Lebanon: ADRA’s Response Broadens ... As the conflict in Lebanon continues, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) staff and volunteers in Beirut are providing emergency food, bedding, shelter, and basic necessities for displaced families.  With 700,000 displaced people and that number expected to grow ADRA is in daily coordination with the United Nations and other international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). ADRA is working with these groups to establish a much broader emergency feeding program that will impact thousands of displaced people in Beirut over the coming months. [ADRA/ANN Staff]

Italy: Seventh-day Adventists Commemorate First European Baptisms ...  It was M.B. Czechowski, a Polish ex-Catholic priest, who began teaching Adventist doctrines to believers living in Torre Pellice, a Northern Italian town nestled in the Waldensian valley of Piedmont. To commemorate Czechowski’s pioneering missionary work, 300 Adventists gathered along the Angrogni River on July 25, where Czechowski’s first two converts, the first Adventists in Europe, were baptized more than 140 years ago: Catherine Revel and J.D. Geymet, the latter of whom became Europe’s first Adventist colporteur. An additional 17 were baptized that day according to church officials.  During the celebration participants took a moment to remember the Waldensians, a group of faithful Protestant believers brutally persecuted during the 12th and 13th Centuries for their adherence to Biblical truth. [Vincenzo Annunziata/AND/ANN Staff]

Myanmar: Children of Animists Learn About Christ ... Residents living in the remote hills of Palaung, Myanmar are slowly but steadily responding to the story of the gospel almost 10 years after Adventist missionaries first visited. When two Adventist missionaries visited in the mid-1990s the people there were practicing animists but today several of their children are attending the Global Mission Boarding School in Upper Myanmar. The Adventist-run school started in 1999 as the Palaung Boarding School to teach children from the hill tribes in the area about Christ. As a result of the school’s program, six Palaung students were baptized in 2003. Local church officials say these new converts are sharing the Gospel with others in their community. At the beginning of the 2006 school year, 55 students were enrolled at the school. [AND Staff]

United States: Indian Official Visits Adventist World Church Headquarters ... Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs visited the world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church July 5. During a protocol reception, church leaders warmly welcomed Ravi, who, despite a stringent schedule, reserved time to discuss issues of societal development with Adventist church representatives. Signaling a spirit of cooperation between Adventists and Indian officials toward the achievement of mutual goals, Ravi, a longtime champion of the poor and illiterate, applauded the work Adventists are doing in India in these areas.

“We were very honored to receive the minister and to see his commitment to fight poverty, to develop education, health care, and religious tolerance in India,” said Dr. John Graz, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the world church. There are approximately one million Seventh-day Adventist Christians in India.

ADRA Organizes Summer Camp for Disadvantaged Children ... The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) will host its third annual summer camp for 140 children from disadvantaged families and orphans in the country of Moldova. The week-long camp will be held in the village of Sarata-Noua, 62 miles from Chisinau, the capital. The camp will run August 1 to 8. The children, ranging in age from eight to 15, are selected from children’s centers, families with disabled or impoverished parents, orphanages, and centers for street children. The camp will provide a variety of activities for the children, including health and social etiquette classes, arts and crafts, and several sports activities, such as football, volleyball, and tennis classes. “We want to provide a good experience for the children, where they can experience what a happy childhood feels like, and forget their troubles for a little while,” said Andrei Girleanu, country director for ADRA Moldova. “We aim to strengthen the children’s self-respect, and validate that they have a place in this world. This feeling will help them to become stronger, and more prepared for everyday life.” [ADRA/ANN Staff]

United States: Adventist Student Awarded Fulbright Grant ... In what is becoming an annual occurrence in Southern Adventist University’s School of Music, a third graduate in as many years received the prestigious Fulbright grant. Kristopher Schwinn, who graduated from Southern in 2005 with degrees in Organ Performance, Oboe Performance, and Engineering Studies, was awarded the Fulbright grant in the area of Organ Performance. “I had heard about [Southern’s] organ program from a number of highly respected organists as far away as the West coast,” Schwinn said of his decision to study organ at Southern. Schwinn will study baroque improvisation, Romantic literature and organ construction while living outside of Groningen in Northeastern Holland. [Lori Futcher/SAU/ANN Staff]