Rape has a history that almost equaled the history of man’s creation. It is on record that the first recorded incidence of rape in the Bible was in the Book of Genesis.
In Nigeria, the offense of rape is a heinous crime and the drafters of the Criminal Code deemed it fit for life imprisonment upon conviction.
Despite all these, rape in Nigeria seems to be on the increase and the question on every lip is, what is the way forward.
First of all, thieves, rapists, and other psychos will always be there. What will should focus on is how to avoid them.
We live in a world where we have a lot of psychos and they will be around till Christ comes. For example, I live in Warri, Delta state, for me to stay safe, I have to avoid night movements. The only time I have encountered armed robbers in Warri was when I was out till 9pm.
What I am trying to say is that no matter how we preach, rapists will always be there and they are criminals just like armed robbers.
The best thing is to know your environment and know how to avoid them. You as a girl, try to avoid soft spots like lonely roads, nights and meeting up unknown guys in hotels. Don’t also move alone in a quiet/dark place.
Parents with female children should be careful the way guys (uncles, pastors, friends etc) play with their daughter and also do well to educate their male children as well.
And you guys raping girls, you will reap what you sow one day.
There is no seven (7) literal years of Antichrist reign after the rapture in scripture: There is absolutely nowhere in the scriptures in which one can find the Antichrist reign and oppression for seven or three and half years after the second coming of Christ. The popular unscriptural teaching is that Antichrist reign will last for 1 week (7 years) as seen in Daniel’s 70 weeks. He is said to rise as a peaceful world leader in the first 3 ½ years but in the next 3 ½ years, he will be the real devil he is.
The last week of the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel 9 cannot be detached from the whole block of time and applied to a future period for Antichrist’s reign. The 70 weeks prophecy was probationary time given to Daniel’s people, the Jews (Daniel 9:24). This block of time stretches from the time the commandment or decree was given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the time the Messiah or Christ would come (the first time) to die (Daniel 9:25) and when the gospel will go to the Gentiles. That decree was given by Artaxerxes Longimanus I in 457 B.C. and says in verse 25 that the first 69 weeks (483 years, when you apply the year/day principle [see Ezekiel 4:6; Numbers 14:33) would lead to the appearance of the Messiah. Messiah is a Hebrew word that means “anointed.” The Greek equivalent is Christos. This part of the time prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus was baptized in A.D. 27, exactly 69 weeks or 483 years from 457 B.C. That’s when He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and was presented or officially introduced to Israel by John the Baptist as the Messiah.
Now there remains one prophetic week out of the 70 weeks prophecy. That is the seven years that is now said to be meant for the reign of Antichrist. But this seven years is not meant for the reign and activities of Antichrist, but that of Christ Himself. This may come as a surprise to many. First and foremost, you should know that this prophecy is about Christ and not Antichrist. Notice also that the one week is a part of the 70 weeks. It cannot be separated from it and applied to the future. There is no indication of such a separation or divorce of the one week or seven years of time from the 70 weeks in the text. The 70 weeks is one block of time and the angel who was interpreting was only giving Daniel, as well as us, a breakdown of what will happen at different times during the one block of time. This prophecy is perhaps the strongest evidence that can be presented to show that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Saviour that was to come to save the world. So this prophecy is about Christ and NOT Antichrist. Now let’s read verses 26 and 27 that tell us what happens to Christ and what He accomplishes in the 70th week of the 70 weeks prophecy in the King James Version (some modern ecumenical and biased Bibles translators have rendered the verse with to make it refer to Antichrist):
“26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he [Messiah, NOT Antichrist] shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Daniel 9:26, 27).
Notice that verse 26 talks about Messiah being “cut of.” That’s a prophecy about Christ’s death. Notice too that it says He will not die for Himself, but for us. Then there is prediction about the prince that shall come and destroy the city that is referred to as the “abominations” that causes “desolations.” This is a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem by Prince Titus in A.D. 70. Titus, who became Roman emperor (79–81), was the prophesied “prince” in Daniel 9: 26, 27 was to be the conqueror of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. After service in Britain and Germany, Titus commanded a legion under his father, Emperor Vespasian, in Judaea in A.D. 67. Christ confirmed that this is the true interpretation of Daniel 9: 26, 27 when He was prophesying about the destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 24 and He referred to it as the “abomination of desolation, spoken by Daniel the prophet” (verse 15). Christ used the very words in Daniel 9:26, 27. Some have applied this prophecy to Antiochus Epiphanes of the 2nd century B.C., who lived about 200 years before Christ. But this cannot be correct because Christ applied the prophecy to the future from His time. He said in Matthew 24:15: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:).” So the fulfilment of the abominations of desolation through war cannot be a reference to Antiochus Epiphanes, but to Prince Titus.
Now back to the biggest Messianic event of the 70th week. Read it again inDaniel 9: 27: “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
It’s very clear. While confirming the covenant in the last one week of the 70 weeks prophecy, Messiah is “cut of” and the Old Testament sacrifices or sacrificial system ceases or comes to an end. The “midst of the week” here will be three and half years from A.D. 27, which brings us to A.D. 31, the exact year Christ died on the cross. The next three and half years lands us in A.D. 34, the end of the 70 weeks prophecy. What happened that year? The Jewish council called the Sanhedrin, rejected Christ officially when they rejected the gospel preached to them by Stephen and ordered that he be stoned to death. From A.D. 34, the Jews ceased to be God’s chosen agency to reveal the mystery of salvation to the world and the gospel goes to the Gentiles. Remember that the 70 weeks was given to them as probationary time.
Let me prove this a little further. Before A.D. 34 Jesus commissioned His disciples to preach only to the Jews: “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10: 5, 6). Why would He make such a statement? Because it was not time in God’s prophetic calendar for the gospel to go to the Gentiles. He wanted to use the Jewish nation but they rejected the gospel. This is the understanding of Paul and the other apostles after A.D. 34. Remember Paul was converted after the death of the first Christian martyr, Stephen who was killed in A.D. 34. Listen as he addressed the Jewish leaders:
“But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13: 45, 46).
The Jews, as a nation (not as individuals), misused their probationary time of 70 weeks or 490 years and God founded a new Israel from all nations of those who believe in Jesus as the Christ (Galatians 3: 26-29).
So the whole seven years theory of the Antichrist reign is not biblical. It was a Catholic Jesuit diversionary interpretation to make people not to focus on the real Antichrist identified by the Protestant Reformation in the Bible. This Antichrist remains the papal system.
There have been serious questions and confusions surrounding 5G, Covid-19 and the Anti-Christ as many believe they are all linked together. Are they really linked? We will know soon. Let us relax as pastor Azanor Eddy Thompson explain it in details.
It is obvious that we are living in strange and even perilous times. Perceptive men and women everywhere sense that we are on the verge of some stupendous, earth shaking events that might usher in the time of trouble (also known as the tribulation that will be the toughest) and the end of time as we know it. But speculations vary on how these events will exactly play out (and we do not know all the details, except what has been revealed). Satan is, of course, taking advantage of the hysteria the coronavirus pandemic has created and is busy selling his lies to millions, if not billions of people the world over.
This article will first attempt to show from the scriptures when the Antichrist is predicted to be on the stage of history and, secondly, show the role of diseases, disasters and technology (5G) in the enforcement of the mark of the first or sea beast by the second and earth beast (Revelation 13).
The Antichrist Has Been Around:
The Apostle John is the only biblical writer to use the term “antichrist” and the plural form “antichrists;” and he used them five times altogether, four times and once, respectively (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3,7; 2 John 7). Other apocalyptic writers used other terms. Daniel called it the Antichrist “the little horn” (Daniel 7 and 8). Paul referred to it as the the “man of sin” and “the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2). In Revelation John referred to this same power as “the beast” (Revelation 13 & and 14) and “Babylon the Great” (Revelation 17 and 18). Among other identifying clues, Daniel and John both predicted that the Antichrist or the Apocalypse will reign and rule for 1260 years,applying the year-day principle of apocalyptic time prophecies (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 13:5; Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6).
“Antichrist” is a compound word, consisting of two words of Greek origin. The first is Christos, meaning “Christ” and the other is anti meaning “against” and “in place of” or “instead of.” All the meanings apply to the biblical Antichrist, for the Antichrist is not only against Christ but also pretend to, or better still, profess to act in stead of Christ as His representative. That’s why the Apostle Paul says the “man of sin,” who is the “son of perdition,” is not a secular power or individual but a quasi-Christian entity that claims the very prerogatives of deity:
“Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
The devil has to disguise the Antichrist power as a Christian power. That’s the way it can deceive. Satan knows that all genuine Christians will resist a secular individual or organization. But if the Antichrist comes in sheep clothing in the name of Christ, all who have not been prayerfully reading their Bibles cannot know it for what it is (2 Thessalonians 2: 8, 9; 2 Corinthians 11:13, 14); they will be looking for an unscriptural one-man Antichrist after the so-called secret rapture, just like the Jews who were not prayerfully reading the Old Testament prophecies about Christ (but relied on the popular scholarly and politically motivated interpretations of the rabis) could not know when and how the true Christ will come and are still waiting for a Messiah who has already come to die for the sins of the world (Luke 24: 25, 26, 44-49). What a deception! By the way, the only other person the Bible used the phrase “the son of perdition” for was Judas (John 17:
12). This is not a coincidence. Judas is a perfect definition of the Antichrist. He was not openly against Christ. He pretended to be for Christ while stealing and finally betraying Christ with a kiss. The Antichrist claims to be acting for or in place of God, but discerning Christian see it as betraying Christ by changing God’s law (as man of sin, of course), persecuting God’s people and blasphemously claiming the very prerogatives of God (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 13: 1, 5, 7).
Going by the scriptures there are “many antichrists” (1 John 2: 8) and they were already present in John’s day in the 1st century (1 John 2:18; 4:3). Their cardinal gnostic teaching known as docetism was that Christ did not really come in the real postlapsarian flesh that the scriptures affirm without ambiguity (1 John 4:3; Romans 1:3: 8:3; Philippians 2:7; Hebrews 2: 14-17). This Antichrist teaching is still with us today in the form of the unscriptural Immaculate Conception dogma, that Mary was conceived without sin so that Christ will possess a flesh different from ours. Now the implications of such teaching are huge but that is not the chief focus of this study. So we can safely conclude that anyone or power or entity that is against Jesus any time is an antichrist. But there is also the other dimension of antichrist manifestation that will be a power that will have influence worldwide influence and coerce everyone in the last days to receive the dreaded mark (Revelation 13: 3, 8, 15-18).
So, when does the Bible say the Antichrist that will appear on the stage of history, before or after the second coming when the saints will be caught up or raptured? Paul was crystal clear on this. He wrote:
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, [the rapture, if you will] That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: FOR THAT DAY SHALL NOT COME, EXCEPT THERE COME A FALLING AWAY FIRST, AND THAT MAN OF SIN BE REVEALED, THE SON OF PERDITION” (2 Thessalonians 2: 1-3, emphasis added).
Please indulge me a little space and time to give context or background to the above Pauline text. In 1 Thessalonians he had written to the believers in Thessalonica about the coming of Christ to resurrect those who were falling asleep in Christ. He presented the resurrection to them as the only hope for those who had died in Christ and for the living saints who will be alive when Christ comes to rapture the saints (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; see also 1 Corinthians 15). But some misguided teachers arose and started saying that Christ will come in the lifetime of the then believers. Some even wrote and signed letters in the name of Paul and the other apostles to deceive the people by giving them false hopes. As time elapsed and more and more Christians died, the believers would become disillusioned and loose faith, hence Paul had to write to tell them that they should not be deceived by those who were telling them that the day of Christ’s coming to take them to heaven was at hand. With this literary and historical context in mind read 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 again.
What I want you to notice in the text is that that i) the subject matter was about the second coming, (verse 1); ii) at the second coming the saints shall be gathered unto Christ or raptured (verse 1), as he promised they would be “caught up” or raptured in 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17; iii) the Antichrist or “man of sin” and “son of perdition” will appear on the stage of history to cause a ”falling away” (Greek, apostasia, from which we have the English word, “apostasy,” which means to fall way from the truth) first before the second coming (verse 3).
This means that this Antichrist power that Paul speaks about was not yet established in Paul’s day, though he said “the mystery of iniquity was already at work” (verse 7). But it was being restrained by pagan Rome which was the ruling power that needs to give way for the papacy. After showing that this power will sit in the temple of God to claim the very prerogatives of God in blasphemy in verse 4, the apostle went on to prophetically declare that it is the restrainer, Rome, that is to be taken out of the way that the Antichrist will appear: “Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time” (2 Thessalonians 2: 5:6).
To make his point very, clear he goes on to tell us in verses 7 and 8 that this deceptive, blasphemous, Antichrist power will be destroyed at the second coming by the brightness of Christ’s coming after the restrainer leaves the way and Antichrist appears:
“For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall be revealed the lawless one [because it leads people to transgress God’s law by expunging the 2nd commandment that forbids using images in worship and changed the fourth that enjoins us to keep the seventh day (Saturday) as the Sabbath], whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation [brightness, KJV] of his coming; even he, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2: 7-12, ASV).
Revelation 12 and 13 prophetically revealed the same truth that Paul prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2. Revelation 13:2 says it is the dragon that gave the beast its power, seat and authority. This beast is the papacy (as shall be made more abundantly clear). But who is the dragon? The primary meaning is Satan the devil (Revelation 12:9). But there is a secondary application of the term. According to Revelation 12:4, 5 the dragon wanted to destroy Christ when He was born. Now Satan rarely works directly or openly. What earthly power was he trying to use to destroy Christ when he was born? The biblical and historical answer is, Rome. Herod was representing the power of Rome. So Rome is the second application of the symbol “dragon” in Revelation. Pagan Rome gave the papacy its seat, power and authority. This is a historical fact. When Constantine left Rome to Byzantium and renamed it after himself (Constantinople) as the new capital of the Roman Empire, he left the city of Rome to the Pope. But it was not until 538 A.D. that the the bishop of Rome was made the head of all the churches by Emperor Justinian. From this time on the pope started wielding both spiritual and temporal powers more fully, especially over the Western Roman Empire, with a forged document known as the Donation of Constantine. So when the Caesars left, the popes took their place. They even assumed the very title of the Caesars, pontifex maximus. That’s why the pope is called the Roman Pontiff till today.
