26488 12.3 English Layout - Andrews University— David Dyjack and Angela Bennett Dyjack Editorial 3...

Self-talk: How to makeit work for youEcology, biodiversity,and creationThe 15th centuryReformation in RussiaHealth hazards of theenvironmentPilgrimage from rock

3Volume 12

Number

Published in

English

French

Portuguese

Spanish

2 Dialogue 12:3 2000

Contents

Regional RepresentativesAfrica-Indian Ocean Division: Japheth L. Agboka. Address: 22 Boite Postale 1764, Abidjan 22, Cote d’Ivoire.Eastern Africa Division: Hudson E. Kibuuka. Address: H.G. 100, Highlands, Harare, Zimbabwe.

E-mail: [email protected] Division: Roberto Badenas. Address: P.O. Box 219, 3000 Bern 32, Switzerland.

E-mail: [email protected] Division: Artur A. Stele. Address: Krasnoyarskaya Street 3, Golianovo, 107589 Moscow, Russian Federation.

E-mail: [email protected] Division: Carlos Archbold and Eliezer Melendez. Address: P.O. Box 140760, Miami,

FL 33114-0760, U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected] & [email protected] American Division: Richard Osborn, José Rojas, and Richard Stenbakken. Address: 12501 Old Columbia Pike,

Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600, U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected] & [email protected] &[email protected]

Northern Asia-Pacific Division: David S. F. Wong. Address: Koyang IIsan, P.O. Box 43, 783 Janghang-Dong, Ilsan-Gu,Koyang City, Kyonggi-do 411-600, Republic of Korea. E-mail: [email protected]

South American Division: Roberto de Azevedo and José M. B. Silva. Address: Caixa Postal 02-2600, 70279-970 Brasilia, DF, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected] Pacific Division: Lester Devine and Gilbert Cangy. Address: Locked Bag 2014, Wahroonga, N.S.W. 2076,

Australia. E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Africa Union: Glen Africa. Address: P.O. Box 468, Bloemfontein 9300, Free State, South Africa.Southern Asia Division: Edwin Charles. Address: P.O. Box 2, HCF Hosur, Tamil Nadu 635110, India.Southern Asia-Pacific Division: Oliver Koh. Address: P.O. Box 040, Silang, Cavite, 4118 Philippines. E-mail:

[email protected] Division: Ole Kendel and Orville Woolford. Address: 119 St. Peter’s Street, St. Albans, Herts., AL1 3EY

England. E-mail: [email protected] & [email protected]

College and UniversityDialogue,TM an international journalof faith, thought, and action, ispublished three times a year in fourparallel editions (English, French,Portuguese, and Spanish) by theCommittee on Adventist Ministry toCollege and University Students(AMiCUS ) of the GeneralConference of Seventh-dayAdventists: 12501 Old ColumbiaPike; Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600;U.S.A.

VOLUME 12, NUMBER 3.Copyright © 2000 by the AMiCUSCommittee. All rights reserved.

DIALOGUE affirms the fundamentalbeliefs of the Seventh-day AdventistChurch and supports its mission.The views published in this journal,however, are the independentthoughts of the authors.

CIRCULATION INQUIRES shouldbe addressed to the RegionalRepresentative located in the areawhere the reader resides. See namesand addresses below.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: U.S. $12 per year(three issues, airmail). See couponon page 16 for details.

AMiCUS CommitteeChairman: Matthew BediakoVice Chairmen: Baraka G. Muganda,

Humberto M. Rasi, RichardStenbakken

Secretary: Julieta RasiMembers: John M. Fowler, Alfredo

García-Marenko, John Graz, AllanR. Handysides, JonathanKuntaraf, George Reid, Virginia L.Smith, Mario Veloso

Editorial BoardEditor-in-chief: Humberto M. RasiEditor: John M. FowlerAssociate Editors: Alfredo García-Marenko, Richard StenbakkenManaging Editor: Julieta RasiSenior Consultants: James Cress,

George ReidCopy Editor: Beverly RumbleEditorial Secretary: Silvia SicaloInternational Editions: Julieta RasiInternational Copy Editors: Corinne Hauchecorne and Louise Geiser (French) César Luís Pagani (Portuguese) Julieta Rasi (Spanish)Editorial Correspondence:

12501 Old Columbia Pike;Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600;U.S.A.

Telephone: (301) 680-5060Fax: (301) 622-9627E-mail: 74617.464@

compuserve.com [email protected]

Dialogue has receivedcorrespondence fromreaders in 110 countriesaround the world.

Essays

5 Self-talk: How to make it work for youA five-step process that can change your

attitude in life.

— Nancy J. Carbonell

7 Ecology, biodiversity, and creation:A view from the topEcology points out that life

is needed for life, bearing witness to Creation.

— Henry Zuill

10 Ahead of their time?The 15th century Reformation in RussiaA remarkable story that is not well known, but that

challenges contemporary Christians.

— Oleg Zhigankov

14 Health hazards of the environmentWhat you can do to protect yourself, where you are.

— David Dyjack and Angela Bennett Dyjack

Editorial3 Never forget who you are

— Matthew Bediako

3 Letters

Profiles18 Marilyn Savedra

— Humberto M. Rasi20 Yoshinori Namihira

— Mary Wong

Logos22 The voice of conscience

— G. Edward Reid

Action Report24 Adventists at Peru’s oldest university

— Marco Antonio Huaco Palomino24 Praise & woship at Howard University

— Raven White

Open Forum25 Dance in the Bible

— Samuele Bacchiocchi

Books26 Christ Is Coming (Gulley)26 Juventud enamorada (Valenzuela)27 Understanding Intimate Violence

(Couden)27 Desperate Escape (Ponomarov)

Viewpoint28 Pilgrimage from rock

— Brian Neumann

For Your Information30 Religious Liberty World Report 2000

— John Graz

First Person34 Searching for my roots,

I found the Messiah— Alf Nahman

Insert Interchange

3Dialogue 12:3 2000

LettersGoing beyond the Law?

As the author of the book Más allá dela Ley (Beyond the Law), I appreciate thegenerally positive review published inDialogue 12:2 (pp. 22, 23). However, Iwish to clarify two important pointsraised by the reviewer:

1. The contrast between the letterand the spirit of the law does not implyfor me exclusion of one or the other,not even separation, but only the differ-ence between written precepts and livingprinciples. I believe that this difference,far from going “beyond biblical evi-dence,” is repeatedly stated in the Bible.In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus re-fers to several commandments (includ-ing some from the Decalogue) in orderto show the need of going beyond theletter of the law to the eternal principlesthat undergird it. Jesus does not hesitateto reformulate some commandments:“You have heard that it was said…, but Itell you.” (See Matthew 5:21-48, NIV.)Paul warns his readers about the risk ofnot being sensitive to this difference:“[T]he letter kills, but the Spirit giveslife” (2 Corinthians 3:6).

2. The invitation to go “beyond thelaw” does not come from me, but fromthe Lord Himself. When Jesus met therich young man, He invited him to notcontent himself with just keeping thecommandments, but to surrender every-thing and follow Jesus (Matthew 19:16-21). For me, “going beyond the law”means that authentic discipleship in-volves more than satisfying ourselveswith a legal relationship with the divinelaw. It demands total surrender to and apersonal relationship with the divineLawgiver, who is also our Savior, Master,and Lord. This is the theme of my book.

Readers interested in a brief outlineof the theological position I hold re-garding the Law may consult my article,“In the name of the law!,” published inDialogue 11:1 (1999), pp. 17-19, 28.

Roberto BadenasBern, [email protected]

Never forget who you areast summer, my wife and I drove our daughter to the Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. to send her off to study at River Plate Adventist University in Argentina. Traffic was heavy, and when we arrived at the check-in counter, it

was already closed. We rushed to the boarding gate with the hope that the clerksthere might help us out in our predicament. After hearing our story, and that beingthe last plane to make the needed connection in New York, the clerk agreed to help,on the condition that my daughter would carry her luggage herself from the arrivalterminal in New York to the departure terminal.

My wife could not catch up with us to the gate. In any case, she had given ourdaughter some words of counsel and wisdom in the car. But I did not have mychance. As she was running to the plane, I wanted to say so many things, but therewas no time for lectures. I could only shout one sentence: “Girl, never forget whoyou are!”

Paul made a similar plea to the Christians at Philippi, and I believe it applies tous today. “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so thatwhether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you stand firm inone spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippi-ans 1:27, RSV).

What was Paul saying? First, a Christian’s conduct must be as clear, as compel-ling, and as powerful as the gospel of Christ. The gospel is not a pie-in-the-sky my-thology. It is the power of God unto salvation. It changes lives. It makes peoplenew. A Christian’s behavior must reflect the principles of the kingdom of God—whether at study or play, worship or work.

Second, Paul is arguing that seen or unseen, within the faith community or out-side of it, a Christian must stand fast for the principles of the gospel. At times we aretempted to think that Christianity is a cloak that we can put on and off, as necessitydemands. But we do not have one mode of living while on our knees, another atbusiness; one at the pew, another at school. Christianity does not permit any suchdichotomy of living. What we are must not contradict what the gospel is.

Third, Paul wants us to be witnesses for the faith of the gospel. Not just ordinarywitnesses, but witnesses with one mind and one spirit. There is no room for vacilla-tion when it comes to Christian commitment and witness. With undivided mind,with uncompromising focus, the apostle wants us to be faithful to our primaryidentity—as citizens of the kingdom, as proclaimers of the gospel.

To Adventist young people on campuses around the world, my plea is: “Neverforget who you are.” Many of you may have left home for the first time, no longerunder the watchful eyes of your parents. Hopefully, you will meet new friends andpossibly other Adventist young people. You may also be the only Adventist in theplace where you study. But remember “who you are.”

