Why run a diesel pumpwhen, with solar power,you can do the same forfree? Renewable energy is

at the forefront of many discussionsas we enter a new decade. Whilewe in the West struggle with carbonfootprint reduction, ADRA is helpingpeople in the developing world tohave access to new forms of energy.

James Shepley, one of ADRA-UK’s programmes officers, wasrecently in Somalia to observeprogress in one of our projects. Toreach the remote village of Salahleyin Somaliland, North West Somalia,he had to traverse a vast plain,covered in thin grassland, the foodsource for herds of goats and eventhe occasional camel. As many ashalf of all Somalis are nomadicpastoralists, and in a land that hasseen more than its fair share of civilwar the risk of land mines is great.

Salahley is the major centre inthe area. There is a school with 460 children and ninety boardingstudents. The school is supportedlargely by generous members of theSomali Diaspora who are trying torebuild their country.

ADRA, the AdventistDevelopment and Relief Agency,installed solar lighting three yearsago at the health centre in the vil-lage. People walk as far as 70km toget to the clinic. Before the arrivalof solar lighting, the midwife had toassist births at night with akerosene paraffin lamp or a pockettorch. Sometimes the batterieswould run out in the middle ofchildbirth.

Those days are past. With solar lighting, the pharmacy opensuntil 8pm, well after sunset, and operations can take place at

night uninterrupted. Next door at the school things

are not so good. The head teacherdescribes how soaring fuel billsmean that the school only switchesthe diesel generator on to printimportant letters, or for very occa-sional IT classes. The ninety board-ers in the four dormitories have tostudy by kerosene paraffin lamp,and there is often not enough fuel togo round.

Twenty-one-year-old Ibrahim isfrom a nomadic family. He is likemany of the other kids at theschool. He has been there for tenyears. His dream is to become adoctor. Brahim, another boy, com-plains that because of the rationingof electricity ten kids crowd aroundeach keyboard at those exceptionaltimes when the computers areswitched on. A hundred adults areattending night classes at theschool, but right now classes arepoorly lit with kerosene lamps andlanterns.

Salahley is one of sixty-threelocations across Somaliland andPuntland where ADRA Somalia isnow installing renewable energytechnology over the next twelvemonths, with the support of ADRA-UK and the European Commission.

The solar system that ADRA willinstall here will help provide elec-tricity to the school, and upgradethe existing system in the healthclinic. This will power the refrigera-tor to conserve vaccines for polio ormeasles, as well as allowing nightuse for the microscope, enablingtesting for malaria and thus an earlier start to treatment.

Thanks to ADRA, with the newsource of power, schoolboys likeIbrahim will have a better chance ofrealising their dreams.

Loma Linda UniversityAdventist Health ScienceCentre was established a hun-dred years ago for the purpose

of training medical missionaries forChristian service around the globe.Today, Loma Linda University gradu-

ates continue that tradition, servingtheir neighbours both in the UnitedStates and abroad, fulfilling theinstitution’s motto, ‘to make manwhole’.

The holistic approach of theCoronary Health Improvement

>16

The road to Salahleyby Bert Smit, ADRA-UK executive director

CHIP ‘summit’ at Loma Lindaby Gene Kol, national CHIP co-ordinator

Loma Linda Medical Centre

2 Messenger Messenger 3

ken Creation into existence. Greeks lookedout on that same Creation and found evi-dence of order and patterns. To explain it tothemselves they had to reach beyond theirpantheon of gods for a larger Idea. That wasLogos, which meant both Word and Reason.

Writing his gospel, John lost no time withpreliminaries. He introduced his big Idea inthe first sentence. By the sixteenth verse ofthe first chapter he had built the foundationfor his whole gospel for the Gentiles. Morethan that, he had provided a brilliantanswer to Sally’s so-important question,and a whole lot of other questions beside.

The gist of the big Idea shows every evi-dence of being the product of both a life-time’s mature thought and of the HolySpirit’s inspiration.

The Word was not just with God atCreation. He was God, and was the agent ofCreation. He was the Life and Light to thedead, dark chaos before Creation. And hewas Light and new Life to the darkenedCreation at the turn of the eras (1:1-10).His light and life through new birth were forall ‘who believed in his name’ (11-13).

What thrilled John most, however, wasthat the Word became flesh and blood andwas born – not in some distant galaxy – butin our neighbourhood (vs 14). That samethrill had been there when John had begunhis first letter: ‘That . . . which we haveseen with our eyes, which we have lookedat and our hands have touched – this weproclaim’ (1 John 1:1). Later, writing hisgospel of the Word made flesh – what Paulhad called ‘the fullness of God’ ‘emptied’into a human form4 – John added, ‘and wehave seen his glory, the glory of the Oneand Only, who came from the Father’ (vs14).

So, then, the Word who became flesh inJesus was not created, but was there beforeCreation. He was not part of the world oftime; he was part of the eternal world.

How does that help Sally?

like heart disease and high blood pressure. Thiswas linked to the disruption of the circadianrhythms.

It is suggested that timing of medical treat-ment to synchronise with the body clock may sig-nificantly increase efficacy and reduce drug toxici-ty or adverse reactions. For example, in the lateevening when blood pressure rises, particulartypes of antihypertensive medication may reducenocturnal blood pressure as well as aid cardiacfunction.

Additionally, some types of cancer treatmentshave been shown to be more effective if given at aparticular time of day.

Chronotherapy, a relatively new field of med-ical intervention, synchronises healthcare with theinternal clock and times medication for besteffect. Recent studies in this area have discoveredthe following:• Patient reviews in the management of chronic

health problems such as asthma, fibromyalgia

Pwith David Marshall, editor

What would you say to Sally?

Pastors’ children have always had my sym-pathy. None more so than Sally.

Sally’s Dad had a taste for the moreblood-curdling passages of the OldTestament. He specialised in the retributionmeted out to Amalekites, Hivites andJebusites. Sally winced whenever hebrought up the matter of Jael, the hammer,the nail and what happened to Sisera in thetent. But one Sabbath morning, Sally wasvisibly distressed. It seemed to her thatDad, in his sermon, was holding Godresponsible for the mass butchery of men,women and children.

When the service was over, Sally had aquestion for Dad and asked it in a carryingvoice: ‘D-a-a-d,’ she trilled. ‘Was all thatbefore God became a Christian?’

I would have paid good money to haveheard what Sally’s Dad said by way ofanswer. What do you think he should havesaid? ‘That God was in Christ . . .’?1 ‘That inChrist lives all the fullness of God in ahuman body’?2 All the fullness of God. Notpart of it or one aspect of it. All.

Eugene Petersen says you don’t need ‘atelescope, a microscope, or a horoscope tosee the fullness of God’ in Jesus. Rather,‘You can see and hear him clearly.’3 Therehe is – God! – and he is unmistakable.

Let’s hope Sally’s Dad had a stab atexplaining that to her. A tall order, I know. Atthe very least, let’s hope he told her thatGod has always been a Christian!

The apostle John faced a similar prob-lem. John could remember when in theimmediate post-Pentecost period the earlyChurch was largely made up of convertedJews. But the Gospel had gone to theGentiles, and part of what that meant wasthat the Gospel had to be communicated interms intelligible to people who were cultur-ally Greek. John, whose centre of evangelis-tic operations was the Greek city ofEphesus, faced that challenge every day.

Even when the gospels of Mark, Matthewand (the Gentile) Luke were in circulationthey contained many key concepts alien tothe culturally Greek. Take the idea of Jesusas ‘the Messiah’, for example. John neededa whole new way to tell the Romano-Greekworld about Jesus. And John hit on one!That, more than anything else, accountedfor his launch of the fourth gospel fromEphesus forty years after the other threewere written.

John, with a long lifetime’s experience ofpreaching Jesus to the Gentiles behind him,came up with an idea that both Jews andGreeks could relate to: the Word. Jews knewthat the all-powerful Word of God had spo-

Disruptions in the body clock – which influ-ences much of the body’s chemistry – havebeen linked to many diseases.

On December 2009 a team of Japaneseresearchers reported on a new study which sug-gests that cardiovascular disease is connected todisturbances in the circadian clock (body’s 24-hour clock).

From the study the Japanese team found that agenetic risk factor for a form of high blood pres-sure was influenced by the circadian rhythms.This was due to the disruption of the body clocknegatively impacting a hormone which affectsblood pressure, making it harder to control. Somepeople with high blood pressure have high levelsof aldosterone (hormone) which appears to besensitive to body clock changes.

Lead researcher Professor Hitoshi Okamuraalso stated that shift workers, long-distance flightcrews and people with sleep disorders have anincreased risk of certain cardiovascular disorders

and arthritis demonstrate that timing of medication impacts on symptoms.

• For most people pain threshold appears to belowest early in the morning.

