Have you ever wanted to doevangelism but were tooafraid to try? Has anyoneever taught you how to do

evangelism? Does your church havea visitation programme? These aresome of the questions that weremulling over in my mind for a while,and therefore I was quite excitedabout The Art of Evangelism weekorganised by the British UnionConference and hosted at theUniversity of Nottingham.

During the week of 5-12 July theBUC with Amazing Facts studied‘The Art of Evangelism’. In the firstever week-long BUC evangelismtraining event, pastors and laymembers were taught how to run anevangelistic campaign effectively.

All the aspects of effective evan-gelism were taught from the GospelCommission found in Matthew28:19, 20 and Revelation 14:6-12.This focused on the personal prepa-ration that all of us need to do forevangelism, how to knock on doors,how to gain decisions and how tonurture and keep new members.

A cycle of evangelism that would

help churches create a culture ofevangelism in the local church wasalso taught. The cycle of evangelismalso helped to clarify the use ofsome key evangelistic aspects likesmall groups, Bible study, churchplanting and the evangelistic meet-ing in its proper sequence. Onemember remarked, ‘Before I cameto this week’s training it was myconviction that evangelism was adying art. Now I am inspired to goback and get my church involved inevangelism.’

The week was not only theoreti-cal, it was also practical, and thegroup was trained to knock on doorsand make contacts. Of the pastorsand members who could actually goout, sixty went out and made over288 contacts, thirty-seven reportedwanting Bible studies, twenty-sevenwere interested in prophecy andwere given a Final Events DVD, fif-teen wanted to know more abouthealth, fifteen were interested infamily and marriage issues andthree were interested in finance.

Our main presenter was PastorTyler Long, assistant director of the

The Art of Evangelismby Pastor Eglan Brooks, Personal Ministries, LIFEdevelopment and Church Growth director, BUC

Amazing Facts Centre ofEvangelism. He was accompaniedby his wife LaVonne and 18-month-old daughter Isabella. Pastor Long’sengaging, easygoing attitude, hispassion for winning souls and per-sonal experience went down verywell with the members. They report-ed that ‘this was the most effectiveevangelism training that they havehad’. One member wrote on theevaluation form that ‘the event wasso important that every pastorshould have attended’.

Other presenters included PastorMichael Simpson, NEC PersonalMinistries director, Dr TerryMessenger, SEC PersonalMinistries director, and PastorAris Vontzalidis, SEC ChurchGrowth director. A number ofother ministers led out in theworship services and devotions,including Pastors VasanthaKumar Jayaraj, Mart de Groot,Leslie Hill, George Kumi andVictor Marshall, just to name afew.

The Art of Evangelism isshown best in the lives of

individuals who practise it. Many ofthe members reported that theweek will see them having a newdesire to use the training theyreceived to involve the local churchin more evangelism. Pastor EglanBrooks said, ‘We have done some-thing significant this week. Not onlyhave we placed valuable resourcesin the hands of our members butwe have also reignited ‘The Art ofEvangelism’ in the lives of these115 members.’

Jean Ross was unable to attenddue to unforeseen circumstances.However, he sent his resources thatwere distributed to the participants.The event was recorded by ‘MinistryMedia’ and will shortly be availablefor sale from the BUC PersonalMinistries department. Pictures ofthe event were taken by KishPalmer and are available for view-ing at www.adventist.org.uk.

2 Messenger Messenger 3

Jesus, and obliged him to devote so much ofhis ministry to a crusade againstPharisaism.1

Legalistic judgementalism was the chiefcurse of the early Church and obliged Paul totarget Judaizers in his first letter, Galatians,and in most subsequent ones.

Legalistic judgementalism is the chiefcurse of the end-time Church. Legalistsrespond to the offer of the riches of God’sgrace along these lines: ‘Don’t want it! Don’tneed it! I’m rich enough already! I canachieve my own salvation!’ To them theRisen Christ says: ‘You say, “I’m rich. I don’tneed a thing!” But you do not realise thatyou are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind andnaked.’2 Pharisees are called Laodiceansthese days. And there are two scary thingsabout Laodiceans. First, there’s a lot ofthem about. Second, they’re likely to beunsaved. Why unsaved? Because the letterfrom the Risen Christ to the church atLaodicea indicates that he has been shutout and is knocking to be let in.3

Legalistic judgementalists are apt to bevery fierce about dress code. Dress coderequirements vary widely from culture toculture and generation to generation, butmost judgementalists don’t know this. Theyoverlook ‘the weightier matters of the law’such as mercy.4 As a consequence theymercilessly have at people of a different culture or generation for dressing differentlyfrom the way they dress.

Are we to assume, then, that the Lordhas no dress code?

When high priest Joshua stood before theangel and was accused by Satan, it wasSatan who was rebuked, not Joshua. Whatmattered to God was that his high priestwas ‘a brand picked from the burning’.Joshua’s ‘filthy clothes’ were taken awayand replaced by clean clothes. The angelsaid to Joshua, ‘See, I have taken away yoursin, and I will put rich garments on you.’5

So the garments that matter are garmentsprovided for us to replace our own.

Jesus spoke often about a great weddingbanquet to which the King would inviteeveryone. Banquets took time to preparebecause they catered for a great many peo-ple and lasted several days. Hence, in addi-tion to the initial invite, it was necessary for

Current research indicates that virulent newinfections such as the ebola virus, SARS andbird flu have all resulted from ecosystemchanges caused by humans. The sobering message is that these diseases have high death rates and few effective therapeutic interventions to combat them.

EcoHealth focuses on striving to provideboth practical and innovative solutions to assistin the reduction of negative health impacts ofecosystem change or even reverse the damage.Addressing this challenge, the EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) is urging everyone tomake the change to a ‘green culture’, in whichenvironmental responsibility is everyone’sresponsibility.

Reducing our eco-footprint is really aboutrethinking how we perform our usual day-to-daytasks, our shopping habits and the way we live.For example, large energy use, particularly fromfossil fuels, results in carbon dioxide pollution

TThe Kingdom dress codeDavid Marshall

The chief curse of the Church is judge -mentalism.

Judgementalism is the principal bi-product of legalism.

Judgementalism and legalism are: two‘isms’ among us that need to be ‘wasms’.

Legalism is obsessive attention to therequirements of the law with little or no feelfor the intention or spirit of the law.

Judgementalism is the inclination tomake personal, moral judgements aboutother people.

Legalists are bound and shackled by lists of dos and don’ts and are intimidated andimmobilised by others’ demands and expectations.

That is a miserable state to live in.Reduce Christianity to legalism and there areonly two routes to fulfilment. One is toachieve pseudo-intellectual stimulus byamplifying the law into regulations to covermore and yet more life situations until youhave the whole of life clamped. The secondis to go around with your mental clipboardsof dos and don’ts firing off verbal volleys inthe direction of perceived rule-breakers.

Legalism and judgementalism are symp-tomatic of states of insecurity and uncon-version. The victims of the legalist-judgementalists tend to be the young, thevulnerable and those who have just beguntheir search for truth. I know of hundreds(and I’m sure there are thousands) of thosewho have been driven away from our midstby judgementalists. True, judgementalistsoccasionally introduce people to the Church.But what sort of Adventists do their convertsbecome? They are apt to be cloned in theirown image.

Legalism does not produce obedience.The reverse: it produces hypocrisy.Obedience comes as Christians relate to thePerson of Jesus, accept the free gift of hisgrace and allow him to transform them fromthe inside out. Legalistic judgementalism isa cult of externals. Authentic Christians havebeen broken, acknowledge their need ofGod’s grace, have received that grace andbegun a day-by-day walk with Jesus in thecourse of which they have become more andmore gracious.

Legalistic judgementalism was a chiefcurse of ‘the Church’ during the ministry of

Wikipedia describes EcoHealth as ‘an emergingfield of study researching how changes in theearth’s ecosystems are impacting humanhealth’. An ecosystem is defined as ‘a naturalunit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together withall of the physical factors of the environment’.These independent organisms usually share thesame habitat and food chains.

EcoHealth studies global changes in our bio-logical, physical, social and economic environ-ments and analyses how these changes impacthuman health. Current examples include recentresearch on the increasing asthma rates linkedto air pollution; toxins like PCBs (polychlorinatedbiphenyls) contaminating fish in the GreatLakes (USA); and ‘habitat fragmentation’ (spe-cific type of environmental change process)causing increased rates of Lyme disease, anemerging infectious disease caused by variousspecies of bacteria.

which is linked to global climate change.Here are a few facts on energy conservation

for your consideration.

Did you know?• In the UK more than 40% of CO2 emissions

come from domestic energy and travel.• We would reduce 40 million tonnes of CO2

emissions annually if everyone in the UKmade simple domestic changes such as turn-ing off appliances and insulating their homes.

• It is estimated that we could save approxi-mately £8.6 billion on energy bills every yearby making our homes more energy efficient.

• There are several available grants which youcan access for energy efficiency in your homeand you don’t necessarily have to be on benefits to qualify.

Next issue we look at tips for going green.Good health!

the King’s servants to announce when allwas ready and it was time to ‘come to thebanquet’. When that happened, inviteesmade up all kinds of excuses not to attend.

The King told his servants, ‘Go out quick-ly into the streets and alleys. . . and makethem come in, so that my house will befull.’6 Those who came included the poor, thelame, the blind and the victims of injustice.