The Bible nowhere intimates that a Christian life will be easy. Joseph had to livein Egypt. Daniel could not escape Babylon. Esther witnessed for her convictions inSusa. And Paul had his Roman jail. It does not matter where you are, but it doesmatter whose you are. By drawing on heavenly power, your life will be complete,your witness will be forceful, and your study will reach its grand finale. Maranatha!

Matthew Bediako, SecretaryGeneral Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

L


Ammunition for theconfrontation

I wish to congratulate Dialogue’s edi-torial team for publishing a journal thatis both attractive and relevant. Each is-sue provides the critical filter and theintellectual ammunition that Adventistuniversity students and young profes-sionals need in order to confront thesecular humanistic ideas that are soprevalent in the educated circles of soci-ety. Well done!

Jorge Ble CastilloVilla Hermosa, [email protected]

Improve the distributionI am studying statistics at Univer-

sidad Pedro Ruiz Gallo, and recently anAdventist pastor introduced me to Dia-logue. Now, after reading a particular is-sue, I give it to my friends at the univer-sity. Even the non-Adventist studentslike the content! I am also a youth lead-er in my church and find the articlesstimulating. Could you send me the listof articles published in earlier issues?The problem is that the distribution ofDialogue is limited and irregular, at leastin our area. Another challenge we faceas Adventist students is the temptationto attend classes or take examinationson Sabbath, because we fear falling be-hind in our studies or even failing in ourcourses. Pray for us that we will remain

Letters

Write to us!We welcome your comments, reac-tions and questions, but limit your let-ters to 200 words. Write to DialogueLetters: 12501 Old Columbia Pike; Sil-ver Spring, MD 20904; U.S.A. You canalso use fax: (301) 622-9627, or E-mail: [email protected] selected for publication maybe edited for clarity or space.

faithful to our convictions and also suc-ceed in our careers.

Jenny EspinozaChiclayo, [email protected]

The editors respond:By airmail you will receive the index to the

first 10 years of Dialogue (1989-1998). Ifyou discover that a particular article could beuseful for a youth meeting, let us know, andwe will send it to you. In order to keep thecost of the journal low, we mail packets ofDialogue to the director of the education oryouth ministries department in each Adven-tist union, on the basis of their orders. They,in turn, organize the distribution of the jour-nal within the union territory. Contact one ofthem and request that your group of univer-sity students be listed among those who re-ceive Dialogue free. We pray that God willgive you and your friends the courage tohonor the Sabbath. Remember: God honorsthose who honor Him.

Inspired to paintAlthough copies of Dialogue arrive in

my country with considerable delay, Iwish to thank you for publishing an in-terview with Adventist artist NathanGreene (6:2). As a young artist myself,struggling with limited resources andlittle public understanding of the role ofart in life, I wish to convey to Mr.Greene my admiration for his talent andaccomplishments. The quality of hiswork and the statements he made dur-ing the interview have inspired me to

continue to paint the singular beauty ofAfrica.

Linus Boniphace KagaliIringa, TANZANIA

Deeply movedI was deeply moved by Edmond

Cao’s personal testimony (Dialogue11:1). His journey from atheism to faith,inspired and guided by his friendshipwith two Adventist language teachers inChina, is truly remarkable. Cao’s storyalso encourages me to make Jesus thefocal point of my life and to communi-cate His love with my non-Adventistfriends. I’ve been always proud to shareDialogue. Please continue to publish inthe journal stories that will strengthenour faith and challenge us to draw closerto God.

Richmond LwangaPune, [email protected]

Worldwidecommunication

As a business student at the Universi-ty of Papua New Guinea, I want you toknow that I am a great fan of Dialogue.Every issue that falls in my hands is aGod-send. In addition to the articlesand interviews, “Interchange” providesme with the only means of communica-tion with Adventist young people whochoose to attend public colleges anduniversities worldwide. Praise God!

Wake ManguPAPUA NEW [email protected]

Pontius PuddleHere , Pontius. I’m givingfood baskets to memberswho earn below thepoverty line.

What made youthink my salaryis that small?

I took your annual giving to thechurch and multiplied it by ten!

© Joel Kauffmann

5Dialogue 12:3 2000

A s kids we used to make fun of those we saw talking to themselves. We

would laugh and say that theywere going mad! But psychologists tellus we all do it, and we do it every day!We self-talk non-stop, and what we sayto ourselves will affect our thoughts, in-terpretations, and behavior all throughlife. We guide ourselves, belittle our-selves, support ourselves, criticize our-selves, motivate ourselves, and doubtourselves with this internal dialogue.And what we say to ourselves can leadus to stress out, freak out, calm down,or overcome our fears.

Suppose you are looking for a joband come across an ad that appeals toyou. Will you go for the interview?Much will depend on what you aretelling yourself. If you think, “Man,I’ll never get that job. There’s nochance in the world they’d pick me,”then most likely you won’t even try!However, if you tell yourself,“Mmmm, this will be a challenge, butI think I have a chance. I’ll give it mybest shot.” This positive way of look-ing at the same situation will encour-age you to set up an interview! Amaz-ing as it seems, self-talk is much like aself-fulfilling prophecy—somethingyou think will happen for so long thatyou actually make it come true!

Self-talk and how we interpretevents

Another interesting fact about self-talk is that it affects how we interpretevents in our lives. Many believe thatevents in our lives cause us to feel an-gry, hurt, stupid, or anxious. Thanksto the work of Albert Ellis, Aaron

Beck, and Daniel Meichenbaum, toname a few, we now know that it isactually our belief about what hap-pened to us that makes us respond theway we do to any situation. For in-stance, a young man brings his girl-friend a dozen red roses. She sees himcoming and says to herself, smiling,“He truly loves me. He rememberedmy birthday, and I’m special to him.”What do you think her reaction willbe? Whatever she does, we know itwill be positive, right? But, on theother hand, let’s say she thinks to her-self, “That rat! He knows I found outthat he’s also been dating Patty, andnow he’s bringing me flowers to ap-pease me!? We’re finished!” How willthe girlfriend respond to him now?Roses or no roses, most likely not pos-itive at all! And, even if he says to her,“But I truly love only you!” if the girl-friend continues to believe and thinkhe’s a rat, nothing will change hermind. Nor will her reaction.

Now whether she will fall into de-pression or not depends on her self-talk. Let’s say she tells herself, “I’m nogood. I’m undesirable…that’s whyhe’s going out with another,” thenmost likely this will reaffirm her feel-ings of low self-esteem and possiblylead her into a depression. If, howev-er, she tells herself, “I’m glad I foundout now what he’s like. I deserve bet-ter. I’m willing to wait for someonewho loves me like I want to be loved,”then she will be able to get over theevent quicker. You see, it is not reallythe event that affects our feelings, butrather what we’re believing and tell-ing ourselves about what happened

Self-talk: How to make itwork for youby Nancy J. Carbonell

A five-step process that can

change your attitude in life.


that makes us feel the way we do.

Negative self-talkOne of my favorite Bible stories that

illustrates how powerful self-talk can beis found in 1 Kings 18 and 19. Here Godasks Elijah to go up and confront KingAhab, Queen Jezebel, and her 450prophets of Baal, in order to see whowas more powerful, Baal or the God ofIsrael. After a long, grueling day ofwatching the prophets of Baal shoutand plead to their god unsuccessfully,Elijah steps up, prays a simple prayer toGod and, zap! The sacrifice, which hadbeen drenched in water, is suddenlyconsumed by a bolt of fire from heaven.And as a bonus, no sooner had Elijahrequested God that the three-yeardrought end, the skies “grew black withclouds, the wind rose, [and] a heavy raincame on” (1 Kings 18:45).* What a vic-torious day for Elijah and all of God’sfollowers! God’s power was manifestedfor all to see! Yet isn’t it odd that soonafter this great triumph, Elijah was sofrightened of Jezebel that he not onlyfled to the desert to hide from her, butwas expressing his own death wish: “‘Ihave had enough, Lord’. . . ‘Take mylife’” (1 Kings 19:4). This does not makesense to any of us looking on! How canElijah, one minute, have experiencedGod’s great power and omnipotence,and the next, run scared? What’s goingon?

This is a good example of irrationalself-talk. Most likely Elijah’s inner talk

went something like this: “I better getout of here. Jezebel is going to kill me.What if God can’t help me? I’mdoomed!” Even though Elijah wasstanding in the “rains” of God’s al-mighty power, his negative talk over-took him.

Fleeing the negativeThankfully, we can break away from

the negative self-talk that plagues usand get our thoughts to work for us, notagainst us. How? Try these five steps:

First, listen in on your inner talk, andtrain yourself to hear the exact thoughtsthat cause the emotions you feel. Be-cause our attitudes and beliefs developthroughout our lives, and often resultfrom the feedback we receive from lovedones, teachers, friends, etc., they tend tooccur at a low level of awareness. Bytuning into these feelings, identifyingthem, and evaluating them, we canthen decide how we will respond to anevent in our life. We can change thethoughts that drive us into failure onlyif we know what they are first. Repeatthem out loud. If you don’t recognizethem, they will continue to dominateyour mind.

Second, pick out the messages that aredetrimental to your internal dialogue andnot in your best interest. Highlight thatwhich poisons your thoughts andmakes you weak. Key words to look forare absolutes like “never,” and “always.”Statements such as “I will never makethe team,” or “I’m always a failure” are

not only destructive but also irrational.Suppose you are trying to learn a newskill, such as skiing, and continuouslyfall and then get extremely frustrated.When you tune into your self-talk, youmight find your body telling you thatyou are physically out of shape andshould have prepared better for thistask. Is this true? If it is, then do some-thing about it. Stay on the easier slopes,get lessons, start a daily plan to get fit.If, however, when you listen in on yourinternal talk and hear yourself saying,“I’m dumb and stupid and will neverlearn how to ski,” this is a sign thatwhat you are saying to yourself needs tobe corrected—and corrected immediate-ly. The self-talk is irrational here.