• US research suggests that chronobiology is oneexplanation for the apparent increased season-al manifestation of certain illnesses; somerelating to cyclical hormonal changes. Forexample US data reveals that in autumn ahigher proportion of post-menopausal women(through self-examination) detect breast lumpswhich turn out to be malignant. Studies alsoshow that multiple sclerosis tends to worsen inlate spring and summer, and more diagnosis oftesticular cancer is made during winter.

Look out for the next body clock article to findout how to work with your body clock for optimumwellbeing.

Good health!

The fact that the Word was part of theeternal scheme of things means that Godwas always like Jesus.

No one can show us what God is like asJesus can. No one can reveal more of theheart and mind of God than Jesus does.

Michael Ramsey (1904-1988), the onehundredth Archbishop of Canterbury, wasknown as a great Bible scholar. He wasonce asked, ‘What is the most profoundtheological idea you have ever had?’ Hisface became bright, his smile grew, and hiseyes widened. The nervous questionerthought he had asked a clumsy and, per-haps, pompous question. That was not howthe Archbish received it, much to his relief.Ramsey’s reply?

‘In God there is no unChristlikeness atall!’ he beamed, with some enthusiasm,before continuing: ‘And if you think there is,it’s because you have misunderstood some-thing. Jesus is the perfect revelation of God.’

Don’t you wish Sally could have heardthat?

‘No one knows the Son except theFather,’ said Jesus, ‘and no one knows theFather except the Son and those to whomthe Son chooses to reveal him.’5

In the next breath Jesus said, ‘Come tome, all you who are weary and burdened,and I will give you rest. Take my yoke uponyou and learn from me, for I am gentle andhumble in heart, and you will find rest foryour souls.’6

One last time, then.In God there is no unChristlikeness at all.

If you think there is, you’ve misunderstoodsomething.

In Christ is all the fullness of God.Would someone say that to Sally?

References:12 Corinthians 5:19. 2Colossians 2:9, NLT. 3Colossians2:9, Message. 4Colossians 2:9, NLT; Philippians 2:7,NRSV. 5Matthew 11:27. 6Matthew 11:28-29.

Body clock part 3 – Chronic symptoms and illness

The story began three years ago when Leslie of the Croydon church surprisedhis mother Sally by opting to study Chinese.

In 2009 Leslie began to consider a visit to China in order to experience theculture and make use of the language before his GCSE. The cost seemed aproblem but, says Sally, ‘to our surprise money came from all over the place,including the school’.

The visit to China, with a school party, began in late October. Leslie, withhis friends, had lodgings with a family.

Each Sabbath Leslie stayed behind in the digs and read the Bible Sallyhad given him for the purpose, while his friends went shopping in QianmonSquare. That attracted the attention of the family with whom he was lodging.The father, through his 17-year-old son, asked Leslie what it was he wasstudying. As a result the 14-year-old found himself giving a Bible study.

Before Leslie and his party left to return to London, the father asked ifLeslie would consider leaving his Bible so that he could learn more aboutJesus.

Leslie phoned home about that. ‘Leave the Bible,’ said Sally. ‘In fact, leaveall the books.’

Since Leslie’s return to Croydon, the 17-year-old son of the family withwhom he stayed has been emailing him. The family is fascinated by thePerson of Jesus. Arrangements have been made for the 17-year-old to visitLondon.EDITOR from material supplied by Sally Amanquah of the Croydon church

Job Vacancy at ADRA-UKADRA-UK is looking for an experienced Programme Officer to join its team.Gross salary: from £30,758 p.a. (inclusive of London Weighting) Location: Watford, Hertfordshire You will play an essential role in the ADRA-UK Programmes team. Key responsibili-ties include investigating, sourcing and monitoring funds from government, publicand private donors; supporting ADRA-UK’s implementing partners on proposal

Why Leslie left his Bible in China

development, donor compliance, monitoring and evaluation, and donor reporting;and provide backstopping to ensure that ADRA-UK’s projects are successfullyplanned, conducted and completed.

Applicants should have the right to work in the UK prior to submission of theemployment application.

A full application pack and application form is available on the ADRA-UK web-site at www.adra.org.uk. Applications deadline for this post: 1 February 2010.

Messenger 54 Messenger

Spiritual gifts are not a problem for theSeventh-day Adventist Church. They areacknowledged and valued. Numerousworkshops and seminars are organised on

a regular basis to facilitate the discovery of every-one’s gifts. But surprisingly, and for different rea-sons, two gifts are a bit problematic in our midst:the gift of prophecy and what is called ‘the gift oftongues’. According to Paul, the first one ranks atthe top of the list: ‘Pursue love and strive for thespiritual gifts, and especially that you may proph-esy.’ (1 Corinthians 14:1.) As far as prophecy isconcerned, aren’t we, Seventh-day Adventists, thebest? We were given a prophet at the very begin-ning of our history. We have the ‘testimony ofJesus’, that is ‘the spirit of prophecy’ (Revelation19:10). Though I am not sure what sort of recep-tion another prophet would be given in church. Thepoor guy would have to pass two exams in orderto qualify: the Bible test and the Ellen White test!As for the gift of tongues, we are rather silent. Weare scared. We are more comfortable with a softinterpretation of the texts, according to which thegift of tongues would refer to speaking a foreignhuman language. Most of us would be uncomfort-able if anyone started to speak a strange, non-human language in a church setting. But some ofus – a minority for the moment, but I guess agrowing minority – might not feel the same. Theywould argue that, at least, the latter rain hadcome upon the faithful remnant. This question oftongues and/or languages is not a new one. Thebelievers in Corinth asked it of Paul. His answer isworth considering. Let me pinpoint some leadingideas.

1. This topic is difficultHundreds of books and articles have beenpublished on the topic of spiritual gifts in general and on the gift of speaking in tonguesespecially. Easy and radical answers are probably irrelevant. This short article does not claim to provide the final answer but aims at giving the reader some tools for further consideration.

2. Paul before LukeTwo texts of the New Testament deal with thegift of tongues: Acts 2:1-13 and 1 Corinthians12-14. We usually start with Acts 2. I preferstarting with 1 Corinthians, for at least tworeasons. First, this letter was written probablytwenty years before the book of Acts. Second,Luke, the author of Acts, was a co-worker ofPaul. I assume that he was influenced byPaul’s understanding of the gift of tongueswhen writing the Pentecost narrative.Accordingly, the first and main idea on the topic is from Paul.

3. A tension between two culturesIn the Old Testament, the tongue (lashon) isnot given a high status. It is often connected tosin. One becomes a sinner through the tongue.It explains why one must exert oneself for thetraining and the control of the tongue (seeProverbs 10:19-20; 15:4; 18:21; Psalm34:13). This tradition has pervaded the NewTestament. It is obvious in the letter of James:‘no one can tame the tongue [glossa in Greek],a restless evil, full of deadly poison’ (James3:8), as well as in the contrast betweenspeaking and doing made by Jesus himself(Matthew 7:21), and in the words of John: ‘Letus love not in word, or speech [glossa] but intruth and action.’ (1 John 3:8.)

But there is also another trend in the NewTestament: the one Paul was confronted within Corinth. Plato, the Greek philosopher, hadlong ago made the point that divination waspossible, but not in a rational way: ‘No manachieves true and inspired divination when inhis rational mind, but only when the power ofhis intelligence is fettered in sleep or when it isdistraught by disease or by reason of somedivine inspiration.’ (Timaeus 71e.) In theHellenistic Mediterranean world, ‘prophets’,‘seers’ and ‘proclaimers’ were rather numer-ous. One of the most popular examples of div-ination through ecstatic language was thePythia of Delphi, whose headquarters was lessthan a hundred miles from Corinth. Seated ona tripod over an opening in the earth, this ladywould fall into a trance and start raving. Heroracles exerted an influence far beyondGreece. Even though this cult was in decay atthe time of Paul, her sanctuary was still openat the time of the New Testament. It wasclosed by Theodosius in AD395.

Actually, in Corinth, Paul faced a dilemma:on the one hand, the Jewish wisdom, for whichthe tongue was dangerous and evil; on theother, the Hellenistic mindset, for which raving,speaking an ecstatic language, was common.This dilemma explains the tension in the texts,and mainly why they are difficult to understandand to interpret. Paul is first of all a pastor. Itwould have been easier for him to utter thetruth in a very straightforward way. But it is byno means certain that the Corinthians wouldhave been able to understand it and to adhereto it.

4. Gifts: a Corinthian case onlyPaul does not address the issue of spiritualgifts from his own will. He answers a questionasked by the Corinthians (12:1). Without this

Corinthian case, it is not certain that we wouldhave known of the gifts in general and tonguesin particular! First, we have to bear in mindthat the word for gifts (charisma in Greek) fea-tures seventeen times in the New Testament,only in Paul’s letters, and mainly in 1Corinthians (seven times). Most of the time itrefers to God’s grace (see Romans 5:15-16;6:23; 1 Timothy 4:14). Second, the gospelsnever mention this word, nor does Jesus. Third,when addressing again the issue of the gifts inRomans 12, Paul does not mention the gift oftongues again. In other words, spiritual giftsare a Corinthian problem. Why on earth shouldthis church of Corinth – not the best church inthe New Testament – be considered as theparadigmatic church? Why should this problemin Corinth be the norm of any Christian churchtoday?

