbath. Onthe other hand, he suggested, reli-gious people have enhanced theworld by founding charitable organisations like the Red Cross,Alcoholics Anonymous, theSamaritans, and AmnestyInternational. ‘There is somethingpowerful in religion that can beused for enormous good and canhelp average people rise abovethemselves,’ he said, ‘the problemwith some religion is not religionitself but the people who adopt it.’

The rabbi discussed some ofDawkins’ arguments and looked atthe conflict between atheistic scien-tists and religious people. He sug-gested that they are ‘engaged in twoentirely different tasks’ – taskswhich are not always understood bythose in the opposite camp. ‘By andlarge people believe because theybelieve’, he suggested. Atheists canmarshal an orderly package of‘atheist theology’ but are stillunable to convince religious peoplethat their experiences with God, asthey sing religious songs together or watch a blood-red sunset, areanything but real and everlasting.

The most fascinating part of thelecture, for many in the audience,was the final section dealing withthe Jewish attitude to Dawkins’atheism and suggesting that, toJews, many of Dawkins’ questionsare almost irrelevant. ‘ “Do youbelieve in God?” is a non-Jewishquestion,’ said Rabbi Jonathan,‘Jewish religion is more concernedwith what to do than with what tobelieve. He suggested rather wrylyat one point, ‘To be a good Jew, youdon’t have to believe in God, youjust have to do what God says.What most matters is not what youbelieve but what you do in God’sname!’ The Rabbi described Jewsas being ‘very relaxed about defin-ing God, believing that it is a formof arrogance to do so.’ Much moreimportant than defining (and there-by limiting) God are the godly tasksundertaken as an expression ofbelief: supporting the weak, healingthe sick, rescuing the prisoners. Hereminded his listeners that 'Israel'literally means, ‘He who struggles[or “is prince”] with God.’ ‘Jewshave spent centuries wrestling withGod, doubting God, arguing withGod, questioning God – but nevergiving up.’

The Beach Lecture* was found-ed to build ecumenical bridges – to make Newbold a place whereAdventists and local Christianscome together to exchange ideas.An hour after the lecture had fin-ished, the Salisbury Hall caretaker,coming in to lock the building, foundseveral groups of college staff, students and visitors still standingaround, discussing the subject.There’s no doubt that the Goddebate will go on! HELEN PEARSON

*The Beach Lecture was endowed in 1996 byDr Bert Beach, former Newbold governor, andMrs Eliane Beach.

Donutman@Newbold

Campers, carers and bouncy castlesSpecial Needs Camp 2010by Lee Gallaher

The God Debate atNewbold

Top: Rabbi Roman with Newbold’s MikePearson.Middle: The rabbi, who writes and broadcasts, continued the discussion informally. Above & bottom: There were many contributions from the audience.

in this project; it was fantastic’ werejust some of the comments.

We thank all those who con-tributed towards making the eventan outstanding success. To our heav-enly Father, Jesus Christ, we give allthe glory and honour. The organisersare liaising with Rob Evans, theDonutman, for a comeback soon. Formore on Cornerstone’s activities,visit cbfa.org.uk.MR DAYO DARE, PR & MEMBERSHIP CO-ORDINATOR, CBFA

Health fairs run by localAdventist churches are prettypopular these days, but it’s

not often that they get sponsored bythe local council. However, thanks toa good track record, and the cam-paigning efforts of local members,this year’s Newport Health Fairreceived a subsidy of £1,000 fromthe Newport Festival 2010 fund. Asa result of this, the event, whichwas held on Sunday 19 Septemberat a school just over the road fromthe church, was considerably biggerthan the one the church ran twoyears ago.

Councillor DavidHando, of the BeechwoodWard, officially pro-nounced the event openat 11.30am, and for thenext four hours or somore than two hundredpeople browsed theexhibits, picked up information leaflets, had

across South Wales, ran cookingdemonstrations, blood pressuretests, and cholesterol and bloodsugar tests, as well as presentingseminars on various health topics.Together with helpers from theschool and community, they alsoensured that a free (and substantial)healthy meal was given to everyonewho wanted one.

Stuart Sly and Mark Walmsleyfrom The Stanborough Press wereparticularly supportive. Their largeand attractive display of books andhealth food did brisk businessthroughout the day and (hopefully)justified the very early start they hadto make from Grantham.

