Carl Wilkens Interview (AToday)

Carl Wilkens is the focus of the 7th installment of the Viewpoints interview series at Adventist Today. Carl stayed in Rwanda during the genocide in 1994, and he now travels with his wife speaking on issues of human rights and peacemaking. An excerpt from the interview: Jeff: You have said that when faced with evil [...]

Andrews Univ: Summit on Social Consciousness

Summit on Social Consciousness: Lessons from Rwanda (April 11-14, 2012) This past weekend, Andrews University hosted Carl Wilkens at the Summit on Social Consciousness.[i] Wilkens, who worked for ADRA at the time and is now the co-founder of World Outside My Shoes, was the only U.S. citizen who remained in Rwanda during the 100-day genocide [...]

Terrace SDA Church: Community Service

The Terrace SDA church has been busy! Their commitment to the local community is inspiring. “The Gift” (Linda Wilkinson). Faith leading to service. Local version of Farmville. The church “harvested close to 2000 pounds of potatoes. 800 pounds of carrots…. and other countless pounds of cabbage, corn, etc. All went to needy families in the [...]

Sahlin: Obama and Adventism

Monte Sahlin wrote a piece on President Obama’s Adventist influence, an article that I believe first appeared on the Adventist Today website. Benjamin Baker has subsequently posted it on Black SDA History. Excerpts: No president of the United States since Warren G. Harding has a closer family connection to the Seventh-day Adventist Church than Barack [...]

Preaching, Teaching & Healing

Here are a a few more excerpts from Darell Guder’s chapter, “Missional Witness,” in Missional Church. I’m reading this for Mission and Peace: The Church’s Ministry in the World. The Synoptic Gospels identify three main tasks of Jesus before his crucifixion: preaching, teaching, and healing. (p. 133) These activities… are also the vocation of Jesus’ [...]

Partnership or Proselytizing in Benton Harbor: An Adventist Case Study

I sat in chapel, a senior at Andrews University, watching in horror as a friend of mine performed a skit advertising Campus Ministries’ Outreach in a struggling town 20 minutes from campus. He sat on a couch on Pioneer Memorial Church’s stage pretending to cry and, when a friend asked why he was upset, sobbed, “Because I’m from Benton Harbor!” His friend answered, “Well, Benton Harbor is the second most depressed city in the United States.” They then invited students to come to Benton Harbor Sabbath afternoon and make a difference in the lives of those in need.