5. An ecstatic, non-human languageI find it very difficult to interpret the gift oftongues in Corinth as anything other than anecstatic, non-human language. Paul refersclearly to the former pagan setting of theaddressees: ‘. . . when you were pagans’ (1 Corinthians 12:2). Later, in chapter 14, theapostle makes it clear: ‘For those who speak ina tongue do not speak to other people but toGod; for nobody understands them, since theyare speaking mysteries in the Spirit.’ (verse 2.)

6. The logic of Paul’s argumentOne cannot understand and therefore interpretproperly Paul’s answer to the Corinthians without considering what he said as a whole.Paul’s argument starts in chapter 12 but con-tinues in chapters 13 and 14. The main issuein chapter 12 is diversity or plurality. TheCorinthians came with a question on spiritualgifts (plural), but in their mind there was onlyone gift: speaking in tongues. No way, saysPaul: ‘There are varieties of gifts . . . and varieties of services . . . and varieties of activities.’1 (12:4.)

All those manifestations are ‘activated’ byGod himself. Nobody can pass a gift to me. Itis not something which can be learned, or forwhich I have to be trained. It’s God given, only.God’s distribution is democratic: ‘to each’(verse 7). How to qualify is never mentioned.It’s God grace.

Paul’s list repeats only once the word gift,for the gifts of healings (double plural, verse9). When the apostle refers to the tongues, it’sat the end of the list, again in the plural form:‘genres of tongues’ or ‘various kinds oftongues’ (10). Surprisingly, those tongues areconnected with the interpretation, a pointwhich will be developed later in chapter 14.There seems to be no equivalent in the non-biblical ecstatic experiences of the need forinterpretation.

The end of chapter 12 introduces a doublehierarchy. I am aware that the word hierarchydoes not belong to any postmodernist diction-ary. But, I am afraid, it belongs to this text. To

Paul, we have a question: What do you mean by ‘speaking in tongues’?The editor thanks Dr Jean-Claude Verrechia of Newbold College for writing this excellent, authoritative article.

start with, the hierarchy of the ministries(though it was not part of the starting ques-tion): number one, the apostles; number two,the prophets; number three, the teachers2 (thegifts are not part of this hierarchy). The secondhierarchy is introduced by verse 31: ‘the moreexcellent way’. . . .

Chapter 13 is a main element in Paul’sanswer. Too often, far too often, we considerthis chapter as an independent unit, a magnifi-cent and outstanding hymn on love. But it ispart of Paul’s rhetoric. Love is never describedas a gift. But love is number one (13:13), theonly number one.

Chapter 14 is the final step in Paul’sanswer. ‘You, Corinthians, would like to know ifit is possible to speak a non-human tongue?Yes, it is possible (I can do it myself). But letme set some parameters if you want to do it.’

a. The 5/10,000 ratioFive words in a normal, human language are better than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue (14:19)

b. Interpreter: mandatory!‘Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret’ (14.13)

c. Two or three maxNo more than 2 or 3 believers should be given the opportunity of speaking in tongues in public worship, provided that there is somebody to interpret what they are saying (14:27-28)

d. Take the audience into considerationBeware of the effect of speaking in tongueson unbelievers!‘If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and out-siders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your mind?’ (14:23)

ConclusionToday, two reasons would favour a charismaticinterpretation of 1 Corinthians 12-14. First, the postmodernist mindset, for which the rea-sonable should not be given the first place anylonger, but the irrational instead. Second, themassive growth of the charismatic churches inthe world. In order either to follow the culturaltrend or to adopt a style which could be pro-ductive, as far as church growth is concerned,a soft reading of Paul’s answer is tempting. In addition, why not introduce more joy andexuberance into boring services?

It seems clear that Paul does not favour thegift of speaking ecstatic languages or tongues.‘I speak in tongues more than all of you’(14:18) is probably a rhetorical sentence, inwhich the apostle mocks the Corinthians. Theconditions set for this gift in a church contextare so demanding that Paul’s answer is to beunderstood as a gentle pastoral NO but still aclear NO. ‘Brothers and sisters, do not be chil-dren in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil,but in thinking be adults.’ (14:20.)

If there is any incentive in these chapters,it’s for the gift of prophecy. For the prophetic

movement the Seventh-day Adventist Churchclaims to be, that’s more than relevant. Pauluses three verbs to define a prophet: he/sheupbuilds; he/she encourages; he/she consoles.A good programme for the year 2010!

1Have you ever seen a workshop on how to discoveryour service or how to discover your activity in achurch? One may ask the question: Why do we focus on gifts only? 2Have you ever seen a workshop on thoseministries in the Church?

Belonging then believingOn Sabbath 7 November we had a baptism in the Torquay church. Pastor de Nysschen preached his sermon from the baptistry and then invited Judy Runham to join him in the water.

Judy has been part of the church family for many years. Her first contact with the Torquay church wasduring an evangelistic series run by Pastor Jonathan Barrett about twenty-two years ago. Talk about firstbelonging and then believing!

Through the years Judy attended the church whenever she could in her busy life of being a wife,mother and also holding down a full-time job as a carer, which often meant that she would be hard atwork while we were in church. During these years Judy faithfully attended every evangelistic programmeoffered by successive Torquay pastors and visiting evangelists, including the public meetings in theRiviera Centre by Pastor Dalbert Elias.

For all these years she would quietly take her place in churchwhenever she had the opportunity, and many took it for grantedthat she was a member.

Her wealth of Bible knowledge is something that she is shar-ing with a small group that she meets with every week, and ourprayers are with her as she reaches out to others in her own way.

It was earlier this year that she expressed her desire to bebaptised and the planning for a suitable date started, and on theday she was voted in by a 120% vote as I noticed that somemembers had put up both their hands!PASTOR BERTIE DE NYSSCHEN

Doug Batchelorat Newbold by Taylor Bajic, Newbold PRO

During the first week of December,Pastor Doug Batchelor, SDA evan-gelist and author of The Richest

Caveman, held a powerful revival seriescalled ‘Streams of Light’ in Birmingham. The series was broadcast in front of sold-out crowds andappeared live on Amazing Facts Television as well as online. On 6 December, Pastor Batchelor conclud-ed his tour in England with a presentation to a packed audience at Newbold College.

Batchelor’s presentation explored the relevancy of Seventh-day Adventism for our time, sparking theinterest of many present who face challenges on the daily journey as a Seventh-day Adventist Christianin today’s world. At the close of his presentation, Pastor Doug responded to questions from the audi-ence and home viewers. Tihi Lazic, Newbold alumnus and current doctoral student at Oxford University,provided the evening’s musical selections along with Belinda Stojanovic.

Joachim Telfer, a third-year Theology student, organised this special visit. ‘I don’t know whetherPastor Doug could have really appreciated how dramatic this meeting truly was without a backgroundin European Adventism, even though I imagine he has some concept of that. It is the first time . . . thatI have seen Adventism so supported from the front without reservation or timidity but sounding it out,that we do have a truth to be proud of and that all truth is equal with the truth that saves us: JesusChrist. To let go of one is to let go of the other. He [Pastor Doug] didn’t present this in an arrogant waybut said himself that it is a difficult balance sometimes to hold truth without being arrogant about it.’

The hall was bursting at the seams with 400 in attendance, from students and staff to members ofthe community and church. In addition, by request of many off-campus students, the evening presen-tation was live-streamed on the College’s website. As Dr Jane Sabes, principal of Newbold, observed,‘The attendance seemed to demonstrate a hunger as to how one maintains a thriving spirituality withinan organised church.’ She went on to say that the meeting was, in essence, a ‘deeply meaningful conversation with students and community engaging Pastor Doug in the most thoughtful discourse.’

Pastor Batchelor said of the evening: ‘I consider my visit to Newbold to be the high point of my tripto England. I hope I can come back with the family sometime and see the campus in the daytime!’

If you would like more details of the evening, visit www.livestream.com/newboldmedia to view thevideo of the evening’s entire presentation and discussion.

Doug Batchelor with Newbold principal, Dr Jane Sabes

November 2007. I visit thesmall village of Soulli inBurkina Faso. ADRA-UK has

just started a new project co-fundedwith the European Commission. Wemeet the village elders under agrand mango tree. We sit in theshade on roughly cut wooden bench-es with the men. Outside the circle,at a respectable distance, sit thewomen of the village. We are offeredmillet drink and discuss the project.For two days I am the guest of thechief, Naba Zoando, and his wifeMariam, and follow their daily routines, committing it all to film.

We seem to bond. Zoandoappears to be an envisioned leaderwho not only speaks about what canbe done but actually gets his handsdirty and shows his people how toescape the cycle of poverty. It is witha certain sadness that I leave Soullibehind.