However, one of those who came wasrejected by the King because he had offend-ed the royal dress code. He was, you willrecall, the man without a wedding garment.

Who was he? He was a man who had insulted the host

by refusing to wear the wedding clothes pro-vided. He was a complacent sort of fellowwho pushed his way into the King’s banquetin the ‘filthy rags’ of his own righteousness7

on the assumption that his best was goodenough for God. Only it wasn’t, and it isn’t.He was not fit to be seen before God, letalone to enter his Kingdom feast.

The Kingdom dress code?The garments given by the King ‘woven in

the loom of heaven [without] one thread ofhuman devising’,8 100% Heaven-made; 0%manmade. As Isaiah said, ‘For he hasclothed me with the garments of salvationand arrayed me in a robe of righteousness.’9

That is the Kingdom dress code.To the man dressed in the tattered rags

of his own righteousness, the King said, ‘ “Friend, . . . how did you get in here without wedding clothes?” The man was speechless.’ (Matthew 22:12.)

Why speechless? For the first time herealised that sin is more than breaking rulesand righteousness more than not breakingrules. Sin had, all along, been a broken rela-tionship with Jesus. And the only righteous-ness that can withstand the Father’s gaze isthe perfect garment of the righteousness ofJesus.

References:1Matthew chapters 5 and 23 record the teachingsof Jesus that take apart the cult of Pharisaism.2See Revelation 3:14-22. 3Revelation 3:20.4Matthew 23:23, KJV. 5Zechariah chapter 3. Seeespecially verses 2-4. 6Matthew 22:1-14; Luke14:15-24. 7Isaiah 64:6. 8COL, pages 309, 311.9Isaiah 61:10.

EcoHealth – Ecosystems and ‘green’ factsPart 2

Polyamory seems to be an emergingtrend. In recent years we have heard agreat deal about same-sex marriage

and cohabitation. However, we may be in foranother shock in the area of relationships.Consider this article:

‘Terisa and Matt and Vera and Larry –along with Scott, who’s also at this dinner –are not swingers, per se; they aren’t pursu-ing casual sex. Nor are they polygamists ofthe sort portrayed on HBO’s Big Love; theyaren’t religious, and they don’t have multiplewives. But they do believe in “ethical non-monogamy”, or engaging in loving, intimaterelationships with more than one person –based upon the knowledge and consent ofeveryone involved. They are polyamorous, to use the term of art applied to multiple-partner families like theirs, and they wouldn’t want to live any other way.’*

I checked out the websitewww.lovemore.com and saw what peoplewho practised polyamory had to say forthemselves. What struck me about all thatthey said was how reasonable it all sounds.

Their take seems to be that marriage clearlydoesn’t work for many, so why not try a dif-ferent model? Many married people commitadultery, they say, so why not be open aboutit?

On the one hand, that sounds plausible,sensible and pragmatic. On the other hand, toanyone who has some understanding of thebook of Genesis and the way God intendedfamily relationships to work, it sounds totallywrong.

‘ . . . a man will leave his father andmother and be united to his wife, and theywill become one flesh.’ Genesis 2:24.

It is true that divorce rates are very high,and even in our own Church marriages areoften not as happy as we might wish. My ownparents divorced when I was a teenager, andthat caused incredible pain to all the family,so I am well aware of the effects and damagedivorce brings. However, to look for a solutionin such things as cohabitation and polyamorywill not solve anything.

As Christians, the best way we can refutethese alternative lifestyles may not be so

with Jonathan Barrett

Polyamorous

much by moralising, but by demonstratingthat marriage can work. For those of us whoare married or intending to marry, it willmean doing whatever is necessary to live upto that biblical injunction to stay ‘united’ toour husbands or wives. That may mean awillingness to get counselling help, bothbefore and during marriage, and an open-ness to let the Holy Spirit work in us at avery deep level. Wouldn’t it be something ifwe could counter the arguments people putforward for such lifestyles as polyamory bydemonstrating that strong, successful mar-riages between a man and a woman are onthe increase in our church community!*www.newsweek.com/id/209164

has experienced so far.The prophets predicted the

coming of the Day of the Lord.Malachi (3-4) looks forward to acoming purification of the templeby the Lord himself; Jeremiah(31) to a new covenant withGod’s people; Ezekiel (36) to anew heart and spirit in Israel;Joel (2) to a new age in whichthe Holy Spirit is poured out uponall God’s people, and Isaiah (2;25; 65-66) to a glorious materialworld, an eschatological banquetand ultimately new heavens andnew earth. The end of the histori-cal narrative finds Israel, whilerestored to her land, still subjectto foreign nations and with arebuilt temple whose grandeurpales in comparison withSolomon’s temple (Haggai 2:3).

The OT provides an account of‘fair beginnings and foul ending’(D. J. A. Clines) hardly conduciveto build faith on it. Thus Muslimsestablish their faith on updatingthe OT on the basis of the Quran,Judaism on updating it with theTalmud, and Christianity updatesit with the New Testament. Theunderstanding of prophetic booksis crucial for seeing how the NTwriters understand and apply theOT promises, and the Bible story-line moves forward. Properunderstanding of the OT prophe-cies is crucial for appreciatingthe NT world-view and appreciat-ing the overall story of the Bible.

* Dr Duda, an authority on the OldTestament, is Education director ofthe Trans-European Division.

Sri Lanka: ACE empowerscommunitiesby Bert Smit, ADRA-UK director

New kitchens, verandas, toilets and fencing – some of the benefits ofa recently completed project for communities left vulnerable by thepolitical instability in the region, and the Indian Ocean tsunami

which devastated the Ampara District when it struck in 2004.The Ampara Community Empowerment (ACE) project, which was fund-

ed by ADRA International and the ADRA United Kingdom office, was imple-mented between April 2007 and May 2009, and assisted more than 400families in fifteen villages of the Pottuvil Division of the Ampara District.

One of ADRA Sri Lanka’s proudest accomplishments was the success-ful creation and improvement of 336 water sources within the tsunami-affected communities, including the ongoing rehabilitation of hand pumps,overhead tanks, rainwater harvesting tanks and wells. ADRA also intro-duced hygiene and sanitation training into the communities, making a significant impact on the health and hygiene of the participants.

‘The post-tsunami communities in which we work face social and cultural challenges which make them more vulnerable,’ said Castillo. Toaddress these concerns, ACE developed special training and capacitybuilding programmes that strengthen the community-based organisationthat will be responsible for the maintenance and sustainability of the pro-ject’s activities. ADRA also organised twenty-six peace-building activitiesthat with the participation of more than 6,100 beneficiaries encouragepeaceful relations among the multi-ethnic communities.

ADRA improved and constructed 403 facilities, including kitchens,verandas, toilets and fencing. To improve the health and nutrition of targeted families, ADRA introduced the practice of composting and homegardening, benefiting nearly 400 families.

‘Thanks to ADRA, in Pottuvil there are happier and healthier families,’said a local government official.

ADRA has been working for the people of Sri Lanka since 1989 in theareas of economic development, emergency management, basic healthcare and food security.

Messenger 5

Thus the Bible has a story-line starting from theGarden of Eden and endingin the New Jerusalem. God,

who exists in a community asplurality of persons, createdmankind in his image to form acommunity. And when sinthwarted God’s original intention(Genesis 3), God started a longprocess of restoration of commu-nity. He not only wants to have apersonal relationship with eachone of us (‘Adam, where areyou?’ Genesis 3:9), God alsowants to deal with systemic andstructural evil in human society(‘I have heard their cry!’ Exodus3:7-9) and create a new type ofcommunity that his people wouldmodel to the world.

The storyHistorical books of the Bible tellus the story of God’s people inthe Old Testament era. Startingwith the calling of a man by thename of Abram, whom he notonly blessed personally (‘I willbless you’), but through him ulti-mately blessed a group of people(‘I will make you into a greatnation’) and who was finally tobecome a universal blessing forall humanity (‘all peoples onearth will be blessed throughyou’). (Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1-8.)God gives his law (Torah) as asafe guidance for life and thebasis of his covenant with hispeople.

Wisdom literature individu-alises the covenant and showsthat though, generally speaking,those who follow God’s com-mands and rules are better off, itdoes not always work out thatway on an individual basis.

Seeking wisdom and remainingfaithful to God regardless of the circumstances of life isimportant.

The prophetsWhen Israel wants to have a kinglike the nations around (1Samuel 8:5), a new institution,the monarchy, starts. The kingwill be the highest political andmilitary authority and inclined tothink that he is also the highestreligious authority. But a newoffice takes on a significantprominence now – the office of aprophet who becomes the highestreligious authority. The history ofIsrael will from now on be a his-tory of conflict between the kingand the prophet (Saul-Samuel;David-Nathan; Ahab-Elijah;Hezekiah-Isaiah; Zedekiah-Jeremiah; Jeroboam II-Amos,Hosea, and so on).

We will not understand therole and the message of theprophetic books if we overlookthis basic historic fact. This isalso reflected in the fact that inthe Hebrew canon the propheticbooks are divided into the formerprophets (Joshua, Judges, 1 and2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings) andthe latter prophets (Isaiah,Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the twelve‘minor prophets’).

The Christian canon has sev-enteen prophetic books (Isaiah,Jeremiah, Ezra, Daniel, plustwelve minor prophets). The distinction between major andminor prophets is based onlength and not on significance,and the sequence of the books islargely determined by length andchronology (both major andminor prophets).

