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Seventh-day Adventist advocates are working to protect this vital human right within a culture that has grown skeptical of many religious freedom claims. 

While on earth, Jesus gave His disciples a “new” commandment to “love one another” just as He loved them. He invites us to live a life that faithfully points to and mirrors Him.

The final morning business session of the North American Division 2019 Year-end Meeting (YEM) primarily focused on pension benefits provided to employees by the represented entities of the territory, including the division and all its unions, conferences, schools, mission fields and independent ministries. Delegates also heard numerous reports from various departments, entities, and ministries.

God’s hand was at work in Page, Arizona, through a group of dedicated volunteers who facilitated 300 procedures during a free dental clinic hosted at the Page All Nations Seventh-day Adventist Church on September 23-25. During the three-day clinic, approximately $200,000 of dental procedures and $30,000 dermatology services were given at no cost to more than 140 people.

On Friday, Nov. 22, 2019, more than 500 community members, pastors, church officials, and workers gathered for the grand opening of the new It Is Written headquarters in Collegedale, Tennessee. The event was live-streamed on It Is Written’s Facebook page and featured a dedication, a ribbon cutting, ministry tours, giveaways, and refreshments.

On Nov. 25, 2019, almost 1,000 families who preregistered through a county database began receiving a full, 30-pound Thanksgiving meal basket including turkey, bread, vegetables, potatoes and more. For three days, families came to the Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington (ACSGW) in Silver Spring, Maryland, for their meals.

Heidi Baumgartner, Washington Conference communication director, reflects on having a history of five generations in the same church family, and how God has been faithful for 121 years. "This was the location where my dairy-farmer great-grandparents came to faith at an H.M.S. Richards crusade and raised their family of five children. My brother and his family now have their membership in the family church. Life isn’t always easy, but through the years, we’ve seen how God is faithful. This legacy is worth passing on."

After the morning devotional thought given by Alvin Kibble, a North American Division vice president, day five of the 2019 NAD Year-End Meeting business started with catch up after lively discussions on tithe parity and the GC Compliance on day four moved several reports to the following day.

In the autumn of 1969, Virginia-Gene Rittenhouse — already an accomplished and internationally-known violin and piano soloist and composer — invited four little kids to play music in her living room. Little did they know, this was the beginning of the New England Youth Ensemble (NEYE), a group of young musicians that gave its first performance at the local Kiwanis club in Worcester, Massachusetts.

This fall, Adventist Community Services (ACS) and the Alaska Conference, part of the North Pacific Union Conference, announced that during the 2019 holiday season, ACS is providing a year-end match opportunity to help offset the costs of reaching native villages and enabling more children to experience camp, food programs, and Vacation Bible School (VBS). Every dollar AMA raises, ACS will match dollar for dollar, up to $100,000, by December 31. “Instead of resigning ourselves to these challenges, NAD’s ACS has prayerfully decided to engage in a transformational opportunity of collaboration with the AMA program,” said Tandi Perkins, Alaska Conference development director. “This partnership will focus on providing safe spaces and programs through outreach to Alaska Native communities.”