Adventist Church pioneer to Albania dies

Flora Sabatino-Lewis, persecuted for sharing the Seventh-day Adventist message in 1940s communist Albania, died at age 93 on November 19 in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. Daniel Lewis had already pioneered the Adventist message in Albania when, as a young bride, Sabatino-Lewis went with her husband to his native Albania. Though they managed to start a small congregation, the communist campaign against religion landed the couple in prison in 1950. She was released after two days, but her husband died in prison in 1953. Church leaders say the couple planted the seed for church work that nurtured a growing Adventist community under repression. Today nearly 300 Adventists worship in three churches in Albania. Sabatino-Lewis’ funeral was held on Friday, November 23.

Church members affected by Papua New Guinea floods

A Seventh-day Adventist Church near the town of Popondetta has been washed away following devastating floods in the Oro Province of Papua New Guinea, church leaders in the South Pacific report. The Bangoho Adventist Church, built three years ago, was destroyed together with more than 10 homes belonging to Seventh-day Adventists in the region north of Port Moresby. Reports indicate seven consecutive days of rain from Cyclone Guba have killed more than 70 people and left 55 missing.