News reports from the General Conference; Paradise, California; Adventist Health Feather River; Germany’s Adventist Welfare Work (AWW) and It Is Written:

During the annual meeting of the General Conference executive committee this month, five women were honored by the denomination’s Department of Women’s Ministries. They were Hannele Ottschofski, an author and lecturer from Germany; Dr. Andrea Luxton, president of Andrews University; Iris Kitching, an author who lives in the Washington DC area; Carla Baker and Helen Gulfan, both Women’s Ministries directors.

The Adventist church in Paradise, California, was burned down in a major fire in November last year that destroyed the entire town. The congregation decided recently to help its community by partnering with Maranatha Volunteers International, an Adventist service organization, to build 200 sheds to give to residents. Along with water and electricity, one of the residents’ hardships has been storage. People have no place to put their remaining things as they rebuild; some people store them under their RVs or trailers. Others have tents. With the rainy season coming and the reconstruction schedule uncertain, this project will help meet a great need for some of the estimated 3,500 people currently resident in the town.

Adventist Health Feather River in Paradise, California, is an Adventist hospital, and recently California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law voted by the state legislature to allow the reopening of the emergency department at the hospital. “There were some statutory prohibitions to have a ER operate alone without the other facilities around it, so we just put in a bill to do it and it worked,” said Senator Jim Nielsen. The bill allows for a stand-alone emergency room. Rick Rawson from Adventist Health says they are thankful for the process moving forward. “We still have a number of hurdles left so it will still be a ways.” The ER will offer traditional emergency services.

Volkmar Proschwitz has been appointed executive director of Adventist Welfare Work (AWW) in Germany to replace Lothar Scheel, who is retiring on 7 January 2020. Proschwitz is an Adventist who has held senior management positions in various international companies, most recently as head of a large Swiss public transport company. He also has been a leader in his local church for many years, in community building projects and fundraising for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). Proschwitz is 53 years old, married and has a son. AWW operates community services, health and retirement facilities.

It Is Written, a television and evangelism ministry of the Adventist denomination in North America, will host a grand opening of its new headquarters in Collegedale, Tennessee, on Friday, 22 November, from noon to 3 pm. The event will feature a dedication service, ribbon cutting, and open house.

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