Margaret Went and David Ninnes,volunteer ambassadors from theNewport People’s Panel, explainedwhy the council was so keen to sup-port events like the health fair. ‘It’sreally important to promote Newport

and make people feel good about it,’Margaret said. ‘There is a lot ofinvestment going on, particularlywith the Ryder Cup coming here; thecouncil want to do all they can tomake Newport an attractive destina-tion.’

Councillor David Hando, who isalso the local cabinet member forthe Department of Social Servicesand Housing (which includes thearea of health), talked about howimportant it was for people to keep acareful eye on their personal health.Setting a good example, he was oneof the first to have his blood pres-sure checked at the StrokeAssociation stand.

Claire O’Shea, from the StrokeAssociation, was keen to get themessage across that high bloodpressure is directly related to therisk of stroke. ‘Most people don’trealise that if you have high bloodpressure you are eight times morelikely to have a stroke’, she said. ‘Ablood pressure check is easy to doand if the reading is over 140/90you are beginning to be at risk – andthis is independent of age.’ Of the

12 Messenger Messenger 13

people she checked during the day,at least five were recommended tosee a doctor.

Christine Miles, from the NewportTemperance Society, was more inter-ested in helping people to under-stand the harm that can be done topeople’s health by excessive drink-ing. Her display included a body-partpuzzle, much enjoyed by the chil-dren, plus a very simple demonstra-tion to see if people could guess how many units of alcohol were in different-sized glasses. ‘A bigproblem these days,’ she said, ‘isthat people just don’t know howmuch they are drinking.’

The most ‘eye-catching’ exhibitin the hall was on NirmalaPisavadia’s Sight Support stand. Sheused a large model of the humaneye to highlight its intricacies and toexplain just how delicate our eyesare. ‘Our eyes are at risk’, she said.‘So many people these days havediabetes, but they don’t realise thatone of the first things that this candamage is their eyesight.’

Event co-ordinator and Newportchurch elder, Michael Sammons,was very pleased with the day, andtook time to send messages ofthanks to everyone who had takenpart. ‘We were blessed with a wonderful day’, he said. ‘I felt theevent was a great success and wecertainly made our presence felt onthe day’.

Special thanks go to Tony Trigg,site manager of Eveswell PrimarySchool, for his creativity and lateralthinking in making the school avail-able for important community eventslike these.

More than 150 photographs fromthe event can be seen at:www.adventistwales.org.

Holloway baptismOn the evening of 11 September, four people – Jamel Gayle, Donique Lindsey, DawnDaley and her mother, Joy Alexander – all decided to give their lives to Christ.

Pastor Richard Holder spoke words of wisdom and encouragement. Following these,they made their baptismal vows before the church members.

The first candidate to take the dip was Jamel Gayle (17). The pastor commented onhow wonderful it was that Jamel resisted the temptations of street culture, unlike manyyoung men his age, by joining the family of God.

Following Jamel were Joy Alexander and Dawn Daley. This was a heartfelt momentas the two are mother and daughter. It was beautiful to see them together in the pool towitness one another’s dedication to the Lord, and it is encouraging to know that theywill have the support of one another in their spiritual journey.

The final candidate was Donique Lindsey, a 19-year-old woman. Our Bible worker,Sister Rutherford, declared how excited she was to see Donique in the pool, as theyformed a good relationship while Donique attended Bible study classes.

3,300 miles for Operation Smile UKGrantham church member David Ferguson and his friend Nader Hanna (a

member of the Christian Orthodox Church) undertook an incredibly toughcycle ride of over 3,300 miles across the United States this summer. Thetrip from Los Angeles to New York was completed in just under seven weeksin July and August, and raised funds for Operation Smile UK, a charity thatprovides surgery for children born with a cleft palette. Cycling in 47˚C temperatures in the Mojave desert, traversing The Rockies, diverting by the Niagara Falls, and often sleeping in tents or disused barns to reducepersonal costs, these second-year medical students succeeded in raisingover £1,300 for a very worthy cause. Every penny raised has gone to thecharity; David and Nader paid the considerable travel, food and accommo-dation costs from their own pockets. The opportunity is still available if you would like to make a donation to Operation Smile UK. Simply go towww.justgiving.com/cyclinglatony and follow the instructions. Alternatively,if you would prefer to contact David’s dad, please call 01476 594 800.PASTOR J. FERGUSON

Local Council backs Newport Health Fairby John Surridge

Laura Davies and Zumba Fitness

David Ferguson and Nada Hanna with Chicago and Lake Michigan in the background. Cycling in 47˚C temperatures through the Mojave desert, the heat caused many punctures: it all but melted the tyres!

