News Briefs for May 3, 2019
News reports from Ebenezer Adventist Church in Philadelphia; Silver Spring, Maryland; Germany and Oakwood University:
Composer Allen E. Foster, a long-time member of Ebenezer Adventist Church in Philadelphia, died recently. Four of his compositions are published in the “Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal,” and many were used elsewhere. He was a member of the historic African American congregation for 49 years.
“Our thoughts go out to the grieving families of those killed in Colombo, Sri Lanka,” wrote Pastor Ted Wilson, president of the General Conference of the Adventist Church in response to the Sri Lanka bombings on the 21st of April. Wilson called the attack a “terrible, senseless tragedy of killing,” and called on the Seventh-day Adventist Church to pray for the grieving families in the message which he posted on his Facebook page.
On Easter Sunday morning, nearly 300 people were killed and almost 550 injured in different bombings on three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka.
From APD – Around 1,700 young people and others came to the Offenburg Exhibition Center in Offenburg, Germany, over the extended Easter weekend of 18 to 22 April. They came for a Mission Congress titled “The hour has come.”
One of the main speakers was the missions expert Dr. Joseph S. Kidder from Andrews University. About 1,200 of the attendees were 30 years old or younger. There were almost 50 workshops in areas such as faith, sports, weight loss and business.
Of those who attended, 450 took part in Saturday afternoon activities in the city, such as live painting on large screens, visits to the nursing home, hosting of a books car, singing groups and an Easter rally with quiz questions in Offenburg’s pedestrian zone. The congress offered Christian young people the opportunity to meet with like-minded people and find encouragement for a Christian, missions-driven lifestyle.
The State of Alabama recently awarded Oakwood University a $40,000 grant for a mobile farmers market that will serve underprivileged communities in Huntsville. There are areas in the city where individuals cannot get fresh fruits and vegetables. These communities are unhealthy because they don’t have access to healthy food options. The produce provided by this project will come from Oakwood Farms and other affordable sources. Oakwood is the only Adventist institution among the historically black colleges and universities in the United States.