wfn.org | Adventists Aim to Make Poverty History

[Christian B. Schäffler (APD Schweiz)]

July 4, 2005

Adventist Press Service (APD)

Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief APD

Fax +41-61-261 61 18

APD@stanet.ch

 <http://www.stanet.ch/APD> http://www.stanet.ch/APD

CH-4003 Basel, Schweiz

 

 

Adventists Aim to Make Poverty History

Raising World Hunger Issues In Anticipation Of G8 Summit

 

St. Louis, Missouri/USA. (ANN/APD) The Seventh-day Adventist 
Church is playing its part in raising the issues of world hunger in 
anticipation of this week's G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland. 

 

In Scotland itself, members of the Crieff and Edinburgh Seventh-day 
Adventist Churches were among the 225,000 anti-poverty 
campaigners who joined hands and formed a massive human 
white wristband around Edinburgh as part of the "Make Poverty 
History" demonstration. 

 

During the morning service at Edinburgh Seventh-day Adventist 
Church lay preacher Mike Lewis spoke of the Israelites marching 
around Jericho, its walls unable to withstand the onward march of 
God leading His people to victory. He drew a parallel with the 
walls of evil, corruption, poverty and oppression that encircle 
people today that will ultimately fall as God finally ushers in His 
everlasting Kingdom of peace. 

 

The Crieff church is the nearest Seventh-day Adventist Church 
to the location of the G8 Summit, just nine miles up the road at 
Gleneagles. Local Adventist member Steve Logan galvanized 
his church, along with a number of Christian groups, to coordinate 
locally the "Make Hunger History" protest in the run-up to the G8 
summit. Included in the events was a 12-hour Prayer Vigil on 
July 5 between noon and midnight. 

 

Speaking of July 4 demonstration, Lewis told ANN "I was proud 
to be there, part of the biggest demonstration ever to be held in 
Scotland. The group's longer term aim is to continue with MPH 
after the G8 and all the protesters have gone home, giving time 
and effort to a long-term project that will make a difference in 
developing countries." 

 

Meanwhile in Philadelphia, Adventists played a full part in the 
Live 8 concert, one of 10 concerts around the world prior to 
the G8 summit. The Adventist Humanitarian Resource Center 
of Philadelphia partnered with other Adventist entities to take 
charge of health care during the concert festival. Working out 
of a 60-foot (18 meter) trailer that had a big yellow and black 
banner with the words "THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST 
CHURCHES OF THE DELAWARE VALLEY," they passed 
out thousands of pieces of literature, provided health screening 
services, provided advice and collected names for follow-up. 
The team dealt in a real sense with poverty issues as many 
people who came to the screening could not afford medical 
insurance and were grateful for the advice. 

 

Bruce Atchison, community service director of the 
Pennsylvania Conference, stated, "It was a golden opportunity 
to reach thousands of people." Gerry Weathers, a registered 
nurse from 1st Adventist Church of Coatesville, was delighted 
to promote wellness from a holistic point of view. She 
emphasized that the entire family benefits from disease 
prevention, stating that "proper diet reduces stress and 
plenty of water will also reduce plaques of disease." 

 

The 58th world session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 
in St. Louis, Missouri, is also taking hunger and poverty 
 issues seriously. The Adventist Development and Relief 
Agency (ADRA) international is protesting global poverty at 
its exhibit. Tereza Byrne, bureau chief for marketing and 
development for ADRA, hopes that exhibit visitors will 
partner with ADRA in fighting poverty. Locally, sales at 
the ADRA booth are being donated to local charities to 
deal with poverty and development issues in the deprived 
areas of St. Louis. 

 

Byrne states that, according to the World Bank, 2.8 billion 
people, about half the world's population, struggle to survive 
on less than U.S. $2 a day. ADRA's community development 
programs in food security, primary health, basic education, and 
economic development help address the debilitating effects of
 poverty. [Editors: Victor Hulbert, John Surridge and Volker 
Henning for ANN/APD]