Claire O’Shea checks Councillor Hando’s blood pressure

The fire engine was a hit with the younger visitors

On behalf of the Holloway church I welcome these new membersinto the family of God. NOLA HOPKINS

various health checks, and sampleda wide range of healthy foods.

Among the many stall holderswere representatives from the StrokeAssociation, Newport People’s Panel,Zumba Fitness, Newport TemperanceSociety, and Sight Support (previ-ously Gwent Association for theBlind). Another major attraction wasa fire engine from the Maindee FireStation in the rear car park – a realhit with the younger visitors, and oneor two of the older ones who wereprepared to climb up the steep stepsand into the back of the cab.

Adventist volunteers, includingdoctors and nurses from churches

All advertisements are reproduced as supplied.

On Sunday 19 September, the Carlisle church indulged in a health expo atthe Lanes shopping centre. It took much organisation by Ian Philpott, aswell as support from the North England Conference’s Grace Walsh and the

UK’s LIGHT field co-ordinator, Neil Blest. This four-station expo included height,weight, lung, body-fat ratio, blood-sugar and pressure level measurements. Theobject was to determine people’s biological, as opposed to their chronological,health age. Shoppers queued up with interest.

‘Expoees’ had the privilege of a back massage and free lifestyle-improvementcounsel from leading experts. One lady in particular commented that she had notbeen touched by anyone in the last fifteen years; the human touch gave her hopeand courage in a self-centred, non-community-oriented world. Many peoplesensed the connection that we, as church members, share with each other.Invitations were handed out for people to attend a ten-week NEWSTART pro-gramme, to be run by Bill and Linda Kitchen. Many thanks go to the dedicatedvolunteers, who came in by plane, helicopter, train and car to support the Carlislechurch. These saints are Fred Evans, Dionne White, Eva Rea, Dianne Brown,Catharine Zimbeva, Tracey and Joe Philpott, Neil and Sam Blest, Grace Walsh,Don MacKay, Colin Woodford, and Bill and Linda Kitchen.CRAIG BAXTER

Messenger 1514 Messenger

Sabbath 12 June, back in highsummer, was a very specialand joyous day for the celebra-

tion of the one hundred years sincethe beginning of the Worcesterchurch.

Because another day had beenset aside for celebrating, invitationshad been sent to the local mayor, MrMike Layland, and his wife, as wellas to the NEC president, Pastor IanSweeney, and they joined us happilyfor the anniversary service. Themayor kindly offered his congratula-tions to all those present, andexpressed the pleasure he had atbeing with us for our special day; healso remarked on the warm andfriendly atmosphere he felt at beingin our church with us. He and hiswife stayed for the first part of theDivine Service, and he told us hewould like to visit again. By the timethey left, the church was full, and itwas almost ‘standing room only’.

It was a beautiful summer’s dayto start our ‘day of thanksgiving’ aswe began the Sabbath School(arranged by Ileen Clarke). A numberof visitors from far and near joinedus at 10am, and the Bible study wasconducted by Pastor Clyde Pototfrom the Philippines, who now wor-ships in Worcester.

Several different musical itemswere rendered throughout the day,treating us to lovely melodies; somefrom goups of local members, andsome from the CommissionedDudley SDA Church Choir. All their

messages in music were greatlyenjoyed and very uplifting.

It was also a very special day forParveen and Augustine Benny, origi-nally from India, as they broughttheir second baby daughter, Rosilind,to be dedicated. It was lovely toinclude in the ceremony her ‘big’ 2-year-old sister, Benita, and their‘auntie’ Elizabeth, who is soon toreturn to India.

Pastor Sweeney preached a stir-ring message based on Jonah chap-ter 4, illustrating how God controlsour lives as he controlled Jonah’slife.

Judy Wade and her deaconessesprepared a bountiful lunch for allwho could remain for the afternoonprogramme. She also supplied alovely, suitably decorated birthdaycake. The variety of dishes wasgreatly appreciated and everyonehad a feast of good things.

During the afternoon, the historyof the Worcester church was given,in a little more detail that that givenduring the March celebration day. Itwas divided by Doris Lack into twoparts; the first part gave some inter-esting facts and figures showinghow the Worcester church hadgrown. It seems that at least eightyto ninety people were baptised in thefirst few years as God gave wonder-ful success to the efforts of the pas-tors, Bible workers and lay mem-bers. Two of the young men baptisedin those early years (1921 to 1923)were helped financially to go and

study at Stanborough Park College.They were Pastors Harry Smith andFrank Stokes, who are still well-remembered by many memberstoday.