Third, practice shutting off the negativewords by actually telling yourself to“STOP” the thought. This will actuallyhelp you snap out of the negative cycleyou probably are already in. The earlieryou can jump in and cut off these atti-tudes, the better.

Fourth, substitute the negative withmore positive self-talk. Inserting the posi-tive as quickly and as concretely as pos-sible is the key. For example, if youcatch yourself saying “I’ll never pass thistest,” stop this negative thought imme-diately, and replace it with a belief thatis more rational and accurate, such as, “Ican pass if I prepare myself adequatelyfor the test. I’m no dummy. I’ve passedmany tests before. I will just start pre-paring right this minute.” Not only isthis thought more truthful, but also itdisplaces the negative attitude with amore productive, helpful one.

Fifth, maintain a close relationship withGod, allowing Him to dwell within us, sothat His peace and word will “richly…teach [us] all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16).A committed life to God prompts one tosay, “Christ lives in me” (Galatians2:20), and one chooses to be influencedby His Word. Whereas the secular per-sons’ thoughts originate from their own

Continued on page 33.

I’ll fall andplunge to the

ground!I’ll never fly!

Straighten up, boy!Attitude iseverything.

Designed by David Carbonell

7Dialogue 12:3 2000

Ecology, biodiversity, andcreation: A view from the topby Henry Zuill

Ecology points out that life

is needed for life, bearing

witness to Creation.

John Ashton believes in God. He believes in the Genesis account of Cre- ation. He is also a research scientist.So he was somewhat taken back whenanother research scientist challengedthis belief at a conference at MacquarieUniversity in Sydney, Australia. The pre-senter gave evidence in support of thebiblical account of Creation, but the re-search scientist said that he did not be-lieve it possible to find any scientistwith a Ph.D. who believes in a literalcreation in six days. At that, someonementioned the names of a couple of sci-entists who did believe in creation, JohnAshton being one of them. When Johnheard about this exchange (he was notpresent at the conference) he acceptedthe challenge, and the result was themarvelous collection of essays, In SixDays: Why 50 Scientists Choose to Believein Creation.1

When I received an invitation tocontribute an essay, I initially under-stood that I was to to write specificallyabout the six-day creation from a scien-tific perspective. That was not John’s in-tention, however. I did believe in a six-day creation, but not for scientific rea-sons. What could one say about thisfrom a scientific perspective? How couldI provide scientific evidence that theearth and life were created in six literaldays? I knew there were many areas ofcreationism that could be studied scien-tifically, but I did not believe the six-daycreation was one such. That had to beaccepted strictly on faith in the Bible.

Then, a connection appeared, like aflash, that was both illuminating andexciting. As an ecologist, I had beenlooking for evidence for intelligent de-

sign at the ecological level, but suddenlythese fragments of evidence came to-gether to support the six-day creation. Icommitted to writing a chapter for thebook.

The structural hierarchy andevidence for design

Early in university studies, studentsin a general biology class will likelylearn about the structural hierarchy ofmatter (see Figure 1). Sub-atomic parti-cles are assembled into atoms, which inturn make up molecules and macro-molecules. These are assembled succes-sively into organelles, cells, tissues, or-gans, and organ systems. At each livinglevel, from cell to organ system, thereare different independent organisms—one-celled organisms, tissue-level organ-isms, and so on up to organisms withorgan systems. Then, different organ-isms comprise communities which, to-gether with the non-biological environ-ment, make up ecosystems.2 Ecosystemsaround the globe make up the bio-sphere. Below the cell level, there is noentity clearly understood as living.Above the organism level, one is in theecological area in which different organ-isms interrelate with one another andwith their non-biological environment.

At each of these levels there is evi-dence for intelligent design, if one allowsoneself to see it. The structural complex-ity of each level defies the idea that suchcomplexity could have been the resultof chance events. Nevertheless, manydo not see things this way; they acceptthat structural complexity is the resultof natural happenings, even when thereappears to be no way in which this


could have occurred.The idea of intelligent design in na-

ture has been accepted for a long time,although for the last 100 to 150 yearsthe idea has been a decidedly minorityview among scientists. Certain ancientphilosophers saw evidence for design innature. In the late 1700s, William Paley,an English theologian and philosopher,suggested that no one would think of awatch without a watchmaker. By thesame token, he argued that the com-plexities of nature—the human eye, forexample—cannot be accounted forwithout a Creator.

Paley’s writings were required read-ing in universities in Britain. CharlesDarwin read his works and was fascinat-ed with Paley’s view, but eventually re-jected it. Nevertheless, there must havebeen a remnant of doubt, for Darwinsaid the eye, with its unbelievable com-plexity, made him ill. Even today, theinfluence of Paley’s thought lingers: Ri-chard Dawkins titled one of his books,The Blind Watchmaker. In this book,Dawkins attempts to show that com-plexity in nature is the result of blindchance, not intelligent design. Thus, af-ter nearly 200 years, Paley’s argument isstill being challenged.

Specific evidence for designThe value given to the specific evi-

dence for intelligent design depends onwhere the person is looking for it. If theobserved evidence is low in the structur-al hierarchy, the conclusion drawn maybe quite different than if the evidence ishigher in the scheme. Where one looksfor evidence may be determined byone’s scientific specialization. The low-est part of the structure of nature is thedomain of physics; the next higher do-main is the concern of chemistry; andthe top domain belongs to biology.

Recent resurgence of interest in intel-ligent design began with the discoverythat a large number of fundamentalphysical constants in the universe arevery finely attuned to the needs of liv-

ing systems. If they were different byeven the most minuscule amount, thenlife would not be possible. This isknown as the Anthropic Principle. Anumber of physicists have found in itreasons to believe in a Creator God.Others, finding this interpretation dis-agreeable, have hypothesized multipleuniverses, so that by mere chance, oneof the universes—ours, as luck wouldhave it—will possess the right condi-tions for life. That there is not a shred ofevidence in support of multiple univers-es appears irrelevant to them.

The fundamental physical constantsprovide for the physical and chemicalresources required by living things. Ingeneral, they offer evidence for designthat is low in the structural hierarchy ofnature or outside of it. From this per-spective, only the basic physical andchemical conditions needed for life todevelop were provided. Consequently,some physicists who are impressed with

the evidence also accept that God usedevolution, in the broadest sense, as thetool of creation. They are theistic evolu-tionists.

Other scientists find design evidencein biochemistry and biochemical path-ways, which they see as irreduciblycomplex. For them, God was a bit moreactive. They may hypothesize that Hemade the first cells, but evolution didthe rest. They may also be theistic evo-lutionists.

If there is evidence for design at thevery low level that intrigues some phys-icists, and if there is also evidence at thebiochemical level, would this not sug-gest the possibility of even more evi-dence higher in the structural hierar-chy? Moreover, the higher the evidenceon the structural scale, the fewer the in-terpretative options.

I began to wonder if there was evi-dence for design at the very top of thestructural hierarchy—the ecological lev-

Figure 1 — The structural hierarchy

Biosphere

Ecosystems

Communities

Organ systems — organisms

Organs — organisms

Tissues — organisms

Cells — organisms

Molecules and macromolecules

Atoms

Sub-atomic particles

Ecological levels

Lowest level of life

9Dialogue 12:3 2000

el. This is the level that deals with mul-tiple relationships between organisms,and between them and their abiotic en-vironment. If there was evidence for in-telligent design at all levels of the struc-tural hierarchy of nature, and especiallyat the top, then it would be most diffi-cult to expect blind chance alone to ad-equately explain the existence and vari-ety of living things. I believe there issuch evidence: the view from the top.3

Biodiversity and creationThe term biodiversity has recently

come into popular use. It refers to themany different species we find in na-ture, as well as different populations ofthose species with their many geneticvariations, and with the host of ecologi-cal services provided by them. From thefirst reference to it in 1986 to today,hundreds of papers have been publishedon the biodiversity theme.

Biodiversity studies have revealed an

intricate web of interdependenciesamong living things. Ecosystems arenow known to be more tightly held to-gether than previously imagined. Infact, Peter Raven of the Missouri Botani-cal Garden suggests that when a plant isexterminated, 10 to 30 other organismswill follow it into extinction.4 The rela-tionship is that tight. Fortunately, eco-systems also have back-up systems, sothat effects of abuse may not be as far-reaching as would otherwise be expect-ed. This is possible because several spe-cies may provide the same or similarecological services. Those species aresaid to be redundant. Nevertheless, evenredundant systems may not work underany and all circumstances, so that someof them are not now, as formerly,thought to be expendable.

Our understanding of biodiversityhas been gathered, in considerable mea-sure, from ecosystem damage and de-struction. As species have become rare

or extinct, the wider ecological effect oftheir loss has become evident. However,experimental research has confirmedsome of these more anecdotal findings.

Most of the concern in biodiversitystudies has centered on saving endan-gered species. At first, efforts were fo-cused on simply keeping up populationnumbers, but it quickly became evidentthat saving endangered species requiredthe preservation of whole ecosystems.Each species has its ecological supportsystem, and each component of eachsupport system has its own support sys-tem, and so on. We can put it this way:Life on earth makes life on earth possi-ble. That is to say that living things weremade to support one another. Shouldthat be so surprising? Of course, it wasthe conservation of species that receivedthe primary focus, but the wider impli-cations of such interdependent systemshave now become clear.

Mutually beneficial relationships arecommon in nature. In fact, it is proba-ble that most natural relationships areof this type. Numerous examples of in-terdependent relationships could be giv-en, but space does not allow for manysuch examples. However, Figure 2, usinga single tree, illustrates the services itboth provides and receives. The reader isurged to recall other kinds of relation-ships, perhaps soil relationships, thatare of a similar mutually benefitting na-ture.

