Longtime Adventist Volunteer Dies

Tem Suarez, longtime Maranatha Volunteers International worker, died May 30 at the age of 71 after a three-year long battle with cancer. A Cuban immigrant, Suarez was key in developing relationships with church and government officials in that country, and he made a significant impact on Maranatha’s work there. Maranatha Volunteers International is a non-profit Christian organization committed to mobilizing volunteers through the construction of urgently needed buildings such as schools, churches, orphanages, clinics and houses.

Teacher Honored at 95

Minnie Iverson Wood, a Seventh-day Adventist who has taught music in China, Singapore, the Philippines and the United States for more than 75 years, celebrated her 95th birthday at a musical program in her honor at the Loma Linda, California, University Church. A graduate of what is now Columbia Union College, Mrs. Wood initially taught music in Latvia before marrying the late Wilton Wood. While living in the Washington, D.C., area, she conducted choral programs for U.S. presidents Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon.

Philippine Town Reached

Residents of Sara, a rustic town in the Central Philippines, are responding to the Adventist message: On May 31, 128 residents were baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Dr. Abdulmussin Abdulmajid, a regional evangelist, held a campaign culminating several months of local activity that acquainted people with the church. [Jonathan Catolico]