It is real unscriptural to teach that Antichrist will do its nefarious work of deceiving people with satanic miracles (Revelation 13: 13, 14; 16:13, 14; 19:20) and forcing people to receive the mark of being against God (Revelation 13: 15, 17) after the church has been raptured away from the earth. The Antichrist reigned uninterrupted from 538 A.D. to 1798 A.D. That is the 1260 years prophesied by Daniel as “a time and times and dividing a time” (Daniel 7:25) and “a time, times, and an half” (Daniel. 12:7). John the Revelation prophesied of the same period as “three days and an half” (Revelation 11:9), “three days and an half” (Revelation 11:11), “a thousand two hundred and threescore days” (Revelation 12:6), “a time, and times, and half a time” (Revelation 12:14) and “forty and two months” (Revelation 13:5). In apocalyptic scriptures a day is interpreted as a year. The interesting thing is that this prophetic time that is mentioned seven times in Daniel and Revelation is always (without and exception) found in the context of the persecution of God’s holy people. God’s church was in obscurity or wilderness during this period. This is also the period God law was changed. Church historians call it the Dark Ages. This is because it was a time when moral darkness reigned supreme because the Bible was suppressed, outlawed and burned. People were not free to translate and read it. Superstition was the order of the day and even the growth in scientific knowledge was stunted. This period ended in 1798 when Napoleon Bonaparte sent his general to arrest the pope, Pius VI, and took him captive to the city of Valence in France where he died the next year. It was said that the soldiers entered Rome a year before to arrest the pope but he was sick, so they pitied him and left, thinking he would die. To the ordinary eye, this is one of those things. But if they had arrested him in 1797, the prophecy would have failed. But God’s word cannot fail. So they came the next year and abolished the papal states. All of these were fulfilling Revelation 13:10 which says the papacy would go into captivity. This also fulfilled Revelation 13:3 that says one of the heads of the beast would be wounded to death. Everyone said the papacy would never exist again. But the prophecy says the beast will recuperate, its wound would be healed and it will regain worldwide following (Revelation 13:3). This healing began in 1929 A..D. when Mussolini of fascist Italy and Gaspari, representing the Roman church, signed a pact that returned the Vatican to the papacy. From that time till now the papacy had made a wonderful recovery and is rapidly gaining worldwide following and this is leading to world dominance. This is the beast of prophecy and history. This is what the Waldenses, Martin Luther and all the Reformers, Matthew Henry, Charles Spurgeon, etc., believed. The reason many people believe that the Antichrist is going to appear after the rapture is because of what the Jesuits have done in the Counter Reformation (see my other article titled WHY WE FORGOT WHO THE REAL ANTICHRIST IS). The prophecy cannot fail. Get ready for the mark of the beast.
2. Diseases, Disasters and 5G Technology: There is no doubt that diseases, disasters and technology will play roles in the mark of the breast crisis. For instance it is not impossible for the powers that be to say that those who will not cooperate with the beast agenda of false worship are the ones incurring the wrath of God and causing the disasters and diseases. If you can imaging a small group of believers who refuse to worship according to the changed law of the beast power when it is enforced by the powers that be (championed by the second or earth beast [America, this will be clear by another studies]) because they believe that the Sabbath is the seal of God’s law and the sign of ultimate allegiance to Him (Isaiah 8:16; Ezekiel 20:12, 20; Hebrews 8:10), you are getting very close to the heart of the matter. The issue is not about some microchip powered by the 5G technology to control people or some vaccine to reduce the world’s teeming population. The real issue is worship. Satan wants worship through his accomplices, the Roman and American beasts.
They will no doubt use technology to freeze your account and try to track you. This is all possible now. They will even accuse the remnant that keeps God’s commandments (Revelation 12:17) of causing the pestilences and seismic and climatic disasters (especially as the pope is now linking Covid-19 to climate change) as Elijah was accused of causing drought for going against Baal worship in Israel of old (1 Kings 18:17). All of this will be part of the issues leading to the enforcement of the mark of the beast, but they are not the mark of the beast itself. The mark of the beast crisis is about who, how and when to worship. The mark of the beast is calculated to rob God and His people the holy time they have together. The real aim is to rob God’s people of their love relationship with God. This has being Satan’s work since he rebelled and led one third of the angels to sin against God in heaven. He separated Adam and Eve from God by leading Eve to disobey God. The Bible says he deceives the whole world (Revelation 12:9). If he can deceive or force God’s remnant people to break just one of God’s law, he will win the controversy and they will be lost with the world (James 2:10). So it’s about who you obey. You must have to choose whom to obey between Christ and the beast (Romans 6:16). Obedience is the highest form of worship (1 Samuel 15:22). Adam and Eve obeyed Satan in breaking God’s commandment in regard to the fruit of a tree and that’s how disease, disappointment, disaster and death entered and flooded the world. “Just a tree and its fruits,” you might say. But it’s more than that. It was a matter of who Eve believed and obeyed. The same with the Ten Commandments, especially the Sabbath. Do you believe the word of God or would you out of convenience, necessity and following the crowd worship according to man made laws? That’s the real issue.
According to Revelation 14:12, all who truly keep the commandments of God will not receive the mark of the beast. This verse, found in the context of the three angels’ messages, reports the existence of a last days worldwide minority who are the fruitage of the preaching of the three angels’ messages. They will not receive the mark of the beast because they keep all of God’s commandments as found in the Bible and not as changed by the beast from Saturday to Sunday (Daniel 7:25). “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). Satan hates them because they insist, even at the loss of everything, in continuing their keeping of God’s commandments because they love Him (Revelation 12:17; John 14:15). This they will continue to do, even at the peril of their lives (Revelation 13:15; 12:11). God will prove to the universe (like He did with Job and Abraham) that His law can be kept, even in the most foreboding circumstances, to forever silence Satan’s charges (that God gave laws that can’t be kept) that are calculated to impugn God’s character.
It is “the faith of Jesus” in them that enables them to keep the commandments of God (Revelation 14:12). When you accept Christ into your life, the indwelling Christ will begin to live out His very life within you. You will have the resurrection power of Christ in you to live as a child of God. That’s what it means to have the faith of Jesus. Says Paul, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2;20, emphasis added). That’s it. When Christ lives in you, you will begin to live by the faith of Jesus which will enable you to keep all of God’s commandments and they will become a delight rather than a burden (Psalm Psalm 40:8; 1 John 5:2,3).
The Seventh Day Adventist Church is an organized denomination that runs almost the same program worldwide. They may live and worship in far-flung places, but the 19.1 million Seventh-day Adventists worldwide are not only a faith community—they’re a family.
But finding a sense of togetherness can be difficult. One way Adventists can promote community across time zones is by celebrating special emphasis days and events together. The Adventist Church’s calendar of Special Emphasis Days and Events not only encourages unity, it also helps raise awareness of key issues, such as abuse prevention, family and religious freedom.
Adventist Church leadership invites you and your church to join your global family in celebrating these emphasis days and events.
CALENDAR OF SPECIAL DAYS AND EVENTS – WORLD 2019
2020 SPECIAL DAYS/EVENTS
January 2020
January 4: Day of Prayer and Fasting
January 8–18: Ten Days of Prayer
January 11: Health Ministries
January 18: Religious Liberty Day
February2020
February 1: Reach the World: Personal Outreach
February 8–15: Christian Home and Marriage Week.
March 2020
March 7: Women’s Day of Prayer.
March 14: Adventist World Radio.
March 21–28: Youth Week of Prayer.
March 21: Global Youth Day.
March 21: Global Children’s Day.
March 28: Christian Education.
April 2020
April 4: Day of Fasting and Prayer.
April 4: Youth Spiritual Commitment Celebration (Northern Hemisphere)
April 11: Friends of Hope Day (Visitor’s Day)
April 11: Hope Channel.
April 18–24: Literature Evangelism Rally Week.
April 18: World Impact (Distribution) Day.
April 25: Special Needs Awareness Day.
May 2020
May 2–30: Drug Awareness Month.
May 2: Reach the World: United by Our Mission – This day has been set aside to share our church’s global strategic plan with the world. Please use this presentation to share Our Mission with your congregation, institution or communication channel.
May 9: Reach the World: In the Community, Disaster/Famine Relief.
May 23: World Day of Prayer for Children at Risk.
June 2020
June 6: Reach the World – Bible Study: Sabbath School and Correspondence Courses.
June 13: Women’s Ministries Emphasis Day.
June 20: Reach the World – Reach Across: Nurture and Reclaiming.
June 20: Adventist Church World Refugee Sabbath.
July 2020
July 4: Day of Prayer and Fasting.
July 11: Mission Promotion.
July 18: Reach the World: Media Ministry.
July 25: Children’s Sabbath.
August 2020
August 1: Global Mission Evangelism.
August 8: Reach the World: Church Planting.
August 15: Education Day – Presentation about Adventist Education (3.7mb Zip)
August 22: enditnow Day.
August 22: Lay Evangelism.
September 2020
September 5: Youth Spiritual Commitment Celebration (Southern Hemisphere)
September 6–12: Family Togetherness Week.
September 12: Mission Promotion.
September 19: Pathfinder Day.
September 26: Sabbath School Guest Day.
October 2020
October 3: Day of Prayer and Fasting.
October 3: Adventist Reviewhas launched a series ‘The Church I Want to Belong to Is…’ Subscribe today to be a part of the discussion.
October 10: Pastor Appreciation Day.
October 16–18: Global Public Campus Ministries Weekend.
October 17: Spirit of Prophecy and Adventist Heritage.
October 24: Creation Sabbath.
November 2020
November 7-16: Week of Prayer.
November 14-20: e-Week of Prayer for Youth and Young Adults.
November 14: Annual Sacrifice Offering.
November 21: World Orphans/Vulnerable Children’s Day.
November 28: HIV/AIDS Awareness.
December 2020
December 5: Stewardship.
December 12: Health Emphasis.
What did Ellen White counsel about observing Christmas? Noting her prophetic gift, some today might expect her to shun Christmas. They trace Christmas through the Roman Catholic Church back to paganism, which gave rise to the December 25 date and various other customs. They find no biblical command or example to observe the birth of Jesus, and they see little that reflects or honors the Master in the usual celebrations of Christmas.
Ellen White was aware of these concerns, but they did not lead her to reject Christmas. While she acknowledged that “the Bible does not give us the precise time”¹ of Jesus’ birth and “there is no divine sanctity resting upon the twenty-fifth of December,”² she did not urge us to ignore the day. Rather, she said that “it can be made to serve a very good purpose,”³ and she urged parents to turn “the minds and the offerings of their children to God and his cause and the salvation of souls.”⁴
“Christmas is coming,” she wrote. “May you all have wisdom to make
it a precious season. Let the older church members unite, heart and soul, with their children in this innocent amusement and recreation, in devising ways and means to show true respect to Jesus by bringing to Him gifts and offerings. Let everyone remember the claims of God. His cause cannot go forward without your aid. Let the gifts you have usually bestowed upon one another be placed in the Lord’s treasury.”⁵
GIFT-GIVING?
Does this mean that we shouldn’t give each other gifts? Not necessarily. “Brethren and sisters, while you are devising gifts for one another, I would remind you of our heavenly Friend, lest you should be unmindful of His claims. Will He not be pleased if we show that we have not forgotten Him?”⁶ She saw purpose in both kinds of giving, one that recognizes family and friends, and the other that honors our Saviour. “It is right to bestow upon one another tokens of love and remembrance if we do not in this forget God, our best friend.”⁷
The gifts we give to one another should be useful and helpful. “We should make our gifts such as will prove a real benefit to the receiver. I would recommend such books as will be an aid in understanding the Word of God or that will increase our love for its precepts.”⁸ Other kinds of gifts, carefully chosen, may also be a benefit to the recipient.
Ellen White’s view of holiday gift-giving is clearly a departure from custom. It puts Jesus first. If this requires scaling back on gifts to each other so that we may give where God would have us direct the funds, we will be the stronger—and happier—for having done so. “Come, brethren and sisters, come with your children, even the babes in your arms, and bring your offerings to God according to your ability. Make melody to Him in your hearts, and let His praise be upon your lips.”⁹
TEACH THE CHILDREN
Won’t children be disappointed if we make changes like this? Ellen White, a wise and experienced mother, had thought about this. “There are many things which can be devised with taste and cost far less than the unnecessary presents that are so frequently bestowed upon our children and relatives, and thus courtesy can be shown and happiness brought into the home.
“You can teach your children a lesson while you explain to them the reason why you have made a change in the value of their presents, telling them that you are convinced that you have hitherto considered their pleasure more than the glory of God. Tell them that you have thought more of your own pleasure and of their gratification and of keeping in harmony with the customs and traditions of the world, in making presents to those who did not need them, than you have of advancing the cause of God.
“Like the wise men of old, you may offer to God your best gifts and show by your offerings to Him that you appreciate His Gift to a sinful world. Set your children’s thoughts running in a new, unselfish channel by inciting them to present offerings to God for the gift of His only-begotten Son.”¹⁰
THE CHRISTMAS TREE
Ellen White did not forbid the Christmas tree, even urging that such a tree be placed in the church and adorned with special “decorations.” When many of our congregations struggled to have a church building, she wrote:
“God would be well pleased if on Christmas each church would have a Christmas tree on which shall be hung offerings, great and small, for these houses of worship. . . . Let its boughs be laden with the golden and silver fruit of your beneficence, and present this to Him as your Christmas gift. Let your donations be sanctified by prayer.”¹¹
The principle may apply to helping other aspects of the Lord’s work as well, such as ministry to the needy. “Christmas and New Year celebrations can and should be held in behalf of those who are helpless. God is glorified when we give to help those who have large families to support.”¹²
Some may ask, “Isn’t a Christmas tree forbidden by Jeremiah 10:1-5, which speaks against cutting a tree and decorating it with gold and silver?” Verse 3 refers to the one who takes the axe to the tree as a “craftsman” (RSV),¹³ translating a Hebrew word that means “artificer, engraver.” This passage refers to fashioning an idol, one that cannot walk or speak and must be carried, and which a person need not fear (verse 5). It deals with false gods rather than Christmas trees.
How may we best celebrate Christmas? Ellen White challenges us to make our Lord the focus of it, reserving our best gifts for Him. We will be blessed when we observe it that way.
Prof. Ademola Tayo, the Vice Chancellor of Babcock University, has explained why the institution took the decision to expel the female student in the sex video that went viral last month.
According to him, the decision was to protect what the institution stands for. However, he said the institution was still in contact with the girl’s family and may take her back if she was repentant.
Last month a video surfaced of two students making out in what was later said to be a hospital ward. The boy was said to have been expelled before the incident while the girl was expelled as a result of the video.
Speaking during a luncheon with journalists at the Babcock Guest House on Sunday the VC said:
“We had to take that decision in order to protect this institution and to protect its alumni. Because anywhere they go they say the University where they are all prostitutes. They said the girls are always swallowing …and all kinds of ridicule. If we keep mute, in the public opinion they would think that anything goes in the institution. We had to make a statement to show discipline.
“But I need to tell you that I signed it off with tears in my eyes as a responsible father. But we are not leaving this young lady to her doom. The pastor called me last week and I prayed with the family. The father called me and said pray with your daughter. I said she is still my daughter. Sometimes discipline is therapeutic. It is when you go that you realise that this is not right what I have done and then you go back to yourself.
“I look forward to a time when this young girl would graduate and be celebrated. It may not be here; I don’t know where but we are not throwing the baby out with the bath water.”
Tayo described the act by the girl giving the boy a Mouth Action as abnormal.
It is not normal for a young woman to take the manhood of the man and be swallowing. That is a very dirty thing which supposed not to be heard,” he said, adding that the institution had to apply discipline but with love.
The VC however said some stakeholders commended the university’s decision to expel the student, saying that they would have pulled their wards out of the University.
Tayo also described as mischievous a publication by an online publication that listed the institution as the third worst to attend in the country.
“I see that as a sponsored campaign to smear the institution. I know where it is coming from but we will not relent because we will do our best to offer holistic education to the children.
He said Babcock had achieved a lot with 36 fully accredited programmes and alumni who were making waves in various fields of endeavour, including the alumnus, Oladapo Oluwatoyin who made the overall best result in the 2019 bar exams, among others.