There are also negative relationshipsand death in nature now, but these ap-pear to have resulted from species loss,genetic damage, and other negative im-pacts. Ecosystems, like organisms, arenow degenerate. The Christian believersees these problems as foreseen by theCreator in His address to Adam and Eveafter the Fall (see Genesis 3:14-19).While negative relationships may bemore dramatic and may more readilycapture our perverse attention, it seemsmost probable that beneficial relation-

Figure 2 — Some service exchanges associated with a tree


Services received:

Protection

CO2 (fromrespiration)

Pest control

Pollination

Seed dispersal

Soil nutrientsfrom decomposers

Mycorrhizae

Services provided:

New habitats& niches

Albedo reduction

O2 (fromphotosynthesis)

Food

Nest sites& materials

Humus

Cover & protection

Erosion, drought,& flood control

Shade &microclimate control

Global climateregulation

10 Dialogue 12:3 2000

ook in an encyclopedia. Ask a history student. Talk to a pastor. The word Reformation will cite the 16th cen-tury religious movement that chal-lenged the Roman Catholic Church inEurope. Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli arethe names that emerge as its vanguards.But almost a century before, Russia hadits own reformation that has seldom re-ceived its deserved attention. It too pro-duced stalwarts who stood for biblicaltruth and burning stakes that attemptedto snuff out the beacons of religious ren-ovation. This significant movement hadthe potential to change not only Rus-sian history but also the religious situa-tion in the West.

The beginningThe Russian Reformation began with

the Novgorod-Moscow movement, anintellectual and religious current thatflourished in these cities. It is difficult tobe precise about its date of origin. Ser-vitsky, a Russian historian, states, “Wetried to find…where this heresy camefrom.…Carefully looking over all thesources, we came to the conclusion thatin this heresy there is no clear begin-ning.”1 Referring to these “heretics,” an-other historian—A. I. Klibanov—writesthat they “appeared even before the13th and 14th centuries.”2 Because itstheology was rooted in the Bible, themovement was not affected by Byzan-tine Christianity. Since the adherents ofthe movement were not too numerous,its activity smoldered throughout thecenturies, only to burst out and grow inthe 1400s.

The 15th century in Russia was atransition period when a divided coun-

try forged into a centralized absolutemonarchy. This process, with the emerg-ing of new social classes and new waysof thinking, became a fruitful soil for aProtestant-like religious movement toevolve. The movement had supportfrom within the royal family, includingDimitry, the first crowned tzar, and in-volved many members of the nobility,clergy, and thousands of other people.Unlike the Western European Reforma-tion, whose ground was prepared by thesecular ideas of the Renaissance, theRussian Reformation was based more onBible study and reflection. In Russia, theBible was not kept from the people as itwas in the Catholic countries. From thewritings of Ivan Cherny (?-1505) andthe brothers Ivan (1440s?-1504) and Fe-

Ahead of their time?The 15th century Reformation in Russia

by Oleg Zhigankov

A remarkable story that is not

well known, but that

challenges contemporary

Christians.

L

Feodor Kurizin (center) introduces Russiandiplomats to Emperor Maximilian I.

11Dialogue 12:3 2000

odor Kurizin (1440?-1504?)—the lead-ing theologians of the Reformationmovement—it is clear that the princi-ples of faith, the lifestyle, and the teach-ings of the Sabbatarians within theNovgorod-Moscow were very muchbased on the Bible. This interest in theScriptures flourished because the com-mon people of Russia had easy access tothe Bible. As far back as the 11th centu-ry, parts of the Bible had been translatedinto the common language of the peo-ple, and by 1581 Russians had a com-plete printed Bible.3

During the years of Metropolitan Fil-ipp of Moscow (c. 1470)—the bishop ofthe Eastern Orthodox Church in the re-gion—the Sabbatarians already had asystematic set of beliefs and teachings.4

The center for the development of theirtheology was Novgorod—the most in-dependent and free city in Russia at thattime. Due to its republican form of gov-ernment, the city had close relationswith Western Europe as well as otherparts of Russia.5 It is also possible thatthe teachings of the Sabbatarians wereinfluenced by an earlier Protestant-like“heresy” in Russia, the Strigol’niki thatinvolved lay people promoting churchreforms.6 But the influence of theStrigol’niki on the Sabbatarians was limit-ed to the free exchange of ideas and acommitment to Bible study, for theformer was involved largely with socialreforms while the latter embodied a radi-cal theological reform.7

One factor that emboldened the Sab-batarian movement was the external in-fluence on several Russian cities at thattime. The second half of the 15th centu-ry saw a more centralized Russia lookingincreasingly outward and becoming in-volved in international activities. Con-sequently, Western ideas in architecture,skilled professions, reading, fashion,free thinking, and religion had an im-pact on Russia. Further, the influence ofHussite and Taborite religious move-ments in Bohemia had an effect on theSabbatarian developments. The close

connections between Bohemia and Po-land, as well as the educational and cul-tural links of Polish students with Czechuniversities, made it possible for Polishstudents to bring back to their home-land new religious ideas, which had animpact on Russia as well. Indeed, theHussite ideas at one time were so strongin Poland that an edict was promulgat-ed in the country, requiring people tostop traveling to Bohemia and ceasereading Bohemian literature.8

The popular appealBy the second half of the 15th centu-

ry, a large group of Russian Orthodoxclergy in Novgorod supported and pro-moted the Reformation movement.Some prominent ones, like priests Dion-isy and Aleksei, became the leadingvoices of Reformation in Novgorod.9

About this time, Tzar Ivan III, the firstde facto Russian tzar, visited Novgorodand was impressed by the intellectualachievements and the simple life-styleof its clergy as opposed to clergy of oth-er places. Indeed, he invited bothpriests to Moscow and appointed

them as archbishops of the Uspenskyand Arhangel’sky cathedrals in theKremlin, two pivotal posts of religiousand political influence in the country.

By this time many of the Moscowclergy were open followers of the Re-form movement. Some commentatorseven state that the Metropolitan of Mos-cow himself, Zosima, was practicingsome of the Reform beliefs.

Probably the most prominent theolo-gian of the Novgorod-Moscow Move-ment was Feodor Kurizin (1440?-1504?),a Russian diplomat who traveled exten-sively through Europe and who lived forthree years at the court of the Transylva-nian King Matthias I Corvinus (1443-1490). Kurizin held a crucial post in thegovernment of Russia—today’s equiva-lent to the Minister of Foreign Affairsand the place of the First Counselor tothe tzar—and did much for the country.He spoke Latin, Italian, Tartar, Lithua-nian, and Polish, and played a key rolein the 1481 peaceful overthrow of theTartar-Mongol domination. Because ofhim, Russia was able to have connec-tions with Western countries. Kurizin’sstay at the court of King Matthias oc-curred just after the Hussite andTaborite activities in Bohemia, when thegovernment and the people togetherfought against the unchecked power ofthe church. It is quite possible that Kur-izin, who advised the Russian tzar inmatters of foreign and internal affairs,also influenced him in religious matters.Such deduction is tenable when we takeinto account that Tzar Ivan III heldsome of the Reform beliefs, such as thenon-immortality of the soul. Further,some of the tzar’s closest family mem-bers were Reformers. For example,Helen, the tzar’s daughter-in-law (killedin 1505), followed the teachings of theSabbatarians and taught her son, Dimit-ry, her beliefs. She was the daughter ofthe Moldovan Prince Stephan (1435-1504), who received Protestant refugeesfrom Bohemia in the 1480s. Amongother leaders and followers of the Re-

Portrait of Tzar Ivan III.

12 Dialogue 12:3 2000

formers were Ivan Cherny, Semion Kle-pov, Ivan Maksimov, Dimitry Pus-toselov, and others who were among themost educated in their time in Russia.10

The Reform movement found sup-port in both the upper and lower class-es. Volozky, the major opponent of theNovgorod-Moscow movement at thattime, wrote with bitterness that in everycity the people discussed the reformedfaith in every possible place.11 In thecity of Pskov, for example, they dis-cussed the dogma and the traditions ofthe church when they gathered at theveche12 for other secular matters.13 Gen-nady Gonozov, another prominent op-ponent of this movement and thefounder of the Russian Inquisition,wrote in a letter to Bishop Prohor Sarskythat “temptation, here, spread not onlyin the cities, but also in the villages.”

It is obvious, then, that the RussianReform movement was widespread andaffected every social class, includingcommoners, clergy, governmental work-ers, nobility, and even the household ofthe tzar. But what did the movementteach?

The teachingsAlthough differences and deviations

among the proponents of the move-ment may have existed, leading the Rus-sian Orthodox clergy to brand the Re-formers as Judaistic, such differencesshould not be allowed to divert atten-tion from the central teachings of theReform movement. This central core isreadily apparent from the religious liter-ature of the day. A perusal of such litera-ture provides the following summary ofthe theology and the teachings of theReform movement:

1. The Holy Scriptures are the high-est authority for the believer andthey are above the traditions ofthe church. Sabbath keeping, ob-serving the Lord’s Supper, andother similar beliefs are directlydeduced from this paramount be-lief.

2. Monasticism, icons, holy relics,and other traditions not found inthe Bible are priestly inventionsand should not be followed orvenerated.

3. The Bible is both a historical and aprophetic guide that ties togetherthe past, present, and future.

4. The Christian should pray to Godwithout any human mediatorssuch as priests or saints. The Scrip-tures can be understood and ex-plained without the help of theclergy.

5. Believers should keep all of God’sLaw, the Decalogue, including theseventh-day Sabbath.

6. Christ’s death was an atoning sac-rifice for the sins of humankind.

7. Human beings are monistic andnot dualistic creatures. There is nosuch thing as a soul surviving thebody; the soul is not immortal.

