Story by Visitor Staff / Photos by Krystal Irrgang
Seven students recently graduated from REACH Columbia Union Urban Evangelism School.
News
Story by Lauren Brooks
On Sunday, May 21, Kettering College and Kettering Medical Center participated in a full-scale mass casualty emergency preparedness exercise.
The exercise used intentional simulations to assess emergency procedures and medical responses to a mass casualty incident involving elements of terrorism and an active shooter incident. This simulation included mock wounds and sound effects to create a more realistic setting, and it was one of the largest exercises of this kind in the Dayton area.
Story by Jerry Woods
Once again WGTS 91.9 listeners showed their support by being a part of the station’s spring fundraiser. Over 3,300 listeners stepped up to contribute more than $1.1 million dollars to keep the listener-supported ministry running strong.
This was the first WGTS fundraiser for the new afternoon team of Johnny and Stacey Stone, and they shared their thoughts on the experience.
“The pre-preparation for this event is unlike any other I’ve seen in my career of fundraising,” says Stacey.
Story by Samantha Young / Photos by Andre Hastick
At the Fourth Quinquennial Constituency Session of the Chesapeake Conference, held on Sunday, May 21, at the Spencerville church in Silver Spring, Md., a quorum of the 327 regular delegates and 227 delegates-at-large met to elect officers for the 2017-2021 quinquennial term and conduct church business. Rick Remmers, president; Eduardo Muñoz, treasurer; and Jerry Lutz, executive secretary were re-elected.
Story by LaTasha Hewitt
Allegheny East Conference's Baltimore Junior Academy (BJA), located in the Park Heights community of Baltimore, recently received a call from the mayor’s office requesting use of their gymnasium as a cold weather shelter for the homeless. Initially school leadership was hesitant because the school would soon be holding a program in their gym. Staff and students had already prepared the space with lights and decorations, purchased costumes and set up chairs for the crowd.
Story by Betty Klinck
Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville, Md., and Adventist HealthCare Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Md., each received two awards from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association for life-saving, high-quality stroke care. This comes during National Stroke Month, when we raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of stroke, which affects 800,000 Americans a year.
Graduation season is starting! See a list of all the Columbia Union Conference academy graduation times and livestream links below:
May 26 - 28
Historia de V. Michelle Bernard
Parte de la declaración dice: "Como miembros de la comunidad, debemos respetar la ley. Como miembros de la iglesia, tenemos la responsabilidad moral de cuidar a los menos favorecidos y denunciar la opresión, el abuso y el maltrato en cualquier forma ".
Los líderes compartieron que están escuchando historias de miembros con amenazas de deportación y que querían expresar públicamente su preocupación y apoyo. Aproximadamente 40.000 de los miembros de Iglesia en la Unión de Columbia son inmigrantes y hay 283 iglesias de grupos inmigrantes en el territorio de la Unión.
Story by V. Michelle Bernard
Rubén Ramos, the Columbia Union Conference’s vice president for Multilingual Ministries, regularly hears stories of immigrant members afraid of deportation. One local church leader from Alexandria, Va., recently approached him, asking for prayer after her husband, a legal resident of the United States, was arrested and threatened with deportation. Ramos says she was also worried about her status, but said, “If they deport me. I’ll go to El Salvador and plant another church.”
Henry J. Fordham (pictured speaking above), president of the Allegheny East Conference, shared a story of two members from an Indonesian congregation who were recently arrested after submitting immigration applications. “People are living in fear,” he said. “Our members need to know that we care.”
Story by Tiffany Doss
One year we spent $40,000 on evangelism and community outreach—and zero relationships were built,” recalls Jennifer Deans, pastor of the Living Faith church in Dulles, Va. After attending a church planting conference, Deans realized the church didn’t need a better discipleship program; it needed a paradigm shift. “It’s God’s job to grow the church, and it’s ours to make disciples,” she says. “I came across Generate One, a discipleship program that teaches these biblical principles.”