New Adventist bloggers join communication ministry

When one sees how workable a web log (blog) can be to reach people and invite them to experience Jesus in their life, a blog enthusiast will not think twice going into this more modern form of ministry. He will take advantage of its features.

This has been the impression of participants resulting from a 3-day workshop on communication media, themed “Bridge the Gap,” conducted by the Communication Department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the south-central Luzon territory (SCLC) with the help of the southern Asia-Pacific regional office of the Adventist Church (SSD), January 25-27.

Held at the headquarters of SCLC in San Pablo City, Philippines, 28 participants learned how to use the Internet in ministering to people’s social and spiritual needs. Here, participants learned to build their own website and ‘blog’ facility, get connected with the Internet, reach out to friends and would-be friends with inspirational messages.

Other skills they learned included community relations concepts and programs, news and feature writing, and ‘videography’.

The presenters during the workshop were Winelfred Pasamba, webmaster of the Adventist University of the Philippines (AUP); Malou Escasa, staff member of the Amazing Grace Media Productions and a blog enthusiast; Welsie dela Cruz, SSD assistant director for media productions; and Jonathan C Catolico, SSD communication director.

“We have envisioned reaching out to the community by employing a more modern method of communication,” said Pastor Joel B Macaraig, communication director of SCLC and organizer of the workshop. “And we are starting with this new team who has come to help us realize this vision.”

Asked whether he perceives a gap between Seventh-day Adventists and non-Adventists on certain matters, Dr Catolico indicated that such “perception varies from one place to another. Other communities know the Adventists very well as not only a ‘people of the Bible’ but as a group of believers involved in community projects.” However, he said, “We need to get everybody in the church take part in reaching out to his or her neighbors by helping them with their many needs through youth or health programs, family services, educational uplift, and a lot of other ways; and by employing our new communication skills, the realization of such objectives is not far-fetched. By this we may narrow the gap if such exists.”

Toward the end of the workshop, the participants who were divided into three groups performed their videography assignment. One group was assigned with interviewing people in the streets to gauge their knowledge of the programs of the Seventh-day Adventists in their community. “Unfortunately, there were some who haven’t even known the Adventists,” said the interviewing group. “Although, a lot of them know the Adventists and their programs, and foremost of these programs is the educational work of the church in their community.”

“We will become a part of the church who will proclaim the gospel to our community by using the skills we learned in this seminar,” said the participants. [Participants/AND Staff]

Adventist message reaches Kayin State in Myanmar

Thirty miles from Mawlamyine where the Seventh-day Adventist field office is located lies the Lay-Htaw-Hta village in the Kya In Seik Gyi township of Kayin state. This village is inhabited by 70 percent Buddhists, and 30 percent Christians.

On December 5 last year, 13 of the 700 people living in this community accepted the Adventist faith through baptism. A matriarch, 82 year-old Phee Twan Dan, was among those baptized as a result of the painstaking effort of Pastor SA Maung, district pastor, who frequented this community with his message of hope. This matriarch has been an inspiration to the newly baptized believers.

“Because of this event, more and more are coming to know about the message and by God’s grace, we will reach each one of them,” said Pastor Maung.

“We are glad that the message of truth came to us and now we find salvation in Jesus Christ,” said the new members.

Pastor Memory Tun, executive secretary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Myanmar (MYUM), expressed his joy at the entrance of the message in this once un-entered area. “This is a very interesting new field because the people’s hearts are now opened to the truth,” he said during their first visit to the place on January 14-16.

“Our hearts are thrilled to find people in this village who are beginning to see the light of God’s message through the witness of these new brothers and sisters in Christ,” added Pastor Muller Kyaw, MYUM president and head of the visiting team.

Since there there is no church for the new believers to meet on Sabbath, the leadership of the Southeast Myanmar Mission (SEM), where the group belongs, has envisioned of putting up “a new church in the very near future,” concluded Pastor Sernay Nyunt, SEM communication director [MYUM Communication Department]

SSD sympathizes with Haiti tragedy

The Seventh-day Adventist Church sympathizes with those affected by the devastating earthquake in Haiti and those with other countries affected by other calamities. The Adventist world church leadership immediately provided financial assistance for the immediate relief operation in Haiti besides the immediate response of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). The Adventist Church in the southern Asia-Pacific region (SSD) also took steps to contribute to the funds for the said cause.

Reports received from Pastor Alberto C Gulfan, SSD president who is in the US attending the Church’s Administrative Council, indicated that the world church through ADRA International was responding to this call.

Pastor Gulfan also indicated that “as far as the church is concerned, so far, only the two big churches in Port au Prince, the capital of Haiti, have been reportedly flattened. Praise God, the school beside one of these churches was already empty when the earthquake took place so all the students were safe.” Referring to the two Filipino missionaries in Haiti (Dr & Mrs Nemuel Tambalque and Mr & Mrs Lemuel Mantua), he said that “they are safe” but have to leave Haiti to find temporary stay in the United States. This news report was substantiated by the emails of Dr Tambalque sent to the SSD that they were to hike three hours out of their place of work to take their flight to the United States. A letter received from Dr Tambalque, as of press time, said that the family (presumably both families) has finally reached California, USA, and will soon find their way to the Philippines for their annual leave.

“Our hearts and prayers go with those who were affected in this 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Haiti. Indeed, the events show how near we are at world’s edge to the end of time,” say church leaders at SSD. [AND Staff]

Myanmar Church trains missionaries

With the aim of proclaiming the gospel in hard-reached fields of Myanmar, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been conducting a training under the 1000 Missionary Movement, January 11 to February 12, at the headquarters of the Adventist Church in Myanmar (MYUM) in Yangon.