A couple in Port Harcourt has broke the internet by not doing the usual marriage ceremony. The couple who did their wedding ceremony at Seventh-day Adventist Church, Ruuokwurusi, Port Harcourt, had no reception, bridal train, groomsmen, best man and chief bridesmaid.
The church page shared a photo of the couple and wrote;
An interesting wedding today at Seventh-day Adventist Church Ruuokwurusi.
At the end all were given their food packs and dispersed from the church to their homes. There are lots of lessons to be learnt from this. A lot of savings made. A very wise, realistic and practical wedding today. Food for thought for those who are planning their weddings ahead.
A 46 years old construction worker from East China, Zhu Zhongfa, ingested the eggs of the parasite Taenia solium, better known as the pork tapeworm, from his dinner.
More than 700 tapeworms were found in a man’s body, including his brain and lungs, a month after eating uncooked pork, according to Daily Mail.
Zhu Zhongfa, 46, ingested the eggs of the parasite Taenia solium – better known as the pork tapeworm – from his dinner.
When he went to hospital, he was foaming from the mouth and lost consciousness, local reports said.
Doctors said the worm larvae had entered the man’s body through his digestive system and then made their way to his brain through the bloodstream.
Symptoms such as chronic headaches, blindness, seizures and dementia followed but may not appear for years after ingesting the eggs.
Dr Huang Jianrong from the Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, ordered brain and chest MRI scans.
It is still unclear whether the man identified only as Zhu will suffer any long-term effects from the tapeworm infection.
Babcock University came under attack yesterday over the expulsion of the female student caught having sex in a video that has since gone viral.
The expulsion of the lady has since stirred reactions from Nigerians on social media.
Some queried the decision of the institution in expelling the lady after Babcock admitted that the act did not take place at the school premises.
It might displease you to know that Babcock as an entity (a going concern), has that right to disassociate themselves from anyone or anything that brings them to DISREPUTE.
Right now it doesn’t matter to Babcock the location it took place, if it was consensual- got LEAKED or not. What matters to them is that they are currently being linked to it. That is bad publicity for the school.
I will like to introduce us all to a kind of risk in business – REPUTATIONAL RISK.
Reputation(al) risk is a threat or danger to the good name or standing of a business or entity.
It can occur in the following ways
-Directly, as the result of the actions of the organization itself.
-Indirectly, due to the actions of an employee or employees. In this case, staff and students.
-Tangentially, through other peripheral parties, such as joint venture partners or suppliers.
This risk can quickly spiral into liquidity risk but we won’t go into that today. Just know that organizations take it VERY SERIOUSLY.
You say it is not Babcock’s business, but this whole matter has been going on and not once has the name of the student been mentioned. Is it Babcock that had sex? The code word has been BABCOCK.
BABCOCK STUDENT CAUGHT ON VIDEO BLABLABLA…
Babcock has been trending on porn sites and social media pages for all the wrong reasons.
We sympathize with the girl for whatever trauma she is going through, but we should also understand Babcock had to do what is best for its reputation and BUSINESS.
-Lets also take a minute to think of what the school is going through. What of the girls in the school? Would they face possible stereotypes as swallowers?
To be sure I am not talking nonsense. I tried to get my admission letter, I couldn’t (probably tucked away somewhere), but I saw my employment letter. The attached image is an excerpt from it;
We know it is your personal life, but Igbos have an adage “mad man no get shame, na im people dey shame on im behalf” (paraphrased in English). So, while going about your personal life, think about the people you are associated with – family, friends, work, religious bodies…etc. Your actions goes a long way in affecting them- positively or negatively.
Please, as long as you can be IDENTIFIED and have it directly linked to you, think twice.
The management of Babcock University has released a statement concerning the leaked sex tape involving two of its former students.
In a video that sparked reaction on social media on Wednesday, a male and female student of the missionary school were seen having sex in a hospital.
In a statement issued on Wednesday evening, Joshua Suleiman, the varsity’s director, communication and marketing, said the persons involved in the sex tape have since been expelled.
He said, “the boy was expelled from the school in February this year”, while his girlfriend was asked to leave the school shortly after the video broke out some months ago.
“The video above referred is, unfortunately, a sad commentary on the moral decadence that has assailed our society at large, a manner of behaviour that is alien and antithetical to the value of our university. It is not worth a tinge of fascination, but a ground of great concern for all,” the statement read.
“The boy in the video was expelled from Babcock University in February this year after investigation and the due process proved that he was into certain grievous misconducts, the acts for which the university has zero-tolerance.
“His girlfriend in the same video, until the video broke out, a third-year student of accounting of this university. After due process, she was expelled from the university for violation of university rules and regulations.
Read Also: Sex Tape Of Babcock Students Leaks Online
“The place where the immoral act took place, according to her written statement, was at Saint Bridget Hospital, Abeokuta, Ogun State, where the boy has been undergoing rehabilitation for different destructive addictions. ”
“According to the girl, the incident took place in April this year during school vacation when she visited the boy at the hospital. The act did not take place at Babcock University. ”
“Babcock University remains committed to the highest moral standards and would remain a standard-bearer for quality education in standard character, learning and in service to humanity. We are happy to be saddled with this challenge as an institution because it propels us to contribute to the greatness of this nation and the security of a bright future for our children.”
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5.
We find it hard to trust in Him, because we’ve been hurt before.. Because of our failed relationships and broken promises, we tend to transfer the hurt and the fear of been let down again into our relationship with God.
We’ve tried so hard before, and it becomes natural for us to despair and unwilling to try again.. But you can try again, when it seems all is lost don’t be afraid to call; the assurance is given to us in the word. God is not a man that He should lie.. For God cannot lie.. Take note, it is not, He will not lie, the word says ‘He cannot lie’ (the possibility of telling a lie is impossible). Because the God who has promised is faithful. And this is the assurance that God has given to us that call on His name.
There must have been people who had promised but failed, but today, know that the One that has promised is faithful. Though it tarries, it will surely come to pass for His word does not fail.. You can trust again, you can place all your trust in God without fear of been disappointed.
The Seventh Day Adventist Church runs a democratic system of government which means decisions are made by elected committees through the vote of church members led by the Holy Spirit.
The organization consist of the following levels:
General Conference
Division
Union Conference/Mission
Conference/Mission
District
Local Church
A President is elected at the General Conference Session every 5 years and presides over the Executive Committee. Below is the list of G.C Presidents from 1863 till date with their respective pictures.
1. John Byington- He was the first president of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Country: United States Duration: 1863-1865
List of Presidents Of The Seventh Day Adventist Church From 1863 Till Date
2. James Springer White: He was also known as Elder J White and the husband of an Adventist pioneer, Author and prophetess – E.G White Country: United State Duration: 1865-1867
List of Presidents Of The Seventh Day Adventist Church From 1863 Till Date
3. John N. Andrews -He was elected as the third president of the General Conference in 1867, following John Byington and James White. Country: United States Duration: 1867-1869
4. James Springer White– He was re-elected as the president of Seventh Day Adventist church in 1869 Country: United States Duration: 1869-1871
5. George I Butler- He replaced James White as president of the general conference in 1871 Country:United States Duration: 1871-1874
6. James Springer White – He returned to the presidency in 1874 to becomes the 6th president of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Country: United States Duration: 1874-1880
7. George I Butler: He resumed the office again in 1880 Country: United States Duration: 1880-1888
8. Ole A. Oslen: The 1888 General Conference Session elected Olsen as president. Country: Norway Duration: 1888-1897
9. George A. Irwin: He was elected President of the General Conference at the General Conference session held in Lincoln, Nebraska Country: United States. Duration: 1897-1901
10. Arthur G. Daniells: He happened to be the longest serving president of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Country: United States Duration: 1901-1922
11. Williams A. Spicer: With the experience acquired as General Conference Secretary, Spicer was elected as president of the Seventh Day Adventist Church during the 1922 General Conference session Country: United States Duration: 1922-1930
12. Charles H. Watson: From 1922- 1926, he served as vice-president and associate treasurer of the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventist. He returned to North America in 1930 to attend the General Conference Session, where he was elected President of the General Conference Country: Australia Duration: 1930-1936
13. James L. McElhany Duration: 1936-1950
14. William Henry Branson: He was elected as president of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in 1950. Country: United States Duration: 1950-1954
15. Reuben Richard Figuhr:15th President of the General Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church Country: United States Duration: 1954-1966
16. Robert H.Pierson: Pierson was the third-longest serving president of the General Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church Country: United States Duration: 1966-1979
17. Neal C.Wilson: Country: United States Duration: 1979-1990
18. Robert S Folkenberg: Country: Puerto Rico Duration: 1990-1999
19. Jan Paulsen: 19th President of the General Conference of Seventh day Adventist Church Country:Norway Duration: 1999-2010
List of Presidents Of The Seventh Day Adventist Church From 1863 Till Date
20. Ted N.C. Wilson: He is the current president of the General Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church Country: United States
Some of us are passing through a time of great distress. Though we buckle up and stand straight, smile and act as if all is well, yet we are depressed. That constant feeling of not meeting up, of insufficiency and failure often adds to the frustration.
No matter what happens, I have come to understand through God’s word that no one has it all, just looking at others alone; shouts out this reality, that there is always someone better than the one who is good and so on. There is nothing new under the sun.. That pain that cuts through your heart is something you don’t have to carry alone.
You may be sick, you may be facing some hard times and feeling a deep sense of guilt because of your sins and failures. You might even be feeling unfortunate, because of where you are right now but know this, there is another in a worse condition. But in all this, hope, fragile but never dying hope is what God calls us to possess. Never give up, keep holding on, you will smile again. Know that God cares and He understands.
Most people when faced with a crisis reach out to God! Even those who don’t really have a close relationship with Jesus will ask their family, friends, and even strangers to pray. But how many people make that commitment and never follow through? The words, “I’ll pray for you,” have become just something to say, like any other common words of comfort when you feel sorry for someone or sad because of what trial they are facing. It’s almost like saying, “Have a nice day.”
But when we tell someone that we will pray for them, we have made a commitment before God to earnestly lift that person up in prayer, asking for God’s will to be done in their lives. If we have no intention of praying, then we should not make a commitment to do so. If at all possible, it’s good to stop what we are doing right then and there and lift them up to our heavenly Father!
There’s a world of hurting people all around us, so why not start praying for them today? And the next time someone asks for prayer, say sincerely, “I’ll be happy to pray for you. Let’s pray now.” ” Texts: Philippians 1:19, 1 Timothy 2:1, Ephesians 6:18. The truth is I am praying for you and would pray with you.. Pray for me too. Sabbath Jollof is served.
ADRA prepares food and water for the people of Bahamas who were hit with Category 5 Hurricane Dorian dumped heavy rain on the Abaco and Grand Bahama islands for more than 40 hours. As the storm tapers off, the devastation is immense. Families have been left stranded in their homes, knee-deep in high-rise water levels, while countless others are left homeless.
Aid Restricted Temporarily
“Seventy percent of the islands are covered in water and there’s no way to get to them right now,” says Leonardo Rahming, executive secretary of the South Bahamas Conference and disaster response volunteer for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA).
Rahming added that local authorities have asked humanitarian agencies to be on standby as they work to clear debris on the roads, and ensure safety is in place before aid can be delivered. Sea ports have been closed, and airport clearances are being given only to federal officials and the coast guard.
“Water levels are too high on the Abaco islands so we must wait till the water recedes,” Rahming says. “There is easier access to people on Grand Bahama, and we are working to get provisions to them there.”
Due to airport and sea port closures, ADRA has established partnerships with Airlink and YachtAid Global to get food and water to access points. ADRA is also working with Rise Against Hunger to provide meals that will be distributed on the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama. In addition to food and water, clothes and shelter materials will also be distributed.
Rahming shared that another challenge is limited warehouse space to store all the items received. “There’s just not much room,” he says.
Local Churches Step in to Help
That hasn’t deterred ADRA volunteers in the Bahamas who were able to work with local authorities to secure a boat in hopes of reaching people in need but are trapped by high waters.
“We’re the only NGO to do this,” says Rahming, “Local Adventist church members have been working around the clock to help. Grocery stores are opened so members are shopping to get items. What’s needed right now are food, water, and medicine.”
Rahming says he encountered an asthmatic who needed help, however clinics were closed, and medical facilities were running out of medicine.
“The people of Bahamas are a resilient group, but they are hurting because of the devastation,” Rahming says, “I hope the world doesn’t forget the Bahamas and thinks we’ll be okay because we have resources. ADRA has been a great support to us—but the Bahamas still needs ongoing help.”
How You Can Help
Support has been pouring in to help ADRA with aid relief in the Bahamas. Here are a few things that can be done:
Invite your friends and family to support at ADRA.org
Fundraise through Facebook. Go to Facebook.com/fund/joinADRA/, set up a fundraiser for ADRA and share with your friends and family.
Pledge and share your support on other social media platforms, like Twitter and Instagram and include the link to donate at ADRA.org/HurricaneDorian.
If you’re sending a check, please make it payable to ADRA International and write “ADRA Hurricane Dorian Response” in the MEMO. On the tithe envelope in “Other” section, write “ADRA Hurricane Dorian Response.”
Call in at 1-800-424-ADRA (2372)
The Seventh Day Adventist Church is an organized denomination that runs almost the same program worldwide. They may live and worship in far-flung places, but the 19.1 million Seventh-day Adventists worldwide are not only a faith community—they’re a family.
But finding a sense of togetherness can be difficult. One way Adventists can promote community across time zones is by celebrating special emphasis days and events together. The Adventist Church’s calendar of Special Emphasis Days and Events not only encourages unity, it also helps raise awareness of key issues, such as abuse prevention, family and religious freedom.
Adventist Church leadership invites you and your church to join your global family in celebrating these emphasis days and events.
CALENDAR OF SPECIAL DAYS AND EVENTS – WORLD 2019
2019 SPECIAL DAYS/EVENTS
January 2019
January 5: Day of Prayer and Fasting – For more information, visit the Revival and Reformation website.
January 9–19: Ten Days of Prayer – For more information, visit the Ten Days of Prayer website.
January 12: Health Ministries – For more information, please contact your local Division.
January 19: Religious Liberty Day- For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty.
February 2019
February 2: Reach the World: Personal Outreach – For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Sabbath School and Personal Ministries.
February 9–16: Christian Home and Marriage Week – For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Family Ministries.
March 2019
March 2: Women’s Day of Prayer – For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Woman’s Ministries.
March 9: Adventist World Radio – For more information, please contact Adventist World Radio.
March 16–23: Youth Week of Prayer – For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Youth Ministries.
March 16: Global Youth Day – For more information, please see the Global Youth Day website.
March 16: Global Children’s Day – For more information, please see the General Children’s Ministries website. (Download the brochure)
March 23: Christian Education – For more information, please contact your local Division.
April 2019
April 6: Day of Fasting and Prayer – For more information, view these resources from General Conference Ministerial Association.
April 6: Youth Spiritual Commitment Celebration (Northern Hemisphere) – For more information, please contact your local Division.
April 13: Friends of Hope Day (Visitor’s Day) – For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Sabbath School and Personal Ministries.
April 13: Hope Channel – For more information, please contact Hope Channel International.
April 20–26: Literature Evangelism Rally Week – For more information, please contact your local Division.
April 20: World Impact (Distribution) Day – For more information, please contact your local Division.
April 27: Special Needs Awareness Day – For more information, please view this website.
May 2019
May 4–25: Drug Awareness Month – For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Health Ministries.
