By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Kimberly Luste Maran)

The SONscreen Film Festival began somewhat inauspiciously in 2002.
Stacia Wright (then Dulan) was finishing up her postgraduate internship in the North American Division’s Vervent office when Director Jere Wallack (who passed away in 2018) said to her, “I have a project specifically for you. I sat down with Ray Tetz and we came up with a name—it’s called SONscreen. But we have not defined what SONscreen is. That’s up to you.”
Wallack explained that the division wanted a project for young…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (James Ponder)

A vegan diet was found to produce the healthiest levels of diet-related biomarkers compared to other diet patterns, according to a Loma Linda University study. The study was reported last month in The Journal of Nutrition.
Like clues at a crime scene, biomarkers in blood, urine, fat tissue and other biospecimens can serve as indicators or predictors of health and disease. Biomarkers may have favorable or unfavorable health effects, promoting or preventing cancer, cardiovascular and age-related…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Helen Pearson/tedNEWS)

How do you forgive and build bridges with the man who murdered your father? That is the reality for Jo Berry, the daughter of British politician Sir Antony Berry who was one of five killed in the October 1984 Brighton bombing of the Conservative Party annual conference.
Patrick Magee served a prison sentence for planting that IRA bomb. That horrific event created a relationship between Jo Berry and Patrick Magee which could have led to a lifelong hatred. Instead, the two have been on a journey…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission)

Esko was 63 and ill when he showed up at Piikkiö Seventh-day Adventist Church in southwestern Finland.
“I don’t need the food,” he told food pantry director Riitta-Liisa Peltonen as he picked out vegetables, meat, and bread. “It’s for my friends.”
Riitta-Liisa looked tenderly at the obese man. The odor of unwashed clothes and sweat clung to him. He suffered severe liver problems after years of drinking alcohol. His eyes were very kind.
“Are you a Christian?” Riitta-Liisa asked.
Esko shifted…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Jarrod Stackelroth, Adventist Record)

In the wake of the devastating Christchurch attacks, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South New Zealand has produced resources to help members connect and support Muslim friends and neighbors in culturally appropriate ways.
With both video and printable assets, the simple techniques will help break down barriers at a time when the people of Christchurch are struggling, according to South New Zealand Conference president Pastor Mike Sikuri.
“People here are tired,” he said. “[The attack] has…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Ted N.C. Wilson, President, Seventh-Day Adventist World Church)

Greetings to our more than 21 million members around the world who make up the wonderful Seventh-day Adventist church family in more than 200 countries! I thank God for each one of you and want to encourage you, no matter where you are, to be an active member in your local church, and to reach out to your surrounding community, making friends as you gently yet purposefully guide people to Jesus and His love and truth. Always remember that youare the church—that God is eagerly looking to you to…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission)

The elderly woman listened attentively in Sabbath School in a southeast Asian country.
Her Sabbath School lesson book was filled in. She looked up every verse in her Bible. Many verses were underlined in the Bible. She placed money in the Sabbath School mission offering.
The woman, known to church members as “Grandmother,” looked like a model Seventh-day Adventist.
Visiting U.S. church leader Amy Whitsett met with Grandmother after church to ask why she had left her non-Christian world…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Kimi-Roux James, ADRA International)

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) had for seven months conducted a pre- and post- study on the long-term effects of relief aid provided to 200,000 people in Yemen, many of whom were faced with ongoing unrest since peace treaties broke throughout the country in 2016. The study focused on the implementation of the USAID grant funded project called SALA, which is centered around Small Business, Agriculture, and Livelihood Assistance.
“SALA focuses on supporting people with…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Jermina Blanco Terrazas and Nancy Romero Flores)

On Thursday, March 14, Cochabamba Adventist College inaugurated a “Center of Influence,” the first within the Central Adventist Education System in Bolivia.
According to regional district pastor Dennis Ortega, the Center will offer health education courses to students already enrolled in the college and their parents, with personal Bible studies as a follow-up option. They hope to involve more families in the activities of the local church.
Roxana Veizaga, director of the Cochabamba…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Gaza Asitore)

Adventist health professionals from Rainbow Seventh-day Adventist Church in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea recently conducted free medical checks for their local community.
The program was organized by nurse Christian Yaliki, the church’s health and temperance leader. A doctor, nutritionist and nurses were among those who were involved in the activity.
More than 150 people were checked, with some surprised to learn they had health risks. Overall the program was successful, according to the…

Source:: sda website