8. Every person is free to choose andpractice what he or she believes.The freedom of conscience is cru-cial in religious faith and practice.

9. True religion and science are notantagonistic to each other.

While the European Renaissance up-lifted humanism and consequentlyplaced human rationalism above every-thing else, the Novgorod-Moscow be-lievers held to a central principle thatmade them different in their final quest.Feodor Kurizin once said, “The soul isautocratic. Faith is its protective barri-er.” Thus, instead of completely relyingon human knowledge, the Russian re-formers relied on God and the Scrip-tures as the final arbiter of their ideas.

The defeat of the movementBy the end of the 15th century, the

religious Reform ideas and practiceswithin the Novgorod-Moscow move-ment had spread throughout Russia,and were observed in every social class.The fact that even some of the tzar’sfamily accepted the new teachings real-ly disturbed the Orthodox clergy. The

official church saw clearly the threat toits power, and the need to act withoutdelay to save itself.

The first approach was intrigue,which gained strength from a coalitionof interests of some ambitious personal-ities within the church and various po-litical circles. The political aspectsplayed out in the royal court itself. AfterIvan III lost his wife in 1467, he marriedZoe, niece of the last Byzantine emper-or, who along with her family had takenrefuge in Rome. Zoe had been under thetutorship of Cardinal Bessarion. The car-dinal saw in her a potential ally to bringRussia under Catholic influence, andthrough Russia to liberate his home-land, Greece, from the Ottoman (Turk-ish) empire. Through a well-placed mu-tual friend in Russia, Bessarion proposedZoe’s marriage to Ivan III. The tzar tookinterest in her. Soon romance, power,and ecclesiastic ambition combined toturn intrigue into a plot.

By the time Zoe arrived in Russia,Moscow, Novgorod, and other citieswere caught up in a religious upheavaland a power struggle at the court of IvanIII. The heir, young Ivan, took ill in1490, was attended by Zoe’s doctors,and died. The event opened the way forpersecution. That year the first of thechurch councils took place that broughtaccusations against the Reform move-ment by calling it a “judaizing” heresyand anathemized it. These accusationsdid not have any effect on the peopleand the movement continued to grow.Meanwhile, Zoe was scheming to haveher son, Vasily (1479-1533), on thethrone. To do this she had to eliminateDimitry, the grandson of Ivan III andthe next rightful heir to the throne.Dimitry was supported by the Novgor-od-Moscow movement because he wasone of them, and thus, Zoe became anenemy and the key player in the strug-gle against this movement.

In 1497 Vasily, Zoe’s son, rebelledagainst his father in order to assume thethrone, but failed. In 1498 Ivan III an-


nounced the succession of his grandsonDimitry to the throne of Russia, and in-augurated him as the tzar. The future ofRussia looked safe and promising, withreligious freedom and enlightenment.However, the hope was short lived.Through bribes, plots, conspiracy, andslander, Zoe successfully estrangedIvan’s heart from Dimitry, and in 1502Vasily was declared the heir to thethrone. Dimitry and his mother, Helen,were thrown in prison and when IvanIII died in 1505, they were executed.

On December 27, 1504, Moscow wit-nessed the first inquisitional burningstakes in Russia. Ivan Kurizin, DimitryKonopliov, Ivan Maksimov, and otherswere burned in wooden cages. Old IvanIII, his son Tzar Vasily, Metropolitan Si-mon, other bishops, and all the churchcouncil had accused them of Judaizingand sentenced them to death. In thesame winter, Ivan Rukavov, the Archi-mandrite of the Yr’evsky monastery,Kassian and his brother Ivan, GridiaKvashnia, Dimitry Pustoselov, and otherless-known “heretics” were burned be-cause of their beliefs. These people werefor the inaguration of Dimitry as therightful tzar and were present at Vasily’strial; but now they were condemned ascriminals because of their beliefs. Eventhough the Novgorod-Moscow move-ment suffered heavy losses among theupper classes, it remained very popularin the lower classes. By 1511, Tzar Vasilywas under pressure to increase the perse-cution of the “heretics,” lest they de-stroy the Orthodox Church in Russia.

Thus, the Reformers were swept outof the Kremlin. The party of Zoe tri-umphed. Ivan III lived his last days indisappointment and died in obscurity.Even though the Inquisition in Russiadid not reach the same proportions as itdid in the Catholic countries, thesquares of Russian cities were oftenlighted up with burning stakes.

Russia’s progress toward Protestant-ism and Enlightenment was thusstopped by political intrigues. The situa-

tion helped establish the emerging ab-solutism over the social, political, andreligious realms of Russian people. Thereign of Vasily (1505-1533) was charac-terized by cruelty and a return to igno-rance. His son and successor Ivan IV(1531-1584) turned out to be a bloodyruler who terrorized all Russia, earningfrom history the infamous title, Ivan theTerrible. Even during his reign, therewere people in Russia who were true tothe teachings of the Bible, especially theSabbath. The “One Hundred Head”Church Council, called in 1551 duringthe reign of Ivan IV, adopted a resolu-tion which until today has not been an-nulled by the Russian OrthodoxChurch. This regulation states that thepeople, besides worshiping on Sunday,could also worship on Saturday in theconfines of the Russian OrthodoxChurch—a statement which was recog-nized by the church council as autho-rized by the Apostles Peter and Paul.14

The remarkable story of the Reformmovement is not well-known in Russiatoday. Now with the fall of Commu-nism, it is important that people findout the truth that was buried for centu-ries under the layers of absolutism, reli-gious blindness, and authoritarianism.While there are many missing details inthe history of the Russian Reformation,one fact stands out boldly: The Reformmovement in Russia in the 15th to 16thcenturies was an indigenous movementwhose roots reached as deep as the ini-tial Christianization of Russia. A com-mitment to biblical truth, including theSabbath, led to the martyrdom of manyunsung Russian heroes of faith. Theircourageous example still challengescontemporary Christians.

Oleg Zhigankov has taught church his-tory at Zaoksky Theological Seminary inRussia, and is currently completing his doc-toral studies in the same field at AndrewsUniversity in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Hise-mail address: [email protected]

Notes and references1. Servitsky, “Opyt Issledovaniia Novgordskih

Eretikov, ili ‘Zhidovstvuiushchih’”[Conclusion on the Research about theHeretics, or the “Judaizers” fromNovgorod], Pravoslavnoe Obozrenie(Moscow: July 1862), pp. 303-304.

2. A. I. Klibanov, History of ReligiousSectarianism in Russia (1860-1917), E.Dunn, tr.; S. P. Dunn, ed. (Oxford:Pergamon Press, 1982), p. 39.

3. E. H. Broadbent, The Pilgrim Church (NewYork: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1955),p. 323.

4. Oleg Zhigankov, Eretiki, ili Liudi,Operedivshie Vremia [Heretics or ChristiansAhead of Their Time?] (Zaoksky, Russia:Istochnik Zhizni, 1996), p. 28.

5. V. L. Ianin, Novgorodskie Posadniki [TheRulers of Novgorod] (Moscow: MoskovskyGosudarstvenyi Universitet, 1962), p. 387.

6. Buganov and Bogdanov, The Rebels in theRussian Orthodox Church (Moscow:Politizdat, 1991), pp. 19-31.

7. Ibid., pp. 19-65.8. V. Botsianovsky, “Russkie Volnodumtsy”

[Russian Free-Thinkers], Novoe Slovo (St.Petersburg, 1896) 12:171.

9. Buganov and Bogdanov, p. 48.10. A. I. Sobolevsky, Logika Zhidovstvuiushchih i

Taina Tainyh [The Logic of the Judaizersand the Mystery of Mysteries] (St.Petersburg, 1899).

11. I. Volozky, The Instructor (Moscow, 1994),pp. 44-45.

12. A popular place of assembly in a city—somewhat like the Greek city square—where citizens gathered to discussimportant matters like war, peace,choosing a ruler or a bishop, and otherquestions.

13. Pskovskaia I Letopis’, 1468-1470 [TheChronicles of Pskov, I: Years 1468-1470].

14. D. E. Kozhachnikov, ed., Stoglav [One-Hundred-Head Council] (St. Petersburg:Tipografiia Imperatorskoi Akademy Nauk,1863), pp. 270, 271.

14 Dialogue 12:3 2000

he earth is in peril. Life is under attack from a new enemy: a polluted environment, created by a sys-temic failure to practice responsiblestewardship of our planet. Industrialgreed decimates rain forests. Hazardouswastes pollute our waterways andoceans. Global warming changes weath-er patterns around the world. Overpop-ulation places an intolerable burden onthe earth’s resources.

These and other news relating to ourearth’s environment are routinely in themedia. But are we aware of less-publi-cized environmental factors that affectour lives in our homes, in our work-place, in our classrooms? Consider thefollowing.

Indoor environmentMost of us spend a lot of time in-

doors—eating, working, traveling, sleep-ing, and shopping. But one might ask,how does this relate to environmentalhealth? Already in 1986, a United StatesEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA)report revealed that air pollution levelsinside most buildings are generally fivetimes higher than in the air outside.1

The World Health Organization esti-mates that 30 percent of all new or ren-ovated buildings suffer from “sick build-ing syndrome” (see sidebar, p. 17).