October 2009. Last week Ireturned to Soulli. What a differencetwo years can make in the life of vil-lagers in Burkina Faso. For the lasttwo years they have worked withADRA in improving their situation.Wells have been dug, boreholes arebeing drilled, new agricultural meth-ods taught, cordon dykes laid andliteracy skills improved. We visit alarge plot of land that will soon beconverted into a fertile market gar-den. ADRA has provided three wellshere – supplying enough water forthe land to give ample fruit and vegetables, something that has notgrown in Soulli for over twenty years.Food to eat. Food to sell. Money tosend children to school. Things arechanging for the better.

But the biggest change I wit-nessed was the new respect given towomen in this village. Whereas lasttime the women sat outside the circle of men at a reverent distance,this time they formed part of the circle. After Chief Zoando spoke hegave the floor to one of the womenleaders to address the assembly and speak of the changes that,thanks to ADRA, have affected their community.

Development work is all aboutcreating change. Often change isvisible in the obvious: more food,

6 Messenger Messenger 7

Greetings from Madagascar!Red bricks, grey sky . . . looks

familiar. Lizards, rice fields . . .now that’s not the UK!

In August 2009 we, Ben and GilSenty, said goodbye to the familiarfaces of Newbold for a nine-monthexperience in Madagascar where weare volunteering with ADRA on afood security project. After months ofplanning and fundraising, here weare, on the other side of the world,living a very different life.

Work wise, things are not veryexotic. We work in an office, we sitin front of a computer for manyhours; but as soon as we step out ofthe premises, a new world unfolds.Chickens walk on the side of theroad alongside the stray dogs; zebus(local cows) and pigs walk acrossthe country towards the capitalwhere they will end up on a plate.The people walk barefoot dressed insecond-hand clothes bought on thesidewalk (recently we were surprisedto see a young man at church wear-ing a Royal Mail shirt!). The cars areso old that if they were in the UKthey would be in a museum.

No Tescos or Morrisons! We buyeverything fresh from the local mar-ket where prices are always nego-tiable. The vendors recognise usnow, and we even know some oftheir names.

On several occasions we had theopportunity to visit some of theremote villages targeted by the proj-ect. ADRA Madagascar is working inconsortium with three other NGOs inover 500 villages. This representsabout 98,500 households. Most peo-ple are very poor and they work hardin the fields all day. Having over tenchildren is common practice, andsometimes the whole family lives in

one room with walls blackened bythe indoor charcoal stove. Electricityand running water are a luxury, evenin town.

The project aims to improve thelives of the vulnerable population viaactivities in the following areas:health/nutrition, agriculture/naturalresources management, resiliencetowards shocks (for example prepa-ration in case of natural disasters).One of the greatest challenges is toensure the sustainability of thenewly learned good practices.

As volunteers, we are involved invarious aspects of the project. Weare still in the strategic planningphase, so there are many things tobuy, to set up. Ben has been helpingthe IT team in renewing their materi-al. He also works with the planningmanager and is always looking forideas to maintain a good team spirit.For instance, he helped organise atwo-day team-building event inSeptember and has also set up several social groups. Gil has beenusing her creative skills finalisingthe project logo, taking pictures atevery event, enhancing PowerPointpresentations and other projectrelated documents. She is also help-ing the administrative team improvetheir systems and processes andwill soon be implementing a newfleet management software.

We work a minimum of fortyhours a week and, fortunately for us,the weekend starts on Friday lunchtime. That is when our second lifestarts. We switch to Sabbath prepa-ration mode and spend the afternooncleaning the flat and getting readyfor our well deserved ‘rest’. In theevening, we take the ten-minutestroll to the SDA Malagasy church

for vespers. Everyone comes alongto present an item prepared duringthe week: a story, a song (most ofthe time there are songs . . . theMalagasy love singing!).

On Sabbath morning, we teachSabbath School. As everything isdone in Malagasy, we decided tostart a French class so that we couldalso participate. It turned out to be avery popular idea. As for the rest ofthe programme, we rely on ourfriends to translate. We have beentaking Malagasy classes, butalthough we sometimes recognise afew words (we’re quite excited whenthat happens), it is not enough tounderstand a whole sermon.

We also joined the choir . . . and,yes, we sing in Malagasy. We obvi-ously don’t understand what we’resinging, but, hey, we’re in a churchand we trust that the lyrics areuplifting.

On Sunday afternoons we teachEnglish. There are two classes, onefor children where we teach simplewords, simple songs and play SimonSays, and a more advanced classwhere we learn more complexwords, more complex songs andmore complex games. It’s fun, andpeople like it. Some weeks there areabout fifty people attending.

We thank all those who encour-aged us and who helped us raise themoney to come here. We’re far fromhome, we miss our family andfriends, but nine months is not muchin a lifetime and we are glad to usethis time to discover new horizonsand help the less fortunate.BEN and GIL SENTY

To find out more about our trip, visitour blog: www.bengil.blogspot.com.

Enough is enough!Hundreds took part in the Not Another Drop (NAD) Peace March to

demonstrate their stand against gun and knife crime in the borough ofBrent, London.

Members from Willesden church, headed by Bea Jackson, Willesden’sCommunity Services leader and vice chair of NAD, displayed their support bywearing yellow ‘Not Another Drop’ T-shirts and joined the procession fromRoundwood park in Willesden to Jubilee clock in Harlesden, where a smallsolemn memorial service took place.

The seventy-four gun and knife victims in Brent from 1999-2009 wereremembered by locals, the mayor and councillors lighting seventy-four can-dles held by children, with the victims’ names attached. It was a poignantmoment as each name was read out, and the candles were placed behindpictures of a 7-year-old girl, Toni-Ann Byfield, who was the youngest victim of these crimes.

The community response to these murders was to march through thestreets of Brent towards Wembley Stadium to act collectively against violentcrime.

At Wembley Stadium, a mini event took place which centred around thetheme ‘recreating the village’. It was very much a community affair whichincluded food and drink. Many sectors of the public were represented, including the candidates for all three political parties for Brent, the police,Crimestoppers, and the Fire Brigade, all of whom gave some sort of speech or presentation.

The message was that evenextended family members ofthe murdered victims wereadversely affected by thesetragedies. Patrick Jacobs,chairman of NAD, insistedthat the ‘bullet runs foreverand hits [the family]’, breaking them up.

Families plucked up thecourage to talk about theirloss and their distress. Twosisters bravely talking abouttheir cousin’s murder wasan emotional momentwhich highlighted the grav-ity of the situation and therealisation that somethingneeds to be done.MONIQUE SIMPSON

better education, better houses. Thischange in Soulli was perhaps moresubtle but will have a lasting impacton this small Islamic rural commu-nity. Yes, women still work the land,raise the children and do all of thehousework. But here in Soulli womenhave become full partners with themen in creating opportunities for thefuture. A sharp contrast with most ofthe other communities in the area.

After the brief visit I left thisbeautiful village behind me for thesecond time. I was proud of howADRA had been instrumental ineffecting change once again on acompletely different level than we originally intended. A change that supersedes the visible – a

result that will have everlastingimplications.

Full credit to Naba Zoando whohas a strong vision of what his community should look like and has been planning for that all along.A chief willing to sacrifice the oldestablished customs and venture outinto the unknown and accept thechallenges of the future. And forsome reason I know that in thisprocess of change a woman alsoplayed an important role.

Change is happeningby Bert Smit, chief executive officer, ADRA-UK

The Animated Gospel ChoirVocalist and puppeteers required. You do not need experience in puppeteering (we can train you to dothat) but you must be able to say yes toALL of the following:

• Be able to sing in key • Live in or near London• Be aged 16 years or over• Be at least 5 feet tall• Have a passion for evangelism• Have an email address that you use

regularly• Have internet access at home • Have an up-to-date passport • Have a mobile phone

To apply, download and fill in the application form below atwww.theanimatedgospelchoir.com/recruitment

and return it by Sunday 31 January.

Messenger 98 Messenger

Sabbath 14 November was a partic-ularly delightful day for membersand friends of the Swansea church,because on that day three WelshMission young people gave theirlives to Jesus through baptism.

The day began with a youth serv-ice led by our Afterglow team. Duringthe first half there was a group dis-cussion of certain Bible passagesrelated to baptism. Then our speakerfor the day, Filip Bajic from NewboldCollege, spoke about the parable ofthe ten virgins, emphasising justhow important it is for us all to beprepared and ready to meet ourSaviour. Brother Tihi also inspired uswith his music.

We were blessed with a fullchurch of people visiting from differ-ent parts of the country. Theseincluded friends and family of thebaptismal candidates and also othervisitors from Newbold. The fellow-ship lunch was very enjoyable andour special thanks go to HajdiAdamovic, Val Byrd, and everyonewho helped out in the kitchen.

The afternoon programme wasbuilt around the baptisms of Eiddon,Kandice and Katie.