The second part of the presenta-tion very briefly compared what themembers did not have in the days of1910 with what we have today inthe early twenty-first century: airtravel, electricity, modern technology,household equipment, nuclearmachinery and X-rays. These aretaken for granted by us today andare part of our lives.

After some lovely singing, thesecond part contrasted what theyhad with what we do not have:deadly diseases, pitiful slums,poverty, primitive medical and nurs-ing care, infirmaries and asylums.However, our God never changes;nor does his saving Gospel. Allthrough these details, pictures on ascreen showed us what life lookedlike back at the beginning of thetwentieth century. It illustrated howour spiritual ancestors lived, workedand travelled, and the very poorsocial conditions.

Some very old pictures of

Worcester were shown, including thestreets around our church, just asthe earlier members would haveseen the area in their day. Many ofthe Adventists who started theChurch in the UK were also in theslideshow, including the Conferenceand Union leaders and ministers.The audio-visual presentation wasput together by our elder, CharlesLamont, and grateful thanks wereexpressed to him at the end of thepresentation.

The Sabbath celebration endedwith a short message of encourage-ment from Pastor Sweeney, chal-lenging all to continue labouring forthe Lord, to help spread the love ofGod and his truth for these lastdays.

Since the service, the Worcesterchurch has been in two local news-papers. A picture of the mayor andthe two pastors outside our churchwas accompanied by a brief article.Also, quite recently, BBC RadioHereford and Worcester invitedPastor Adrian Broome to go on air, totell the listeners about our Churchand to explain our beliefs.DORIS J. LACK, COMMUNICATION SECRETARY

October 31 will traditionally be thenight of Hallowe’en: the night

upon which many families will begiven an ultimatum, ‘trick-or-treat?’It’s a time when many home-ownersweigh up the options given to themat the door of their homes. Treat theinnocent children, or prepare for thedisguised children to perform a mischievous trick on your property.

Well this year, theCommunication department of theSmethwick church has adopted anidea from a Christian radio station(UCB) to use this event as an oppor-tunity to witness to the children inthe neighbourhoods in which theylive. Due to the fact that Hallowe’enis a pagan ritual intended to sendprayers to the deceased, we at theSmethwick church do not want tocondone this practice, but to offerreading resources rather than

sweets, chocolates or money. This year we partnered the Bag

of Hope project, which aims to reachmany families through the use ofevangelistic resources. After ordering100 bags and distributing themthroughout the church, we pray thatsome will be touched by what theyreceive on that night. Each bag ofhope consists of two books explain-ing and illustrating Christian storiesand topics relevant to 5-8 and 8-12-year-olds. As a bonus, our youngneighbours will receive a book fortheir parents or guardians.

So the members here were notstocking up their cupboards withsweets and chocolates before 31October, but were still preparing forthe sound of little knockings on theirfront doors. T. HOLNESS, COMMUNICATION AND INTEREST CO-ORDINATOR LEADER

‘Evolution v. Creation: Where do youcome from?’ This was the slogan forthe Creation Weekend held by DrAlbert Waite in the Gloucester churchfrom Friday 30 July to Sunday 1August. The meeting line-ups wereas follows:

Friday – ‘The Beginning, what theBible and Science have to say’;Sabbath – ‘Where is God?’; andSunday – ‘The Age of the Earth: canScience and the Bible answer?’

There was a lot of preparationwork before the event, whichinvolved the printing of T-shirts,leaflet dropping in the communityand invitations to other denomina-tions in and around Gloucester, radioadverts and the placement of somehuge colourful posters outside thechurch and at other strategic loca-tions. The Gloucester Carnival in thepark during the preceding two weeksprovided an ideal opportunity forleaflet distribution, which was fullyexploited by the Personal Ministriesdepartment and its team of helpers,who were responsible for the preparation and organisation of the seminar.

Throughout his presentations, DrWaite encouraged us to look for our-selves at the evidence and to realisethat there is no real conflict betweenthe Bible and science. He empha-sised that science in itself was notbad. Science has achieved muchgood for humanity. The major conflictarises from the question of the originof the earth and of life. His targetaudience was the young people,

because they need to be solidlygrounded and to understand the biblical truths that can equip themto deal with what they are beingtaught in school.

