What are your churches or school planning this fall to bring people to Jesus and into the Adventist movement? Now is a great time to ask the Lord for wisdom, review what is already happening and talk and pray with your church and school boards.

Here are a few tools that can help your board members see where they are at and what

Andrew MIchell had a compulsion to steal. By the time he was sixteen he went to prison for ten years, the first two in solitary confinement. Today Andrew is in his late twenties, has a college degree, is a member of the Puyallup Seventh-day Adventist Church (WA Conf) and wants to share how Jesus transformed his life. Watch his testimony on the latest Northwest Spotlight on Mission (sent to all first elders and Sabbath School Superintendents in the NPUC) or online at http://www.npuc.org/article.php?id=340.

Let your friends watch about this amazing story by sending the email link above. There are five individual segments (4-9 minutes each)–

• Andrew Michell, Part 1 of 5: Candybars to Prison

Here is a great, inexpensive resource for the pastor/evangelist. Contact your Conference Evangelism Coordinator to see if they are placing a group order (if not then contact HART Research Center at www.hartresearch.org or phone 800-487-4278 directly). Bruce Koch (Washington Conf) and Dave Livermore (Upper Columbia Conf) have already had a tremendous response from their pastors.

HART Research Center has made available to all pastors in the NAD, the Revelation of Hope sermons/graphics (by Mark Finley) and the full synchronizer for a special price of $92 (normally $160)!

On February 19, 2008, the Canyonville Seventh-day Adventist Church Board voted enthusiastic support for an intensive plan of evangelism for the remainder of 2008. Three series of evangelistic outreach meetings are included - May 2 - 21, August 15 - September 3, and October 31 - November 19, with Pastor Loren Fenton scheduled as speaker for each series. The first of the three series was successfully completed on May 21. The Canyonville church has welcomed four new members as fruit from this harvest.

In a recent letter to supporters, Adventist World Radio President Benjamin D. Schoun shared an amazing story of how angels are distributing radios to village chiefs in some remote areas and training them how to tune in to Adventist World Radio. Read an excerpt of the letter at http://www.prophecytalk.com/index.php?topic=4699.msg79568.

Jesus said “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:26. What does it take to feed the world? Click here to view an interesting online pictorial view from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats

At a recent Upper Columbia Conference Church Planting Committee, newly elected Conference Church Planting Coordinator Wayne Kablanow shared a compelling PowerPoint presentation on the history of church planting in the Bible. Titled “How to Grow the Church” he traced five phases of church planting, starting with the Garden of Eden church plant which had a core group of two. He points out the two common characteristics of the apostate church in each era in contrast to the two characteristics of God’s true church. Watch the PowerPoint presentation and follow along with the script/notes.

You are headed to a new district. You’re excited but nervous. What should you do and what should you avoid in your first few weeks and months? We would love to have you add your comments. Listed below are insights from–

• Charles Burkeen, Associate Ministerial Director, Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
• Glenn Aufderhar, Retired Church Leader and Current Pastor of Abundant Life Seventh-day Adventist Church, Wenatchee, WA
• Dan Serns, Ministerial Director, North Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (Click here to read “Why Not Try This? … Share Advice With A New Pastor to a New District”)

    

Charles Burkeen–

Here is a document that

One of the challenges with any pastoral or teacher move is how the family relates to the experience. Saying good-bye to friends, starting a new school or job, etc. And the list goes on.

One of our moves was especially hard on one of my sons. Another move was extremely difficult for my wife, causing me to call back church leaders a month after accepting and decline the move. The position was offered again four months later and she was ready to accept.

What have you done to make it easier on your family transitioning to a new location? We welcome your 1-3 paragraph response below that will be included in our next e-newsletter.

Two Powerful Quotations–

“If you will read the Conflict Series [Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, The Desire of Ages, Acts of the Apostles and The Great Controversy] along with your Bible through every year for four years, it will change your life.”

“A great many people look down upon revivals, but the entire history of the Bible is a history of revivals. I have heard preachers say, “Well, they are temporary.” Surely they are. So is a bath, and so is a meal, but very necessary. The whole story of this blessed Book, my friends, is one of apostasy and revival. And if there was ever a deeper apostasy than today, and a greater need of revival, I do not know where it was or where it will ever be…. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring forth. The world of crying need tells of the necessity of a revival in our own lives…. (Read the Complete Article)

 

                               — H.M.S. Richards (1894-1985), a Seventh-day Adventist biblical scholar and evangelist, pioneered the use of radio to present the gospel more than 75 years ago-when many of his colleagues thought the new device was the devil’s playground. His Family Worship programs were first aired in 1929. Radio headquarters was a renovated chicken coop at the back of his garage. The broadcast’s name was changed to the Voice of Prophecy in 1937. Richards often said

“Nigeria: A sharia court efficiently settles a land dispute in Kano, a city on the Sahel’s southern border whose Muslim majority lives under strict Islamic law. After years of corrupt and bureaucratic secular rule, most residents welcomed Kano state’s imposition of sharia in 2000. But minority Muslim sects, human rights advocates, and Christians, especially those who could no longer sell alcohol for a living, protested.”

Caption on photo #9 in “Africa’s Ragged Edge: Journey Into the Sahel” in National Geographic, April 2008

Among Moslems it is important for Seventh-day Adventists to make a distinction between “Christianity”

Here are excerpts from a prominent British newspaper The Telegraph June 13, 2008

Article titled “George W Bush meets Pope amid claims he might convert to Catholicism” (Click link to read entire article)

• “George W Bush and Pope Benedict XVI have held an intimate meeting in Rome as rumours mounted in Italy that the president may follow in Tony Blair’s footsteps and convert to Catholicism.”
• “Several Italian newspapers cited Vatican sources suggesting that Mr Bush may be prepared to convert. One source told Il Foglio, an authoritative newspaper, that “Anything is possible, especially for a born-again Christian such as Bush.”
• “He added that while the Holy See deplored the war in Iraq, “on ethical matters he has always had a line that is practically identical to that of the Vatican.”

Dr. Michael Hasel, an Archeologist and Egyptologist who teaches at Southern Adventist University and oversees the Institute of Archeology there, shares some recent archeological findings that link with Bible times. For more information click on any link below–

Seal of Jezebel identified

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/911612.html

Archaeologists discover footprint made by sandal of Roman soldier

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/893560.html

Tiny tablet provides proof for Old Testament

Want to keep up with religious liberty issues? Check out the Liberty Blog sponsored by the North American Religious Liberty Association.

A recent post shows how the California Supreme Court decision that mandates state sanctioned gay marriage threatens religious liberty. Click here to read

Mark Remboldt- To NPUC Treasurer from NPUC Undertreasurer. Read story

Lonnie Melashenko- To Vice President of Spiritual Services and Missions for the Kettering Health Network in Kettering, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton from Speaker/Director of the Voice of Prophecy Radio Broadcast. Read story

Larry Unterseher- To President of Nevada-Utah Conference of Seventh-day Adventists from Education and Ministerial Director of Nevada-Utah (previously Education and Youth of Montana Conference)