Eiddon Paul grew up in Swanseachurch and is committed to servingGod through his music – playingdrums, his favourite instrument.Speaking before the baptism, Eiddonsaid that there had been someinspiring spiritual developments inhis life recently and he particularlymentioned joining the Street Pastorstraining and hearing everyone’s tes-timony there. He also mentioned theAfterglow outreach programme and

his Bible studies with Pastor JovanAdamovic.

Kandice Arriola came to Swanseain recent years and, along with herfamily, joined our fellowship. Kandicehad always said she wanted to bebaptised and was hoping to haveBible studies at some stage. Lastsummer’s Youth Congress inMunich, and the tour of Europe withthe Welsh Mission youth, helped herto recognise God’s presence in herlife through Christian friendshipsand this led to her decision to makea commitment to Jesus. Kandice isone of the singers in the Afterglowteam as they continue their ongoingoutreach programme in Swansea.

Katie Goodman attends theLampeter company with her family.She told the writer about her recentexperience of attending the‘Advance’ meetings run by the NEC.Katie knew then that she reallywanted to be baptised and subse-quently had Bible studies withPastor Adamovic. She is blessed tohave parents who tutor her at homeand she is an active member in herown church. Although she lives along way from the nearest Adventistchurch she uses internet social net-working to keep in touch with otherAdventist young people and friends.

Following the baptisms, PastorAdamovic presented Eiddon, Kandiceand Katie to the congregation so thatthey could welcome the candidatesfully into the church fellowship andpledge their support. Appropriately,the day concluded with a specialMini-Glow session which introducedthe whole church to the livelyAfterglow service style. In particular,the song ‘O Happy Day’ was perfectfor the occasion and really created afeeling of celebration for the threenewly baptised members.

Winning entryby Richard DeLisser

Alcohol Awareness Week (19-23 October) aimed to raise public aware-ness of the scale and harm of alcohol abuse and what was being donenationally, and in Haringey, to tackle this. One of the activities aimed at

raising awareness about the damage caused by alcohol was an art competi-tion for Years 10 and 11, asking young people to design a poster to illustratethe harm that alcohol can cause to young people.

The response was good, with over sixty entries received from secondaryschools. Different media were used, including computer-generated images,collage, photography, hand drawings and paintings. Messages were clear and often hard-hitting. The judges chose the winning entry from JohnLoughborough School. The winner’s painting was contemporary, colourful andcontained a striking image. Nicoda Mitchell received the first prize of a laptopat her school assembly on Monday 14 December. The two runners up, AlvaroRagel Ibanco and Anishka Lawley, both from Fortismere, received a digitalcamera each.

The winning poster was made into the poster that was displayed at busstops and in phone booths in the borough over the Christmas period. Theposter informed young people about In-volve, the local drug and alcohol serv-ice for 13 to 21-year-olds, and HAGA, the local alcohol treatment and adviceagency.

Ninety-nine laypreachers graduate‘I didn’t realise there was so much to learn in the art of preaching,’was a comment from one of the lay-preacher graduates at theAdvent Centre on 6 December. The course began in May 2009 andfinished in November. It was a demanding course in that the stu-dents had to complete written assignments and prepare a sermonto be presented and assessed by some of our pastors. One hundredand twenty-seven people began the course and in the end ninety-nine graduated.

Terry Messenger, who organised the course, exhorted the grad-uates to put into practice that which they had learned and not tobe afraid to ask their local churches to open a way for them to dothis. Paul Lockham, secretary at the SEC, encouraged the gradu-ates by stating that preaching is a high calling but that Godwould be with them as they preach for him. Sam Davis, presi-dent of the SEC, gave the charge and stated how Paul hadmentioned to the believers at Corinth that we preach Christcrucified – a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness tothe Gentiles but it is the power and wisdom of God to thoseGod has called. Don McFarlane, president of the BUC, statedhow some who were in prominent leadership positions in theChurch had attended previous courses of this nature. Whoknows where God will take the class of 2009? Halcy-Ann Platt,one of the graduates who gave the class response, gavethanks for the opportunity to complete the course and addedher determination on behalf of the class to get the gospel message out before it’s too late.

Stewardship and Communication graduatesThere were also graduates from the Stewardship andCommunication courses organised by Dr Richard DeLisser. TheCommunication course graduates were admonished that theirswas an important task to seek to make the Gospel relevant intoday’s society, and those from the Stewardship course werecharged with the task of reminding the church constituency thatall we have belongs to God and we are to live with that thought inmind.

It was noted that this year’s class showed much promise.Some of the sermon presentations were outstanding, with a couple ofyoung people performing particularly well, which bodes well for the futurein that if these talents are put to use Jesus will soon come!TERRY MESSENGER

Swansea youthbaptismby Lily Kidwell

Drs Richard DeLisser and Terry Messenger

SEC Executive secretary, Pastor Paul Lockham

Left to right: Katie, Mary Latchman, Kandice, Eiddon and Pastor Jovan Adamovic

Left to right: Ms S Kay, Pastor Sam Davis, Nicoda Mitchell and Dr Uchenna

Messenger 11

staff members.Stanborough’s primaryschool choir, secondarychoir and string ensemble performedimpeccably and gaveSpeech Night an air ofcolour and dignity,which was appreciatedby all.

For more informationon Stanborough School,please visit our websiteat www.spsch.org

10 Messenger

In omnia paratus (prepared for allthings) was the theme forStanborough School’s 68th SpeechNight. The vice president of theGeneral Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Lowell Cooper,provided an insightful reflection thatencouraged the pupils to continue toaim high. Travelling especially fromWashington DC, USA, to be the guestspeaker, Pastor Cooper marvelled atthe school’s academic, sporting andcultural successes.

Stanborough students have continued the trend of high GCSEresults, with 81% achieving five ormore grades at A* to C. In hisAnnual Report, the school’s headteacher, Mr Roger Murphy, highlight-ed that more than half ofStanborough’s students obtainedgrades A* to B in public exams. MrMurphy also commended the aca-demic results achieved by Year 9students who took the SAT exams.These students obtained excellentpass rates of 89% in Science, 94%in English, and 95% in Mathematics.

Stanborough’s athletic team tookfirst place in the IndependentSchools Association RegionalChampionships for the 100m juniorand senior girls’ races, the 100msenior boys’ race and boys’ discusthrowing. At national level the seniorboys’ 4 x 100m relay team took

second place. Tribute was also givento Stanborough’s under 15 footballteam, who competed for theRensburg Shepherds National Cupfor 2009.

The international programmes atStanborough School continue tothrive. Over 400 students fromabroad attended the school’s studycourse during the academic year andsummer camp in July and August.Mr Murphy reflected on the impor-tance of hosting students from sucha wide variety of countries, thus providing anopportunity forboth British andinternational stu-dents to developbonds of peaceand mutualunderstanding.

The voice ofthe studentsclosed the annualSpeech Night cel-ebrations. Headboy, Guillherme,and head girl,Tieri, pointed outthe highs of theyear andexpressed theirgratitude towardscurrent and for-mer teachers and

Stanborough School Speech Night by Vanesa Pizzuto

Headmaster, Mr Roger Murphy

GC Vice president Lowell Cooper presents the headgirl with her award

Stanborough’s 68th Speech Night

A former student receives her diploma from Vice presidentCooper

Dare to dreamA report on John Loughborough School Speech DayWords and photos by Catherine Anthony Boldeau

Dr Uchenna Okoye, celebrity dentist of Channel 4’s ‘10 Years Younger’ was the guest speaker at the JohnLoughborough School Speech Day on Sunday 6 December. This annual event, which took place in theschool’s gymnasium, celebrated the achievements of the students during the 2008/09 academic year.

‘You need to have the courage to dream and make your dreams a reality,’ said Dr Okoye, encouragingthe students. Drawing on her own experiences as a teenager, she recalled her dream to become a doctorand concluded that ‘everything worth having comes by hard work and perseverance’. She urged them tostudy hard and not to ‘be influenced by friends who are not interested in achieving’.

As part of the Speech Day, the graduating class of 2009 were awarded their GCSEs, along with sever-al outstanding cups. Two young people whose names were heard on a number of occasions and whograced the stage with their presence several times were Asher McKenzie and Victoria Soyam, previoushead boy and girl respectively. They were among a selection of high achievers at the school who gained10 or more GCSEs with A*, A and B grades.

• Victoria Soyam: 12 subjects including 2 A*, 6 A, 2 B grades• Aishat Otun: 11 subjects including 1 A*, 7 A, 2 B grades• Kaydean Green: 12 subjects including 5 A, 5 B grades• Rumbidzai Sithole: 12 subjects including 4 A, 6 B grades• Sheree Barnes: 10 subjects including 2 A*, 2 A, 5 B grades

• Jason Julien: 11 subjects including 1 A*, 5 A, 2 B grades

• Asher McKenzie: 10 subjects including 3 A, 6 Bgrades

• Setor Barnes: 12 subjects including 3 A, 5 B grades

• Nola Hopkins: 11 subjects including 3 A, 5 B grades

Commenting on theachievements of the studentsduring the past year, OpalJohnson-Christie, Educationdirector of the South EnglandConference, said, ‘We areproud of the hard work of the

students in the school,especially the gradu-ates. We are alsograteful for the dedica-tion of the teacherswho work tirelessly onbehalf of the school,and the parents fortheir continued support.’