May 4: Reach the World: United by Our Mission – This day has been set aside to share our church’s global strategic plan with the world. Pleaseuse this presentation to share Our Mission with your congregation, institution or communication channel.
May 11: Reach the World: In the Community, Disaster/Famine Relief – For more information, please contact your local Division.
May 25: World Day of Prayer for Children at Risk – For more information, please view this PDF.
June 2019
June 1: Reach the World – Bible Study: Sabbath School and Correspondence Courses – For more information, please view this website General Conference Department of Sabbath School and Personal Ministries.
June 8: Women’s Ministries Emphasis Day – For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Woman’s Ministries.
June 15: Reach the World – Reach Across: Nurture and Reclaiming – For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Sabbath School and Personal Ministries.
June 15: Adventist Church World Refugee Sabbath – Downloadable resources available.
July 2019
July 6: Day of Prayer and Fasting – For more information, please visit the resource from Revival and Reformation.
July 13: Mission Promotion – For more information, please contact Adventist Mission.
July 20: Reach the World: Media Ministry – For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Communication.
July 27: Children’s Sabbath -For more information, please visit the website for Kids in Ministry Ideas.
August 2019
August 3: Global Mission Evangelism – For more information, please contact your local Division.
August 10: Reach the World: Church Planting – For more information, please contact Adventist Mission.
August 17: Education Day – For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Education.
August 24: enditnow Day – For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Women’s Ministries.
August 24: Lay Evangelism – For more information, please contact your local Division.
September 2019
September 7: Youth Spiritual Commitment Celebration (Southern Hemisphere) – For more information, please contact your local Division.
September 8–14: Family Togetherness Week – For more information, please see the resources available from theGeneral Conference Department of Family Ministries.
September 14: Mission Promotion – For more information, please contact Adventist Mission.
September 21: Pathfinder Day – For more information, please download this PDF.
September 28: Sabbath School Guest Day – For more information, please contact your local Division.
October 2019
October 5: Day of Prayer and Fasting – For more information, find more resources at Revival and Reformation.
October 5: Adventist Review Subscription Promotion – Adventist Review Subscription Promotion – For more information, please contact the Adventist Review.
October 12: Pastor Appreciation Day – For more information, visit the Elder’s Digest website.
October 19: Spirit of Prophecy and Adventist Heritage – For more information, please view the Ellen G. White Estate website.
October 18–20: Global Public Campus Ministries Weekend – For more information, visit General Conference Public Campus Ministries website.
October 26: Creation Sabbath – For more information, please view theCreation Sabbath website.
November 2019
November 2–9: Week of Prayer – For more information, please view the Adventist Review readings (PDF).
November 9–15: e-Week of Prayer for Youth and Young Adults – For more information, please contact the General Conference Department of Youth Ministries.
November 9: Annual Sacrifice Offering – For more information, please contact Adventist Mission. (Resources)
November 16: World Orphans/Vulnerable Children’s Day – For more information, please contact the Special Needs Ministries.
November 30: HIV/AIDS Awareness – For more information, please contact Adventist AIDS International Ministry.
December 2019
December 7: Stewardship – For more information, please contact your local Division.
December 14: Health Emphasis – For more information, please contact your local Division.
Adventist church in Benue has been giving their all in helping persons displaced by the herdsmen crisis in Benue state. The IDPs are currently taking refuge at the Abagena IDPs camp in the outskirt of Makurdi town.
Flagging off the outreach weekend at the camp, District Pastor of the Church, Ibrahim Maviah said the programme which was being sponsored by the Adventist Men Organisation, AMO, also involved the distribution of relief materials and food the to IDPs.
Pastor Maviah said, “apart from the free medical services, we are also here to feed and cloth the displaced persons in line with the teachings of Christ which entails that whatever we do for the less privileged is invariably done for Christ.
“Moreover we all know that health workers across the country are currently on strike so the government can do little in that area at this particular time hence the IDPs are currently facing a huge challenge so this is the ideal time for the outreach.
“God willing, we intend to reach other camps in the state after which we hope to embark on community services in schools and market places. So we are inviting other church’s and persons of goodwill to join the train.”
Pastor Ibrahim Maviah has given more updates on the evangelistic program at Abegana camp. according to him, 95 souls were baptized and over hundred are still in baptismal class.
A total of 95 Souls are baptized at the Hope for the IDP project, a Pentecost II evangelistic program at Abagana Camp in Benue. Over a hundred are still in baptismal class. We are grateful to all that supported the program thus far. This is but the beginning, kindly partner with us or support the program. Thanks
Photos of Adventist Men Organisation of Seventh Day Adventist Church Makurdi 2 Day Free Medical Outreach
Adventist Women Ministry in Ekpan district, Delta conference has taken time to visit a community hospital in the locality as part of why the ministry was created.
See photos:
Adventist Student Fellowship, University of Nigeria, Nsukka chapter has held a send-off ceremony for its outgoing Excos and members (Jaspers). The ceremony which was held at the school’s campus was attended by the district pastor of NSUKKA, Enugu conference, Pastor E. M Iroabuchi, Elder and Mrs Josiah Aja, Emeritus Prof and Prof Mrs Oluikpe, and members of Nsukka district
One of the final year student identified as Chuks Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Oluwagbenga took to his Facebook page to share photos of the ceremony with the caption:
It was an awesome experience today….. As we (The Jaspers) were officially sendforth by the Adventist Student’s fellowship UNN chapter today…. My journey into being to super lion had been officially kicked off…. Gonna really miss a lot of people… Let me stop here before I start crying…. For those that where not there.. Here are some shots ooo…. More coming up…
Another final year student identified as Deborah Akpobome also took to her Facebook page to share photos with the caption:
To God be the Glory, great things He has done!!!!!
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) officially launched on June 12 its first safe water kiosk in Mocuba, Mozambique, which will provide 20 liters a day of safe water for more than 1,000 people. Mocuba, a district of the Zambezia province in Mozambique, has suffered from inadequate safe water supply for years, but the prolonged drought conditions in Southern Africa has made the situation far worse.
More than 100 people attended the grand opening of the new water kiosk, including Mocuba’s mayor, Beatriz Gulamo, a proud supporter of the community project. “We are very pleased to receive this kiosk. To the entire municipality, this is of great value,” says Gulamo while getting a tour of the new water system. The mayor and several ADRA Mozambique representatives held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and announced that the use of the kiosk is now available.
“Though water vending is not new, ADRA’s water kiosk approach is unique because it is a self-sustaining business model that in addition, distributes safe drinking water,” explained Jason Brooks, senior technical advisor for WASH at ADRA International. “The approach of simply drilling wells and training the community to repair them had to give way to a more sustainable service for larger numbers of people, and ADRA wants to provide the most cost effective and long-lasting water service that will not break down for lack of funds to repair them. With a 15-year presence already established in Mocuba and a great need for safe water, ADRA selected the neighborhood of 6,000 as the first launching point to install the water kiosk.”
Brooks further emphasized that the kiosk is a means to help the community gain access to safe water, and eventually a project that can be maintained by the community. “The residents are the one who will benefit from the kiosk, but ADRA wants to ensure they can take care of the kiosk and sustain the water source so the community receives safe water for a long time,” he says. ADRA will train community members and will help them eventually establish ownership of the kiosk.
The newly implemented kiosk contains numerous features: solar panels atop the kiosk that pumps water automatically from the source to an elevated holding tank, multiple water taps compared to the traditional hand pump allowing faster time for people to receive water, two video monitors for bystanders promoting sanitation and hygiene information to prevent the spread of diseases, ice dispensers, clothes wash and recycling capabilities, and cell phone chargers allowing users at the same time to buy cellphone credits.
Residents would be able to purchase soap, toothbrushes, and feminine products to encourage better hygiene practices, and purchases are managed on a tablet handled by a kiosk attendant. The attendant would also be on site to help monitor the water taps.
ADRA has received full backing from supporters, including the General Conference Adventist Health Ministries, who contributed $60,000 to the project, and Grundfos, a global pump manufacturer, who provided water pump technology for the kiosk.
“A study was conducted previously in Mocuba to better understand the needs of the community, and the biggest need we found was cleaner and safer water,” Brooks says. “People were very open with us about their needs, and their willingness to be part of the solution. We learned that the community wanted safe treated water and didn’t mind paying small fees for the additional resources that came along with the new water system.”
Prior to the water project, many residents were collecting water from contaminated wells or even the nearby river. “We suffered a lot taking water from the river,” commented Mariam Laziza, a mother and resident of Mocuba.
The water was unsafe and tainted from people bathing in the river or washing clothes according to community members. “This is a great relief because with this borehole, the people of CFM will suffer less diseases. We are thankful to ADRA,” says Santos Jose, Mocuba’s community leader. “The water system represents an innovation for ADRA that will replace the type of interventions ADRA had in water supply and well drilling,” adds Armindo Salato, programs director of ADRA Mozambique.
Now, with the installment of the new water kiosk, anyone could fetch gallons of safe water at their leisure in a safer environment. The kiosk is located near the community’s school and in a public setting.
“ADRA wants to be at the forefront of responding to pressing needs for basic essentials such as water,” said Brooks, “We plan to run two to three other kiosks in other locations, but this is a pilot that we will test out for a while before we can do so.”
A 22 years Mozambique lady identified as Aurora Carlos Justino, shares her story of how she got fired for keeping the Sabbath day. According to her, it is better to follow the truth than to follow material things.
Read story:
I grew up in Nampula, Mozambique’s third-largest city where 80 percent of the population is Muslim.
I didn’t feel comfortable with the faith of my mother, who got divorced when I was small. Something in my mind kept telling me that I should examine Christian denominations to find peace in my heart.
One day, I told my mother about my desire.
“Mommy, I want to be a Christian,” I told her.
My mother said, “If you want to be a Christian, don’t call me ‘Mommy’ anymore. Your whole family, including your grandparents, belong to another religion. If you want to be a Christian, you will no longer be my daughter.”
Her words frightened me. I remembered that she had given birth to me and raised me. The thought of being disowned by my own mother scared me. I stopped going to my parents’ place of worship. I didn’t go to any place of worship. I wanted to see how my mother would react.
When my mother saw that I wasn’t worshipping at all, she said, “Fine, you can go look for a Christian church.”
I was so happy! But I didn’t immediately start looking for a church because I was caught up in the world.
One day, a young man approached me on the street, and I was impressed with the way that he spoke to me.
“I think you aren’t feeling well,” he said.
“You’re right,” I said, surprised. “I feel a little ill.”
“Do you know that God loves you?” he said.
“Yes,” I said.
“You must leave all your sins,” he said.
Those words bothered me. I was drinking and going to parties.
The man introduced himself as Armando and invited me to his church nearby.
But after we parted ways, I couldn’t remember the name of the church. A month later, I decided to try to find the church. I looked around the area where I had met the man and learned that the only church was Seventh-day Adventist. So, I went to the church and met pastor Abrao Mututu.
“How can I help you?” he said.
I asked the pastor whether he knew a young man named Armando. He didn’t and asked why. I explained that Armando had invited me to worship in his church.
A few minute later, another pastor showed up. I told pastor Eleuterio Marage about my upbringing and asked, “What do I need to do to become a real Christian woman?”
The pastor said I needed to study the Bible and learn about God’s character.
“Tell me about the Bible and about God!” I exclaimed.
The pastor gave me Bible studies and, three months later, I was baptized on July 25, 2016.
Life became difficult immediately after the baptism. The restaurant where I worked scheduled me to work on Saturday, and I thought, “If I don’t work on Sabbath, then I won’t have any work. If I don’t have a job, how will my mother and younger sister survive because I am the only one taking care of them?”
I reached the point where I had to decide what to do. I weighed working on Sabbath and being lost with choosing to follow Jesus and being saved. A month after my baptism, I decided the only right way was to follow Jesus.
Then I read Jesus’ promise in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (NKJV).
I quit my job.
My mother was upset. “You are the only one supporting your family,” she said. “How will we survive?”
“I believe that God will provide a way for us,” I said. “He won’t leave us emptyhanded.”
God has provided. After I left my job, one of my three older brothers stepped in and began to support my mother and sister.
But what has impressed me the most is how drastically my thinking has changed since joining the Adventist Church. I have a peace that I never had before. I thank my Lord for changing my life. I am now 22, and I haven’t been able to find a full-time job. But by God’s grace I have led four people to baptism over the past year.
There are many young women like me in the world. They are dying because of a lack of knowledge of Jesus, the Lord who saves people in and from their sins. This is the Lord who has taken me from the darkness into the light.
From what fiber is felt made? What gives it its tensile strength?
List 15 uses of felt.
Give three reasons why felt is a good material for handicrafts.
List the essential steps in felt manufacture.
Make two of the following, using at least two different colors of felt:
a. Pennant
b. Bookmark
c. Refrigerator magnet
d. Needle case
e. Similar item
6. Make one of the following, using at least four different colors of felt:
a. Small wall mural
b. Holiday decoration
c. Hand puppet
d. Kitchen knick-knack
7. Make one of the following, using sewing:
a. Stuffed animal
b. Stuffed toy
c. Tote bag
d. Bean bag
Flower Arrangement
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 1938
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Name six perennials and six annuals suitable for indoor flower arrangement.
Name at least three flowers that bloom in the spring or early summer suitable for indoor flower arrangement.
Name at least three flowers that do not keep well when cut, and three that do.
Give six suggestions regarding the cutting of flowers and their aftercare, such as when to cut, how to cut, and how to keep.
At what stage of development should roses, gladioluses, and dahlias be cut?
Give three suggestions on the relation of containers to the flowers used, and three on the relation of arrangement to the room and furnishings.
In flower arrangement, what should be the relation of dark and light shades, large and small flowers, open and partly open flowers?
Make two artistic flower arrangements in each of the following areas: (Fresh or silk flowers may be used.)
a. Table decoration
b. General house use
c. Public service
9. What are some wild flowers that could be used in arrangements for the home? What combinations of these flowers can be used?
Geneology & Advanced
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level 2
Originating Organization: North American Division
Requirements:
1. Define the following words :
a. genealogy
b. ancestor
c. descendant
d. spouse
e. sibling
2. Read the genealogy of Christ
a. Be able to tell where it is found in the New Testament
b. Write out the genealogy of Christ – beginning with Adam
3. List five ways to obtain family genealogy information
4. Know at least three societies that help with genealogy research
5. Learn four steps important to genealogy research
6. What is the purpose of documentation?
7. Define a primary source versus a secondary source for documentation.
8. Prepare a four-generation family chart – beginning with your self
9. List ways to record your genealogy information
10. Research your family history by talking/writing to your oldest living relative
Ask the following:
a. first memory
b. When and where you were born?
c. First church you remember attending?
d. Names of schools, and location, you attended
e. Where you lived at age ten and age fourteen
f. From what country did our ancestors emigrate?
g. Where and when were you married
h. If you had children please give their names, place and date of birth
i. Write a thank you to your relative for their time and include a photo of yourself and ask them if they would be willing to share a copy of an older family photo with you.
11. Make a historical record of your life including:
a. genealogical chart
b. Records that pertain to your life
c. Pictures
d. Stories
e. Share this with your group/club/school
12. Visit a City/County Library – Genealogy Section (or other Genealogy Research Center) and write a paragraph on your visit including:
a. Types of information available
b. Any New information you discovered about your family
13. Visit a cemetery and learn by copying the headstones:
a. The names of three different families
b. The dates of birth and death for these family members
c. The average length of life for these family members
14. Check with your local cemetery officials to learn how upkeep is done and ask them how you can help with clean-up in a cemetery in your area. Then do it!