The later writing prophetscontinue with powerful ministryof word and deed the tradition ofearlier non-writing prophets(Samuel, Nathan, Elijah andElisha). They also use propheticoracles and acted parables tosupplement their ministry.

The writing prophets can bestbe divided into: Pre-exilic (Isaiah, Amos, Hosea,Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,Habakkuk, Zephaniah)Exilic (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel)Post-exilic (Haggai, Zechariah,Malachi)(Prophet Joel does not haveenough information to date himreliably; however, his position in the Hebrew canon suggestspre-exilic dating.)

DanielThe book of Daniel, though clas-sified among the minor prophetsin our English Bible, is foundamong the ‘writings’ in theHebrew canon. Daniel’s ministryin Babylon recalls Joseph’s rolein Egypt and demonstrates thetriumph of the Kingdom of Godover the kingdoms of this world.This theme will be further devel-oped in the New Testament. It isan apocalyptic book, so it usesvarious apocalyptic symbols toproclaim the prophetic messageabout the triumph of God’sKingdom and a general resurrec-tion at the end of history. Theapocalyptic nature of the book issimilar to Zechariah and the NTbook of Revelation.

RestorationThe prophetic rebukes of Israelare based on the Sinai covenantand especially criticise theIsraelites’ idolatry and failure torespect the principles of socialjustice as amply found in theTorah. The prophetic books recordwarnings of coming judgementbut they also contain propheciesof restoration after the judge-ment: God will pardon his repen-tant people (Hosea 2; Jeremiah31:18-20), the two kingdoms willbe reunited in a purified land(Jeremiah 30:1-11; Ezra 37:15-23; 48:1-29) and enabled to

obey God in a new way (Jeremiah31:31-34; Ezekiel 11:16-21;Zephaniah 3:9-13); Jerusalemand the temple will be rebuilt(Isaiah 54; Jeremiah 33:1-13;Ezekiel 40-43), with God dwellingonce again in the temple (Ezekiel43:1-4; 48:30-35); a king fromDavid’s line will rule the peoplejustly (Hosea 3:5; Is. 11:1-9;Micah 5:1-5; Jeremiah 23:1-6;Ezekiel 37:24-28); the nationswill come to Zion to learn theways of Israel’s God (Isaiah 2:1-4; Jeremiah 3:17); and ultimatelythere will be a restored creation,as in Ezekiel’s vision of a riverflowing from the temple to revivethe waters of the Dead Sea(47:1-12), or Isaiah’s vision of anew heaven and new earth(Isaiah 65:17-25). Israel’srestoration is described in resur-rection language (Ezekiel 37:1-14; Hosea 6:1-3). Israel’srestoration is seen as part of alarger picture, the renewing ofcreation and the blessing of thenations, in fulfilment of God’spurposes in calling Abraham.

It is clear that the events afterthe return from Babylonian exile,as described in Ezra andNehemiah, fell well short of thehopes expressed by the restora-tion prophecies.

Each of the post-exilicprophetic books concludes withpassages which in different waysrestate or develop the earlierprophecies of restoration (Haggai2:20-23; Zechariah 8; 12-14;Mal 4), indicating that a com-plete fulfilment is still awaited.

Ezekiel 47-48 speaks of alltwelve tribes dwelling in the landagain, the new ‘land of Israel’will be more extensive than evenunder David and Solomon(47:13-20); the new ‘tribal terri-tories’ consist of twelve strips ofland running from east to west,with a thirteenth reserved for theLevites and the temple; and noexact boundaries are specified(48:1-29). This is Ezekiel’s wayof saying that Israel has afuture that will be as gloriousas anything from Israel’s past,but it will also be qualitativelydifferent from anything Israel

4 Messenger

The prophetsby Daniel Duda*

Visit the Follow the Bible webpage: www.adventistinfo.org.uk/followthebible

When God decided to reveal himself to us, he did not do it inthe form of 28 fundamental beliefs – a systematic chain oftheological truths – or a recipe for a happy marriage, or adetailed manual on how to know God’s will. He revealedhimself in a story.

Footprints Music Projectby Jeff Nicholson

The Footprints Music Project is providing the Bethel church in Derby with aunique outreach opportunity to the children and youth in the local com-munity. The project led by Bonaventure Baptiste provides free music les-

sons to children living in this deprived area of Derby. Music lessons tend tobe very expensive, which means that many parents in this area cannot affordthem for their children. The project provides free music tuition, as well asinstruments and books to the participating children in the neighbourhood. Theproject has attracted the attention of various local agencies such as the TomCarey Foundation, The Abbey Neighbourhood Board and the Derby Self-helpFund which provides funding to support the project. This funding has beenused to buy instruments, music books, pay the guitar teacher and providetransport costs for the violin teacher.

This community outreach project has proved very beneficial as the churchis seen as contributing positively to the community. It also has aided inenhancing community cohesion by bringing children and parents from differ-ent backgrounds together for instrumental practices and concerts. In provid-ing this service the church seeks not just to develop children’s music skillsbut to offer diversionary activities, thus minimising the risk of their engagingin antisocial activities. Initially the target was children in years 5 and 6attending three primary schools in the Abbey ward, but because of thedemand for music lessons we have extended this to accommodate othersoutside this age group.

We are currently running two sessions for piano, violin, acoustic and bassguitars, as well as music theory. We have a total of 25 students constituting agood cultural and racial mix. We have also managed to put on two successfulconcerts to showcase the work thechildren have been doing and toraise more funds for the continuityof the project. Parents, guardians,friends and relatives of the studentsthronged the church for the concert.Currently Footprints is run by amanagement committee made up ofmembers of the Bethel church andthe Community Cohesion Officer forthe Abbey ward area.

ALondon-based Seventh-dayAdventist charity has beengiven a major financial boost,

thanks to the work of one of its vol-unteers, based at BT’s intellectualproperty rights department. DrEdward Cole’s dedication wasrecognised by Sir Mike Rake, BT’schairman, at the Chairman’sAwards. These awards are thehighest accolade of one of the company’s longest running andhighly regarded employee charityschemes, BT CommunityChampions.

Every year the Chairman’sAwards receive hundreds of appli-cations from outstanding communi-ty champions, who commit time,energy, their life skills and talent forthe benefit of society and their localarea. The applicants are thenshort-listed by a global judgingpanel from across the company,with the winners being hand-pickedby the chairman himself.

This year Dr Edward Cole waspresented with the Education,Development and Awareness Awardfor his unwavering voluntary workwith the Sierra Leonean AdventistsAbroad. This charity builds bridgesbetween the UK and Sierra Leone,which is at the bottom of the UNhuman development index, mainlydue to civil war. The SLAA focuseson linking professionals with proj-ects designed to reduce chronicpoverty and improve health andeducation in poorer communities.Over the last five years the rehabil-itation and the reopening of thewar-ruined hospital in Masanga,Sierra Leone, has been one of thecharity’s successes. Masanga hos-pital now provides free medicalcare for 23,000 patients every year.As well as health care, the SLAApays for the education of sixty stu-dents, with the aim of building uphealth-care and education profes-sionals in the country.

As well as fundraising, Dr EdwardCole has been involved since 2000in the strategic direction of thecharity. And the legal skills he’slearned from his day job at BT haveenabled him to deal with interna-tional organisations and govern-ments, which has in turn allowedthe charity to flourish.

Dr Edward Cole said, ‘I’mthrilled at winning this award. Thevolunteering has helped me developand grow personally and profes-sionally, and the acknowledgementI’ve received today makes me feelreally valued. The £3,000 awardwill allow us to provide maternityservices to a much deprived area ofthe world where maternal mortalityrates are the world’s worst. It willmake a real difference. It’s great tobe recognised in this way and I’dlike to recognise the hard work ofall the other volunteers in the groupas well.’

Sir Mike Rake added: ‘This is the

second year I’ve presided overthese awards and I’m veryimpressed by the dedication andselflessness shown by all the vol-unteers. I’m proud of them all andI’m pleased that BT is able to giveback to the community by support-ing and encouraging our employeesin this way. I’d like to extend mypersonal thanks to, and admirationfor, everyone involved in local community work across the UK and throughout the world.Congratulations again to Edward for his outstanding contribution.’DR EDWARD COLE

Messenger 7

picture books concerning the country chosen.Check the children’s travel sections of yourlocal library for interesting books.

• Make a missions’ bank. Provide jars, stickersand labels reading ‘For the children of thecountry you have chosen’ and have the chil-dren take the ‘banks’ home and fill the jarswith coins during the quarter. Each week show

the children how your own bank is filling andask them how they are doing. Send a note to the parents, asking them to help find ways for the children to fill their banks for missions.

• Invite a guest. Find out whether there are peo-ple from the country you have chosen living inyour area. Put an announcement of your need

in the church newsletter or church bulletin. Ifyou find people from those areas, invite themto visit your class. Ask them to come in theirtraditional costume if they have one and tobring interesting pictures, crafts or clothesfrom their country to show. Prepare somequestions to ask your visitors and give themthe questions ahead of time.

Children want to pass on their faith. TheValuegenesis, and other surveys, have come to theconclusion that children are honest and do notwant to be hypocrites when it comes not only toliving their faith but also to sharing their faith.They want to be involved in missionary work. Amajority of adult missionaries made their decisionto be a missionary before 10 years of age. Hereare:

Fourteen principles involving children in mission• Guide the children into a personal relationship

with Christ.• Have a variety of age-appropriate outreach

activities for the children.• Realise that children, especially younger ones,

prefer group activities to solitary ones.• Compile a list of missionary activities and let

the children select the ones they like best.• Get the children’s suggestions for missionary

activities.• Explain very carefully to them God’s plan of

salvation.• Present God as a Friend of children.• Train them in different kinds of missionary

work, according to their preferences and abili-ties.

