By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Letícia Alves)

Members of Seventh-day Adventist churches in the Santa Efigênia district in Curitiba, Brazil, were surprised at the end of April with a unique contest. Each of them could submit a child-sized homemade mask to be given to a young member of the community. Each design would be judged as a creative art piece, and winners would be chosen at the church level to compete with others at the district level.
The idea came up in a meeting with the district youth board. In discussion about the next youth…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Sarah Ryan)

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) New Zealand is working with a network of Seventh-day Adventist churches throughout the country to provide essentials to over 1000 Kiwi families in need.
During the level 4 lockdown in New Zealand, many non-essential workers lost either all or a percentage of their income. Many families have struggled throughout this time, but it has been especially difficult for families already living in poverty.
In response, ADRA NZ launched the “Love Thy…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Heather Jackson)

49-year-old Barbara Rader finally found hope that her terminal Stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis may not be the final chapter of her life. And then COVID-19 happened.
When she first received her cancer diagnosis in 2019, she was afraid she wouldn’t be around for special moments, like seeing her nephews and god-daughter grow up. When her diagnosis improved in the beginning of 2020, she was hopeful her life would be extended. Then she was hit with another fear: contracting COVID-19 as an…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Fernanda Gomes)

With the social distance caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, families now spend more time together at home. As coexistence increases, conflicts can arise. That’s what happened in Xi’an, in central China, where the city registered a record number of divorce requests right after the lockdown attributed to the illness.
To help families with their issues, both now and after the pandemic, the Family of Peace Portuguese-language podcast channel was launched on Spotify. Pastor Geraldo Magela, who has…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Royston Philbert / NCC Staff / IAD News)

Jacky Barry, a member of the Philipsburg Seventh-day Adventist Church on the island of Sint Maarten, chose to use the stay-at-home mandate during the coronavirus pandemic to start a vegetable garden ministry. It’s a ministry that has blossomed into more than 776 members.
“It was God who gave me this ministry,” said Barry. “I was only thinking of a way to use gardening as a tool to spread the message of healthful living.”
Barry, who serves as the Pathfinder Club area coordinator on the island,…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (NSD Communication Department)

The Cheongso Open Church in Korea gave away homemade hand sanitizer and handmade masks to their neighbors for free to help them prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“When the virus began to spread fast in Korea, it was not easy for people living in a rural area like us to get hand sanitizer and masks,” said church pastor Lee JinSeon. “I thought our church should help overcome this hardship together with our neighbors, rather than just feeling frustrated.”
Church member volunteers gathered for…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Gloria Lozano-Castrejón)

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began to change our daily habits, we had to let go of many activities and ordinary pleasures, at least for the time being. Other doors that seemed closed, however, now are open and look inviting, if we dare to cross them with discipline, curiosity, and imagination.
Such is what happens with poetry, something which suddenly has gone through a resurgence and acquired newfound resonance outside close academic circles. It has become again “the voice of the people,” a…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Fabiana Lopes)

While all public and private schools remain closed in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, students from the Adventist schools are attending online classes during social isolation. In addition to the basic academic subjects, educators also work to help the students understand the importance of health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Duque de Caxias, classes remain suspended until May 13, according to the local city hall. However, the Duque de Caxias Adventist College promoted an…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Maryellen Fairfax)

Well-loved community café Manna Haven, a ministry of Byron Bay, Alstonville, and Ballina Seventh-day Adventist Churches in New South Wales, Australia, among others, is distributing meal vouchers to backpackers, families, and individuals struggling to make ends meet as a result of COVID-19.
Customers, church members and people from the community have so far purchased more than 200 meal vouchers to feed people in need, at a cost of AU$14 (US$9) per meal. ”I’ve been giving the vouchers to the…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (CD-EUDNews, Daniel Brinzan)

One third of Romania’s Adventist churches simultaneously clicked GO LIVE on their various social platforms, offering their first-ever collaborative social media evangelism campaign
Approximately 300 official Facebook pages and 30 YouTube channels of both churches and other Adventist organizations broadcast the same programming live at 8:00 every night between April 25 and May 3. From the very first minutes of the broadcast, the video was distributed by volunteers on WhatsApp lists and groups….

Source:: sda website