Laura Osei, actinghead teacher, stated, ‘Ithank God for his lead-ing and guiding overthe past year. I believethat if we all worktogether, JohnLoughborough Schoolcan be a school ofexcellence.’

Left to right: SEC president Pastor Sam Davis, head boy Asher McKenzie receiving the Headteacher’s Cup, and guest speaker Dr Uchenna Okoye, celebrity dentist of Channel 4 TV’s ‘10Years Younger’

Opal Johnson-Christie, Education director, SEC

Dr Uchenna Okoye with Year 9 student Riann Brooks receiving her award

Year 11 graduate Claudia Borges

Stanborough Park baptismSabbath 22 November was a high day at theStanborough Park church.

The service began with the baptism of John Halland Elsie Wasserman. They were the latest fruit froma series of Tuesday Talks moved, motivated andmaintained by Pat Walton, the local Church Growthleader.

Both Elsie and John showed great courage incoming forward for baptism. Elsie needed the sup-port of Clinton Quarshie, one of the deacons, andassistance from Pastor Sleeman to enter the pool.

John’s commitment was a testimony to the powerof God at work in his life. A smoker for years, Johnquit and now has no interest or desire for cigarettes.His baptism was a great joy to his wife Melady andhis friends.PATRICK J. BOYLE

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Fletewood SchoolOn 3 December the seniors of the Plymouthchurch were dined and entertained in royal fash-ion by the pupils of Fletewood School. We weremet in the foyer by smartly dressed pupils fromClass 4. Our coats, scarves and umbrellas werewhisked away before we were led into Sir’s officeand given goblets of delicious ‘fizz’.

Promptly at 1 o’clock we took our places at thetable which was beautifully adorned with festivetableware, candles and crackers, also made bythe children. The waiters, again girls and boysfrom Class 4, expertly attended to our every need.All that was missing were the coat tails! We com-menced with a delicious starter, followed by aChristmas lunch of roast potatoes, vegetables and two vegetarian entrées with gravy.

The dessert came next – a choice of Christmaspudding or chocolate pear tart, both served withDevon clotted cream. Drinks of the non-alcoholicvariety and mint chocolates finished off the meal.

Entertainment by Class 4 followed, the pupilssinging a variety of Christmas songs and carolsaccompanied by the Ocarina group and Sir (JohnMartin – head teacher) on the piano. For thefinale he took up his guitar.

The entire lunch had been prepared by pupilsof Class 3 under the direction of their teacher, MrsRowe, and one had to be there to believe thatthese little folk could put on such a spread. Afterthe meal was eaten they came and stood in thehall, dressed in white chefs’ aprons, to receive theapplause from the delighted ‘oldies’ and, ofcourse, a photograph.

But more was to come! The tinies from thekindergarten department emerged as if from

nowhere with Mrs Martin and presented eachguest with a gift, made by themselves: the ladiesreceived a small wooden Christmas tree with tiny hanging ornaments, the gentlemen a mug,hand-painted by the children.

It was a dinner date that we shall rememberfor a long time.

Credit and thanks must go to the school staffwhose love and guidance of the children is so evident. BERYL HALL

Family service atBrighton and HoveThe youth and children of theBrighton and Hove congregation usedtheir talents to enrich the adult con-gregation in a special family service.The youth welcomed the church withsinging – accompanied by pianistand violinist. This was followed by asketch demonstrating what sin cando to a life and that hope is to befound in God. The younger memberswore animal masks to sing ‘If I werea butterfly’. Our two speakers were12 and 13 respectively. Their talks,accompanied by PowerPoint presen-tations, were about ‘Temptation’ and‘Christian Friends and Friendship’.Pastor Leslie Hill gave a closingblessing and prayer.YVONNE SEETAYAH

12 Messenger

Know-your-church baptismStoke Newington has gained twomore members after a ‘Know yourchurch’ teach-in week.

From 29 August through to 5September nightly our ministerPastor Wilfred Blake outlined ourchurch heritage before he went intothe Scriptures with such topics as‘Four marks of the true church’,‘Pending your case in court’ and‘Who changed the Sabbath?‘

On Sabbath afternoon two newmembers, Ramal Smith and TanyaSimpson, were baptised in front offamily, friends and church members.

Ramal is a son of the church and

joins his parents and brother inmembership.

Tanya was introduced toAdventism six years ago by one ofour members, Evol Corea. They metat university, and he invited her tothe dedication of his baby nephew.Tanya is a trained nurse, newlygraduated. Evol and Tanya’s meetingdeveloped into a love affair and theywere married on 4 October. Theimmersion was performed by PastorBlake, and in his pre-baptismal ser-mon he told them that God callsthem to be true representatives ofhim and baptism is to walk theChristian walk and to talk theChristian talk.

Spiritual mentors were assignedto each candidate. We wish themwell in the Christian walk.FLO SUTHERLAND

Young designerStoke Newington members congratu-lated Charmaine Corea who recentlygraduated in her field of study.

Charmaine, one of our children anda former Pathfinder, attended theUniversity of Arts in London andgraduated in Surface Designing. Theceremony took place at Centre Hall,Westminster. At her graduationCharmaine had an exhibition of herworks on display which producedfreelancejobs for her.She is nowlisted in theLondonBusinessYoungDesignersDirectory.FLO SUTHERLAND

Swindon miracleby Peter YesudianReaders may remember the baptismof Justin Cockett into Swindonchurch in May 2009. Justin relateshis testimony as to God’s healingpower.

‘When I was 26 (in 2001) Ibecame ill with a condition thatseverely affected the functioning ofmy muscles. It left me unable towalk, use my arms much, read,write or eat normally. I tried all ofthe suggestions of the medical pro-fession but nothing beneficial result-ed. I also then tried a wide range ofalternative therapies to see whetherthey might lead to an improvement,but none came.

‘Towards the end of 2008, havingspent my life not knowing if Godexisted or not, my main carer whohad become a close friend invitedme to a series of talks on Bible

prophecy being held by members ofthe local Adventist church which sheattended. I went and afterwardsstarted going to the local churchmyself.’

Justin was baptised in May 2009,and Pastor Rudi Puskas was askedhis thoughts about the baptism atthe time.

Q: Pastor Puskas, did you ever baptise somebody in a wheelchair?A: No, this was the first time.

Q: So how did it go?A: It was a little bit stressful. Theidea was to baptise Justin on a nor-mal chair with Ransom, my elder,helping me. However, on the day ofbaptism Justin requested to be bap-tised in his wheelchair. I guess hefelt safer that way. We didn’t havetime to practise the baptism. Myidea was for my elder and me tolean the wheelchair backward. Wewere in the baptistry and Justin hadtold me that there was a safetymechanism so we could not do itthat way. The most stressful partwas pulling Justin out of the water. Ittook two or three seconds longer;however, for me it was like ten to fif-teen seconds longer than it shouldhave been. Justin says that he didn’tnotice it. Regardless of this littlestress, it was beautiful.

Justin continues:‘A few months later in the sum-

mer, I came to a point where I feltthat I had tried every medical inter-vention worth trying and, having still

found no improvement, began to tryand accept that I would probablyhave to spend the rest of my life in awheelchair.

‘But in September I turned to thepower of Jesus. Knowing that walk-ing in my own strength was com-pletely impossible, I asked instead toaccept the power that God gives tothose who want to follow him. Therewere times when I struggled to cometo terms with what then happened. Iwas immediately able to walk and inless than two weeks I was walkingmostly non-stop for well over anhour, having not stood for manyyears. My arms also completelyregained strength and I can nowread and write once again.

‘I’m not sure what else I canreally say except to convey that Iknow I did nothing different that timefrom the thousand times before thatall failed. The ONLY difference wasmade by our loving, kind and merci-ful God to whom all praise is due.’

Silence of the LambStormy weather was forecast forSabbath 14 November and, true toform, the day was very dark, windyand rainy. Yet this did not determembers and visitors from attendingthe Religious Liberty Day programmeheld at the Hackney church. Thetheme, ‘Silence of the Lamb’, high-lighted the current issue ofChristians not being allowed freely toexpress their religious beliefs inorder to avoid offending other religions. Gospel group, The

Ambassadors, reminded us of ourcommission not to be ashamed ofthe Gospel of Jesus Christ and thatwe are to share his name. TheHackney Mime Ministries team, ledby Nicole Petrie, gave an accom-plished performance encouragingGod’s children to give him the worship and the glory he deserves.

The speaker, Michael Dantzie,based his sermon on the threeangels’ messages of Revelation 14.In contrast to the silence of thelamb, Michael alerted us to thevoice of the dragon causing havoc inour present world. DARELL PHILIP

Milton Keynes districtbaptism Seven is considered in the Bible as‘the perfect number’, and it wasseven candidates – all young people– who were baptised into the WestBletchley SDA Community and MiltonKeynes churches on Sabbath 15August 2009 by Pastor ValentineRoach and Pastor Michael Hamilton.