• Practise the principles of Christianity ratherthan merely teach the doctrines of a religion.

• Emphasise the joy that comes with doing missionary work.

• Admit to them that although missionary workcan be difficult, it can also be fun.

• Explain that God expects everyone to be a missionary for him.

• Realise that they are children and not fully-grown missionaries. Allow them the joy of childhood.

• Understand that their personalities influencetheir relationship with God and how they canserve him.

Children who are involved in mission are theleast likely to reject Christ and his Church.

Six styles of being a missionaryGIVERS They use their money, time and talents to help people learn of Jesus. Children can beencouraged to be givers by helping to raise fundsfor orphan children overseas.

PRAY-ERS They are children who show concernwhen they hear of needs. They would be the firstto ask Jesus for help. These children can pray for

missionaries in difficult foreign fields so that thegospel story can be shared with others. Use aprayer walk in their neighbourhood to pray for different families.

WELCOMERS These children befriend newcomersand help them adjust to their new environment asthey share the story of Jesus with them. They arecurious and are keenly interested in other cul-tures. They love to ask questions about how others live. Encourage them to befriend children who are different from them, or children who are difficult to get along with.

SENDERS They partner with missionaries by car-ing, praying and giving to meet their needs. Theycan help missionary families before or after theyleave.

CONNECTORS Do you have children who love toorganise projects and who encourage others to beinvolved? These children can be the connectors.They can organise missionary projects for othersto share the gospel story, too.

GOERS They are children who love to take theGospel to others. Many children already possessthis simple faith and willing spirit and find it easyto talk to their friends about Jesus. Suggest a variety of ways to do this missionary work.

Frequently, the word mission is linked withserving Jesus in foreign countries. But mission isalso to take place in one’s own country. TheGospel is needed here and abroad.

Twelve ways to be a ‘home’ missionary• Children often love to help distribute outreach

cards. Teach them how to be good witnessesby only walking on pathways and being courteous. Always have an adult close by.

• Encourage children to pray regularly for theconversion of a few people they know.

• Have a theme party for your child’s birthday,such as Noah’s Ark, and show a Bible storyDVD at the party, and give tiny books aboutNoah in the party bags, with plastic animals,rainbow stickers and so on.

• Invite all their friends to Holiday Bible School.• When a new baby is born, check the Adventist

Book Centre for a gift book for the parents.• Develop a really lively and interesting family

worship together, and then let your childreninvite a friend for supper and to share in theworship time. Create a cosy atmosphere.

• If your children are in a special event atchurch, invite non-Christian relatives along toshare the occasion, or video the event andshow it to family members.

• Buy or design and make a witnessing T-shirtfor your children to wear. Make sure it is taste-ful and attractive. (www.religioustshirts.co.uk)

• Involve the church children in a communityoutreach project or aid project and invite thelocal paper to write a report about them.

• Use computer skills to create posters, cardsand so on.

• Preach at Pathfinder and youth evangelisticmeetings.

• Get permission from the paediatric unit, old folks’ home or hospital to do Christianstory-telling and singing for the patients once a month.

Supporting missionaries abroadSabbath School includes a mission story, so chil-dren are used to hearing about what is happeningin other countries. To involve children in more thanjust listening to stories is the children’s leader’sresponsibility. The Adventist Development & ReliefAgency will have projects for children to support,as well as the annual ADRA appeal,www.adra.org.uk. Also look up www.adventistmission.org, www.childrensministries.gc.adventist.org and www.childmin.com. For an in-depth resource click on to the BUC Children’sMinistries Tell a Child, Tell the World EvangelismManual, www.adventist.org.uk.

Launch a project by holding a mission fellowship lunch.• Plan a potluck featuring the country you are

going to support. Invite the children’s familiesand friends and the whole church. Label thefoods by name and country of origin so peoplewill know what they are eating. If you havepeople in your area from the country you have chosen to help, ask them for recipes or decoration ideas.

• Plan interesting things for the children to dowhen they first arrive. This will encourage thechildren to arrive on time so they won’t missany of the fun! Learn words of the language ofthe country you’re helping.

• Show a mission DVD from that country.• Colour a flag. Let each child colour one flag.

Decorate your Sabbath School room with theseflags or mount them on dowels and use in thethirteenth Sabbath programme.

• Make a cosy reading corner with a bright rugand cushions. On a low table or shelf, display

6 Messenger

Involving children inmission by Heather Haworth, Children’s Ministries director, BUC

BT’s chairman recognises LondonAdventist volunteer at Chairman’s Awards

The All Nations Adventist company in Camberwell, under the leadership of Pastor Sackey, was founded by Newbold students in 1992. In the pictureDr Eddie Cole, chairman of Sierra Leonean Adventists Abroad, talks to the chairman of BT, Sir Mike Rake

With us in the valleysThe second edition of Beyond theValley has just been written byPauline Oxley of the St Albanschurch and published byAuthorhouse. Pauline’s concludingthought reads: ‘I believe that thesame God who is with us in the valleys can also be with us on themountaintop. He can give us theability to reach courageously“beyond the valley”.’

This second edition contains aselection of seventy poems, alongwith inspirational thoughts behindthe poems, and is available for purchase on the website:www.authorhouse.co.uk/beyondthevalley, and comes in hardback andsoft cover. It is Pauline’s hope thatthe reader will find enrichment andfood for thought on each page,accompanied by precious, favouriteScripture verses. It brings togetherpersonal experiences of how difficultsituations can become a blessing.PAULINE OXLEY

‘The church is a jewel,’ PastorSam Davis, South EnglandConference president, told mem-bers of the Ashford church at theirorganisation service. Basing histhoughts on Malachi 3:17, heemphasised that God looks at thechurch as his treasure and consid-ers it as very special.

Some forty jewels made up thegroup that officially becameAshford International Seventh-dayAdventist church on Sabbath 22August. Karen Learmond recountedhow the idea for a church plant in Ashford started back in 2002when a small group of Adventistresidents began to meet onWednesday evenings. As morefamilies moved into the area, adecision was made to startSabbath services in May 2003,and two years later they wereformed officially as a company.Tribute was paid to Pastor FernandLombart, then pastor of theCanterbury and Folkestone church-es, who engaged with the localmembers to facilitate the churchplant. These local churches alsoparticipated in joint witnessing

activities – along with others fromas far away as Lewisham – to helpbuild a witness in Ashford.Programmes over recent yearsincluded holiday clubs, fun daysand health expos, along with wit-nessing in the town centre and acampaign in their current ‘home’,the Kennington Methodist/URChurch in Faversham Road.

The day was one of celebrationwith the youth performing anexcellent mime, the Ashford

Chorale and others presenting spe-cial items, and greetings comingfrom as far away as Swaziland andAustralia. Area 4 co-ordinator,Pastor Israel Williams, rejoiced inthe organisation of a new churchin the south-eastern corner of theConference. He commended thechurches for the way they hadworked together to establish the new church and saw this as the way forward to plantingmore churches in the future.

Pastor Victor Hulbert, BUCCommunication director, repre-sented former Ashford pastors andspoke of his joy in seeing a smallgroup of committed believersdeveloping into the forty-strongband that are currently making animpact on the town.

Current pastor, Vasyl Vartsaba,quipped that it was much easier toreflect as a former pastor than tomake a statement as the currentpastor. However, the joy on hisface was evident as he joined withthe church elders and core mem-bers of the church to sign theirofficial charter. His feelings, andthose of all the members and visi-tors present, were summed up bythe theme song for the day, ‘We’vecome this far by faith’. Membersargue strongly that they believefaith will take them forward evenmore in the future in their chal-lenge to make a difference inAshford.VICTOR HULBERT

8 Messenger Messenger 9

Iwas among the seven people who decided to make that crucial decision tofollow Christ by joining the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This was a won-derful event for me and the other candidates. First there was the baby ded-

ication of Lianne Brown. Then Pastor R. Macintosh preached the Word of God.He is the senior pastor of the Camp Hill flock, which I understand amounts to600 members plus our visitors.

After the sermon entitled ‘The Way Forward’, which centred on John 17:3that speaks about eternal life through Jesus and is echoed by the words ofPaul in Philippians 3:10-17, it was time for the baptism. I felt excited as Istepped into the warm and lovely water. The candidates were as follows:Amelia Hall, Atlanta Quebec, Delight and Juliet Mutemwe, Grace Chambers,Vanessa Reyes and James Bell (myself). All these brethren are among thenames of the newest members of Camp Hill SDA church!

I decided to be baptised because I remembered that God is my Redeemerand my Saviour. He died for my sins, not because I asked him to but becausehe loved me. Now think about it; imagine someone dying in one of the mostpainful ways, being beaten, spat at and having a crown of thorns forced onhis head, just so he could save sinful people from what they deserved andgive them eternal life! Not just that, but firstly, instead of dying for us, he

could have been wearing a crown of gold, sitting on a throne of glory and listening to the sweet music of angels and, secondly, he obeyed his Father.Someone like that deserves to be worshipped. You must agree!

I am grateful to those who have encouraged me spiritually – Pastors MilanGugleta, Dan Majaducon and Elias Bran and the Sabbath School teachers,Harper Bell teachers and Pathfinder leaders.

