Adventist Youth in Brazil Begin Evangelistic Series

Recife, Brazil… [ANN] Seventh-day Adventist youth in Brazil began an evangelistic series July 22 that is being broadcast nationally via satellite each Sunday until September 2. 

In churches unable to downlink the program, youth are organizing local evangelistic efforts. In the city of Patos, Paraíba, young people will preach all the sermons in ten regional evangelistic campaigns, called “A Reason for Believing.”

Erton Köhler, youth ministries director for the Adventist Church in Northeast Brazil, is presenting the program via satellite in Portuguese and says that he is touched by the dedication of the young people. [Erton Köhler/Suse Xavier/ASN/ANN]

Just a Little Secondhand Smoke Can Hurt

Osaka, Japan ... [ANN]  Half an hour of secondhand smoke can impair normal blood flow to the heart, according to a recently released Japanese study. The study found that arteries in smokers, which already showed damage, were not affected. But arteries in non-smokers showed a reduced ability to dilate.

Experts say this demonstrates that secondhand smoke has a measurable effect on blood vessels. Previous research has shown that reduced ability of arteries to dilate may be a precursor to hardening of the arteries.

Subjects of the study were 15 nonsmokers and 15 smokers who spent 30 minutes in a hospital’s smoking room. Doctors at the Osaka City University Medical School used an imaging technique called echocardiography to examine heart arteries and their ability to dilate. [Ansel Oliver/ANN]

Scientist Challenges Christians on Environmental Record

Brighton, England ... [ANN]  Christians in general have been slow to take up issues of environmental concern, says Sir John Houghton, co-chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

This lack of activism may be because the environmental movement has in the past been associated with New Age imagery and ideas, suggested Houghton, speaking at the World Methodist Conference in Brighton, England, July 27.

Houghton, a Christian, also said some Christians may have overemphasized spiritual life at the expense of making a difference in the here and now, reports Ecumenical News International.  Houghton told delegates that “Christianity has not been prominent in environmental legislation or in trying to care for the earth.”  [ANN Staff]