The Seventh-day Adventist Church wants to positively impact the communities in which it lives, said Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist world church, meeting with government officials last week during a visit to the church's Euro-Asia region.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church wants to positively impact the communities in which it lives, said Pastor Jan Paulsen, president of the Adventist world church, meeting with government officials last week during a visit to the church’s Euro-Asia region. A two-week visit took Paulsen and his wife Kari to Russia and its Caucasus region, Moldova and Ukraine. The world church president participated in the church’s year-end meetings in Moscow, and met with church members in several congregations.
Paulsen also expressed condolences for the recent tragedy in Moscow that claimed the lives of 120 hostages.
Meeting with Sergei Abramov, first deputy chief of interior politics for the Russian presidential administration, Paulsen said that religious fanaticism leads to tragic events. The Adventist Church is a factor for stability in the community, and should be involved, he said.
“[The administration] appreciates churches that are not just shouting about themselves,” Abramov commented. “We judge a church by its deeds.”
In a time when the Russian government is dealing with the aftermath of terrorism and hostage deaths, other visitors have been turned away. Abramov told Paulsen that he was happy to meet with him, and that the Russian state has a positive relationship with the Adventist Church.
Paulsen also met with Russian Duma representative Viktor Zorkoltsev, and talked about the church’s involvement in society. Asked why the Adventist Church grows, Paulsen explained that Adventists share the word of God, and that the church’s message can fill a void for those looking for meaning in life.
In Moldova, Paulsen visited with Michael Sidorov, chairman of the Commission on Human Rights and National Minorities of Moldova Republic, at the country’s parliament. Sidorov commented on the human rights situation in the world and said that Moldova is aiming for the principle of freedom of conscience and religious freedom.
While in Kishinev, Moldova, Paulsen delivered the dedication address for the opening of the Adventist Church’s new Moldovan Union Conference. The new office building will serve as administrative headquarters for the more than 130 Adventist churches in Moldova.
Paulsen also attended two other dedications: one in Kiev, Ukraine, and another in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. The new church in Kiev, which seats 3,000, is the largest in Ukraine and one of the largest in the Euro-Asia region. V. Bondarenko, chair of the Ukrainian State Committee for Religious Affairs, and a guest at the dedication, expressed hope that Ukraine’s current favorable climate for religion would continue. He said that church and state share a common concern for the moral and social aspects of society.
The Rostov-on-Don dedication, a service that included several division church leaders from the region, was for a new union office for the newly formed Caucasus Union Mission.
During a worship talk at the Euro-Asia Division office October 28, Paulsen told church members that “In human terms, this world is not going to be able to fix itself. But God says, ‘I will take you through this. I will protect you. I will give you strength.’”
Commenting on the Euro-Asia Division’s “300 Churches Project,” a plan to establish 300 new congregations in areas without Adventist presence by 2003, Paulsen said, “If your aim is too general, you will hit nothing. I see that this program has focused your mission.”
Speaking to Euro-Asia Adventists during a television interview about involvement in the community, Paulsen said, “God expects of me as a Christian to be a constructive presence in the community in which I’m living…Our hearts are filled with hope and longing for the coming of our Lord, and we shall spend eternity with him, but this is where we are now. I want any town, any city, any country to be a better community because the Seventh-day Adventist Church is there.”
“It is always rewarding to share with community and government leaders what the Seventh-day Adventist Church is doing globally and also within the various regions it operates within,” Paulsen said.