By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Communication Department, Southern Asia-Pacific Division)

Days after a deadly tsunami hit the coastal towns near the Sunda Strait in Indonesia, local government officials reported 426 people are confirmed dead, 7,202 people injured, 23 are missing and 40,386 have been evacuated. These numbers continue to rise while rescue operations are still ongoing.
According to Indonesia’s local disaster agency, the tsunami was triggered by an unusual wave surge and underwater landslide caused by Anak Krakatau’s volcanic eruption. This natural activity created…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Nancy Yuen)

James M. Slater, MD, whose determination to improve the quality of life for patients undergoing cancer treatment inspired him to use proton therapy for patient care and to champion and oversee creation of the world’s first hospital-based proton treatment center at Loma Linda University Health, died Dec. 26. He was 89.
The James M. Slater, M.D. Proton Treatment and Research Center — which opened in 1990 — has since treated more than 18,000 patients from around the world, including foreign…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Penny Brink, contributing writer, Adventist World)

What do Greece, Iraq, and Uganda have in common? In recent years these countries, among others, have experienced an influx of refugees that has created a huge need of basic services for displaced people. AdventistHelp,1 a supporting ministry, and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA)2 have partnered in all three of these regions to provide critical medical care. Refugee ministry is becoming a worldwide mission opportunity and changing the landscape for today’s missionaries.
Michael…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Ted N.C. Wilson, president, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists)

Greetings and Happy New Year! We are standing at the beginning of a brand new year of life that God has graciously granted to each of us. How will we spend the upcoming 365 days—or however many days the Lord sees fit to give to each of us?
In First Corinthians chapter 6, verse 19 we are reminded that we “are not our own.” Everything we have, including life itself, is a gift from God. How then, shall we live? What will we write upon the new blank pages for the year 2019? For you see, the choice…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Ted N C Wilson, president, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.)

“As we face the new year of 2019, many of our brothers and sisters in various places of the world are facing distinct challenges and difficulties. I am requesting that all of us as a worldwide church family humble ourselves before God and pray for His unifying power in our lives and His church.
Please pray for those in particular difficulties…..our hearts go out to the thousands touched by, yet again, another tsunami disaster affecting the people of Indonesia. With hundreds dead and many…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Ted N.C. Wilson, president, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists)

Warm greetings to each one of you during this very special time of the year when the world remembers the Savior’s birth. Even though, it most probably was not at this time, we still remember this wonderful, beautiful event.
While the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly when Jesus was born, it assures us that He was born in Bethlehem, the city of David. Prophecy predicted this centuries earlier when, through inspiration, the prophet Micah wrote:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Mark Kellner)

Ellsworth Wareham, MD, known at the end of his life as much for his vegan-supported longevity as his distinguished surgical career that included the first open-heart surgeries in many countries, died Saturday, Dec. 15 at the age of 104.
An ebullient and active centenarian, Wareham — a 1942 surgical graduate of Loma Linda University, then known as the College of Medical Evangelists — gained global fame through numerous media outlets in his later years for being the epitome of a “Blue Zone”…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Pedro Torres, UFB COM director)

On the occasion of the recent events that took place last night in Strasbourg, the Adventist Church condemns all forms of violence, and even more so, if possible, under the pretext of religious intolerance or the imposition of a religion. Ruben de Abreu,President of the Franco-Belgian-Luxembourg Union, comments:
“The murderous act of violence that took place last night in Strasbourg is execrable, intolerable and, moreover, I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. It would not be right to…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Anne Seixas)

On November 19th, the Official Gazette of the State of Maranhão, Brazil, published the approval of a law that establishes the last Saturday of July as State Day of the Caleb Mission. Law number 10,948 is already in force. The proposition notes that that date will be included in the official state calendar. This enables use of public spaces for celebration and for work. The 35,000 volunteers who acted in the 2018 campaign will have much to celebrate in 2019!
Caleb Mission is an initiative of the…

Source:: sda website

By AdventistNews@gc.adventist.org (Leisa O’Connor/Record Staff)

Sydney Adventist Hospital’s outpatient cancer services are the best performing in NSW, according to a survey of more than 11,000 patients from 50 public and private clinics.
The Bureau of Health Information survey was released last week. In 25 of the measures surveyed the San’s Integrated Cancer Centre was “significantly more positive” than the NSW average.
Clinical director of San Cancer Services, Associate Professor Gavin Marx, and San CEO Brett Goods applauded members of the San team…

Source:: sda website