Dr Waite compared the Bible with science, and through his pre-sentations painted the picture of amajestic God who purposefully andintelligently created the universe,man and all the creatures; a Godwho is so loving that he came closeenough physically not only to formman out of the dust of the earth butalso to breathe into him the breathof life. He contrasted this with thelack of certainty or agreementamong scientists about where andhow life began. He showed that theBible has no such uncertainties. Hepointed our attention to the paradoxof a God who resides in a place wedo not know and cannot reach butwho stays with us and comes intoour hearts if we let him in.

The meetings were well attended,not only by church members butalso by visitors from other denomi-nations and from the general public.Although the young people were thetarget audience, all age groupsattended and participated, and wereequally, immeasurably blessed. Atthe end of each presentation, DrWaite dealt with a great number ofquestions from an enquiring andresponsive audience, and he made ita point to favour the young people bytaking their questions over those ofthe older folk.ANGELA CONNICK

Smethwick responds to trick-or-treaters

Gloucester Creation Weekendtargets youth

90 years ofGod’s blessingsOn 21 August Vera Stearmancelebrated 90 years of God’sabundant blessings receivedduring her lifetime. The flow-ers in the Stanborough Parkchurch, given by her husbandPeter and their five daughters,were only a part of the happyweekend shared by Vera, herfamily and her many localfriends who helped to markthis important milestone withthe warmth of their greetingsand their laughter. PAUL BELLAMY

High summer celebration inWorcester

The mayor and his lady

Health Expo at Carlisle

FaithThe following was found scratched on the wall of a cell in a deathcamp in Germany during World War II:

‘I believe in the sun, even if it is not shining.I believe in the wind, even if I cannot see it.I believe in God, even when he is silent.’

NEWBOLD SCHOOLHEADTEACHER

Required for January 2011NOR 70

Age range 4-11Salary will be approximately £34,284pa

The South England Conference wishes to appoint an inspirational and committed, practising Seventh-day Adventist headteacher to lead Newbold school. Our aim is to provide a holistic education and develop

the talents and abilities of every child.

Our school community is looking for someone who:• Has a clear vision and commitment to the Seventh-day Adventist ethos and

the inclusion of all learners• Has a strong personal faith which will enrich the life of the school• Has proven leadership skills that encourage, support and challenge students

and bring innovative initiatives and programmes to further improve our practice

• Is an effective communicator with good inter-personal skills who will supportand inspire pupils, staff, governors and parents/carers

• Will continue to build links with the community and manage use of theschool’s facilities

• Has experience in the UK school system • Has the right to work in the UK

Our school community offers:• A rich and diverse intake of children and their families• A friendly, dedicated staff team committed to the school and its community• A supportive governing body, Church conference, and adjoining Adventist

tertiary college• An exciting opportunity to lead in shaping the future of the school

Visits to the school are warmly welcomed. For an appointment, please contact Mrs Pat Eastwood at

Newbold School on tel: 01344 421088

For an application form, job description and person specification please e-mail:jcrawford@secadventist.org.uk

Closing date for applications: 16 November 2010

The South England Conference is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and expects all staff to share this commitment. All successful applicants will be required to undertake a criminal record check via the CRB before they can be appointed.

16 Messenger

MessengerVolume 115 • 22 – 29 October 2010

EDITOR: D. N. MARSHALLDESIGN: DAVID BELL

COPY FOR No. 24 – 8 November 2010Copy should be sent to the Editor, MESSENGER, TheStanborough Press Limited, Alma Park, Grantham,Lincolnshire, NG31 9SL. Tel: (01476) 591700.

Fax No: (01476) 577144. Email: Editordnm@mac.com

Send high resolution pictures to:dbell@stanboroughpress.co.ukABC Sales line: (01476) 539900 Mon-Thurs only, 8am-5.30pm.www.stanboroughpress.com

The Editor may alter, clarify, précis or expandarticles sent to him if he thinks it necessary.

Published fortnightly on Fridays by the British UnionConference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Printed in the UK.Visit the BUC website at: www.adventist.org.uk

ISSN 0309-3654

ABC BOOK SALESOctober31 Wolverhampton 10am-2pm

November7 Harlow 2pm-5pm13 Dublin Sunset-8pm21 Ipswich 10am-2pm

ABC Shops Watford, BUC.9am-5pm, Monday-Thursday. (Closed for lunch 1pm-1.30pm)9am-12pm Friday. Closed on Sundays

Advent CentreSundays 11am-3pm

SunsetSunset times are reproduced with permission fromdata supplied by the Science Research Council.

