Some 170 pastors and chaplains working in Myanmar and Indonesia received training in crisis intervention in two separate venues between Aug. 31 and Sept. 7. The first seminar was held in conjunction with the Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries’ retreat at an Adventist university in Manado, in terror hard-hit Indonesia, while the other was at the Adventist headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar.

Hospital, college and school chaplains within the Southern Asia-Pacific church area joined the first retreat for chaplains organized by the chaplaincy department of the Adventist Church.

“We were greatly blessed by this retreat and seminar,” says Daniel Trazo, chaplain of H.W. Miller Memorial Hospital in the Central Philippines. “Chaplains who are very much emotionally affected with hurts when they deal with hurting patients and families need this break to gain comfort from one another,” he adds.

“I never realized the depth of our role as chaplains until I came to these seminars,” comments Edwin C. Gulfan, president of the Adventist Church in Western Mindanao, who delivered daily devotional messages.

Gulfan, who was chaplain for the Adventist Church in Southern Philippines before becoming an area church official, said that “It takes the skill of a psychologist, a sociologist, a nurse, a doctor, a pastor and several other professions in order to become a successful chaplain.”

The local pastors who joined the chaplains at the retreat were jubilant to learn basic principles and skills on how to help their parishioners respond to crisis confronting their homes and community. “We were faced with tremendous challenges as we dealt with several crises in our field—some were successfully hurdled without much training on how to respond to these crises—but as we have learned these principles and skills we are quite confident that future happenings may be handled more professionally,” says John S. Dimara, associate ministerial secretary for the Adventist Church in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia.

The 94 pastors, teachers, administrators and their wives, who attended the first chaplaincy seminar held for the Adventist Church in Myanmar, were confident that they could respond to the need of their parishioners, students and office workers as well as their own families when confronted with crisis. “We, too, are oftentimes beset with hurts and we do not know how to deal with them—we become victims of ignorance—now we can do better and respond better,” say several delegates in the Myanmar meetings.

Martin W. Feldbush, Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries director for the world church, and his wife, Martha, were the main presenters during these seminars.  Other presenters included Chek Yat Phoon, ACM director for Southeast Asia; Elton Ki-Plin, ACM director for Singapore Mission; and Jonathan Catolico, ACM director for the Church in Southern Asia-Pacific.