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 3
Original Honor: 2006
Originating Institution: North American Division
Advanced Requirements:
Have the Genealogy Honor
Define a primary source versus a secondary source for documentation.
What is the purpose of documentation?
Demonstrate a census extraction for one branch of your family from six of the following census: (for NAD find year of immigration and list the country from where they immigrated)
a. 1840
b. 1850
c. 1860
d. 1870
e. 1880
f. 1900
g. 1910
h. 1920
5. Show a pedigree chart you have filled out for 7 generations. List the information you have been unable to learn and what efforts you have made to locate this information.
6. Show 42 family group records you have filed out and the documentation notes to go with the family group record.
7. Find military records/pension records on one of your family members. If your family has none, then show military/pension records on any person.
8. Show vital records you have obtained for one person from item # 5 including:
a. birth
b. marriage
c. death
9. Show a copy of 3 obituaries on relatives with documentation where you found them.
10. List four web sites/or libraries where you have been able to locate information for your family research.
11. Where in the Bible does it say not to spend time on fables and endless genealogies? What does the Seventh-day Adventist Commentary list as the reason
for this advice?
Gift Wrapping
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 2015
Originating Institution: Euro-Asia Division
Requirements:
1. List five courtesy rules for giving and receiving gifts.
2. Do the following:
a. Collect different types of wrapping paper, at least ten grades, five-by-seven centimeters in size.
b. Choose a suitable gift wrap pattern for wrapping a gift to a child, an adult, a sister, a brother, etc.
c. Demonstrate carefully wrapping a simple rectangular box in paper.
3. Wrap the following types of gifts with ornamental supplement:
a. in the form of a cube
b. in the form of a cylinder
c. multifaceted
d. extraordinary (your option).
4. Know how to make a gift bow (3 types).
5. Correctly and carefully pack a gift. Give the wrapped gift to someone in your family, church, or community
Glass Craft
Original Honor: 1970
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Name ten kinds of glass.
Know what kind of glass is used for furniture, cloth insulation, airplanes, and automobiles.
Prepare at least three colors of glass for picture making.
Know the steps in making a picture with glass, and complete such a picture, using at least three colors.
Write a 300-word report or give a three-minute oral report on the history of glass and how glass is made.
Glass Etching
Skill Level: 1
riginal Honor: 1997
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Name the tools and items needed for Glass Etching.
Name the eleven steps of Glass Etching.
What is the technique of applying velvet etch?
Make a project on clear glass.
a. Lettering or verses
b. Flowers, animals, or people.
5. Make a project on a mirror. Include the following:
a. Lettering, verses, flowers, animals, or people.
b. Finish by framing around mirror with colored tape.
6. Make a project on a glass, jar, or oval object.
Glass Painting
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 1938
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Know the primary colors, the secondary colors, and how to mix the primary colors to obtain the secondary colors.
Know the materials used in painting, mounting, and hanging a glass painting.
Make and display a glass painting for each of the following designs: animal, flower, and landscape or seascape.
Make a silhouette painting and mount for hanging.
Make a hand-painted mirror picture by removing the back coating of the mirror from the picture area and painting the design on the back of the mirror glass.
Guitar
Skill Level: 2
riginal Honor: 2012
Originating Institution: South America Division / North American Division
Requirements:
Research the history of guitars and how they came to your country.
Describe or show the difference between melody, harmony and rhythm.
Distinguish three different types of guitars. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of each type.
Identify the three divisions of the guitar and identify 15 different parts, explaining the function of each part.
Demonstrate the correct posture to practice guitar. Explain the importance of practicing in that position.
Know the names of the fingers, strings and hand positions. Demonstrate each in its proper way.
In standard tuning, the 6 strings on a guitar are associated with which notes?
What are the chords (figures) and how are they built? Write by memory a list of all major and minor chords, along with specific finger positions.
Demonstrate ability to perform at least seven major and minor chords (ex. A, B, B7, C, D, E, G, F, A minor).
Explain the difference between flats and sharps? Show how they are represented for guitar play.
Describe the difference between nylon and steel stringing, and explain the reason behind your preference.
Demonstrate the use of a capo and how to replace a guitar string.
Play a song using at least two different techniques:
Strumming
Fingerpicking
Classical
Other
Select three simple hymns or spiritual songs that you can play on guitar, and teach them to a unit, club or group.
Guitar, Advanced
Skill Level: 3
Original Honor: 2012
Originating Institution: South American and North American Divisions
Requirements:
Have the Guitar honor.
Define “Triads” and show how are they used. Demonstrate how to play triads derived from high score notes.
Demonstrate two different methods of guitar tuning.
Define tablature (tabs). Demonstrate how to read and perform tablature (tabs) on a guitar.
Demonstrate how to change the key of a song to fit the vocal range of the singers.
Define and explain the differences between consonant and dissonant chord?
Practice and perform a solo in at least two scales with the guitar.
Create a personal song book of at least 25 hymns and spiritual songs with chords properly written. Play them as part of a song service or performance during a club meeting worship service, worship, or other group function.
Kanzashi
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 2015
Originating Institution: Euro-Asia Division
Requirements
Define Kanzashi, or Hana Kanzashi? Where did this art come from? How did it develop?
Describe or show what materials and tools are used in Kanzashi?
Show in what way the round three- or two-dimensional Kanzashi petals can be folded.
Show in what way the narrow three- or two-dimensional Kanzashi petals can be folded.
Show in what way the double round and double narrow Kanzashi petals can be folded.
Make a Kanzashi flower with three-dimensional petals and fashion the back of fabric.
Make a Kanzashi flower with two-dimensional petals and fashion the back of fabric.
Make a finished Kanzashi product (hair-clip, brooch, etc).
Notes:
Kanzashi are woman’s hairpins, hairgrips, and combs, to be worn in hair, in combination with kimono. Kanzashi and kimono are often made in the same style.
The ornaments Hana Kanzashi (Kanzashi with flowers) are featured by silk flowers and threads containing small silk flowers that hang down about 20 cm. A Hana Kanzashi may be worth more than a kimono because making a Hana Kanzashi is a very meticulous work resembling jeweller’s work. Kanzashi are hair ornaments used in traditional Chinese and Japanese hairstyles. Kanzashi came into wide use during the Edo period, when artisans began to produce more finely crafted products. Nowadays, Kanzashi are most often worn by brides; by professional kimono wearers such as tayū and yujo; or by adepts in Japanese tea ceremony and ikebana. However, there is currently a revival among young Japanese women who wish to add an elegant touch to their business suit.
Knitting
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 1970
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
1. Define the following:
a. K
b. P
c. STS
d. RND
e. TOG
f. PSSO
g. INC
h. DEC
i. YO
2. Demonstrate the following:
a. Cast on
b. Bind off
c. Cable stitch
d. Ribbing
e. Garter stitch
f. Stockinette stitch
g. Pick up a dropped stitch
3. Know how to care for these kinds of yarn:
a. Wool
b. Hair
c. Synthetic
4. Show how to join on a new ball of yarn.
5. Identify and know the purpose of the following weights of yarn:
a. Medium
b. Sports
c. Heavy
d. Bulky
6. Knit two items from the following:
a. Slippers
b. Mittens
c. Baby booties
d. Hat
e. Scarf
f. Sleeveless sweater
g. Reasonable choice
Knitting, Advanced
Skill Level: 3
Original Honor: 1970
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Have the Knitting Honor.
Knit a pair of argyle or patterned socks, gloves, or some other article, using four needles and yarn bobbins.
Knit an afghan or a baby blanket.
Knit a sweater with long sleeves or a baby set of sweater, bonnet, and booties.
Lapidary
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 1967
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
Name four safety precautions to be taken when sawing rocks.
Name two types of diamond saw lubricating and cooling solutions and their purpose.
Explain how a diamond saw cuts rocks, how it gets dull, and how it can be sharp ened.
Describe the five basic steps to follow in bringing a slab or a flat surface to a polish.
What important precaution should be taken between each stage of grinding and sanding?
What is a template, and how is it used?
What is a cabochon, and what is the usual thickness of the slab from which it is made?
How do you decide the best angle or position to slab a specimen?
Explain two methods of wet sanding while shaping and polishing the rock.
From what material are polishing compounds made? If a scratch appears while polishing, how is it removed?
Saw, trim, properly dop, and carry a cabochon through the necessary grinding, sanding, and polishing stages to a high gloss or glassy finish.
Mount the cabochon on some type of backing, such as a stick pin, sweater pin, key ring, etc., with cement.
Leather Craft
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 1937
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
List the necessary tools a beginner needs in leather craft and demonstrate the proper use of each.
Know how to distinguish different kinds of leather, such as calf, goat, and imitation leather. What leathers are most suitable for tooling?
Give the steps necessary in the preparation of leather.
Transfer a design to leather, and tool and lace some object in leather, such as a billfold, magazine cover, belt, key keeper, or small purse.
Show how to use leather dye.
What kind of finish should be used on leather?
Leather Craft, Advanced
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 1977
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Have the Leather Craft Honor.
Show how to punch holes, set snaps, do saddle stitching, and do two types of lacing.
Make a sheath for a hatchet, knife, or ax.
Complete a figure-carved belt, doing your own tooling.
From your own design, cut from leather, tool, punch, and lace a project such as a case, purse, bag, or an equivalent.
Show six leather items you have made.
LEGO Design
Skill Level: 1
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
1. Know the following terms:
A. Element
B. Stud
C. Brick
D. Plate
E. Base Plate
F. Tile
G. Slope
H. Inverted Slope
I. Hinge
J. Technics Brick
K. Power Functions
L. Mini-figure
2. Build and/or find examples of following types of scale models:
A. Micro Scale (1 city block equals 32 studs)
B. Mini-figure Scale (6 feet or 2 meters, equals roughly 6 studs)
C. Ultimate Collector Scale (larger than Mini-figure Scale and smaller than 1 tot 1 scale)
D. 1 to 1 Scale (Actual Size)
3. Choose one of the following:
A. Build a 1 to 1 scale model of something from nature, your home, church, or school. Then share your model with your group or club.
B. Build a scale model of your house, apartment, or other building in your community. Be sure to include large furniture items like bed, stove, refrigerator, sofa, & dresser, etc. Then share your model with your group or club.
4. Choose one of the following:
A. Use LEGO® as visual aid in a Children’s Story for youth ages 2-9 at church or Sabbath School.
B. Use LEGO® as part of a school project.
5. Build a scene or an item from the Bible using LEGO® in one of the scale sizes from Requirement #2.
6. From your imagination create your own design in 2 of the 5 categories below and share both designs with your group or club.
A. Car, truck, or other land vehicle.
B. Plane, helicopter, or other aircraft.
C. Ship, submarine, or other watercraft.
D. Brick built animal or plant based on a real species using at least 10 pieces.
E. Machine, appliance, or robot (without power functions)
7. Write a 250 word paragraph, or in a 3-5 minute presentation to you group or club, tell how you can use LEGO® to witness to those that don’t know about God.
LEGO, the LEGO logo and the minifigure are trademarks and/or copyrights of The LEGO Group. Pathfinders and the Seventh-Day Adventist Church are not affiliated with and/or facilitated by The LEGO Group.
Lettering & Poster Making
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 1933
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Write from memory the complete lower case alphabet in two of the following: Gothic, Roman, or Italic.
Demonstrate when the different sizes and types of pens are to be used.
State at least four principles in making a poster attractive and distinctive. Know how to make correct margins for the size of paper you are using.
Make three posters in a variety of sizes to be used by any of the following groups: Sabbath School, church, school, Pathfinder Club, or AY Society. Use at least two different types of lettering in these posters.
Make five additional posters on topics of your own choice. These posters will be judged for acceptance on the following three conditions:
a. Arrangement
b. Neatness
c. Selection in type of lettering used.
6. Practice all strokes until they can be done smoothly and accurately.
Lighthouses
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 2007
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
1. Describe the following in detail concerning lighthouses:
a. What is the function of a lighthouse?
b. When were the first lighthouses of record built?
c. What is the name of the most famous ancient lighthouse?
d. What are people called who study lighthouses? Why?
e. Do all lighthouses have keepers? If not, how are they run?
2. Research the structure and function of Fresnel lenses. Explain what makes these lenses so effective.
3. Throughout history, what fuels were used for lighthouse lights?
4. Are all lighthouses located along ocean shores? If not, list other locations where you would find a lighthouse.
5. What is the lighthouse service called in your country? What organization or branch of government is responsible for maintaining lighthouses in your country?
6. When a lighthouse is a visible landmark seen from the ocean during the day it can be identified by certain markings. What are these called?
7. What is a foghorn? Why would one be used at a lighthouse? What are three things that affect how far away a foghorn can be heard?
8. Since lighthouses are often called “lights”, explore the concept of “lights” in scripture by doing the following:
a. Look in the Bible Concordance to find “lights” and discuss lights as referred to in the Bible
b. Explain why you think God’s word is like a lighthouse.
c. Memorize John 8:12.
9. Write a poem or a story about a lighthouse light. Include thoughts of God’s “light”. Read your story or poem to your group.
10. Draw or photograph five lighthouse forms/types being used today.
11. Do one of the following:
a. List the names and locations of 5 lighthouses in your state/province.
b. Locate on a map the location of 10 lighthouses in your country/division
12. List the references you used to learn about lighthouses.
Lighthouses, Advanced
Skill Level: 3
Original Honor: 2007
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
1. Have the Lighthouses Honor
2. Make a scrapbook including the following:
a. Pictures, post cards or drawings of twenty-five lighthouses. Label should include a brief description of: location, year built, active/non-active status, and order of the lens.
b. Write up a short history of the above lighthouses.
c. Include drawings/pictures and answers to all the requirements for this honor in your scrapbook.
3. List the development of a Fresnel lens, including:
a. Name of the gentleman that invented it.
b. Country that he came from
c. Year developed
4. Draw a Fresnel lens:
a. Show how prisms are used to concentrate light
b. Draw a bull’s eye lens and state its purpose
5. Make a chart showing each class of Fresnel lens:
a. Define order and list by size
b. Name at least one lighthouse using each order
6. Research and describe the history of the mechanism for rotating lights
7. Make a chart of six lighthouses showing nighttime (light) and daytime (day mark) signature.
8. What is a lightship? Why and where are lightships needed?
9. Read about lighthouse keepers and list some of the hazards they faced in completing their duties.
10. Study quotes by Ellen White mentioning lighthouses and discuss the meaning. Place a copy of the quotes in your scrapbook.
11. Obtain a “Lighthouse Passport” and have it stamped at 10 different lighthouse locations.
12. Build a lighthouse modeled after a real lighthouse using a lighthouse kit, wood, or other medium. Know the name, location, and date when the actual lighthouse was originally built.
The Seventh-day Adventist community inaugurated its first church in Erbil, the capital city of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, on Sunday, February 25. During the first service in the new church building on the Sabbath before, the church members reflected on the past years, the challenges faced and the blessings achieved. On the 25th, the official opening ceremony included local authorities and representatives from the headquarters of the Middle East and North Africa Union.