Some may say, “We live in a less-de-veloped country and therefore we don’thave to worry about the problems asso-ciated with modern building struc-tures.” However, in developing coun-tries, high levels of indoor air pollutantscontribute to various acute respiratoryinfections (ARI) in children and adults,and these infections result in an esti-

mated 4.3 million deaths per year.2

Among all endemic diseases, includingdiarrhea, ARI is the most pervasive causeof chronic illness and is responsible for34 percent of all mortality for childrenunder the age of five in the developingworld.3

In Latin America, Africa, and Asia, 40to 60 percent of all fuel used for cookingis biomass in origin (wood, cow dung,and other vegetation). Using biomassfuel in a traditional stove captures only5 to 15 percent of the energy for cookingthe food, while the rest is wasted in theform of unused heat and copious quanti-ties of smoke. Studies have shown thathomes that use biomass fuels often ex-ceed by 20-fold air-quality exposure lim-its recommended by the World HealthOrganization. In fact, the pollution lev-els in such homes often exceed theworst air pollution of the world’s majormetropolitan areas. People primarily im-pacted by cooking smoke are women andchildren, who traditionally do morethan 90 percent of household chores.

Work environmentAccording to the World Health Orga-

nization, 60 to 70 percent of all adultmales and 30 to 60 percent of all adultfemales are employed outside the home.4

The workplace, even in relatively mod-ern societies, can be potentially hazard-ous to human health. More than 100million work-related cases of illness arereported worldwide each year. A U.S.National Institute for OccupationalSafety and Health (NIOSH) funded re-search project showed that in the Unit-ed States in 1992, direct and indirectcosts of occupational injuries and ill-

Health hazardsof the environmentby David Dyjackand Angela Bennett Dyjack T

What you can do to protect

yourself, where you are.


nesses totaled $145 billion and $26 bil-lion respectively. These costs compareto $33 billion for HIV/AIDS, $67.3 bil-lion for Alzheimer’s disease, $164.3 bil-lion for circulatory disease, and $170.7billion for cancer.5

Other illnessesAsthma, a condition that affects mil-

lions, is a disorder of the airways thatlead into the lungs. In an acute asthmat-ic attack, these airways constrict andconsequently obstruct the flow of air.This condition obviously leads to con-siderable discomfort and occasionallyresults in death. Although worldwidedata is difficult to secure, reports fromvarious health agencies suggest thatasthma and its management have devel-oped into a major public health prob-lem in many countries. Data for theUnited States suggests that asthma prev-alence rates among children and youthunder the age of 20 doubled between1982 and 1991 (from 3 to 5 percent),while asthma related mortality rates forpersons aged 5 to 34 increased byroughly the same amount.6

Although an asthma attack may beprecipitated by exercise, stress, changein weather, allergies, and other contrib-utors, a key factor in the developmentof asthma and subsequent asthmatic ep-isodes is exposure to indoor environ-mental triggers such as tobacco smoke,cleaning compounds, mites, animaldander, and cockroaches.

Environmental hazards also contrib-ute to the re-emergence of many vector-borne and infectious diseases. Healthprofessionals believed that many ofthese common diseases would be eradi-cated by the turn of the century. Unfor-tunately, they are making a comebackdue to drug resistance and environmen-tal factors. A case in point is malaria.Thirty years ago, public health profes-sionals believed that this, a potentiallyfatal disease, which is transmitted bymosquitoes, would soon be a thing ofthe past. However, due to environmen-

tal factors and the mosquito’s growingtolerance for pesticides and malaria’sdrug resistance, 55 percent of the worldpopulation is now routinely exposed tomalaria. This disease kills up to 2 per-cent of Africa’s children each year. An-nually, 300 to 500 million new cases arereported worldwide, with an estimatedmortality of 1.5 to 3 million people.7

Another example of an environmen-tally related infectious disease that con-tinues to resist control is tuberculosis(TB). TB is caused by a bacteria that istransmitted from person to personthrough airborne droplets produced bycoughing or sneezing. Untreated, tuber-culosis can be debilitating and poten-tially fatal. Approximately one-third ofthe world’s population has TB andabout two-thirds of the population indeveloping countries are carriers of theorganism.8 Tuberculosis infection ratesare often highest in environments wherepeople are densely crowded, ventilationis marginal, and sunlight is weak or ab-sent.

Other diseases that arise from poorenvironmental conditions include hep-atitis, cryptosporidiosis, dengue hemor-rhagic fever, diarrheal diseases, enceph-alitis, and numerous other illnesses. Hu-man migration and expanded air travelincrease environmental interconnected-ness, and in a very short while environ-mental diseases from one part of theworld can impact other faraway places.Distance no longer provides immunity.

Yes, our planet is sick. And environ-mental hazards can make us fall a preyto one or more of the illnesses caused bya polluted environment. Governments,health organizations, and industries cando a lot. But the question is: Whatshould we as individuals do? Here’s asimple list within our reach.

What can we do?1. Be a good steward. That’s the first

principle of ecology we learn from theBible. The Genesis record tells us thatafter God created the earth in all its

beauty and perfection, He gave it to hu-man beings “to dress it and to keep it”(Genesis 2:15, KJV). God gave us theearth for our good and for our enjoy-ment—for food, for beauty, for work—and we are to care for it as good stew-ards. Good stewardship means that wedo not carelessly exploit the earth’s re-sources and cause environmental imbal-ances that create hazards to life andhealth.

2. Follow sound principles of hygiene.The Bible provides us good examples ofbasic sanitary practices. Leviticus (15:2-12) instructs individuals who havecome in contact with contagious or con-taminating diseases to cleanse them-selves before interacting with other peo-ple. Deuteronomy 23:14 speaks aboutpersonal and environmental cleanlinessbecause the Lord is always with us. SaysEllen White: “Perfect cleanliness, plentyof sunlight, careful attention to sanita-tion in every detail of the home life, areessential to freedom from disease and tothe cheerfulness and vigor of the in-mates of the home.”9 Personal hygieneis a Christian duty.

3. Use simple preventive methods. Therisk associated with most environmen-tal problems can be minimized by somebasic prevention. Public health officialsadvise that routine hand-washing withsoap and water will minimize transmis-sion of many communicable diseases.This is particularly important for par-ents, child-care professionals, medicalpractitioners, and food handlers.

Keeping the home clean both insideand out can provide a healthful envi-ronment. Periodically remove dust fromcounter-tops, bedposts, and other sur-faces by dusting with a damp rag. Thiswill minimize dust and other particlesthat can exacerbate allergies or initiatean asthma episode.

Wash your bed linen regularly. Infes-tation by mites, which feed on deadskin, can heighten the risk of develop-ing asthma and allergies. By routinelywashing your bed linen and pillow cov-

16 Dialogue 12:3 2000

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A

ers and exposing the mattresses and pil-lows to the sun, you will minimize thisrisk.

If you use an indoor vacuum cleaner,or are cleaning or renovating a room, becertain to open the windows and doors.Excess dust or chemicals that can aggra-vate pre-existing medical conditionscan be safely diluted by lots of fresh out-door air.

Vent wood-burning stoves and fire-places outside. Gases generated from thecombustion of biomass fuel can createboth short- and long-term respiratoryproblems. A reliable chimney will mini-mize the concentration of smoke.

If your home has a mechanical (forcedair) ventilation system, inspect andchange the filters on a regular basis.This will prevent potentially pathogenicmicrobes from establishing themselvesin the ventilation system of your home,where they can be easily distributed toevery living space.

Screen your windows and doors tominimize entry of disease-carrying in-sects.

4. Maintain clean your home surround-ings. Keep your yard free of depressions,debris, and trash that can act as collec-tion points for water. Puddles and rain-water that accumulates in tires, automo-bile parts, and even un-maintained birdbaths can act as breeding grounds fordisease-carrying mosquitos and othervectors.

If you possess a garden pond, stock itwith mosquito-eating fish to keep nui-sance insects under control.

5. Develop good cooking and eating hab-its. Cook food thoroughly, particularly ifyou eat animal products. Foods contam-inated with viruses and bacteria can notbe made wholesome simply by heating.Cooked meats should ideally be free ofany sign of blood. Maintain appropriatetemperatures for cold and frozen foods.

6. Keep your workplace environmentally

safe. Survey your place of employmentto see what occupational hazards thatmay be present. Educate yourself to rec-ognize potential risk factors and signs ofexposure. Many hazardous substancesused in manufacturing can be replacedby less-expensive, less-toxic, and equallyeffective compounds. Both you and youremployer will be pleased if you can en-hance the safety of the workplace andsave money at the same time.

Educate yourselfIn addition to the simple measures

listed above, you can promote a cleanerenvironment by keeping yourself in-formed. Ecology is an ever-expandingscience. Being aware of your immediatesurroundings and keeping them health-ful is part of good stewardship. But youneed to know and do more. InternetWeb sites provide current, reliable, anduseful information about environmen-tal and occupational health. Look upthe following sites:

Environmental Health Web Sites:• www.epa.gov (U.S. Environmen-

tal Protection Agency)• www.niehs.nih.gov (U.S. National

Institute for EnvironmentalHealth Sciences)

• www.who.int (World Health Or-ganization)

Workplace Health and Safety Web Sites :• www.aiha.org (American Industri-

al Hygiene Association)• www.cdc.gov/niosh (U.S. Nation-

al Institute for Occupational Safe-ty & Health)

David Dyjack (Dr.P.H., University ofMichigan) is Associate Professor and Chair-man of the Department of Environmentaland Occupational Health, School of PublicHealth, Loma Linda University. His ad-dress: 1202 Nichol Hall; Loma Linda, Cal-ifornia 92350; U.S.A.E-mail: [email protected]

Angela Bennett Dyjack (M.P.H, Loma


Linda University) is an Assistant Professorin the Department of Environmental andOccupational Health, School of PublicHealth, Loma Linda University. Her ad-dress: 1203 Nichol Hall; Loma Linda, Cal-ifornia 92350; U.S.A.E-mail: [email protected]

Notes and references1. “The Total Assessment Methodology

Study.” United States EnvironmentalProtection Agency, Document No. EPA/600/S6-87/002, 1987.

2. Daniel Kammen, “Energy as anInstrument for Socio-EconomicDevelopment,” United NationsDevelopment Project, 1995, pp. 50-60.