The feeling of being baptised is absolutely amazing. I could literally feelmy old sinful self washing away, revealing my new body. And immediately Ismiled a real smile. Even today, as I write this almost two months later, I canstill feel that new change, and I seem to have brighter, happier days. Nowthat is the work of the Holy Spirit.

The crucial decisionA baptismal candidate’s reportby James Bell, 10, student at Harper Bell School and YardleyPathfinder

Ashford church organisation

Teen mime group

Godwin Benjamin presents the charter to first elder Chris McBean

Left to right: Amelia Hall, Delight Mutemwe, Grace Chambers, Juliet Mutemwe, Vanessa Reyes,James Bell and Atlanta Quebec

Charter members

It was just four days before Christmas and a little after 7pm. I was driving home from Ambulance Head -quarters and a few hundred metres away from a wel-

come late dinner when, over the car’s ambulance radio,came a message. ‘We have reports of a scheduled air-craft lost from radar over southern Scotland.’ And then, afew moments later, the chilling message, ‘We believe ithas crashed on Lockerbie.’

No aspect of life is veiled to those in the AmbulanceService. Dealing with people experiencing what is oftenthe biggest crisis in their lives is the nature of the job. Amotor vehicle accident, a heart attack, an attempted sui-cide or an incident of major proportions may occur withinthe period of a single shift.

All three emergency services have plans for dealingwith major incidents. These are periodically tested withexercises. Later, when I headed the London AmbulanceService, they would include a worst-case scenario of ajumbo jet crashing on Waterloo Station in the rush hour. Ialso witnessed, first-hand, the effects of IRA bombings inthe capital. But we had never really planned in Scotlandfor what faced us when I arrived at the scene an hour orso later. As emergency services from Scotland andacross the English border converged on the town a jointcommand centre was established in a local school gym-nasium. Teams of Police, Fire and Ambulance personnelsearched the town, and further afield, in the hope of find-ing survivors. By 2am TV news reporters, representingmost of the world’s media, had descended on the townseeking interviews with the incident commanders.

That night, and more so as daylight broke, the fullmagnitude of what had happened became apparent.Scenes still too dreadfuland painful to describewill remain indeliblyprinted on the minds oftownsfolk and of thosewho responded to thetragedy. Two hundredand seventy peopledied, including elevenlocal residents on theground, in what is thegreatest UK loss oflife from a single actof terrorism.

Though the causewould not be knownuntil some timelater, I was struckby the obscenity ofsuch evil being vis-ited upon a small,quiet Scottish

country town. But the lasting strong bands of friendshipthat followed between Lockerbie residents and the over-seas relatives of those who perished is yet another glow-ing example of goodness emerging from evil. However,the long-term political ramifications could not have beenpredicted by the civic and political leaders, including thethen Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who visited thetown the day after the disaster. A lengthy mass murderinvestigation and the trial and eventual conviction of aLibyan national have yet to bring closure for many ofthose bereaved.

That convicted bomber’s recent release on compas-sionate grounds has also evoked passionate and dividedviews on whether or not this was appropriate and morallyacceptable. Kenny MacAskill, Scottish Justice Secretary,summed up the reasons for authorising the release thisway: ‘The perpetration of an atrocity and outrage cannotand should not be a basis for losing sight of who we are,the values we seek to uphold, and the faith and beliefsby which we seek to live.

‘Mr Al Megrahi did not show his victims any comfortor compassion. They were not allowed to return to thebosom of their families to see out their lives, let alonetheir dying days. No compassion was shown by him to them. But that alone is not a reason for us to denycompassion to him and his family in his final days.

‘Our justice system demands that judgement beimposed but compassion be available. Our beliefs dictatethat justice be served, but mercy be shown. Compassionand mercy are about upholding the beliefs that we seekto live by, remaining true to our values as a people. Nomatter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated.’

This was a brave view when bal-anced against the very public criticismsexpressed on both sides of the Atlantic –and the unfortunate and yet perhaps pre-dictable welcome given Al Megrahi on hisreturn to Libyan soil. Yet how do thosesentiments resonate with what I, andmany others, witnessed and experiencedthat December night twenty years ago?

I was there in the middle of the atrocity.I know the suffering, the sorrow, the pain. Iknow the struggle between the balance offorgiveness, justice and mercy. There maybe no perfect solution in this imperfectworld but for me the satisfying answer isthat of Paul: ‘Clothe yourselves with com-passion, kindness, humility, gentleness andpatience. Bear with each other and forgivewhatever grievances you may have againstone another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.’(Colossians 3:12, 13, NIV.)

Remembering Lockerbie, Al Megrahi and forgiveness by John Wilby

In December 1988 Seventh-day Adventist John Wilby was head of the Scottish AmbulanceService. As such he was in Lockerbie within an hour of Pan Am flight 103 crashing into thetown. John currently serves as Communication sponsor for the Scottish Mission. Below isthe letter of thanks Prime Minister Thatcher sent to him after the event.

Seventy plus Pathfinders from Yardley, Camp Hill, Ladywood andPeckham had an enjoyable and spiritually uplifting campingtrip from 3 to 8 August.

Rainy weather persisted but those who had to undertake the25km hike had the challenge of completing this in one day ratherthan two, fuelled by a hearty meal and early night to bed immedi-ately before.

When the younger Pathfinders joined the camp there were moresunny spells than showery ones, but for all lots of fun, learning andadventure. More importantly, a chance to witness – other camperswere invited to the evening worship sessions where Pastor JeffNicholson preached messages to engage the young minds andenhance their appreciation of God’s messages in the Bible.

A special campfire concert on Saturday night where, once settled withtheir chairs, blankets and teddy bears, thirty or so invited campers also occupying plots at Blackwell Court had the opportunity to learn songs andchoruses favoured by young Adventists and hear beautiful singing from representatives of the various clubs. Trevor Davis, Anolin Stephens, CislynMorgan and Gloria Bishop are to be congratulated for their effort to gather aforty-strong team of adult and youth counsellors and skilled persons to teachfire building, wood chopping, drilling and marching, archery, First Aid and CPRin a tight schedule.

Messenger 11

Sunday 9 August was, thankGod, a beautiful day and a daywhen God blessed the mem-

bers of Eternal Praise choir, ably ledby Elma Morgan, and a number offriends happy to share their talentsto witness to the public visitingCannon Hill Park that afternoon.

Within a short time of arriving inthe park the choir found an audienceof interested and appreciative mem-bers of the public who were delight-ed that the bandstand that is rarelyutilised for bands was actuallyaccommodating musicians andsingers for a few hours at least.They laid out blankets and openedpicnics, keen to hear the words andmelodies of the choir. Choruses,special items and three pieces byrepresentatives of the newly formedMidlands SDA Orchestra playedsongs to praise God and touch thehearts of the public.

The chair of the Friends ofCannon Hill Park, Mr Fox,

approached the music leaders andsaid that he was very happy with theway the Adventist church membershad sung and interacted with people.He suggested that further involve-ment of the musicians of Camp Hillwould be appreciated.

Youngsters enjoyed the music,too. One or two danced to the cho-ruses and a lady burdened by herown circumstances had asked tosing and pray with the group as theyclosed the afternoon’s proceedings.She was full of smiles from the spir-

On 11 August the annual IrishMission Youth camp com-menced in Athlone, County

Westmeath, Ireland. Forty-five children and young people, agedbetween 9 and 17, and twenty staffdescended on Portlick Scout Centre,and the peace and quiet of the

was our guest speaker, originallyfrom England, but now working aspastor at SLO Adventist church.

God spoke through PastorStephen, who kept all the campersboth young and old completely capti-vated with stories from the Bible andfrom his own life. People were heard

On 15 August we celebrated aspecial Sabbath when one of ouryoung people was baptised. ShaunaRothwell had made the decision tobe baptised at last year’s summercamp. Family, friends and campersgathered around Lough Rea asShauna was baptised by her uncle,Pastor Douglas McCormac. Followingthe baptism, Shauna gave a movingtestimony in which she talked abouther diagnosis of leukaemia when shewas 3 years old, and her relapsewhen she was 9. Shauna talkedabout the time she had pneumoniawhile she was having chemotherapy,and how the doctors were amazed at how speedy her recovery was.Shauna said that was to do with themany prayers which were said forher during her illness.

Towards the end of the camp,Pastor Stephen made an appeal forbaptism. Thirty-one young peoplecame forward to request Bible stud-ies and baptism. We praise God forthis. On the last night of camp weenjoyed ‘Camp’s Got Talent’, whichsaw many funny acts from old andyoung.

Since the camp, we havereceived very positive feedback. The one statement that keeps beingrepeated is, ‘This was the best campever.’ God’s presence was very evi-dent over the nine days, and liveswere changed. We are thankful toGod for the young people whoattended and for the staff who gave up their time to help out.

Please remember the IrishMission young people in your prayersas God works in them and throughthem.