It was a doubly special event forIona Rock, Desta-Daneé Baptisteand Pastor Hamilton, as he was theone who dedicated them to the Lordas babies, on separate occasions, inthe same building around a decadeago! The other candidates to join theWest Bletchley Community churchwere Jonathan Addaih and PaxMagume. Joining the membership atMilton Keynes Central church wereKaren Mandibvira, TanatswaMandizha and Samantha Z. Sibanda. SYLVONIE NOEL

Left to right: Pastor Ian Sleeman, Elsie Wasserman, John Hall and Pastor Patrick Boyle

Some of the pupils of the Fletewood School, who gave the seniors of the Plymouth church a Christmas meal to remember

Candidates with Pastor Wilfred Blake (left)and first elder, Rory Mendez (right)

Messenger 1514 Messenger

Kenneth SidneyGeorge Hayes (1929-2009) d. 11 NovemberKen was born at Hampton,near Hampton Court, one offour children. As a boy heused to earn a few penniestaking folk around the Maze– sometimes getting losthimself! The family movedto Ealing and, during thewar, rather than the children being evacuated, their motherinsisted they all stayed together. When Ken was 14 he leftschool and got a job repairing bomb damage. He carried histools on his bicycle right across London. When he wasknocked down by a bus, his mother insisted he change hiswork, so he decided to learn carpentry. When his time forNational Service came, he was stationed in Jamaica for twoyears and, in 1950, sent out to fight in the Korean war. Hewas eventually discharged with frostbite in his feet; he lostpart of his toe but an Australian doctor managed to save hisfoot. Back in London in 1952 Ken used to visit a particularshop for screws and other items for his carpentry work. MrGibbons, who owned the shop, opened on a Sunday becausehe was a Seventh-day Adventist and closed on the Sabbath.One Sabbath he invited Ken to go with him to his church inChiswick. Up to that time Ken had been a non-churchgoer.Enid and Bill Tolman, members at Chiswick, used to invitethe young people back to their home for lunch, and Ken ap-preciated this. He decided to join the church and was baptisedin 1954 by Pastor Victor Hall. This was the time of the NewGallery evangelistic centre, and George Vandeman was theevangelist. On his team was a young Welsh lady by the nameof Megan, who was a Bible worker. Ken was attending theservices and met Megan, and in 1955 they were married. Bythis time Mr Gibbons’ wife had become very poorly, so Kenand Megan kindly offered to live over the shop and look afterit so that Mr Gibbons could attend to his sick wife.

Ken and Megan had three children, Sandra, Russell andKenny. Soon after they were married they moved to Brightonwhere Ken was involved in the building trade. From therethey moved to Caversham Heights, Reading, and on 9 June1968 they moved to Newbold College, where Ken served inthe maintenance department, and many young men benefitedfrom his instruction. On 1 April 1976 they accepted a call tomanage Broomhill House, the Church’s conference centrenear Exeter, Devon. Megan looked after the catering, and Kendid a lot of building and extension work on the house, usinghis skills as a builder and carpenter. From 1 April 1982 hetook on the job of groundsman on Stanborough Park, and itwas there that Megan died in 1983. On 27 August 1985 Kenwent to the Dell rest home in Oulton Broad as maintenanceengineer and groundsman, but he was so much more thanthat, as many a resident benefited from his kind, cheerfulspirit. He continued there until his retirement on 30December 1994, after twenty-six-and-a-half years in church

work. It was while working at the Dell that he met Elma, whowas taking a church member back to the Dell after a churchouting. Ken was feeling somewhat down and lonely after thedeath of his wife and, as Elma had recently lost her loved one,she understood how he felt, so she wrote him a little note toencourage him, and sent it by the hand of David Neal, theyoung pastor at the Great Yarmouth church at the time, whoexpressed the wish that more in the congregation wouldwrite kind notes to each other. Ken was impressed with thenote and showed it to his good friend Pastor Martin Bell. Heencouraged him to pursue it further, with the result that Kencame to the Great Yarmouth church, and in December 1989they were married. During his years at the Great Yarmouthchurch Ken served first as head deacon, then as elder andused his skills to extend and improve the inside of the build-ing. He was a hard worker, always ready to help in whateverway he could.

He will be missed by us all. Always cheerful and with asense of humour, ‘a gentle giant’, as one co-worker describedhim, it was with sadness that we watched Ken deteriorateover the past few years. In spite of confusion in his mind, onething remained constant – his faith in Jesus. Our love andsympathy go out to Elma, who feels God earmarked her tocare for Ken during his illness and who has done this devot-edly. To Elma, Sandra, Russell, Kenny, Douglas, Lorna and therest of the family, we offer our support and prayers and lookforward to the day when Jesus will return to claim his own.VERA COWLEY

Darlington baptismIn June I reported the very first bap-tism at Darlington church. On 17October we witnessed yet anotherbaptism of four people who publiclyshowed their commitment to ourLord.

Firstly we have Dorothy whoaccepted the Advent truth after along search. In her prayers Godrevealed to her how to find theAdventist church. She found it whenPastor Colin Woodford was startingan evangelistic campaign (June-July). When she learnt the truth shesurrendered her life to Jesus.

Kimberley Ham-Ying, a younglady, also surrendered her life toJesus. It is beautiful to see youngpeople committing their lives toJesus. In order to do so Kimberleyhas had to sacrifice a lucrative job.

Lastly we have a couple, Dee andWaqa, who both accepted Jesus. Deeand Waqa believe these are lastdays and want to dedicate their livesto the Lord. ESTERY

Shoebox appealFor several consecutive years a pri-mary school in Stokesley, NorthYorkshire, has responded generouslyto the ADRA Shoebox appeal bybuilding a wall of shoeboxes in theirassembly hall. This year, sistersCeira (10) and Cerys (8) HamiltonJohannson, who attendMiddlesbrough church, arranged fora DVD to be shown to the school,telling of the desperate need in theAfrican nation of Zambia, andencouraged their school friends andfamilies to fill shoeboxes to be dis-tributed to orphans in that area. Thedeputy head teacher of the school,Laura Graham, said, ‘It’s good toteach these kinds of values to thechildren and for them to help otherswho are less fortunate than them-selves.’

On Wednesday 25 November,Middlesbrough church member DrAndrew West transported the shoe-boxes from the school, along withother shoeboxes donated byMiddlesbrough, Darlington andNewcastle churches, to Grantham –numbering approximately 350. JAMES GELDART

Grays baptismOn Sabbath 28 November Grayschurch membership increased byfour.

A full church witnessed Derissa

Joseph (9), Mckenzie Jones (11),Tarryl Viviers (13) and Hilda Anthonybeing immersed in the waters ofbaptism by Pastor F. McPherson.They were supported by their fami-lies and friends. All four are activemembers of the church and we wishthem Heaven’s wisdom as they con-tinue their walk with the Lord. Thisbaptism came at the end of a fortnight-long evangelistic campaign,‘Let the Bible Speak’, by Pastor M.Salmon. Present was Grays seniorpastor, Delcina Rodney. AMANDA JOSEPH

Smethwick makes historyHistory was made in Smethwick’sportable baptismal pool on 15November. It was our first baptismin the building we worship in. Therewas certainly ‘a sweet, sweet spiritin this place’ as the congregationgathered in Smethwick church (cor-ner of Holly Lane and St Paul’sRoad). Family members, friends andsaints from neighbouring churchessat with growing excitement andanticipation as Pastor PatrickHerbert took up his position in thelittle portable baptismal pool. Theexpression on the pastor’s faceshowed that it would be a mostmemorable occasion as our firstcandidate was escorted into thepool. Yanique Parson sang one of thecandidate’s favourite hymns prayer-fully before Pastor Herbert raised hisarm heavenward and the congrega-tion waited – ‘And so Sister ValroseHunt, I now baptise you. . . .’

After battling with challenges andovercoming numerous obstaclesleading to this day, Valrose Huntmade history in being the first to bebaptised in this church hall, andbecame a member of the Smethwickchurch.

She was followed by twins D’Wanand Dhonté Smith, young men who have taken their stand for theLord after completing Bible studylessons conducted by church elderHolness.

D’Wan and Dhonté’s motherSister Smith-Rhule sang along withthe Smethwick ladies while our thirdcandidate entered the pool.

