In a letter last week to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Seventh-day Adventist Church president Pastor Jan Paulsen expressed “sympathy and sadness for the tragedy of the sunken submarine Kursk and the loss of the 118 men aboard.”  Referring to the hope of the resurrection, Paulsen wrote that Adventist Church members around the world were praying that God would give “comfort and hope on this sad day of mourning.” The Russian submarine sank in the Barents Sea on August 12 killing all crewmen on board.  The Russian government declared August 23 a national day of mourning for those who were lost in the disaster.