10 Messenger

Walsall baptismOn 9 May, 15-year-old Zuko Simalane stepped up and made a stand for

Jesus through baptism. Walsall laity held a three-week campaign withthe theme ‘Certainty in these uncertain times’. The campaign climaxed

with the baptism of four candidates and another on profession of faith.Walsall pastor, Patricia Douglas, led the candidates in their vows, and the

baptism was conducted by NEC Pathfinder director Pastor Trevor Thomas. Oneby one the candidates expressed their reasons for wanting to take the plunge.When asked to explain his reason, 15-year-old Zuko said, ‘Because I love theLord.’ Pastor Thomas in his address said that Zuko expressed a decision to bebaptised at the Pathfinders’ camp and that he had proved himself a man bydoing what some older than he refused to do, making a public declaration ofhis love for Jesus. This was witnessed by the huge number of young peoplewho filled the church at Walsall. Others taking a stand that day were MrPrince, Mrs M. Hemmings, Brother Arthur and on profession of faith SisterPrince.

It was a blessed and rewarding day for the Walsall brethren.MARK TAYLOR

Irish Mission summer campsuccess by Heather Keough

countryside was filled with loudchatter and laughter. The theme forthis year’s camp was ‘Dabbling withFaith, Flirting with Hope, Searchingfor Love’. Pastor Stephen Eastwood

on many occasions repeating thestories to each other.

Throughout the nine days manyactivities were planned, such askayaking, horse riding, laser skir-

mishing, and many more outdooractivities. We had a day trip to thebeach. It started off dull and over-cast but, when we arrived, Godblessed us with sunshine.

The Irish Mission campers

Shauna Rothwell baptised by her uncle,Pastor Douglas McCormac

Praise inthe parkby Dr Jacqueline Halliday-Bell

itual upliftment she had experiencedthat day.

Sister Elma had been guided by

God to undertake this outreach programme, an afternoon of witnessing in praise and song to him.

Pathfinder weekendby Dr Jacqueline Halliday-Bell

On 25-26 July, Adventist youthand worldly witches wenthead to head in Derby. At

an annual Mind, Body, Spirit Fair,largely consisting of witches, wizards and spiritualists, the NECdepartment and Derby ChesterGreen Church initiated a NEWSTARTbooth operated by Derby youth volunteers.

Although outnumbered as wasElijah against the prophets of Baal,God’s representatives had a fire kindling impact, with forty peoplesigning up for health coursesoffered by the ADC and two peoplefor Bible studies.

Bowed before the Lord in prayer,the youth began the day by callingupon God for divine protection. On

the other hand, the neighbouringwitch battled in meditation andprayer by her crystal ball.

A taste of tension tied theirtongues as people began to queueto inquire into this very peculiarlooking health stall. Within a shortspace of time God really began todemonstrate his power by drawingmany to participate in the activitiesat the stall. So much so that theneighbouring witch became so frustrated she moved her stall andcrystal ball to the opposite side ofthe hall!

GBK baptismOn Sunday 19 July the GreatBrickkiln St church witnessed ahappy and blessed event. GloriaGray took up the challenge andbecame the first candidate to bebaptised in GBK. Worship began withrousing hymns of praise followed bya powerful sermon by Pastor A.Almeida. What made the ceremonyspecial and almost unique was anitem in song entitled ‘The Greatnessof God’, rendered by Gloria in thepool prior to her baptism. After bap-tism and during a private interview,Gloria shared a wonderful testimony,stating that she attended a Sundaychurch for more than thirty years butfelt there was still something miss-ing in her spiritual life. She foundthat lost piece of the jigsaw puzzlewhen she attended a Seventh-day Adventist seminar in her neighbourhood.

Gloria states she found Jesusand has never looked back since.She has now joined the family ofGod as a new member of the GBKchurch. Finally, at the end of thebaptismal service, Pastor Palmermade an altar call to those in thevalley of decision to come forwardand pledge their alliance to Christ.There was a positive response andappropriate action and prayeroffered. DELVA CAMPBELL

Messenger 1312 Messenger

Your Adventist Discovery Centreby Des Rafferty, ADC principal

The Adventist Discovery Centre,formerly known as the Voice ofProphecy, was established inthe UK in 1945. Since then the

centre has been a source of healthand Bible knowledge to hundreds ofthousands of people. The strong bib-lical tradition and the valuable peaceand assurance it brings to modernliving have had a positive impact oncountless lives. The ADC facilitatesthe quiet transformation of the heartthrough the renewing of the mind inthe privacy of the home. Seeminglysilently, life-changing decisions aremade that will echo in eternity.

Fire – the aftermathFollowing the fire the ADC facedmany challenges. The first require-ment was finding suitable accom-modation to continue providing aservice to our students.

We are very grateful to the pas-toral team and church members ofthe Stanborough Park church fortheir immediate response to ourneed. The ADC relocated to the sub-gallery of the church where comput-ers were speedily connected into anetwork allowing access to our data-base, so that the pro-cessing of existinglessons and

registration of new students couldcontinue. A makeshift lesson storagesystem was devised which involvedusing every square foot of the sub-gallery. This, in turn, had to becleared away every Thursday after-noon to allow the church to becleaned in preparation for Sabbathservices.

We managed to achieve arhythm, and quickly hundreds of lessons were mailed out to students,minimising the period of disruption.

The centre then moved in lateDecember from Stanborough Parkchurch to the newly acquired tempo-rary headquarters at Frogmore andremained there until 20 March 2009.

Following completion of the planto restore the water-damaged ADCoffice, the team was able to returnto Stanborough Park, but with onedrawback: the operation had to berun on generated power. Once againthis provided its own challenges in protecting sensitive computer and printing equipment from spikesand surges. Once this had beenachieved, our output level steadilygrew, restoring contact with our student population.

By the time mains electricityhad been restored in June wewere in full flow, marking, printingand processing the manyrequests from members and students alike.

As I write it is now twenty-three weeks

since ourreturn,

Crystal ball vs Christian stall by Manjit Biant

Being real about Christianityby Michael Agyei

and I thank God for the way he sus-tained our operation and the manypeople and companies who con-tributed to easing the load along theway.

In all of our wanderings andmovement, the ADC staff has per-formed magnificently and I wouldlike to commend and thank all ofthem publicly for their dedication,hard work and patient endurance.

As you can imagine, it has taken a while to find some things,and each day the old game of con-centration is played over and over.Nonetheless we are now runningefficiently and reaching a wider andmore diverse audience than before.

Student activityAt the last ADC board in June of thisyear it was a privilege to report theincrease in applications, enrolmentsand graduations.

For the first time in recentmemory the ADC has 22,000 registered students on its data-

base. Of this figure 12,000 stu-dents have actively pursued theircourse of study over the lasttwelve months.

Using our lapsed and inactiveprogramme, we are able to encour-age those who for a variety of rea-sons have stopped communicatingwith us. While this increased activityhas presented its own challenges,the centre has demonstrated itsability to handle the increased volume.

AdvertisingMuch of the increase in applicationsis due to the advertising campaignfirst commissioned in March 2007,using a lead generating company –Response Direct Publishing.

The advertising of our most pop-ular health course ‘Health’ yielded18,000 applications over the lasttwo years. Additionally, the mostrecent advert for our Bible course‘Take Jesus’, launched in March ofthis year, has yielded 1,689

members and students.I am always amazed at the faith-

ful donations from our members andsurprised by the generosity of ourstudents. People of all ages continueto demonstrate their support for thisunique ministry.

On this ADC Rally Day everyonecan join in partnership with the ADC.Your time, talent, personal effort,influence and financial support areways in which you can support thework of preparing lives for eternity.

By way of assisting everyone intheir financial support we havemade available a new-styled dona-tion box for the home. This boxreplaces the yellow labelled card-

the spiritual high we were on tendsto disappear and how we often slipback into our old ways and lose con-tact with one another. After brain-storming ideas on how to deal withthis problem, co-founders Nana K.and Michael Agyei decided to startup a Bible study. Our first officialmeeting was held in Michael’s livingroom. There was such a large turnoutthat people were forced to sit on thefloor and stairs! Week by week thenumbers grew to the point where wehad to find another place to host themeeting. However, after attendingone of our meetings which the adultsenjoyed, they allowed us to use thechurch. Through God’s faithfulness,this small weekly Bible study trans-formed into a full-blown ministry!

We celebrated our first anniver-sary on 23 July. Every seat was filledand there were many standing andstill willing to join us. On the night,we were all blessed by special guestspeakers Pastor Eddie Hypolite andDr Terry Messenger, as well as bypraise and worship from InnovationChoir and God-inspired poetry fromthe likes of Alan Charles and KingSamuel.

currently with thecentre and for thosewho will join us in thenear future.

ADC websiteOur remodelled web-site advertises all ofthe sixteen coursesavailable from thecentre. Eight of theavailable courses canalso be taken onlineusing the new Moodle learning platform.

Our website contin-ues to receive over1,000 hits every week.We are committed to

seeing growth in this area throughthe production of a variety of newcourses for an increasingly diverseaudience.

Funding the ADCThe ADC is supported in part throughan appropriation from the BritishUnion Conference budget and alsothrough regular donations from

board donation box, and is a scaleddown version of the ADC donationbox found in your church. It isdesigned for supporters to keep athome and the contents can be for-warded directly to the ADC or via thetreasury department of the localchurch.

Why not pledge to donate at leastone of these five gifts in support ofthe Adventist Discovery Centre?

We have the assurance that therewards will be out of this world.

Thank you for your continuedsupport, and I trust that the centrewill be of assistance to you both inyour personal evangelism and theoutreach of your church.