Twenty pioneers from four administrative fields and the Yangon Attached District participate in the training.

Pastor Muller Kyaw, MYUM president, addressed the trainees emphasizing the value of every man and woman and as such the importance of reaching them with the good news of salvation to God’s kingdom.

Pastor Shine Tha, who coordinates the training with the help of department directors of the church, said that the subjects being offered cover “music, church planting, stewardship, health for the community, and a few others.”

These courses are overwhelmingly received by the participants. “I am so glad for the opportunity to become a pioneer missionary. I will do my best to help the church win people for the Lord and I am pledging a lifetime service for this,” said Myo Aung, one of the participants from Yangon Attached District. “We will the same,” said the other participants. [Maung Maung Htay/Myo Chan]

DepEd exempts Adventists from official functions on Sabbaths

The Department of Education (DepEd) of the Philippines, in its Memorandum No. 3, Series of 2010, signed by the DepEd Secretary, provides “constitutional guarantee of free exercise of religion” to Seventh-day Adventists in their “course of the regular operations of the Department.”

The Memorandum, signed by the Honorable DepED Secretary Jesli A Lapuz, further stipulates that, “Specifically, in the case of DepEd personnel belonging to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, they should not be required in attending seminars, examinations, trainings and other personnel development activities held on Saturdays since that day is their Day of Rest or Church Day in accordance with their religious beliefs.” Further, it mandated a “wide dissemination of this memorandum” in order to gain strict adherence to it.

This official memorandum is a welcome development amid problems confronting Adventist teachers and DepEd personnel who were, many times, required to perform duties on Saturdays against their religious beliefs and convictions.

The issuance of this memorandum followed negotiations with the DepEd by the Aangat Tayo, a sectoral party-list which is represented in the Philippine Congress by Congresswoman Daryl Grace Abayon.

Upon knowing that this new memorandum has been released, the regional education directors and field superintendents of the Seventh-day Adventists in the Philippines expressed their heartfelt appreciation to the work done on their behalf by the sector representative in congress who is also their fellow church member. Also the teachers themselves were overwhelmed with joy by this news. “We’ve been praying that we teachers in the government educational enterprise will find freedom to exercise our religious convictions—and that time has come with the signing of this memorandum,” said the teachers in government service.

The memorandum can be accessed at www.deped.gov.ph and go to DepEd Memo No. 3. [AND Staff]

SSD family ends New Year retreat in Cebu City

What a fitting time to start the year with a spiritual retreat! Yes, the members of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD) family, takes January 4-9 its week of spiritual retreat at the SSD compound and at the headquarters of Central Philippine Union Conference in Cebu City.

Pastor James Brauer, SSD director for Adventist Mission, provided the messages which were anchored on the theme, Growing Up in Christ. His series were: God Provides, Digging to Bed Rock, God Does All the Work, Finally Growing Up, No Parking Allowed, and Help My Kids.” His introduction of the message on Monday spelled out the warning of tsunami waves catching up with the younger generation. These waves include postmodernism and technology.

The first two days of the week had been very refreshing with Pastor Brauer’s four messages at the SSD headquarters. On Wednesday morning, the workers and their families, on two flights, left for Cebu City to continue its retreat. On Thursday, a visit to the Chocolate Hills in Bohol and some other places of interests was made part of the planned activities.

On Friday, at Vespers, a communion service was held making the week very memorable as each family member observed the Lord’s Supper. And a special message designed for parents and kids entitled Help My Kids, became Pastor Brauer’s final message on Sabbath.

Happy New Year!

We say and hear this phrase every New Year and it sounds hopeful of a better days ahead—365 sleeps to another New Year. Indeed, the first step to the first hour of the brand new year manifests God’s wondrous grace of allowing us to come this far. As we take stock of what past year has brought us, we see bundles of blessings piling up even with the hard times we had through in 2009.

The challenges we went through were nothing compared to the vibrant life we still enjoy today. His greatness superimposes over the fragility of our physical well-being. The mountaintop reach that our intellectual faculty achieved was grace from the Source of wisdom. From Him came the spiritual stamina that afforded stability to our relationship with Jesus Christ and with one another.

Happy New Year!—is a greeting that comforts. It is dynamic. Its dynamism indicates that there are days following the first day, and eventually settle into a new cycle of another year.

A medical doctor said that New Year celebrations have become bad stressors instead of its opposite. “Many people think that welcoming the New Year means food, fireworks, and noise. And they think they cannot celebrate without them—but they are wrong—and ended up stressed in the clinics and hospitals!” And he concluded, “Can’t we welcome the New Year welcoming Jesus in our life?”

He was right. Reassuring Jesus a permanent place in our hearts every beginning of the year is the reason for celebration. Happy New Life in Christ! –Jonathan C Catolico

SSD online news on its 6th year

In January 2005, a few days after the Tsunami waves devastated homes and killed hundreds of thousands of people in Asia, the Adventist News Dispatch (AND) was born. On its sixth year starting this week, the editorial staff wishes to thank its readers for their continued trust and support to this news facility. We also want to thank our correspondents for supplying us with news from the field that keeps us alive every week since its beginnings.

We hope to receive in 2010 more reports coming from every field within the southern Asia-Pacific region. We congratulate those who have been faithfully keeping us abreast with events from their field. We especially mention Myanmar for never allowing us go online every issue without one or more reports coming from this “Country of the Golden Pagodas.”

Adventist News Dispatch will continue its commitment to serve the Church’s more than one million members. This news service comes directly to every subscriber at www.ssdoutlook.org and can also be accessed through www.ssd.org.