Gilberto Araujo, director of the East Mediterranean Region that covers Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria, expressed his gratitude for the support from the Middle East and North Africa Union (MENA).
“We would like to express its appreciation to the local authorities in Kurdistan for allowing us to freely and peacefully worship,” said Araujo. “At the same time, we thank MENA for its financial help and leadership.”
Local authorities congratulated the Seventh-day Adventist community on the dedication of the new church at the inauguration ceremony.
“Dozens of churches were opened in Kurdistan Region, showing the coexistence of different nations and religions in the region,” said Pshtiwan Sadiq, acting minister of Endowment and Religious Affairs.
Church leaders encouraged the members to share God’s hope and love with the community in spite of the sufferings they have endured.
“This inauguration shows that there is a future for the gospel in the country,” said Tibor Szilvasi, executive secretary of the Middle East and North Africa Union.
It was a memorable day for the members of the Adventist church in Iraq, which had been much stronger in the past until many conflicts happened in the region and the church’s presence became weak in the country.
The Beginning in Iraq
In 1923, Adventist gospel workers began their work in the city of Mosul, 250 mi (400km) north of Bagdad. Later Adventist schools and a hospital were built in the city.
In 1958, the first Adventist church in Iraq was opened in Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq. During the peak of the Adventist presence in the country, there were four churches in the cities of Mosul, Baghdad, Kirkuk and Basrah with a total membership of nearly 200 people.
Political Upheavals
In the 1970s, although the government nationalized Adventist institutions such as schools and a hospital, Iraqi Adventists still had the freedom to worship so churches were kept open.
However, the country suffered from several wars with Iran from1980 through 1988 and with the United States in 2003. Due to the wars and instability, many members left the country and the church was severely affected.
All the Adventist churches in the country started to close one by one, until the last church in Baghdad had to shut its door and there were no members left.
“It was a really stressful period for the church,” said George Yousif, an Iraqi Adventist member of the Erbil church.
New Beginning and Challenges
In 2011, indigenous and expat Adventists from Bagdad, Nicaragua, and Brazil began to gather together to worship in Erbil. The worshiping group grew in number particularly as the Adventist church’s humanitarian agency, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) came to the region to work for refugees and Internally Displaced People(IDP).
In 2015, the church encountered another crisis when military operations started against the Islamic State (ISIS) in the city of Mosul, 51mi (81km) west of Erbil. However, the crisis didn’t stop church members from worshiping together.
Next Steps
With the new building, the church can receive more people than before and it is planning various projects to serve the community members.
Rick McEdward, president of the church’s regional headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, believes that being a light in the community should be the main focus of the new facility.
“As Adventists we are called to bring hope to the world, after years of years of crisis it is a great moment to see a new church opened to serve the community,” said McEdward. “We are grateful to God for the freedom to open a place of prayer and service in order to bring God’s love to the world.”
Seventh-day Adventists were among the first to respond after a powerful earthquake devastated villages in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
The 7.5 magnitude quake struck the Southern Highlands region of PNG on February 26, with 122 reported deaths. Since then there has been a series of at least 70 aftershocks.
An initial report from oil and gas company ExxonMobil listed the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) as part of the initial assessment team that made one of the first visits to the area.
“Anticipating immediate resource needs, the team delivered essentials, including shelter equipment, water and sanitation support to the Para Health Clinic, which serves the Para, Tokaju and Hides areas,” a media release from the company stated.
Adventist Aviation Services (AAS) in Goroka also posted an update to their Facebook page, outlining the details of their involvement in providing aid.
“The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Papua New Guinea, through its flying program, Adventist Aviation Services PNG, has had the incredible opportunity to be a first responder . . . to the people of PNG most devastated by the earthquake,” the March 6 post said.
“On Thursday, as it became apparent that relief from other sources would not be available for some time, and as our aircraft and crew became available for duty, AAS CEO Captain Jeff Downs began coordinating with Mission Aviation Fellowship International to clearly identify the rural communities most affected by the earthquake.
“By Friday morning, Captain Downs and AAS flight coordinator Samson Nopi were able to purchase more than 13,000 Kina worth of rice, tinned fish and water and, over Friday and Saturday, delivered 850kg of food and water to villages in need.”
In the impacted area—one of the most remote locations in PNG—up to 80 per cent of the houses have been destroyed, along with roads and other infrastructure.
A report prepared by ADRA PNG emergency coordinator Willie Kunsei said about 143,000 people have been identified as needing urgent humanitarian assistance.
“The people requiring urgent assistance also face the immediate risk of displacement and will have lost most of their assets with short- and long-term consequences to their lives and livelihoods,” noted Mr Kunsei.
Food is scarce, with 64,000 people at risk of extreme food insecurity. Most gardens were destroyed by the landslides and, in some cases, totally covered by landslides.
As aftershocks continue to hit the Highlands, the PNG Government is relying on foreign aid to get relief to the affected areas. ADRA and AAS in PNG will continue monitoring the situation, and working with the Government and other agencies to provide support to affected villages.
“Please, Church family around the world, pray for your Seventh-day Adventist friends and the people of the Papua New Guinea Highlands,” said the communication team from the Western Highlands Mission.
Ted N.C. Wilson, president of the Adventist Church, offers prayers and condolences for the injured and the families of those lost.
Lighting struck a Rwandan church on March 10, killing 15 members. More than 130 others attending divine services at the Gihemvu Seventh-day Adventist Church were taken to an area hospital and other health centers. Some of those treated have since been released.
Church leaders and government officials, including Abidan Ruhongeka, president of the South Rwandan Field and Mureshyankwano Marie Rose, the governor of the Southern Province of Rwanda, attended a special burial ceremony held Sunday, March 11. Rose offered condolences to the families of the deceased and declared that the district of Nyaruguru will pay the medical bills of those still receiving treatment.
During the ceremony, Ruhongeka shared, “We commiserate with the families of the deceased and those affected during these hard times. Let everybody remember that when Jesus comes again, those died in Him shall resurrect.” He said that the church provided coffins to bury the deceased and they are providing support and assistance to those affected by this tragedy.
Ted. N.C. Wilson, president of the General Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church expressed his sympathy for the church in Rwanda on his public Facebook page.
“We have received alarming word that this last Sabbath, March 10, at the Gihemvu Seventh-day Adventist Church in the southern district of Nyaruguru in the country of Rwanda, at least 15 of our Seventh-day Adventist members died and others were injured during a traumatic lightning strike on the church. Our hearts go out to our dear church members in Rwanda who have suffered this very difficult loss. What a tragedy to have such a strange occurrence of lightning striking during a church service.
On behalf of the world family of Seventh-day Adventists circling the globe, we have offered our deep sympathy and Christian love to all our members in the Rwanda Union which is in the East-Central Africa Division and especially to the families who have lost loved ones and to those who were injured from this traumatic event.
Truly God will provide the comfort and encouragement during this trying ordeal. We have encouraged our church members in Rwanda to keep their eyes focused on the Lord and His soon return when He will bring to life all those who have died in Him. What a hope we have for the future. Please pray with us for our church members and especially the families affected as they look to the Lord for their encouragement and continue with the strong emphasis on Total Member Involvement. Let us pray that each church member in Rwanda may feel the comforting and guiding hand of the Holy Spirit during this difficult time” (quoted from facebook.com/PastorTedWilson/).
Adventist Youth (AY) Honours are a core portion of the overall Pathfinder curriculum. There are close to 300 AY Honors that can be earned, covering a wide variety of interests, from art to music to vocational pursuits
Arts Crafts & Hobbies
Nature
Recreation
Health & Science
Outdoor Industries
Vocational
Household Arts
Outreach Ministries
Arts Crafts & Hobbies
Aboriginal Lore
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: UNK
Original Honor: UNK
Adventsource Honors Handbook PDF
Requirements:
Who are the Aborigines and where did they come from? How many tribes were there when European colonization commenced?
Discuss the tribal system. What are totems?
Discuss the food of the Aborigines: a. Kinds b. How obtained c. How prepared
Discuss their homes. Of what are they made and why are they not permanent? Where do the young men and boys sleep?
How do they communicate with other tribes who may not understand their language? How do they send signals within the tribe? What is the purpose of the Tjuringa (or Churinga)?
What are some of the articles of trade and exchange? What domestic utensils do they use.
Describe some of the weapons used in hunting and warfare.
What is a corroboree? Explain its purpose. What are clap sticks and the didgeridoo?
What games to children play? How are young men trained? How are they initiated? What is the bora ground? What is a bull roarer?
Discuss the two main types of Aboriginal art.
Briefly relate the history of the Aborigines since the white man arrived in Australia, mentioning the government policies through the years and the work of missions.
African Lore
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: UNK
Original Honor: UNK
Originating Institution: East African Division
Requirements:
Be able to name and locate at least ten different African tribes of the present day and name several outstanding features of each.
a. Select for study an African Tribe. (If you belong to an African Tribe, select one other than your own.)
b. Find out detailed information on the tribe selected, in the following areas:
(1) eating habits
(2) initiation ceremony
(3) witch doctors
(4) living and worship conditions
(5) education
(6) burials
(7) money
(8) dress
(9) industry
3. Tell an African folk story bringing out its moral.
4. Make a collection of at least 15 object manufactured by African tribes (other than your own).
Airplane Modeling
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 1944
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Build and successfully fly an airplane from a kit made of balsa wood and tissue paper, and rubber band or gas powered.
Build a balsa wood glider from a kit and observe its flying characteristics as related to the variable positions of the wings.
Make and successfully fly two different styles of airplanes using sheets of paper between eight (20.3 cm) and fourteen (35.6 cm) inches in width and length.
Define, locate, and explain the usage of the following basic items:
a. Fuselage
b. Wing
c. Aileron
d. Rudder
e. Horizontal stabilizer
f. Strut
g. Cockpit
h. Engine
i. Landing gear
j. Propeller
Basketry
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 1937 Revised 1944
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Know the names of two countries where Rattan (cane) is grown.
Explain how to treat pithcane (reed) before weaving.
What tools would you use for: a. Cane basket making? b. Raffia or Indian basket making?
Define: a. Weaver singeing b. Crushing
Explain how to: a. Mend a broken spoke (stake). b. Join a weaving rod (reed).
Name two kinds of bases used in baskets and tell in which type of basket each one can be used.
Describe how to lay: a. A footridge border b. A three-rod border
Do the following: simple weaving, slewing, and bi-spoking, and stitch a raffia base.
Make a cane sandwich tray with a wood base.
Make a hot roll basket with a woven base.
Make a round hot pad six inches (15.2 cm) in diameter in Raffia or Indian basketry.
Block Printing
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 1945
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
List the tools and equipment necessary for block printing.
Write a paragraph on the principles of design and lettering as applied to block printing.
Using a potato, carve a design incorporating your initials into it, and use it to print your initials on paper.
Design and print at least one greeting card.
Design and print one bookplate or book cover.
Going through the steps of designing, carving, and printing, create another original piece of work of your choice.
Braiding and Advanced
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 1972
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
1. Make a three-strand braid, using hair, rope, or cord.
2. Make a zipper pull or a key chain using the four-strand round or square braid.
3. Make a four-strand hanger cover.
4. Make a four-strand round braid lanyard.
5. Know how to start and end all projects.
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 1976
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
Have the Braiding Honor.
Make a six- or eight-strand zipper pull or key chain.
Make a six- or eight-strand zipper pull or key chain showing zigzag technique by reversing direction of braid, or make a project showing the three-part inside or trick braid.
Do one of the following: a. Six-strand lanyard. b. Bookmark using at least six strands. c. Four-strand dog leash using twine or wire for a core to braid around
Know how to start and end all projects.
Bread Dough
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 1976
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Make a list of materials and supplies needed for dough artistry.
Why is it important to have clean hands and use hand lotion while working with bread dough?
Explain the different techniques of tinting and painting the dough.
What type of finish do you use to protect and give a glossy appearance?
Make at least two different flowers with leaves and arrange into a container of your choice.
Make one of the following using tinted dough: a. Sculpture arrangement. b. Small wall plaque
Make one of the following: a. Kitchen refrigerator magnet. b. Pin. c. Choice of something you would like to make
Bridges
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 2012
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
1. Define the following terms:
a.Bridge
b.Aqueduct
c.Falsework
d.Compression force
e.Tension force
f.Bascule bridge
g.Covered bridge
2.Describe these six main types of bridge design and give two examples of each:
a.Arch bridge
b.Beam bridge
c.Cable-stayed bridge
d.Cantilever bridge
e.Suspension bridge
f.Truss bridge
3. Discover the distance each of the following bridge designs can span:
a. Arch bridge
b.Beam bridge
c.Cable-stayed bridge
d.Cantilever bridge
e.Suspension bridge
f.Truss bridge
4.Name the bridge design that can span the longest distance
5.Draw or illustrate the basic design of each of the following bridge types.
a.Beam bridge
b.Arch bridge
c.Suspension bridge
d.Covered bridge
e.Truss bridge
f.Cable-stayed bridge (fan shape)
g.Cantilever bridge
h.Bascule bridge
i.Cable-stayed bridge (harp shape)
6.Do the following activities:
a.Watch a video about bridges.
b.Make a list of at least eight notable bridges OR name two bridges that you have crossed and tell what design they are.
7.Make a video/multimedia presentation or scrapbook presentation about bridge(s) you have seen.
8.Build a bridge using materials such as craft sticks, toothpicks, yarn, thread, and glue.
9.Recite John 3:16, then tell how this verse describes Jesus’ role as a bridge between heaven and earth.
Cake Decorating
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 1972
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
1. List equipment necessary for cake decorating.
2. Learn from memory the two cake icings-butter cream and royal-and their proper uses. Name one other icing used for frosting.
3. Learn and demonstrate proper construction of the decorating tube using parchment, wax papers, or a disposable bag. Show proper method of inserting tip, brushing with color, filling with icing, and folding of top. What is the name of the top fold?
4. Name three essential steps to good cake decorating.
5. Demonstrate pressure control with tubes. Learn the technique and name the proper tip (tube) used to make the following:
a. Star, fill-in and border
b. Rosette
c. Shell border
d. “S” design
e. Ribbon
f. Zigzag border
g. Leaves
6. Name four color techniques. Demonstrate two, including two-color icing.
7. Learn to make the following flowers:
a. Sweet pea
b. Rosebud
c. Full American beauty rose
d. Drop flower
8. Demonstrate writing technique using two different tips and methods.
9. Decorate a doll cake or a cake prepared in a specialty cake pan using star fill-in method. Use at least two colors to make the design or pattern.
10. Make a special occasion cake of your choice using two or more borders of different types, and a floral arrangement.
11. Make a heart cake using borders, florets, string work, and writing
Candlemaking
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 1972
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
1. Make at least five of the following:
a. Free-form sand candle
b. Layered colored candle
c. Candle made in a mold
d. Ice candle
e. Dipped candle
f. Dribble-wax candle
g. Perfumed candle
h. Pair of beeswax candles
i. Floating candle
j. Candle in a container/jar
k. Decorated candle
2. Know the two kinds of wax used for candle making and their uses.
3. Know sizes of wicking and which one will burn properly in each particular candle.
4. When should a metal core wick be used?
5. Know the safety techniques of candle making.
Card Making
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 2010
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
1. How are the following supplies used in card making?
a. card stock
b. felt pens
c. scissors (regular and decorative)
d. embellishments
e. rubber stamps
f. water pencils & crayons
g. ink pads
h. punches
2. Describe how at least three different kinds of paper are used in card making, such as glossy card stock, corrugated paper, mulberry paper, vellum, or gift wrap.
