News and items of interest
In Brazil, Seventh-day Adventists help collect 17,000 food baskets during pandemic
Things were desperate for Izaílde Silva, in fact, they were about as bleak as they could be: it was lunchtime and the 58-year-old housekeeper had no food on the stove. There was nothing in the pantry at the woman’s home in Belém do Pará, a city of 1.4 million people in northern Brazil. Victoria and Paola, Silva’s granddaughters, didn’t know it yet, but there would be no lunch, and likely no dinner, either. Silva’s work as a maid—and the income that provided meals for Victoria and...New Caledonia celebrates baptisms and ordinations
The Adventist church in Mare and the New Caledonia Mission celebrated a special day on May 9 with the ordination of three elders and the baptism of five people. The elders were ordained during the morning Sabbath service, followed by communion. Then, the baptismal candidates—Arlette Roine, Charles Roine, Evelyn Waheo, Tom Wright, and Edmond—publicly gave their hearts to Jesus in the afternoon. Each person baptized had an inspiring story to share. In particular, Mr Roine’s baptism sent...Sonscreen Film Festival 2020 goes virtual
The 2020 Sonscreen Film Festival, in collaboration with new partner CoLab, was on track to be held April 2-5, 2020. Those plans drastically changed the second week of March as novel coronavirus disease closures caused the North American Division (NAD) to cancel the festival that was to be hosted at the Loma Linda University Church in California. By April 13, after long hours of reorganizing, shuffling, and creating, the festival moved online. It became the first NAD event to successfully...Nine-year-old raises money for first responders through poem book sales
On May 18, Matthew Rushing, 9, from Moreno Valley, California, delivered dozens of boxes of snacks to Loma Linda University Medical Center Emergency Department staff, aiming to lift their spirits during the COVID-19 pandemic. In just a little over two weeks, Rushing raised more than $400 for his project by selling his book of poetry called “Poems for Hard Times.” He said he wanted to donate to emergency department workers at Loma Linda University Medical Center because his pediatrician works at...