The full executive committee of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Eastern Africa met in late May for the last time before a significant realignment of church territory on the African continent takes effect January 2003.

Pardon Mwansa, president of the church in Eastern Africa, gave a historical background to the realignment decision, which was approved by world church leaders meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA, in April this year. He urged delegates to prepare psychologically for what will soon take place.

Mwansa said he was thankful to God, as well as church leaders and members of the executive committee, for the “wonderful time we have had together.” He said that although there were still challenges, he could speak of the relative peace, unity, and harmony that had characterized the one and a half years he served as president of the Eastern Africa division, or church administrative region.

According to Mwansa, one of the greatest blessings to the church in Eastern Africa was been its recent widespread emphasis on the five focus issues of the division: unity, leadership training, self support, evangelism, and spirituality.

By January 2003 there will be three, rather than the current two, Adventist divisions headquartered on the continent of Africa: Western Africa, East Central Africa, and Southern Africa Indian Ocean Divisions. The administrative restructuring aims to group areas in Africa together in a more natural way, and allow for more efficient management of resources.

Currently the Eastern Africa Division serves 11 countries: Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. The rate of church growth in this area is one of the fastest in the world, with membership currently standing at 2.2 million people. Some 4,000 new Adventist believers are baptized each week in Eastern Africa.