3. Describe four methods of coloring in a stamped image and emonstrate at least two of them.
4. Name four different types of ink pads and describe how they are used. Demonstrate proficiency in using at least two of them in a practice project.
5. What is meant by the term monochromatic?
6. What is sponging, and how do you use it in card making?
7. What is dry embossing and what tools do you need for this technique?
8. Demonstrate proper care and cleaning of rubber stamps and storing of ink pads.
9. Describe and demonstrate how to use at least two of the following in a practice project.
a. foam dots (also squares, hexagons, etc.)
b. foam tape
c. double sided tape
d. tape runners
e. zots
10. List at least five reasons for making cards.
11. Make cards to fulfill three of the reasons discovered in requirement 10. During your card creation, demonstrate at least three of the following techniques:
a. Monochromatic style
b. sponging
c. two types of coloring in a stamped image
d. a card using at least two types of paper
e. a card using embellishments, foam tape/dots, or other supplies mentioned in requirement 5.
f. A card using a method of your choice
12. Do the following:
a. Display your cards at a Pathfinder, AY, youth group, or similar event.
b. Give at least one of your cards to someone else as part of a missions, share your faith, or similar outreach/caring event
13. Read the following passages (preferably with a group/unit) and discuss the similarities / differences between these letter greetings and modern day greeting cards.
a. 1 Corinthians 15:58
b. Ephesians 6:21
c. Philippians 4:1
d. James 1:16, 19
e. Philemon 1:1
Ceramics
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 1956
Originating Institution: NAD/ General Conference (link here for GC version of honor requirements)
Requirements (NAD):
1. Tell briefly the history of early ceramics.
2. Know what is meant by the following terms:
a. Greenware
b. Bisque
c. Decal
d. Kiln
e. Glaze
f. Slip
g. Mender
h. Stain
3. Explain the use of cones in kilns.
4. Know how and when to use underglaze, glaze and stain.
5. Know what tools are used in completing your projects in ceramics.
6. Know the difference between glaze and food-safe glaze.
7. Complete two of the following using underglaze on one item, and food-safe glaze on the second item:
a. Cookie jar
b. Pie plate
c. Vase
d. Flower planter
e. Candy dish
f. Mug
g. Item of your choice
Note: Candidate need not do the firing.
Copper Enameling
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 1972
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
Know the difference between low-temp and high-temp enameling.
Name the materials on which the low-temp process can be used.
What is the proper method of cleaning items to be enameled? Why is it important to clean items to be enameled?
How is copper finished to prevent tarnishing?
Name the tools used in enameling.
What heat sources can be used for low-temp enameling? What safety precautions should be followed?
How are pin backs and magnets attached to the back of metal pieces?
Make at least five items using the following techniques:
a. Swirling
b. Stencil
c. Threads
d. Mosaic
e. Scraffito
NOTE: The high-fire firing for this honor need not be done by the candidate. This honor may be earned using either the high-fire or the low-fire enameling.
Copper Enameling, Advanced
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 3
Original Honor: 1972
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
Have the Copper Enameling Honor.
Explain the use of a trivet.
What materials can be used to decorate enameled pieces for the applique technique?
Use four of the following techniques in completing requirement 5:
a. Counter enameling
b. Applique
c. Cloisonne
d. Dry painting
e. Scraffito
5. Make four of the following projects:
a. Holiday decoration
b. Kitchen decoration
c. Foil flower
d. Pin or stick pin
e. Metal bookends
f. Metal switch plate
g. Three-dimensional item
h. Similar item of your choice
Counted Cross Stitch
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 1986
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Have a tote with cross-stitch materials, including at least one hoop, masking tape or Fra-check, needles, and scissors.
What is the difference between cross-stitching, counted cross-stitch, and embroidery?
Know at least four stitches used in counted cross-stitch.
Cross-stitch a simple object in three different sizes of aida cloth. Mount and label the size and name of aida cloth used, stating how many floss strands are to be used with each.
Make a counted cross-stitch of a quote with a border and frame it for hanging, using at least three different stitches.
Make at least a 5 x 7 inches (12.7 x 17.8 cm) counted cross-stitch on aida-14 of a nature scene.
Crocheting
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 1970
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Define and crochet the following: ST, SP, STS, RND, INCL, DEC, and INC.
Make squares of at least 20 stitches of the following: SC, DC, HDC, TR, and DTR.
Show how to measure stitch gauge or row gauge on sample squares.
Know how to care for items made out of wool, orlon, nylon, and cotton.
Know how to make a granny square, and show something you have made using a granny square, such as a hat, scarf, pillow cover, etc.
Show a sample of simple edging you have made out of thread.
Crochet one of the following out of yarn: hat, scarf, sleeveless sweater, or slippers.
Crocheting, Advanced
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 3
Original Honor: 1970
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Have the Crocheting Honor.
Crochet a round doily out of thread.
Make a fancy hairpin lace for a pillow case or similar object.
Crochet a sweater (not sleeveless) or baby set.
Crochet an afghan or a throw rug.
Currency (Coins)
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 1945
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Relate briefly the story of barter, showing three reasons why money came into being and naming at least ten strange forms of money used in place of coins or currency.
Relate briefly the history of coinage and paper currency in your country, making sure to mention the dates of the establishment of any mints or engraving plants. Also discover some change in the metal composition of a coin, giving any interesting highlights concerning such a change.
Explain how money is distributed in your country.
Define the following terms:
a. Alloy k. Mint Mark
b. Altered Date l. Obverse
c. Buffed Coins m. Planchet
d. Cast Coins n. Proof
e. Clad Coinage o. Reeded Edge
f. Commemorative p. Reverse
g. Die q. Series
h. Field r. Type
i. Inscription s. Whizzed Coins
j. Lettered Edge t. Wire Edge
5. Describe the obverse and reverse for paper money of the six lowest denominations currently in use in your country.
6. Know how coins are graded in quality by collectors.
7. Collect and mount a type set of coins from your country of any date currently being minted or in circulation. Proof, commemorative, rare, silver, or expensive coins are not needed. In your collection:
a. Possess at least one coin from each mint in the type set.
b. Locate and identify the mint mark (if any) on each coin.
c. Locate and identify the initials (if any) of each coin’s designer(s).
8. Do two of the following:
a. Make enlarged drawings of both sides of ten different denominations or forms of coins for your country no longer in circulation.
b. Collect, identify, and mount 25 different foreign coins. No two coins alike.
c. Collect and mount a type set of coins from your country minted during the 20th Century.
d. Collect and mount a date set of series of coins for your country beginning with your birth year. (Commemorative, gold, proof, expensive, or rare coins need not be included.)
Note: Facts About United States Money (free), Office of the Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Treasury Department, Washington, D.C. 20025.
Facts about your country’s currency may be obtained from the government treasury department..
Currency (Coins), Advanced
Skill Level: 3
Original Honor: 1998
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements
Have the Currency (Coins) Honor
Select a coin or note from your collection and present an oral or written report on the historical or other significance of the person(s), place(s), item(s) or symbol(s) found on both sides.
What are the laws regarding counterfeiting in your country and what devices are used in your nation’s currency to prevent it?
Attend a meeting of a local coin club and report on your experience. Possible items to consider:
a. Level of expertise of members as demonstrated by presentations and dialogues.
b. Average general age of attendees.
c. Ideas which might help the club extend its collector interest to a wider audience.
d. How newcomer friendly is the organization.
e. Suggestions on how these people might be reached with the gospel through a manner which they would find attractive.
5. Select one of the three categories of your collection as required under the Currency Honor requirements 7 and 8, and increase your collection to include twice the total number of specimens.
6. Add to your collection at least one of the unusual (odd and curious) forms learned about in requirement 1 of the Currency Honor requirements and have in your Currency Honor files, at least a paragraph summarizing how, when and where this item was used as currency.
Decoupage
Skill Level: 1
Original Honor: 1975
Originating Institution: General Conference
Requirements:
Give the meaning and history of decoupage
Make a list of the materials and equipment needed in decoupage.
Describe how to prepare a wood or metal object for decoupage.
Describe three ways in which a print may be used in decoupage.
Use the basic steps in completing two of the following objects:
a. Modpodge print
b. Keyring
c. Bookends
d. Bottle
e. Tissue box
f. Reasonable choice
Adventist Youth Ministries
YPAC North American Division Youth & Young Adult Ministries
Digital Photography
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level 2
Original Honor 2007
Originating Organization: North American Division
Requirements:
1. Explain the following:
a. What are the principles of digital camera construction and how a digital camera works?
b. What are the effect of light on an image sensor?
c. How color images are created from the BW image the sensor captures?
d. What the camera lens does; what focal length means?
e. How are lens aperture and depth of field related?
f. Describe pixels, image resolution, and image size?
g. What are the two types of image compression?
2. Name and describe three types of image formats.
3. Give the principle uses of photography:
4. Take pictures illustrating at least eight of the following techniques. Use comparison pictures for illustration.
a. Framing
b. Camera Steadiness
c. Direction of lighting – front, side, or backlighting
d. Quality of light – shade, sunlight, and time of day
e. Rule of thirds
f. Angle – eye level, high and low level
g. Level horizon
h. Distance from subject – fill the frame
i. Use of leading lines
j. Correct exposure – underexposed, overexposed, and correctly exposed
k. Use of flash – proper distance and reflective objects
5. Learn how to place photos in a media software slideshow program. Create a media presentation showing the pictures you took using the above techniques.
6. Using a photo editing program on a computer, show ability to crop, color correct, sharpen, and adjust rightness/contrast to photos.
7. Complete at least three creative photographic projects in a photo editing program; such as a CD cover, a photo scrapbook page, a collage, etc.
8. Have a basic understanding of file organization techniques.
Drawing
Skill Level: 2
Original Honor: 2013 (Originally part of GC Honor Drawing and Painting)
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
Make a list of Drawing Media.
What is Chiaroscuro? And what effect does it have on drawing?
Draw a Value Scale with at least 10 different values.
What is the best way to begin drawing until you are sure all sizes, placement and proportions are correct?
Know the difference between eye level, bird’s eye view and worm’s eye view.
Show foreground, middle ground and background in a simple landscape.
What is a “multi-media” drawing?
Explain Linear Perspective and list at least 4 ways to achieve it when drawing a landscape.
Draw a cylindrical object and a rectangular object grouped together a little below the eye, showing proper perspective, light and shade.
Understand and describe these types of subject matter:
a.Portraits
b.Landscapes
c.Still Life
d.Abstract
11.Draw an animal using simple shapes such as squares, triangles, rectangles.
12.Make a freehand sketch of an animal, showing in values the distribution of color.
13.Make a drawing of some landscape near your home.
14.Draw and shade in a still life. Make it personal and interesting; add personal touches and objects that you are excited about…this will make your artwork more fun and easier for you to finish.
15.Memorize Psalm 33:6, and discuss how it relates to drawing.
Drawing, Advanced
Skill Level: 3
Original Honor: 2013 (Originally part of Drawing and Painting)
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
Have the Drawing honor.
Who was Albret Durer and what was his contribution to drawing?
Give 3 examples of contemporary Artists known for their drawing skills.
Draw a landscape using multi-media.
5.Using 3 different media for each, draw 3 of the following:
a.Still Life
b.Landscape
c.Cityscape
d.Seascape
e.Portrait
6.Choose one of the subjects in #5, and create a drawing at least 12 x 18” in pencil. Concentrate on good perspective and depth. Then, using pencil, shade in your work with a minimum of 6-8 changes in value. Be sure to sign your work. When finished, display your work in a public venue.
7.Memorize Psalm 104:24. Discuss how this verse relates to your drawing and how can it inspire your future works of art.
Duct Tape
Skill Level: 1
Category: Arts, Crafts, & Hobbies
Original Honor: 2016
Originating Institution: North American Division
Requirements:
List or explain the components of duct tape.
Give a 3-5 minute report or create a timeline about the history and development of duct tape.
Name three uses of duct tape.
List at least three ways that duct tape is used in a professional setting.
Outline duct tape safety rules as they relate to general duct tape usage, usage recreationally among young people, and in a craft setting.
Demonstrate the ability to tear pieces of duct tape, by hand, in the following lengths without the aid of a knife, scissors, or any other cutting instrument. The tape must
not get tangled up or wrinkled.
a. 15 cm (6 inches)
b. 60 cm (2 feet)
c. 150 cm (5 feet)
7. Create a toolkit with the basic items needed for duct tape crafts, including at least three colors/designs of duct tape, a cutting mat, scissors, a utility knife, and tools for
residue removal. Demonstrate the ability to use each tool.
8. Create five items from duct tape such as:
a. Wallet or purse
b. Basket or tote
c. A wearable piece of clothing
d. Holiday decorations
e. Christmas wrapping or bows
f. Simple flower arrangement
g. Toy
h. Item of your choice
9. Build a boat that will float a 2 kg (5 lb) sack of flour for five minutes while preventing the flour from getting wet. You may use other materials to create a frame,
but the majority of the hull should be made from duct tape.
10. Complete the following spiritual lessons on the “stickiness” of duct tape:
a. Read Daniel chapter 3 and discuss how duct tape can apply to God and the Hebrews in the story.
b. Memorize and recite Proverbs 18:24 and explain how duct tape applies to this verse.
c. Discuss in a group how sin can “stick” to you.
d. Memorize and recite James 4:7 and share your ideas on how sin can get unstuck in our lives.
Hurray! Sabbath is here. Are you excited? Are you ready for it? Do you know that going to church late is both contempt and insult on GOD? Do you also know that going to church late is a habit which you can determine to stop?
Why not begin to plan for tomorrow service now?
Here are some tips on how to overcome going late to church
Iron all your outfits before you sleep.
Polish/ clean footwear before you sleep.
Get your Bible/Jotter/ tablet/ bags etc ready at one place.
Get your Tithe/ offering also ready
Sleep early
Wake up on time
“Even when I get there early, I won’t meet anyone”
Avoid the above saying. Get there early and let someone come and meet you. Don’t forget you are also someone.
Washing on Sabbath before church is not encouraged. It may delay you.
If it takes you 15 minutes to drive/walk to the church, always make allowance for extra time in case of anything. For instance, if service is 8am and it takes you 10 minutes to drive/walk to church, it’s always better to leave home 7:40.
Plan to get to church at least 10 minutes before service starts.
Don’t give room for friends and relatives to visit you few hours to fellowship. If they come when you are preparing to church, take them along or make them wait until you are back. They are not more important than God.
NB: going to church early ignites the blessing of the Lord upon your life. Don’t be a habitual late comer to church, it’s a dishonour to your God.
Sometimes we ignore the little things that can save our lives simply because they are cheap and easy to get. Today we will be looking at the wonders of charcoal.
My Favourite book says “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” 1 Cor. 1:27 (NKJV)
What is charcoal?
According to Collins English Dictionary, charcoal is a black amorphous form of carbon made by heating wood or other organic matter in the absence of air: used as a fuel, in smelting metal ores, in explosives, and as an absorbent. Many people use charcoal to make fires, for cooking, and for heating up water.
How to get Activated Charcoal
Charcoal is very easy to get. First heat the wood, then break the charred wood into smaller sizes and then grind it into fine powder.
