News
Providing Encouragement and Assessment
NAD Administrators Affirm Work and Assess Needs During Visit to the Guam-Micronesia Mission
Beginning January 4, 2024, a North American Division administrative team visited several islands within the Guam-Micronesia Mission for two weeks. “We wanted to provide encouragement and do an assessment of needs and see how we could better support the work there,” said NAD president G. Alexander Bryant.
Adventist Community Services Prepares to Help After Tornadoes Strike Missouri, Kentucky, and Wisconsin
Yesterday afternoon, a devastating tornado struck Kentucky and St. Louis, Missouri. In Kentucky, 14 are reported dead. In St. Louis, five deaths have been reported, along with widespread damage. At least 20 blocks of the city sustained damage. More than 5,000 properties are without power, and local emergency services are actively responding. As ACS begins to respond, they urge members to pray for those impacted and those providing assistance.
Union Adventist University Receives Grant for Culinary Medicine Teaching Kitchen
The Ardmore Institute of Health has awarded Union Adventist University’s Master of Public Health Program a grant to establish a culinary medicine teaching kitchen (CMTK). The $35,000 will purchase six commercial-grade mobile workstations, each including the culinary tools and appliances to support two students at a time, enabling the university to host classes of up to 12 students in the teaching kitchen. Any remaining funds will support a student garden that was established by the university’s first public health cohort last year.
Mid-America Union Conference Executive Committee Appoints New Communication Director
During its regular spring meeting, the Mid-America Union Executive Committee voted to approve a recommendation by MAUC’s administrative team outlining a leadership transition for the union’s communication department. Following the vote, then-director Brenda Dickerson became the associate director, and then-associate director/digital media manager Hugh Davis became the new director, effective May 1, 2025. This transition of titles, initially proposed by Dickerson, serves as a model for succession planning and smooth leadership transitions in appointed positions.
James P. Willis II Elected as New Vice President for Education for the Pacific Union Conference
The Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has elected James P. Willis II as its new vice president for education, effective July 1, 2025. He will succeed Dr. Berit von Pohle, who is retiring after a distinguished career spanning 46 years in Adventist education
Congolese Refugee Family Joins Colorado Church
Isaac, born Dyirengiro Amini Byiringiro, and his family had to flee their home in the People's Republic of the Congo when he was just 5 years old. Isaac, his parents, and sisters moved into a Rwandan refugee camp, where they’d live for 20 years. In the refugee camp, Isaac and his extended family discovered an Adventist church and began attending each Sabbath. Soon, the majority of the family were baptized into the faith. After the decades of life spent as refugees in Rwanda, Isaac and his family were able to immigrate to the United States and settle in the Denver, Colorado, area.
ADRA Canada Responds to Volcano Aftermath in Guatemala
On June 3, 2018 the Fuego Volcano (Volcano of Fire) in Guatemala erupted, causing large amounts of destruction to the surrounding communities. This catastrophe has affected the lives of almost two million people; 112 people have died and 198 are still missing.
Southwestern Adventist University Films Selected for Festivals
Southwestern Adventist University’s Communication Department is proud to announce that the film project, Truth, was selected to be shown at the Fort Worth FotoFest Film Festival this weekend. About 20 faculty and students, with faculty sponsor and professor Kyle Portbury, were able to attend the Festival held at the Omni IMAX at the Museum of Science in Fort Worth. Several of the students attending voiced the characters in the animated short film.
How to Conduct Effective, Helpful Conversations About Suicide and Mental Illness
On a daily basis, Dr. Melissa J. Pereau, medical director and psychiatrist at the Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center, faces the realities of suicide and how the topic — and other topics around mental health — impacts nearly every community. Pereau sat down with Loma Linda University Health News to discuss mental health issues, including the benefits of seeking support.