Lond Card Nott Edin BelfOct 29 5.39 5.52 5.40 5.39 5.54Nov 5 4.27 4.39 4.26 4.24 4.40

12 4.16 4.28 4.15 4.11 4.2719 4.06 4.19 4.04 3.59 4.16

MESSENGER SUBSCRIPTIONSCost to member supplied in bulk to churches £6.

Single copy subscription by post £13.Overseas airmail £27.50

New book of the week

A Fishy TaleA story about Jonah

by Anne Pilmoor

This book is a simple retelling of the sory of Jonah. Children willenjoy this classic, with its bright,lively illustrations, and will come

to understand Jonah’s unforgettable lesson.

Contact ABC Sales on 01476 539900

to purchase your copy at £3.95 plus p&p.

STANBOROUGH SCHOOL VACANCIESModern Foreign Language Teacher (French): January 2011We are seeking an enthusiastic individual to teach French in our MFL department. The qualified candidate will be capable of teaching Key Stages 3, 4(GCSE) and 5 (International Baccalaureate). The ability to teach girls P.E. wouldbe an advantage.

You will prepare and deliver appropriate learning materials and carry outassessments of students and their work. You will contribute to the curriculumdevelopment, including the planning and implementation of existing and newprogrammes.

Information Communication Technology (ICT) Teacher: January 2011Qualified teacher required to teach ICT. The qualified candidate will be capable of teaching Key Stages 3, 4 (GCSE) and 5 (International Baccalaureate).

Stanborough School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare ofchildren and young people, and expects all staff to share this commitment. Allsuccessful applicants will be required to undertake a criminal record check viathe CRB before they can be appointed.

Applicants should be able and willing to support the Christian ethos of thisSeventh-day Adventist school.

Salary commensurate with denominational scale according to qualificationsand experience. The offer of employment in respect of these posts will be sub-ject to a satisfactory disclosure certificate from the Criminal Records Bureau.

The closing date for applications is 19 November 2010.If you think that you have the drive and vision to fill these positions, and youhave the teaching qualifications, relevant experience and authorisation to work inthe UK, please complete the application and person specification forms availableon our website (www.spsch.org) and email them with your C.V., addressed tothe Head Teacher, Mr R. Murphy, at: jmckie@spsch.org. Alternatively, post themto: Stanborough Park, Watford, Hertfordshire, WD25 9JT

Job vacancy at ADRA-UK ADRA-UK has a vacancy for the position of Chief Programmes Officer.

The Chief Programmes Officer leadsthe Programmes team and will takeresponsibility for actively investigating,sourcing and monitoring funds fromgovernment, public and private donors;supporting ADRA-UK’s implementingpartners on proposal development,donor compliance, monitoring & evaluation, and donor reporting.

A Masters’ degree in internationaldevelopment, international relations or arelated subject is preferable. Applicantsshould have at least four years’ directexperience in development work, prefer-ably in a developing country, and provenunderstanding of development issue:theory and practice. Strong analytical,verbal and written communication skills,as well as proven management skills,are absolutely essential.

ADRA-UK is offering this position inthe first instance as a one-year contract.Salary level: £33,413 to £36,612(dependent on qualifications and experience).

All details of the position, togetherwith an application form, are availableon the ADRA-UK website:www.adra.org.uk. Alternatively, email info@adra.org.uk or write toRecruitment, ADRA-UK, StanboroughPark, Watford, Herts. WD25 9JZ,England.

Applicants should have the right towork in the UK prior to submission ofthe employment application.

The deadline for receipt of applications is 2 December 2010

IOW storyWhen Angela and John Andersonreturned to their hotel at Shanklin, on the Isle of Wight, from their holidayin January 2010, they were horrified.While they were away the water pipeshad burst, and about sixty percent ofthe hotel was in a sorry state.

Ceilings were collapsed, wallsruined, and furniture and carpetsdestroyed. Most people would havegiven up on hotel life: but not thesetwo! They took everything in theirstride.

Calmly, they assessed the situationand called in the insurance people.They came and informed the Andersonsthat their insurance would cover thecost, and that they would be put up inaccommodation for six months whilethe repairs took place.

At church, they were very com-posed and collected. Time went by,and, finally, after six months, every-thing was in its proper place and thecouple were once again in business.They could tell of many miracles andblessings that came their way in March2010: they received a letter from theVegan Society, letting them know that in2009 they had been voted as providing‘the best accommodation and veganfood in the whole of the UK’.JOHN HEMMING