3. K. S. Lankinen, S. Bergstrom, P. H. Makela,and M. Peltomaa, Health and Disease inDeveloping Countries (New York: TheMacmillan Press Limited, 1984), pp. 281-286.

4. “Global Strategy on Occupational Healthfor All,” World Health Organization, 1995,pp. 1-4.

5. U.S. National Institute for OccupationalSafety and Health, National OccupationalResearch Agenda: Update, July 1998, p. 4.

6. Robert Wallace, ed., Public Health andPreventive Medicine (Stamford,Connecticut: Appleton and Lange,publisher, 1998) 14th edition, pp. 984,985.

7. Ibid., pp. 313-316.8. M.C. Raviglione, D.E. Snider, and A.

Kochi, “Global Epidemiology ofTuberculosis: Morbidity and Mortality of aWorldwide Epidemic,” Journal of theAmerican Medical Association, 273 (1995):220-226.

9. Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing(Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Publ.Assn., 1909), p. 276.

Since the petroleum crisis of the 1970s,architectural design has largely been influ-enced by the necessity to conserve energy.You can readily identify energy efficientbuildings through their design features.Many modern commercial facilities’ win-dows do not open or close because thiswould allow expensive tempered air to es-cape. These buildings usually have tintedwindows to reduce glare and minimizeoverheating caused by the sun’s rays.

Energy efficient buildings may contrib-ute to sick-building syndrome. The symp-toms generally do not fit the pattern of anyparticular illness and their cause is difficultto trace to specific sources. People whosuffer from this malady may complain ofone or more of the following symptoms:dry or burning eyes, nose, or throat; sneez-ing, stuffy or runny nose; fatigue or lethar-gy, headache, dizziness, nausea, irritability,and forgetfulness. Poor lighting, noise, vi-bration, thermal discomfort, and psycho-logical stress may cause or contribute tothese symptoms.

These health problems do not appear inany particular sequence. In some cases,workers experience problems as they entertheir offices and diminish as they leave. Inother cases, symptoms do not begin untillater in the workday. In still other cases,there is no pattern at all. Sometimes thereis an outbreak of illness among many work-

ers in a single building; other times, symp-toms show up in only a few individuals.

Scientist suggest three major reasonsfor “sick” buildings:

1. The presence of numerous indoor airpollution sources. Typically, none of these initself causes building occupants to feel ill.In most cases, several factors accumulateto a point that some individuals will feelsick when spending time in a building.Some of the routine indoor sources in-clude: tobacco smoke; formaldehyde frompressed wood products and upholstery;fumes from paints, adhesives, and copymachines; and mold and bacteria thatcome from water-damaged carpets, wood,and other building materials.

2. Poorly designed and maintained venti-lation systems. Perhaps the most importantcontributor to sick-building syndrome ispoor or inadequate ventilation systems.When designed properly, these systemsshould provide ample quantities of freshoutdoor air to each office.

3. The use of a building for purposes forwhich it was not designed. Building occupan-cy often changes through time. What wasonce a classroom is now a wet laboratory,and later may become a suite of individualoffices. Each use may be valid, but cumula-tive effects on the environment must be fac-tored, taking into account occupant densityas well as prior and present activities.

The Sick-Building Syndrome

Attention, Adventist Professionals!If you hold a master’s degree or its equivalent in any field, you

are invited to join the Adventist Professionals’ Network (APN).This global registry assists participating Adventist institutions inlocating consultants, short-term volunteers, and candidates forpositions, while fostering international networking. There are nocharges or dues.

Obtain a registration form by contacting: APN - GC EducationDepartment; 12501 Old Columbia Pike; Silver Spring, MD 20904;U.S.A. You can also request the form by fax (301-622-9627) or e-mail: [email protected] Or you may submit di-rectly the information requested via the World Wide Web: http://apn.adventist.org

18 Dialogue 12:3 2000

ProfilesMarilyn C. SavedraDialogue with an Adventist nurse educator and researcher

arilyn Savedra is a nurse. Not just a nurse, but one who has turned her helping profession into a ministry that has reached out to serve children and adolescents worldwide. As developer of the Adolescent Pe-

diatric Pain Tool, she along with her team of researchers have done pioneeringwork on the assessment and management of pain in children. The instrumentis currently used throughout the world by hospitals and clinics to locate, mea-sure, and properly respond to pain experienced by children and youth.

Born and raised in the northeastern region of the United States, MarilynSavedra obtained her baccalaureate degree in health education at Walla WallaCollege, her master’s in pediatric nursing at Loma Linda University, and herdoctorate in child nursing at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Savedra has taught in several institutions of higher learning, includingthe University of California, San Francisco, where she has served as professorand chair of the Department of Family Health Care Nursing.

She has published several articles in research journals and has been honoredfor her achievements in this field.

Her husband, Albert Savedra, a social worker who served with the Depart-ment of Corrections in San Francisco, died prematurely four years ago. Theirtwo children—Andrea and Albert—pursue their own professional careers.

We met with Dr. Marilyn Savedra in her home on the foothills of Berkeley,not far from the bustling central campus of the University of California.

M my graduate program. Eventually I did!

■ Did you encounter difficulties due to yourAdventist beliefs?

No, I never did. People knew fromthe start my religious convictions, be-cause I tactfully told them at the begin-ning, and they respected my values. Lat-er, as a teacher at the university, therewas some subtle pressure because, formany years, graduation ceremonieswere held on Saturday morning. Someof the graduating students with whom Ihad developed a mentoring relationshipwould have liked me to be present, but Ichose to be consistent in my Sabbathobservance. On one occasion a facultymember asked me, “Can’t you get yourminister to allow you to participate inthe ceremonies?” I explained that thiswas my personal decision, not some-thing imposed by someone else. Stu-dents understood, however, and re-spected my beliefs.

■ Why did you select pediatric nursing asyour specialty?

When I was studying in my basicnursing program, I was assigned to dosome of my practice at the Boston Float-ing Hospital. A forward-looking headnurse in one unit allowed parents tostay with their sick children, caring forthem under nurses’ supervision. This isconsidered normal now, but at that timethis approach was very innovative. I waschallenged by the dynamics and posi-tive results of that interaction. It be-came my primary field of interest.

■ What were the issues that attracted youto the specific area of pain management?

in my family was involved in thehealth-care field. My father, who wasnot initially an Adventist but laterjoined the Seventh-day AdventistChurch, and my mother were support-ive of Christian education.

■ Did you find encouragement and supportduring your advanced studies?

I was fortunate in having at each lev-el an incredibly great group of teacherswho nurtured my vocation and mod-eled Christian qualities. They would in-vite us, students, to their home andshare with us their experiences in life.Some of them had served as missionar-ies and their stories fascinated us. Oneof my mentors, Maureen Maxwell, per-sistently encouraged me to complete

■ What led you to choose nursing as yourprofession?

It was almost accidental. As an acade-my student, I needed to find summeremployment to earn my tuition for thecoming school year. I went to the NewEngland Sanitarium and Hospital, anAdventist institution near Boston, andapplied to work in the housekeeping de-partment. There were no vacancies, butthey needed people to take an intensivenurse’s aid course and work during therest of the summer. I loved it from thestart and worked there for the last twosummers of my secondary studies.

■ Were your parents supportive of yourchoice?

Yes, very much so, although no one


As late as the 1970s, little attentionwas paid to the management of pain inchildren. If children do experience pain,is it as severe as the pain experienced byadults? Do children require analgesics?How much? How often? I began observ-ing school-age children taken to thehospital as a result of severe burns. Thepain I witnessed was an overwhelmingexperience for me. Later, working with ateam of researchers, we carefully devel-oped the Adolescent Pediatric Pain Toolthat helps nurses and physicians to de-termine the location, quality, intensity,onset, duration, and pattern of a child’spain. This, in turn, helps to fine-tunethe clinical response.

■ How do you relate to frustrations in life?Basically, life has been good to me.

However, the illness and death of myhusband was a painful and sad experi-ence for me. Life with Albert had beenincredibly rich and fulfilling. But as aChristian, one learns to accept andmove on, trusting in God’s wisdom andgrace. As I look back on my life, it seemsthat the Lord has always led. Opportu-nities just opened up and I moved intoan open door.

■ How do you connect your professional ca-reer with your faith?

I cannot compartmentalize my faithand my work. They are integrated partsof my total life experience. I joined theAdventist Church through baptismwhen I was 12, and through the years Ihave continued to grow in my under-standing of God’s plan for my life.

■ How do you keep your relationship withGod fresh and vibrant?

I find it important to balance privatedevotional life with public worship.Prayer, Bible study, and devotion on apersonal level enrich my involvementin corporate worship through regularchurch attendance and participation.One of the most significant moments ofthe day is the time I spend walking near

the San Francisco Bay along the Berke-ley Marina, away from the phone andthe pressures, reflecting, praying silent-ly, and connecting with God.

■ As a Christian professional, what has giv-en you the greatest satisfaction?

The success of my students. It is veryrewarding to see them become passion-ate about caring for sick children andtheir families, and then moving on toachieve much beyond what I have my-self done. They have become my friendsand colleagues—part of my life.

■ Would you encourage other Adventists tobecome teachers in public universities?

I believe God calls His children toserve in different places. So, I don’tknow if I would necessarily encourageall of them to do so. But if a public col-lege or university is the place wheresome of them feel called to serve, this isa good place for a committed Christian,particularly if one is ready to serve andwork hard without compromising his orher own beliefs and convictions.

■ Have you thought of a Bible characterwho could serve as a model for Adventistprofessionals who work in secular settings?

Recently, during a Sabbath schoollesson, we were talking about Paul. Heseems to me a prime example of an edu-cated Christian who was able to relateeffectively with all types of people—be-lievers and unbelievers, humble and so-phisticated, educated and illiterate—and witness for his faith in all kinds ofsettings.