Jesus and Ministries (JAM) is aSpirit-filled and life-changingyouth Bible study where young

people can be ‘real’ about theirChristianity and walk with God. Ourmission at JAM is to ‘build a familyof friends in Christ Jesus’ by provid-ing a platform where the youth oftoday can come together, voice theiropinions and, most importantly, gettheir voices heard. JAM opens thedoor for young people in Christ notonly to testify about God’s goodnessbut also about life and its strugglesand the means to overcome them so

that we can give God all the glory hedeserves. With the help of the HolySpirit, we provide a conducive andfriendly atmosphere for ministering,learning and developing. Jesus andMinistries is therefore a movementwhich aims to help the youth discov-er what God’s purpose is for theirlives as we study the Word and prayfor one another, so that God’s perfectwill can be established.

JAM was inspired after the Spirit-filled camp meeting trip toWales. After this trip, a group of ourAdventist youth were discussing how

registrations to date. This campaignwill close at the end of September2009.

Furthermore we have negotiateda two-year deal to advertise ourhealth course in ten NHS hospitalsaround the UK. We are looking for-ward to many more responses fromthis avenue of activity. Please con-tinue to pray for the many students

any institute of higher learning. Shelearned many theological wonders atNewbold, but the ‘loving and lovable’factors were ‘in situ’ well before her student life began in September ’39.

Entirely due to an offer of employ-ment from an SDA businessman (WalterA. Girling of Gillingham, Kent), ele-ments of the family were transportedsouth to a much less grim lifestyle. Shenow became part of a lively church ofmainly young people, and in the ‘LittleWooden Church in the Orchard’, tutoredby the late Arthur Lockyer in the after-noon Youth services, conquered ‘stagefright’ and shyness while acquiring atreasury of lifetime friends and the abil-ity to play every hymn in the AdventHymnal Revised.

With the frenzied digging of air raidshelters when the bleak tones of NevilleChamberlain announced that a newEuropean conflict had begun, the pleas-ant life she had enjoyed came to an ex-plosive and tragic end when a ‘stick’ ofbombs shattered the windows of herhome but, further down the road, se-verely injured her best friend Doreen,killing Leslie, Doreen’s husband of onlythree months.

Despite the trauma of war, its short-ages and separations, the three years atNewbold Revel were happy times filledwith friendships. Summer canvassing in Cornwall with Laura Mason had itsmoments of sheer terror from coastalair raids, but the warm support of themembers of the small churches therewas reassuring for, having becomefriendly with a young ministerial stu-dent from Wales, the vision of a morepositive future life of service – ‘whenthis dreadful war is over’ – was takingshape.

Newbold was well informed aboutthe horrors of conflict for on 14November 1940 nearby Coventry wasattacked by 100+ bombers and 554 ofits citizens were killed and 865 severelyinjured. No one at Newbold then willever forget that night which was illumi-nated bright as day with a thousandfires and the continuous roar and thun-der of explosions backed by the high-pitched note of power-diving aircraft

overhead while the solid building –even its Elizabethan cellars – seemed tobe in continuous motion.

After her wartime graduation fromPackwood, Ethel had been posted toNorthants with Pastor W. Lennox whenthe three churches were crammed withscores of young US servicemen prepar-ing for D-Day. She then went on toDerby for evangelism with A. F. Birdand a memorable link with NancyRitson (later Seymour) and the youngfolk who became part of her lifethenceforth. She shared with PastorBernard Kinman the raising up of anew church in Carlisle and duly invitedhim to ‘tie the knot’ when in May 1947in her Kentish hometown she wasunited in marriage with John Freemanand they enjoyed sixty happy years to-gether in service, celebrating theirDiamond Jubilee in May 2007.

The first fifteen years of Ethel andJohn’s life together would prove the va-lidity of the ‘loving and lovable’ bit andindeed became the litmus test of Ethel’srole and function. Imagine a householdcontaining a husband who neededpeace and quiet to ‘study the Word andcounsel members’, two high-spiritedadolescent girls and a grandmotherwho found it difficult to accept any al-ternative to strict Victorian standards.Ethel kept her halo but it was hardgoing! However, her moral certitudeswere reinforced by her belief that hilarity and holiness are not mutuallyexclusive.

Seven years in Wales (Caerphilly,Barry, Swansea), almost a decade inKent and Sussex (Folkestone, Dover,Hastings), five years in Essex (Billericay,Chelmsford, Romford), North EnglandConference (Wolverhampton, Walsall)and Grimsby, Ulceby, three years in eachdistrict and finally nine years in theRepublic of Ireland, does not quite conclude the Freeman story for, whensettled in their Wokingham retirementcottage, the South England Conferenceasked them to care for the not-far-distant Guildford church. It entailedmuch to-ing and fro-ing on busy roadsbut in the process they gained a third‘daughter’, Wendy Pemberton, whose

personal ministry to them in their latterdays was a notable blessing and com-fort. The above list of locations is a re-minder that Ethel still had access to themany friends they made through thepostal service. Some would rate her cor-respondence gift as a spiritual factor.(Doesn’t the apostle also include ‘communication’ in his inspired giftlist?) Ethel had a rather artistic calligra-phy style and to her life’s end kept intouch with an address on the Ponty-Quindy road in Caerphilly (theFreemans’ first home) as well as theThomases of Folkestone and whoknows how many others?

Ethel was both computer literate inold age and cherished her independ-ence but enjoyed emailing and wasprone to laugh uproariously when heronline grocery provider, under pressurein an unfamiliar genre, made bizarredeliveries. Her neighbours of twenty-plus years regarded Ethel as some kind

of saint, and she on her part was unfail-ingly grateful to them for daily kind-nesses. She whose name has beensynonymous with hospitality greatlyenjoyed to the end (and often con-tributed a favourite pudding) Sabbathlunch with friends and family in the ca-pacious conservatory with wheelchairaccess which was the latest addition toher Woosehill cottage with its lovelygardens.

Just over a year following John’sfinal curtain (on the first day of 2008),we took our leave of Ethel in the sameNewbold church with the three peopleshe loved most dearly – her two daugh-ters Kathryn and Heather and grand-daughter Holly – assisting the ministerIan Sleeman in providing a beautifulsend-off to a yes, loving and lovableChristian. What a powerful argumentfor the Gospel that woman has been.No! IS.JACK MAHON

Messenger 15

Single Life MinistryApril 11 heralded the launch of thebrand new Single Life Ministry atFulham church. This was a two-dayevent which commenced on Saturdayevening with an engaging introduc-tion by Dionne Williams, Fulham’sSingle Life Ministry leader, whichhighlighted the foundational missionof the ministry. The heart-felt dedica-tion and vision of the Ministry leaderwas evident and was very wellreceived by the congregation.

The programme opened with apresentation entitled ‘Living theSingle Life’, which chronicled the upsand downs of being single. Nextcame a presentation on break-upsfocusing on the many and variedchallenges that come along withthem. This was followed by a shortpresentation on courtship, where thediscussion focused on what to lookfor in a potential spouse and whatcourtship is according to the Bible.The final presentation was onwidow hood, exploring the idea ofhaving Christ as a husband and thespecial work with which widows arecommissioned. There were specialitems by Ruth Nassa and PatriciaJones. The evening proved to beinteresting and informative, mixingpersonal experiences with plenty ofpractical advice on everyday life asan unattached Adventist.

Part two of the event on Sunday12 April saw singles from variousparts of London converge at Fulhamfor the launch of the Single LifeMinistry social. Fulham church wasfilled with people who were wel-comed with snacks and drinks. Theevent unfolded into a fun, interestingand thought-provoking evening,humorously hosted by Lydia Simonwho successfully maintained a light-hearted and lively atmospherethroughout. The day was a resound-ing success, cleverly using icebreakers, a Bible quiz, tasty buffetand informal games to foster seriousdebate and provide satisfying con-clusions. The night was capped withmoving poetry by Loren Van Langeand Dionne Williams and singing byMarcia Roberts-Prince and StaceyBaker.

The next event, ‘Peas in the Park’was held on 23 August at Hyde Park.This fellowship for unattachedChristians included prayer sessions,praise and worship, potluck, poetry,and playing fun games. For moreinformation please emailslm_fulham@hotmail.co.uk.SOPHIE LUMPA

Men’s Day speakersaddress taboo issuesThe first of a series of meetingsplanned for the men of the WestMidlands was held at Yardley churchon Sunday 26 July. This was thebrainchild of Gregory Campbell, oneof the elders of the local church. Hereceived strong support from otherswho shared his vision that moreshould be done to motivate andenergise the men in the AdventistChurch to be proper servants ofChrist and family men in the truesense of the word.

There were four sessionsthroughout the day. These werepunctuated with special items andprayer and a sumptuous lunch.

Warwick Bryan started the ballrolling with his engaging topic, ‘The differences between men andwomen’. This was quite an eye-opener to the men. ‘The fact is,women are more intelligent thanmen since they have the ability tomultitask and they have spatialvision,’ he said. ‘That is, a womancan be having two or three conver-sations at the same time whileobserving what is happening allaround her. In contrast, as men wehave a very one-track mind and canonly focus on one task at a time.’

The second session was con-ducted by Pastor Ian Sweeney, NECpresident. In his presentation PastorSweeney reminded us that we are allsoldiers engaged in a war. However,in this warfare we cannot see theenemy, ‘for we wrestle not againstflesh and blood but against princi-palities and powers, against therulers of darkness of this world,against spiritual wickedness in highplaces’. (Ephesians 6:12.) This wasa reminder that our wives are notour enemies, neither are our chil-dren, church brethren, nor employers

or employees. Our true enemy isSatan, and we can overcome himthrough Jesus Christ who alreadyhas the victory over him. Thus,although it may seem as if we arelosing the battle, we have alreadywon the war. The third presentationtook the form of an open discussionled by Robert Nicholas.