We were happy to have one ofour pioneers Sister A. Hall presentas she has been housebound forsome time but was determined notto miss this special event. The bap-tism was followed by a special fel-lowship dinner with our candidates,guests and church members.V. PARSON

Carols in the ValleyIn the afternoon of Sabbath 19 December the members, family and local resi-dents gathered at the playing fields in the Chalford Valley. Together with thefamous Chalford donkey Ted and his companion donkey Chester, they thenproceeded to walk through the High Street in the Valley, singing carols andmaking their way towards the Chalford Adventist church. This was followedby a specially advertised carol service to which the public were invited.Families local to the area accepted the invite and enjoyed their time singingcarols and listening to the story of the birth of our Lord read to them fromScripture. After the service they joined the church members and their familiesfor refreshments and a chat, during which time they were all given a parcel ofgifts from the church which included the book He is Coming.RAY CLARKE

Pathfinders pack shoeboxes Stratford Pathfinders did their bit for last year’s shoebox appeal, Smiles forZambia 2009. All Pathfinder leaders, children and parents together packedthirty-eight boxes for the children of Zambia. We hope these boxes broughtmany smiles. Well done to Pathfinder leader Charmaine Weekes.ERROL REID

Living under the elect of God’s graceEneresi Mtikani and Cesar Bernard (with the books in their hands in the pho-tograph) became the newest members at St Albans church when they wererecently baptised by Pastor Barrett. He had been studying with both candi-dates and felt that they had responded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Thesermon was delivered by TED president Dr Wiklander who talked about theimportance of living under the elect of God’s grace. He emphasised that thecandidates can have a meaningful life because of Christ’s death and resur-rection, without which there would be no Second Advent or human victory.Now that they have accepted the challenge to come under the elect of God’sgrace, it means living a life that is internally driven by faith and externallywitnessed by others. Those who witnessed this special service were remindedthat baptism is not a magical rite, but one that comes with conversion, constant growth, confirmation and a new life in Christ.

Eneresi is not new to the Christian faith, but was a member of the SouthAfrican Apostolic Church until three years ago. She said: ‘I came here oneyear ago and realised that I needed to be baptised.’ Cesar said, ‘It took me along time to get to where I am, but it’s an opportunity to move forward forGod’s glory.’ He follows in the footsteps of his grand-mother andother familymembers. LYNDA INCE

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Auntie PamFrances MaryPamela Weston (1923-2009) d. 24 NovemberLong before there was aChildren’s Ministries depart-ment, gifted people devotedmuch of their lives to ministering to the needs of children.One such person was Pam Weston, known in Adventist publi-cations such as Our Times as ‘Auntie Pam’. For most of herworking life Pam was employed as a proof reader by TheStanborough Press. She really came into her own in the chil-dren’s spread known for most of the 1950s, all of the 1960sand well into the 1970s as ‘Auntie Pam’s Page’. In addition tothe story and the ‘Dear Sunbeams’ letter, Pam also ran acolouring in competition, publishing the names, in the subse-quent issue, of every child who sent in an entry.EDITOR

In much the same way as Auntie Pam invited children tocolour in pictures and send them to her, I have been helpedby Pam’s friends and colleagues, as well as by my own recol-lections as her pastor for nine years, to ‘colour in’ the personthat was Pam Weston.

Pam was petite, well dressed, well spoken, fastidious,courteous and fiercely protective of the actuality of her age.She was born in Grimsby in 1923 to Alice and Sam Weston.Pam’s mother, together with her sister Miriam, attended evan-gelistic meetings in Grimsby, accepted Jesus as their Saviourand became members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Subsequently other family members, including Pam’s father,her cousin Doug Chapman and Pam herself were baptised.Doug Chapman was like a brother to Pam, always ensuringthat she had the properly-serviced run-around car so neces-sary to her independence.

Pam went to school in Grimsby and thence to NewboldMissionary College, then based near Rugby, where her sec-ondary and tertiary education were completed. She workedbriefly in Birmingham and for the company Doug Chapmanhad established in Louth before being employed as an invoice

The North England Conference is seeking to establish a

Centre of Evangelismwhich will begin operating in July 2010.

Therefore we are seeking two full-time employees to serve in these positions:

1. Outreach co-ordinator2. Assistant director/Academic affairs/Bursar

The successful candidate will need to have excellentpeople skills and an aptitude for: • Bible teaching• Flexibility/adaptability• Good organisation• Team work• Personal witnessing• Public evangelism

Applicants must have: • UK driving licence• The right to work in the UK

Initially the contract will be for one year.A full job description can be supplied on request.

Application forms available by contacting the executive secretary Pastor Paul Haworth on

01159 606312 or by email to: phaworth@necadventist.org.uk.

Deadline for applications is Monday 1 February 2010.

clerk by The Stanborough Press. She commenced employ-ment on 24 March 1947.

For much of his pastorate in Grimsby, Pastor Ray and MrsPeggy Vine had lodgings at the Weston home. Pastor Vine, bythen associate editor of the Press, was aware of Pam’s fastidi-ous use of the English language and was instrumental in herpromotion to proof reader in October 1953. Working with asuccession of editors, Pam continued as proof reader until herretirement on 31 March 1983. There her attention to detailand precision were at a premium. However, it was her manyyears as ‘Auntie Pam’ in denominational magazines thatraised her profile and enabled her to minister to generationsof Adventist children, as well as to the children of non-Adventist readers. In the ‘Auntie Pam’s Page’ in Our TimesMarch 1967, for example, was a list of the children who hadentered the previous month’s competition. Pam awardedprizes to the two children who had turned in the best picturesbut also listed the names and towns of a further forty-fivewho deserved an ‘honourable mention’, and a further sev-enty-nine who had ‘tried hard’. In other words, every childwho had sent in an entry received a mention.

No picture of Pam Weston would be complete withoutmention of the Lord she served. She was a Christian lady. Wecan colour in her picture with the vibrant reds, yellows andoranges of a life well-lived – a life of encouraging children,though she was never a mother herself; but to these must beadded the greens of courtesy, calmness and composure. Therewould need to be blue for the times when sadness visited her:the loss of the mother who was very dear to her, the fatherwho was such a larger-than-life character, and the cousin,Doug, of whom she was especially fond. These broughtdarker colours to her life.

Following Doug’s death Pam was cared for by, amongothers, a former mayoress of Grantham who paid a tearfultribute to her at the funeral on 8 December, Barrymore Bellher fellow proof reader, also present, the Chapman familywho shared warm childhood memories of Auntie Pam and,most notably, Matthew Chapman who cared for Pam in herfinal years. The writer spoke of Pam’s heart conviction of theGospel and fervent hope in the return of Jesus.PASTOR JOHN FERGUSON

16 Messenger

MessengerVolume 115 • 2 – 22 January 2010

EDITOR: D. N. MARSHALLDESIGN: DAVID BELL

COPY FOR No. 4 – 1 February 2010Copy 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 the UK.Visit the BUC website at: www.adventist.org.uk

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Project (CHIP) fits in well with the motto of LomaLinda. The contingent of 400 people from eleven different countries shared testimonies of the manywho through following the lifestyle changes recom-mended in the CHIP programme have attained ahealthier functioning of body, mind and soul.

At the 10th CHIP Summit held at Loma Linda, 18-22 November, we raised a memorial of gratitude,saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’ Dr HansDiehl, the founder of the CHIP programme, was aresearch fellow in cardiovascular epidemiology atLoma Linda. Currently, he is a Clinical Professor ofPreventative Medicine in the School of Medicine atLoma Linda University. He was honoured by his colleagues who presented some interesting andchallenging research papers.

Gary Fraser MD PhD MPH, who is in charge ofthe largest Adventist study done on the effect oflifestyle on chronic conditions such as heart dis-ease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s and obesity,commended the work of CHIP, stating, ‘Dr Diehl’swork has now grounded EGW’s health message with scientific proof through continued research.’

We heard from well-known speakers such as DrNeal Barnard, Dr Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr WesYoungberg. Dr Joan Sabate defended the value ofconsuming walnuts to significantly reduce serumcholesterol. Jeff Novick with his humorous approachhelped us understand that we should ‘never, ever,believe what we read on food labels’. Dr JacquelineChan presented the results of her study on waterintake and prevention of cardiovascular deaths. Drand Dr Tonstad, a husband and wife research team,reflected on their interest in integrating lifestylechanges with drug treatment for the prevention ofcardiovascular diseases.

While the CHIP directors filled their notepadswith summaries of the varied and interestingresearch topics, the newcomers to CHIP were led through the steps designed to enable them toprepare a team and themselves, as future CHIPdirectors, to conduct CHIP programmes in their local Adventist churches. The United Kingdom waswell represented by eleven participants fromScotland, Manchester, London and the British Union Conference.

The summit’s four-day programme provided avariety of events, too many to mention, to enlighten,motivate and feed body, mind and soul. After thedynamic presentation of Jesus’ miracles by DonMackintosh, one of the delights of the Sabbath

afternoon was the concert presented by Lily Diehl, wife of DrHans Diehl, and some of her young music students. A tour ofthe Loma Linda campus guided by the historian at Loma Lindafilled participants with awe at what had been achieved on thiscampus through the hundred years of its existence.

To find out more about this event please visit www.sdachip.org.

Please take a look at this 3-minute new CHIP:www.chiponline.org/chipvideo.

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CHIP ‘summit’ at Loma Linda

UK participants with Dr Hans Diehl

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