Can any wood be used?
For effectiveness, we recommend you get your activated charcoal from coconut shell or any other specific wood with ultra-fine grains.
How can I store my Activated Charcoal?
You don’t need any special device or container to store your charcoal powder, store it in a dry, tightly covered container; this will keep it fresh for a very long time.
Can I get Charcoal from a chemist or pharmacy?
If you cannot go through the stress of burning and grinding charcoal, you can get charcoal in small round tablets from a pharmacy or chemist, but look for the ones from coconut shell or any specific wood with ultra-fine grains and avoid the ones with sweetener.
Does it have taste?
Charcoal has no smell or taste. It is completely safe.
Can burnt food be used as charcoal?
The answer is NO, burned food is not charcoal. Burned food is very bad for the body and should be avoided.
Benefits of charcoal
It is very easy to get or make
Very cheap
It is very simple to use (both inside and outside of the body)
Very safe to use
Works well for many diseases
Uses of charcoal
Charcoal can be used to help treat the inside of our body: Gas, Diarrhea, Vomiting, and even Poisoning
Outside the body: Infections or inflammation of the skin and joints, Eye and ear infections, Wounds from poisonous plants, Bee stings and other insect bites, Spider and snake bites
Dosage for simple ailments
Gas
Bloating
Diarrhoea
Vomiting
Adult: Mix 1 to 2 large spoonful of charcoal powder with a small amount of water.
Then fill the glass with more water and stir well.
Drink the mixture and then drink some clean water afterwards.
Repeat the charcoal dose after each loose or watery stool, and after each vomiting experience.
Children: one half of the amount that we would give a grown person.
If they have a lot of stooling and vomiting, you must give them other liquids like rice water or water with a little bit of sugar and take them to the health worker quickly.
Note: Charcoal can be taken any time it is needed but it is best taken between meals, like 2 hours after eating or drinking medicine.
Treating Poison
If someone has taken poison or taken too much medicine, the best thing to do is to quickly give that person some charcoal (within 30 minutes) and then take the person to the clinic.
Dosage for poisoning
Immediately drink 4 to 10 large spoonful of charcoal powder mixed with a small amount of water. (Take the larger amount if the person has eaten in the past 2 hours)
Then refill the same glass with water and drink it down.
Repeat the charcoal dosage in 10 minutes, and any time later if the person starts feeling worse.
Note: Do not give charcoal by mouth if the person is sleepy, unconscious, or may be unable to swallow. In such cases, take the person to the clinic or hospital immediately.
Important: Always keep charcoal powder ready to use at home
Using charcoal on the skin
Charcoal can be used as a bath or applied as a plaster.
Charcoal bath
Benefits
To treat large areas of the body
It is simple to prepare
Useful for skin disease
Dosage
Add 2 cups of charcoal powder to a tub of water.
You can put the whole body in the charcoal water.
Charcoal plaster
Benefits
For treating specific part of the body
For treating poisonous bites
Dosage/Direction
Mix charcoal powder and a little water and make a wet charcoal paste.
Spread the paste on one half of a thin, folded clean piece of cloth. Then cover the paste with the other half of
the cloth.
Place the charcoal plaster on the affected body part— making sure it completely covers the area.
Wrap the charcoal plaster with plastic—to keep it from drying out.
Bandage or tape the plaster securely in place.
Note: Before applying a plaster we should wash the skin very well with soap and water.
Then apply the charcoal plaster and leave it on for several hours or overnight.
In the morning, remove and throw away the plaster.
Prepare a new plaster and put it on the skin. You can continue this for several days or until all of the swelling is gone.
How to Treat Poisonous Bites
If someone has been bitten by a poisonous snake or spider, stung by a scorpion or many bees, they must be treated immediately.
Important: Always keep charcoal powder ready to use at home
Dosage/Direction
Wash the area thoroughly with soap and water immediately.
Apply a large charcoal plaster directly over the bitten area (or the entire area).
Cover the plaster with plastic—to keep it moist.
Change the charcoal plaster every 10 to 15 minutes—until the pain and swelling are gone.
Also, take charcoal by mouth
2 large spoonful of charcoal in 1/2 glass of water every 2 hours.
Do this 3 times.
Then take 1 small spoonful every 4 hours for the next day (24 hours).
Every time you take charcoal, you must drink 2 glasses of water.
Snake Bites
Note: Some snakes are very dangerous and can kill people. You must act fast when you treat snakebite. If the snakebite is poisonous, pain and swelling will come within 10 minutes. Charcoal works best when it is applied to the snakebite before much swelling comes.
Dosage/Direction
With snakebites, remember to: Make the person stay very quiet and still.
Send someone to get medical help quickly.
Apply a large charcoal plaster as soon as possible, while you are waiting for medical help or while you are on your way to the clinic or hospital.
Give 2 tablespoons of charcoal mixed with water, for the person to drink if he or she is not sleepy or unconscious.
If available, put some ice on the wound, both above and below the charcoal plaster. If it becomes too painful remove the ice.
Do you know that a wise use of charcoal has saved many people with poisonous snakebites? Isn’t it wonderful that such a simple medicine from nature can help treat so many diseases, and save so many lives?
Note: they are other uses of charcoal-whiten of teeth, mold cleansing, water filtration etc.
When used properly, the simple remedies of nature are often more effective than many modern medicines. Get your charcoal now without delay
Like I said before “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” 1 Cor. 1:27 (NKJV)
May God bless you with good health as you seek to make a wise use of the simple remedies He has provided.
Don’t forget to use the comment box for questions and testimonies.
The Seventh Day Adventist Church is an organized denomination that runs almost the same program worldwide. Organization, groups, individuals have created so many App that can be used in churches, homes and offices. In this article, our team will be revealing the top 5 App you must have on your Smartphone.
Top 5 Seventh Day Adventist Church App You Must Have in 2018
1. Adventist Hymnal
The SDA hymnal contains 695 hymns and I don’t need to tell you the importance of these hymns. You can now take your Adventist hymnal wherever you go by downloading it in your android or IOS device.
All App contains the standard hymns of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Optional
Lyrics and Tunes for all the SDA Hymns
A Total of about 3900+ hymns and Tunes.
Hymns in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese
Global Search: Allows you to search a song’s title across multiple books.
Save to Favourites: Create you favourite list of hymns.
Send a song via Email
Sort hymns list by number or title.
Download Hymn tunes or music for Offline listening.
Contemporary Hymns (English)
Old Edition and more
2. Sabbath School Lesson
Top 5 Seventh Day Adventist Church App You Must Have in 2018
The Seventh Day Adventist Church have the same topic or reading in a given week, as each quarter of the year has a different theme that reflects Bible, doctrinal, or church lifestyle teachings.
This SDA App makes studies easier because you can take it wherever you go.
Key features
It is Free
Sabbath School quarterlies for the current and previous three quarters
Enables you to take notes
After updates, it works offline
KJV can be downloaded with it
3. EGW Writings 1/2
Top 5 Seventh Day Adventist Church App You Must Have in 2018
This Adventist app is a very special app as a Seventh Day Adventist. This App enables you to read and search the complete published writings of Ellen G. White
Material
121 Ellen G. White titles
6-volume Ellen G. White biography
17 Ellen G. White Devotionals
167 Ellen G. White Pamphlets
5,000 Ellen G. White Periodical articles
8386 Letters and Manuscripts File
12 Ellen G. White Miscellaneous Collections
21-volume Ellen G. White Manuscript Releases
King James Version Bible
1828 Noah Webster’s American Dictionary
Key features
Read or search either online or offline.
Copy and paste text into other applications.
Search for words or “phrases” in the entire EGW library or KJV Bible.
Daily Devotional Readings.
Sync reading and listening history with iCloud.
Live streaming of available MP3 audio books in all languages.
It is available in 9 languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, and Spanish.
The Study Centre allows you to create topical folders for bookmarks, highlights, and for creating your own notes and lots more.
4. Bible With EGW Comments
Top 5 Seventh Day Adventist Church App You Must Have in 2018
We picked this Adventist App in our top 5 Seventh Day Adventist Church App because it enhances your Bible study with so many resources. We urge you to download this App as soon as possible.
Key Features
EGW Comments
Add your own Bible commentary
Google Drive sync
Words of Christ in Red
Bible Colour Maps
28 Fundamental Beliefs
Daily Reading Plans
User Friendly Navigation and Verse Locating
Dark and Light themes
Highlight Verses
Copy or Share Verses
Create Notes
Android Wear Support
Clean UI and Ad free
This Bible currently only supports English text
5. Everything SDA
Top 5 Seventh Day Adventist Church App You Must Have in 2018
This SDA App contains everything you will love to have in an App. If you are a Seventh Day Adventist or you have interest in the church, then we urge you to download this Adventist App.
“Alcohol is a very effective dissolving agent. It dissolves families, marriages, friendships, jobs, bank accounts, and neurons, but never problem.” Yet, the practice of social drinking has become such a widespread habit in society that the total abstainer almost finds himself in the position of a heretic!
With the lack of explicit scriptural restriction from alcohol, theologians have controversial positions toward this practice. The Seventh – day Adventist understanding of the Word of God emphasizes on pure abstinence from all toxic substances including alcohol for our “body are the temple of the Holy Spirit”(1Cor 3:16-17).
Promoting health ministry principles that will prevent alcoholism is of a great importance to the church. In the present paper, attention will be paid to necessary measures to discourage alcohol intake, and to recover alcoholic addicted ones. To arrive at this goal, lines will be allotted to highlighting alcohol in Scriptures, and its effects on individuals and society.
DEFINITION
Alcoholism, also known as alcohol use disorder (AUD), is a broad term for any drinking of alcohol that results in problems. It was previously divided into two types: alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence (Jill, 2014). In a medical context, alcoholism is said to exist when two or more of the following conditions is present: a person drinks large amounts over a long time period, has difficulty cutting down, acquiring and drinking alcohol takes up a great deal of time, alcohol is strongly desired, usage results in not fulfilling responsibilities, usage results in social problems, usage results in health problems, usage results in risky situations, withdrawal occurs when stopping, and alcohol tolerance has occurred with use. Risky situations include drinking and driving or having unsafe sex among others. Alcohol use can affect all parts of the body but particularly affects the brain, heart, liver, pancreas, and immune system. This can result in mental illness, Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome, an irregular heart-beat, liver failure, and an increase in the risk of cancer, among other diseases.
Alcohol use disorder (which includes a level that’s sometimes called alcoholism) is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol, continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems, having to drink more to get the same effect, or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking.
The word alcohol is probably derived from the Arabic “al kohl” meaning a fine powder, probably antimony sulfide, used then in making cosmetics. In time it came to mean the essence of something. Still, much later, in the 16th century AD, an early chemist, Paracelsus, defined it as the most subtle part of anything” and in this sense spoke of it as “alcool-vini”. Gradually the “vini” was dropped but it was not until the 19th century that the term “alcohol” came to be used generally for wine-spirits”.
Now, in chemistry, the word alcohol denotes a branch of the hydro-carbon family. It is a group of liquids containing the elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. There are 59 varieties of alcohol, the most important for our consideration being ethyl alcohol, fruit or grain spirit. Alcoholic beverages contain ethyl alcohol only, of which the chemical formula is C2H5OH.
Pure alcohol is a colorless fluid: it boils at 173 F and freezes solid at 200 F below zero. Absolute alcohol, 99% ethyl alcohol, is used in scientific and laboratory procedures. methylated spirit is ethyl alcohol to which 5% of methyl alcohol has been added to make it unpalatable. Both ethyl and methyl alcohol are highly toxic. Ethyl alcohol taken in excess can cause acute alcoholic poisoning which may be fatal.
Alcoholic beverages fall into three main categories according to the manner of their manufacture and the percentage of alcohol in them.
1. The brewed beverages are made from grain such as barley, oats, and maize. They include ale, beer, porter and stout. They are made by the conversion of starch in the cereals into sugar by the action of enzymes and the subsequent fermentation of the sugar. The conversion of the starch is effected by malt, which is usually sprouted barley. The enzyme formed during the sprouting converts the starch into sugar and then yeast is added which converts some of the sugar into alcohol.
2. Wines are made from fruits, usually grapes, by the direct fermentation of the sugar in the fruit Juice.
3. Distilled spirits include whisky, gin, rum, brandy, vodka. They are produced by fractional distillation of wines or brewed beverages to concentrate the alcohol in the distillate.
The active agent in fermentation is yeast which is a microscopically small plant usually present in the air or in dust. It produces an enzyme which is capable of breaking down sugars and finally converting the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
PLACE OF ALCOHOLISM IN SCRIPTURES
The issue of alcohol is an old one. It can be traced from Old Testament time through New Testament. Some people use Bible to argue that alcohol intake has nothing wrong. Throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, references to wine and strong drink occur frequently, sometimes in terms of appreciation, sometimes of strong condemnation. Thus in Isaiah we read, “As the new wine is found in the cluster … destroy it not for a blessing is in it.” (Isaiah 65:8). But in an earlier chapter we find a solemn warning against it, “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that tarry late into the night, till wine inflame them” (5:11). This leads to the question on Biblical support to temperance and abstinence from alcoholic beverages.
Alcohol in the Old Testament
The first mention in the Old Testament of alcoholic beverages occurs in Genesis 9:21where Noah planted a vineyard and drank of the wine and was drunk. The writer had offered his explanation, in an earlier chapter (Genesis 4:21, 22), of the origin of institutions and inventions. Here he returns to his theories of beginnings, and sees in the forsaking, by the Hebrews, of their former nomadic way of life for that of settlement and cultivation of the soil, the curse laid on Canaan, the son of Ham.
Other OT texts relating to alcohol include Numbers6:3; Judges 13:7; Jeremiah 32:1-10; Amos 2:11.
Alcohol in the New Testament
In the New Testament references to what are clearly intoxicating beverages occur for the most part in connection with those groups of people who had been brought into the Christian faith in Asia-Minor, Greece and Rome, at a time when morals were low and indulgence in alcoholic drinks excessive.
In the Gospels there are only two definite allusions to intoxicating beverage. The first is surely significant. It occurs in the opening chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke in the announcement made to Zacharias of the coming birth of the forerunner of the Messiah. “For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 1:15).
The second reference is in the parable of the faithless servant, who begins to eat and to drink and be drunken” (Luke 7:33).
References in the Epistles to inebriety are numerous and explicit. St. Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles and he was frequently confronted with excessive drinking even within the young Christian congregations where the converts were either Jews living in non-Jewish environments or Gentiles brought in from paganism with its bacchanalian feasts (e.g., 1 Corinthians 11:21).
True, there is no absolute prohibition given of the use of wine, but St. Paul had on a number of occasions to rebuke his listeners in no uncertain terms: “Let us walk becomingly . . . not in reveling and drunkenness” (Romans 13:13). Among the offenses which will exclude men from the Kingdom of God, he warns them, is drunkenness: “Make no mistake … no drunkards . . . will possess the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:10). Again he points out the right course to the Ephesians, “Do not give way to drunkenness and the dissipation that goes with it, but let the Holy Spirit fill you” (Ephesians 5:18). The Galatians, too, need the warning that those who indulge in “drinking bouts, orgies and the like”, will never inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:20, 21).
Skill Level: 2
Skill Level: 2
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Category: Arts, Crafts, and Hobbies
Skill Level: 1