The day culminated in a questionand answer session where the menwere given an opportunity to directquestions at the president regardingissues affecting the Church and hisvision for the Church in the NorthEngland Conference.ROBERT NICHOLAS

experience it has been written: ‘Noother influence that can surround thehuman soul has such power as the in-fluence of an unselfish life. Thestrongest argument in favour of theGospel is a loving and lovable Christian.’Ministry of Healing, p. 470.

Although Ethel was my closest sib-ling I know of no other person who soclosely demonstrates that ‘loving andlovable’ syndrome, and I have knownher long enough in fact to have someideas of how her character was devel-oped. Born as the soldiers of the War-to-end-war were being demobilised –poverty then was global. The ‘terribletwenties’ led up to the ‘hungry thirties’– that was real recession! Lancashirewith its declining cotton industry wasworst off, and since Ethel’s home was ina town with the highest unemploymentshe suffered, but also gained an educa-tion in what used to be designated ‘theuniversity of hard knocks’! She waslively and intelligent, the brightest ofthe five children of Florence Nellie andAlex Mahon, passing the new ElevenPlus exam with ease and thereafterclaiming many prizes in her SecondarySchool A stream.

To the chagrin of her teachers whohad high hopes for her future, she did-n’t sit the university entrance – herservices were required at home to aidthe family survival struggle by becom-ing a shopkeeper in the family businessventure. Kathleen had financed herNewbold education by selling home-made bread and cakes from door todoor. Sixteen-year-old Ethel’s was amore stationary role behind thecounter, selling home-grown vegetablesfrom the acre of ground rented from alocal farmer, with fruit and fish fromwholesale sources. Here she was dailyexposed to all the human problems ofthe local housewives and, having aheart to help, received in exchange acourse in ‘Compassion’ unavailable in

14 Messenger

When Ethel Freeman (née Mahon) fellasleep on Sunday 12 April it was appro-priately the day observed by mostChristians as the feast of theResurrection – Easter Sunday – and co-incidentally, seven years earlier, was theday Kathleen her older sister died. Itwas, however, not a coincidence thatboth sisters had been deeply influencedin their choice of life-work by fellow-Lancastrian Irene Himsworth. Of this

Ethel Freeman (née Mahon) d. 12 April 2009

Alice Blackburn (1916-2009) d. 1 June

and loyal servant of God since learningScripture at her mother’s knee alongwith brothers, Cyril, Clive and Arnold(the only surviving sibling). In a briefautobiography which she had thought-fully prepared for whoever had theprivilege of conducting her funeral,Alice noted that the principle of study-ing the Bible daily was something thatshe practised throughout her long andhappy life. If she learned somethingand valued it, it stayed with her as alifelong practice. Thus her abstemiouslifestyle, her love of nature and her pro-found confidence in the Word of Godwere well known, not only by thosewho loved her, but also by the carers,hospital staff and neighbours whoselives she touched. Her lifelong servicewas to the Seventh-day AdventistChurch, be that at the StanboroughPress, the South England Conference orin the finance department at NewboldCollege, where she believed that shehad found her true vocation. Perhapsless well known is the fact that shetrained and qualified as a StateRegistered Nurse at Edgware RoadHospital, London, having received a callup to National Service during theSecond World War. As a spinster, Alicenever had the joy of knowing childrenof her own, but her love and care forher niece, Lorna, since the untimelydeath of Lorna’s mother, were attestedto at the funeral by Lorna herself. Thisdeep affection was mutual. The finalwords are perhaps best left to Alice her-self. ‘Life is a gift from God. He is ourCreator. We cannot understand all God’sdealings in our life, but we can trusthim to guide us if we have faith in hisleading.’ With sincere sympathy ex-tended to the Blackburn family circle,both in Cornwall and locally inGrantham, we say, ‘Sleep on, sister; joycometh in the morning!’PASTOR J. FERTUSON

‘This is the day that the Lord has made.Let us rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Psalm118:24.) Experiencing joy at a funeralwould seem inappropriate and, intruth, the funeral of this dear sister inthe faith did not lend itself to such anoccurrence. However, it was as if some-thing unspoken was yet heard by thosepresent in the Grantham church, say-ing, ‘This is the day . . . rejoice and beglad in it.’ The text is one which thedeceased held as a personal favouriteand one which was also exemplified inher life. Alice Blackburn had a quiet,settled, determined faith in her Lordthat was maintained in a dignified andcourageous struggle with weakeningphysical health in her latter years. A falljust outside her home at aroundEastertime this year led to her beinghospitalised and, whereas Alice hadbeen familiar with hospital surround-ings within the past several years, thistime it was to be an extended stay thatended, sadly, with her death on 1 June.Ever the optimist, Alice was a faithful

Elaine Storkey is a leading evangeli-cal theologian and the president ofTEAR Fund, a Christian charity thattackles global poverty. She regularlypresents Thought for the Day on BBCRadio 4.

Centre for the Study of Religious and Cultural Diversity

Newbold College

Dr Elaine StorkeyWriter, broadcaster, lecturer,

theologian will deliver

The 2009 Beach Lecture Faiths and the feminine

Are inter-faith relations a challenge to the ministry of Christian women?

Newbold CollegeTuesday 6 October 2009, 7.30

Everyone welcome!

Contact Helen Pearson: helenpr@newbold.ac.uk

Tel. 01344 407480

www.newbold.ac.uk

Sabbath 30 May saw the baptism oftwo candidates: Daniel Wekpe andDonna Lotteriet.

Daniel, who is an Engineeringstudent from LoughboroughUniversity, is doing his year’s workplacement in Gloucester. He wasintroduced to the Adventist Churchby a couple last September andstarted Bible studies which culmi-nated in his baptism.

His mother Melrose gave a verycandid and moving testimony of howshe worried about Daniel when heleft home and how she struggled toaccept his decision to be baptised inthe Adventist Church – she herselfbelongs to another church. She

spoke of how she took it to the Lordand eventually obtained peace withthe decision and gave Daniel hersupport and understanding. Daniel’sbrother Colin read Daniel’s favouritetext: Jeremiah 1:17-19.

The Gloucester church warmlywelcomed Daniel into their fellow-ship and will be sorry when the timecomes for him go back to university.

The second candidate, Donna,first came to Gloucester in 2004.She grew up in the Adventist Churchand had had Bible studies when shewas younger but had not felt readyfor baptism until eighteen monthsago while still in South Africa. Donnathanks the Lord for his patience,

16 Messenger

MessengerVolume 114 • 19 – 25 September 2009

EDITOR: D. N. MARSHALLDESIGN: DAVID BELL

COPY FOR No. 22 – 28 September 2009Copy should be sent to the Editor, MESSENGER, TheStanborough Press Limited, Alma Park, Grantham,

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The Editor may alter, clarify, précis or expandarticles sent to him if he thinks it necessary.Published fortnightly on Fridays by the BritishUnion Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Printed in Oxford.Visit the BUC website at: www.adventist.org.uk

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David Ferguson (Grantham church member) and hisfriends Nader Hanna and Lee Maples undertook a toughcycle ride of over 1,200 miles from Athens to Venice injust under two weeks in June for the charity OperationSmile UK (providing surgery for children born with a cleftpalate). With an average daily ride of 80-90 miles and

Congratulationsto Razvan Veer of the Hampstead churchon gaining an Upper Second ClassHonours Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degreefrom the London School of Economics andPolitical Science.

to Esther Brown of Lewisham church ongaining a 2:1 in her Journalism BA Honscourse at University of the Arts, London.

to Matthew Marshall of the StanboroughPark church on gaining a Second ClassHonours Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degreefrom Essex University at Colchester.

to Catherine Sly of the Grantham churchwho scored 12 As in her GCSEs, seven ofwhich were A stars. Catherine wants to bea Maths/Science teacher.

Changing Lives One Smile at a Timesprint finish of 120 and 140 miles in the last two days,they cycled in 350C temperatures and camped out inorder to keep costs to a minimum, collectively raisingover £1,900 for a very worthy cause. Family and friendsfrom churches in Belfast, Grantham and Wellingboroughcontributed generously to David’s sponsorship total of

£1,441.31, with significant contribu-tions from two Adventist-owned busi-nesses (Environmental Fabricationsand granoVita UK). The opportunity isstill available if you would like to makea donation to the charity that benefits.Go to www.justgiving.com/Athens-venice and follow the instructions.Alternatively, donate directly toOperation Smile UK, 4th Floor, HoratioHouse, 77 Fulham Palace Road,London, W6 8JA.PASTOR J. FERGUSON

Double baptism in Gloucester

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care and protection during the timebefore she felt ready to commit tobaptism and she feels she made theright decision and for the right rea-sons. Julian Cranfield read out anemail from her family in South Africawhich was to congratulate her on theexcellent decision to be baptised.

Donna’s husband Michael and 4-year-old daughter Marian were pres-ent to support her and she, too, waswarmly welcomed into the fellowshipof Gloucester church.

Before leaving the baptismalpool, Pastor Tarlev gave a call foranyone else who felt God’s prompt-ing to come forward and commit.Much to the delight of the congrega-tion, two people came forward, oneof whom was Michael Adams,Donna’s husband (baptised on 22August). ANGELA CONNICK