Stories & Commentaries

About Stories & Commentaries

From time to time, the North American Division shares commentaries on issues and/or events important to Adventists in this division. We also publish stories, which sometimes include interviews and features, to inspire our leaders and members.

Literature Ministries team in RMC Photo provided by Matt Hasty/Rocky Mountain Conference

Literature Ministries Team Knocks on 200,000 Doors, Distributes 14,000 Pounds of Books

During this summer's canvassing program in Colorado and Wyoming, 19 literature evangelists distributed about 14,000 pounds of books, knocking on around 200,000 doors.

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Going Together in Mission

The North American Division has a wonderful strategic focus called Together in Mission. I love this focus and the emphasis on multiply, media, and mentorship as our way of going about our mission. But what I especially love about this focus is the word “together.” For too long our church and its various departments have worked in silos. It’s time for us to come together and unify — and work together in mission.

Ukraine family

Escape from Home: A PUC Graduate and His Family Flee Ukraine

In January, as news reports about an impending Russian invasion mounted, Andrey Gulko, a Pacific Union College graduate, readied his team in Ukraine for the “worst-case scenario.” Have extra fuel on hand. Keep your car’s gas tank full. Gather together important documents. Pack a suitcase with bare necessities. Be ready for an emergency. They all did it. But nobody believed it. “I myself didn’t believe it,” Gulko said. “I didn’t think it could happen.” The Gulko family, along with millions of other Ukrainians, suddenly found themselves at the center of a crisis that had been escalating for years.

Arena experience at CALLED

Casting Our Eyes to Calvary: CALLED Arena Experience

The North American Division’s CALLED Pastors’ Family Convention is a time centered around guiding, supporting, and celebrating pastors. The CALLED Arena Experiences not only met that goal, but exceeded it, focusing on pastoral health and how believers must be grounded first and foremost on Christ alone. Over the course of four days, the arena experience was the central point of group worship that capped each day with morning and evening sessions.

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United in Mission, Message, and Ministry

Christ’s final prayer for His people—for His church—is that we would work together as one. One people and one church. We find Jesus’ prayer to His Father recorded in John 17:23: “I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected and completed into one, so that the world may know [without any doubt] that You sent Me, and [that You] have loved them, just as You have loved Me” (Amplified).* His prayer was for His people, His church, to be one, working together as one!

stock photo of boy with globe

Desperation, Violence, Suicide — and Hope

We’re in the midst of one of the greatest youth crises in history. Suicide rates are up. Way up. So is depression, anxiety, sexual confusion, and desperation. All of this was completely predictable when so many school systems decided to close their doors and leave children to the mercy of the Internet. But one system has bucked the trend. Here’s the story of Adventist Education in North America.

Blue shoes on boy

Creator God and the Gift of Shoes

A shoe giveaway was held Sabbath, May 21, 2022, on the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. The Madras, Pleasant Valley, and Redmond Seventh-day Adventist churches collaborated on the event in close cooperation with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and with funding from Samaritans’ Feet.

Roy Reid after 2019 surgery

Mission, Medicine, Miracles: Central Florida Man Celebrates Survival From “Exploding Heart”

Three years ago, Roy Reid of Longwood, Florida, experienced massive chest pains, which nearly scared him to death. Reid, then 54, had a stroke on his way to AdventHealth Altamonte Springs ER, and his unresponsive state may have helped lead to the grim diagnosis — an acute aortic dissection: his heart had exploded

woman clergy

Photograph Discovered of Pioneer Adventist Woman Minister

Veteran historian and educator, Brian E. Strayer, at Andrews University would famously offer in class a reward of $100 to any student who could find a photograph of Sarah Lindsey (1832-1914), the first woman licensed as a Seventh-day Adventist minister. This challenge remained until a recently discovered photograph in the George I. Butler Collection at Loma Linda University provides a picture of a “Sister Lindsey.”

CALLEDkids attendee to the guppie track

At NAD CALLED Convention, Kids Have Fun While Exploring Their Spiritual Gifts at Special Children’s Event

​​​​​​​On Sunday evening, June 19, 2022, the doors opened up for 670 registered children, ages 3-12, to the unique experience of CALLEDKids Go Fish for Kids: Where Kids Explore Their Spiritual Gifts.