Stories & Commentaries

Following the news of the March 15, 2019, massacre of Muslim worshipers in Christchurch, New Zealand, Gabriela Phillips and Gerald Babenezhad, two leaders part of Adventist-Muslim Relations in the NAD, reached out to Muslim neighbors and a local mosque. The following two stories share what happened during those visits.

The 14-year-old patient sitting in front of me insisted that her decision to become a vegan was unrelated to being bullied and called “chubby” in elementary school. Instead, she cited reasons related to animal rights and a desire to become “healthier.” Nothing about the straight-A student with severe muscle wasting, skeletal limbs, and a protruding abdomen heralding liver failure was healthy. This local teen was unlike any eating disordered patient I had ever encountered.

This is the second of a six-part series that will introduce the officers and directors of the North American Division who have begun settling in to their newly elected positions. Randy Robinson was officially voted to serve as treasurer for the North American Division on November 2 during the division’s 2018 Year-End Meeting. Robinson had previously worked as treasurer for the Southern Union for nearly 11 years.

This is the first of a six-part series that will introduce the officers and directors of the North American Division who have begun settling in to their newly elected positions. Bonita Joyner Shields was officially voted to serve as director of Stewardship Ministries on November 2 during the 2018 North America Division Year-End Meeting. Shields is not new to the division, she previously served Stewardship Ministries as associate director. Shields is the first woman to occupy the role of director.

While the Adult Sabbath School purposes have increased and morphed over the years, a purpose for Youth Sabbath School seems silent. This reality begs the question as to the worth of Youth Sabbath School today. Has Youth Sabbath School lost its value? If so, how can we make it valuable again?

Nearly 30 years ago Kristina “Kris” Simons arrived in Poplar, Montana, as an altruistic travel nurse looking to address the alarming health needs of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. “It’s not the easiest place in the world to live, for sure, but it can be one of the most satisfying and gratifying places,” she said.

GW Chew has always had a passion for entrepreneurship, missionary work, and food. Starting The Veg Hub restaurant as a center of influence in Oakland, California, was a no-brainer.

From the very first camp meeting of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, held in 1868 on the farm of E. H. Root in Wright, Michigan, to the 111 camp meetings held in the North American Division (NAD) in 2018, the benefits of these gatherings are still countless.

February 7, 2019, marks 100 years since Desmond Thomas Doss’s birth in Lynchburg, Virginia. Doss, who passed away in 2006, grew up to be one of the greatest examples of love and kindness of the century as he served as an unarmed U.S. Army medic in World War II. Not many would go into the bloodiest battle of the war without a weapon. Armed only with his faith and a prayer, his faith, love, and patriotism changed the world.

God has always been active in the work of deliverance, liberation, and empowerment. ... As long as there is poverty, injustice, and oppression, the Lord still has a work for us to do. He challenges us still today, saying that whatever we do for “the least of these” (Matt. 25:40, KJV) it’s as though we did it to Him directly.