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

What is the power of one baptism?
As a little girl, Yana Stoyka wanted to be baptized. But her parents said she was too young, so she put aside the idea for a while.
When she was 13, she suddenly remembered her yearning to be baptized. She didn’t just remember the idea. A strong, irresistible desire filled her.
“I want to be baptized!” she told herself.
Yana started taking a six-month baptismal class at the Russian-speaking Seventh-day Adventist church that her family attended in Prague, the…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Steven Dragoo)

A lonely literature evangelist walked the dusty hot streets of Butuan City, Philippines.
All day he toiled, and yet he sold nothing. This was his only source of income, so he was a little discouraged. But he determined to knock on one more door before going home that day. As he approached, he prayed and then knocked.
A slight woman with keen eyes opened the door to greet the tired man with a smile. He made his heavenly pitch, and she could see the sincerity in his eyes and hear it in his…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Libna Stevens/IAD)

Seventh-day Adventists across the Inter-American Division (IAD) have been involved in evangelism outreach activities across their communities for months, and the culmination of their efforts, an annual live baptismal celebration, is set to take place on Sabbath, Feb. 9, 2019, in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Pastors, elders and active church members will witness the culmination of their united efforts in sharing the gospel in Jamaica and elsewhere in Inter-America, during what the church has coined…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (V. Michele Bernard, Columbia Union News)

The federal government shutdown at the end of 2018/beginning of 2019 stopped the paychecks of 800,000 federal government employees. Seventh-day Adventists in the DMV are working to lessen the blow.
After hearing of increased reports of federal workers struggling to feed their families, staff at Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington (ACSGW), hosted a Pop Up Pantry for furloughed workers where they shared food with more than a dozen people.
Another impacted area is the national…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Record Staff)

A Sydney Adventist Hospital surgeon has been announced as a finalist in the 2019 NSW Women of the Year Awards.
Ear, nose and throat surgeon Payal Mukherjee is one of four finalists for the NSW Premier’s Woman of the Year, an award that recognizes an exceptional achiever who has made a significant contribution to NSW and is a strong role model for other women.
Associate Professor Mukherjee is the deputy chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) NSW State Committee, the ENT…

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By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (North American Division Office of Communication with G. Alexander Bryant)

Roscoe J. Howard, former North American Division (NAD) executive secretary, passed away in Apopka, Florida, on Jan. 21, 2019, after a struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Howard was working as vice president for Missions for Adventist Health System (now AdventHealth) when, in 2015, he was diagnosed with ALS, a progressive nervous system disease that weakens muscles and impacts physical function. He was 64.
“Roscoe was shaped in a unique way by the hand of God to become the man and…

Source:: sda website

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

One of the main attractions at the fifth South American Pathfinder Camporee is a special booth dedicated to Pathfinder Club history. Thanks to donations from 56 countries, a collection of more than 50 thousand items from the Pathfinder International Museum is on display.
Among these objects are pictures, uniforms, and manuals, as well as 7,500 event patches—including nearly all Camporees conducted by the Adventist Church in South America. There are only five patches left to complete the…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Prince Bahati, communication director, East Central Africa Division)

In his report to the members of the Executive Committee of the East-Central Africa Division (ECD) of Seventh-day Adventists, Executive Secretary Alain Coralie stated that the territory now has more than four million members. His report included the fact that at the beginning of third quarter 2015, membership was 3,116,320. ECD membership now stands at 4,097,347. This means it has increased its membership by nearly a million (981,027) in the last three years. The growth rate is 31.5%, an average…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Britt-Celine Olderbraten)

I love reading. I read quickly and that results in lots of books every year. The only problem is: I do not have space for all those books in my tiny flat! I remember thinking: this is not a problem only for me – many people have books they will not read again. That is how the first ADRA book market in Norway started six years ago.
During the first year, we collected book donations from people in the local area. Most of our customers came from the local church and only a few new people we didn’t…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Andrew McChesney)

Father took 13-year-old Salvatrice “Salvina” Mazza on a 33-mile (43-kilometer) bicycle ride on the Italian island of Sicily.
But the outing wasn’t for fun.
“A family in the village of Rosolini asked for help in understanding the Bible,” Father said. “Come and listen so you can learn how to share Jesus.”
Father didn’t own a car, so he and Salvina mounted their bicycles for the trip from the mountainside town of Ragusa. They were joined by a friend, Giovanni Giallanza, the first Seventh-day…

Source:: sda website