■ How did you become involved with theBerkeley Adventist Student Association?

I have always been drawn to collegeand university students and have en-joyed the relationship. So when a few ofthem, who were also members of theBerkeley Adventist church, began dis-cussing the possibility of establishing astudent association that would be for-mally recognized by the University of

California at Berkeley, I was happy toserve as the faculty sponsor. The mem-bers of the student association come tomy home on Friday evening for a ves-pers service and a light supper. Duringthe summer the group usually rangesfrom eight to 12. During the academicyear the group triples in size, and wemeet in the church’s student lounge formany of our activities.

■ Do you involve non-Adventist students inthe activities of the association?

Yes, we do. Some times Adventist stu-dents bring their roommates to vespers.Often they come to our social activities.Some of these students have becomeAdventists through the positive Chris-tian influence and witness of the group.

■ What would be your advice to Adventiststudents in public universities?

First, I would encourage them to seekout other Adventist students on campusor in the area. There is real strengthwhen they interact and support eachother. At times this can be done bestthrough a student association. Second,if there is an Adventist church in the vi-cinity, they should connect and becomeinvolved in the life of the congregation.Third, I believe students should taketime for their personal devotions. Al-though it is not always easy, they needto find a quiet place to reflect, study theBible, and pray. This will not only nur-ture their faith, but also prepare them tobe a witness for God on campus andwherever they may go.

Interview by Humberto M. Rasi

Humberto M. Rasi (Ph.D., Stanford Uni-versity) is director of the Education Depart-ment of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and chief editor of Dialogue.

Dr. Savedra’s address: 1411 SacramentoSt., Berkeley; California 94702; U.S.A.E-mail: [email protected]

20 Dialogue 12:3 2000

Yoshinori NamihiraDialogue with an Adventist optical fiber

reasearch engineer in Japan

an an Adventist engineer survive in the competitive world of modern technology and gain professional recognition? “Yes,” says Dr. Yoshinori Namihira, the senior project manager and research engineer of Interna-

tional Telephone and Telegram Company (Kokusai Denshin Denwa Researchand Development Laboratories, or KDD R&D Labs),Tokyo, Japan.

Dr. Namihira is a child of the post-World War II era. Born in Okinawa fouryears after the war ended, he received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engi-neering from Ryukyu University, Okinawa, and M. E. and Ph.D. degrees in elec-trical communication engineering from Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. In1979, he joined the KDD R&D Laboratories. Since then, he has been engaged inresearch on transmission loss characteristics, polarization fluctuation charac-teristics, polarization mode dispersion (PMD), optical fiber nonlinear measure-ment coefficient methods in single mode optical fibers, and optical fiber subma-rine cables.

Professionally, Dr. Namihira’s achievements have been impressive. His workhas received both national and international recognition. In 1984, he receivedthe Electronics Letters Premium Award from the Institute of Electrical Engineersin the United Kingdom for research done on the effects of hydrogen on optical fi-ber loss increase. The following year he was given the Company President’s Prizeby KDD R&D Headquarters for research done on hydrogen permeation into opti-cal fibers. In 1990 and 1992, he received the Best Paper Awards at the Interna-tional Opto-Electronics Conference in Japan for his work on PMD measure-ments of the optical fibers. In 1994, in Atlanta, Georgia, he was given the BestPaper Award at the 42nd International Wire and Cable Symposium (JWCS ’93)for his presentation on PMD reduction of optical fiber cables. Last year, the Op-tical Fiber Communications Conference, the largest optical fiber conference inthe world, elected him as a member of the Technical Program Committee.

Dr. Namihira is currently a member of the Institute of Electronics, Informa-tion, and Communication Engineers of Japan as well as the Institute of Electri-cal and Electronics Engineers in the United States. He has co-authored seventechnical books that are widely used by university students, and holds 31 tech-nical patents.

A very busy and hectic work schedule, however, has not kept Dr. Namihirafrom taking an active role in his local Seventh-day Adventist church. He is oneof the elders of the Hachioji church and leader of a team that plans evangelisticoutreach programs.

Yoshinori Namihira is married to Michiko. They are the parents of Ai andKoyo, their daughter and son, respectively.

C

Profiles

■ Dr. Namihira, can you tell us how you be-came a Seventh-day Adventist?

Approximately 30 years ago, myyounger brother, Yoshinobu Namihira,who now is a doctor and lives in Vicks-burg, Mississsippi, U.S.A., attended a se-ries of evangelistic meetings in Okina-wa, Japan, conducted by ProfessorToshio Yamagata, an 89 year-old Adven-tist scientist. After my brother was bap-tized, he invited me to attend hischurch one Sabbath on Visitor’s Day.There I met the late Elder Warren Hill-iard, one of the early American mission-aries to Japan. I was deeply impressed bythe Christian commitment of Elder Hill-iard. This led me to know more aboutthe Adventist faith and lifestyle, and Itook Bible studies with the late Elder Mit-suhiko Hayashi and Professor ToshioYamagata in Sendai, Japan. A newworld of faith opened before me, andsoon I joined the Seventh-day AdventistSendai Church.

■ You received all of your college and univer-sity education in non-Adventist institutions.Did you encounter any problems because ofyour faith commitment, such as Sabbath-keeping?

When I was working on my Ph.D.degree at Tohoku University, my firsttechnical paper, “Effects of MechanicalStress on Transmission of Optical Fiber,”was written in Japanese. This paper wasto be evaluated by the U.S. Air Force.They wanted the optical fiber for use intheir airplanes and requested an Englishversion of my paper. My professor, Dr.Yasuto Mushiake, assistant professor Dr.Masaaki Kudo, and I were working onthe translation. However, as it was my


practice, I went to church on Sabbath.Although my professor knew that I at-tended church on Saturday, he had hissecretary call me at the church to tell methat I had to get back to continue work-ing on the translation.

That posed a dilemma. Should I obeymy professor and break the Sabbath orrun the risk of falling out of favor withhim and perhaps jeopardizing my fu-ture at the university and eventually mycareer? My doctoral program was atstake. I chose not to break the Sabbathand stayed in church. After the service,as we got into our car, my wife and Iprayed about the matter and left it withthe Lord to work out His will in His ownway. As we were returning home, my fa-vorite hymn was ringing in my heart:“I’d Rather Have Jesus.” I felt at peace. Ihad placed the burden on Jesus, and Iknew He would work it out. My decisionto obey His word felt reinforced by thewords of that song. I strongly believedthat God would provide for my futureeven if I were to leave the university. Ichose to claim at face value the promiseof Genesis 22:8: “God will provide.” In-deed God did provide in my case. Myprofessor understood my position, and Icompleted graduate school and earnedmy Ph.D. degree with distinction.

■ What kind of problems do you have work-ing in a non-Adventist organization, andhow do you handle these problems success-fully?

I can remember one problem that Iencountered about 15 years ago. At thattime we had a big project planned—totest the laying of the optical submarinecable in the Pacific Ocean. The test wasscheduled for a Sabbath afternoon. I wasin a quandary. As I pondered over myproblem, I recalled the story recorded inMark 4:39, where Jesus is portrayed asthe Lord with command over the seas.After all, He is the Creator of the earthand the sea. I turned to Him for help,and prayed earnestly for the Lord tosend the wind to stir up the water. The

weatherman had predicted calm seas—aperfect condition for the test. But aroundmidnight, a strong wind whipped up thewaves, and soon there was a storm. Theweather was not safe enough for our ex-periment, and the test was postponed toanother day. My Sabbath problem wassolved, and I found myself in thechurch, thanking my God for the won-ders He performs to enable us to keepour faith. I shared my experience thatday with my fellow church members.God never asks us to do something forwhich He does not provide the way andthe power.

■ You have worked in a secular environmentmost of your life. What kind of opportunitiesdo you have for witnessing to your col-leagues regarding your faith?

There are approximately 150 staffmembers working at KDD R&D Labora-tories. I happen to hold the largest num-ber of awards. My colleagues are im-pressed and often ask me the secrets ofmy success. My response is “I got all theideas and inspiration by attending aChristian church every Saturday.” Also,I eat very healthful food: Whenever I at-tend a company function, I am able towitness to my colleagues by refrainingfrom taking alcoholic beverages. In-stead, I drink herb tea or fruit juice. Mychoices in such simple things lead to in-quiries from my colleagues, and we getto talk about my faith. To my surprise,some of my colleagues have adopted theAdventist lifestyle.

I can think of another instance. In1982 we had first discovered that theproblem with the increase in optical fi-ber loss was due to hydrogen. To con-firm my theory, I measured the data ev-ery day except Sabbath. In spite of thefact that I missed the data for one day,my paper received the best paper awardfrom the Institute of Electrical Engineersin the United Kingdom.

■ In your workplace, how do you make upfor Sabbath absence?

The work schedule at the KDD R&DLaboratories is a six-day week. But I donot work on Saturday. However, I keepbusy and work very hard Mondaythrough Friday and my colleagues ap-preciate my position and contributions.I am a conscientious worker, and thecompany values my work.

■ What kind of counsel can you give to Ad-ventist students studying in non-Adventistinstitutions or for Adventists working in non-Adventist organizations?

My advice is simple. Always do yourbest. Let your life and work bear witnessto your faith. Ellen White’s counsel inSteps to Christ is still valid: “The apostlesays, ‘Let every man, wherein he iscalled, therein abide with God.’ 1 Corin-thians 7:24. The businessman may con-duct his business in a way that will glo-rify his Master because of his fidelity. Ifhe is a true follower of Christ he will car-ry his religion into everything that isdone and reveal to men the spirit ofChrist. The mechanic may be a diligentand faithful representative of Him whotoiled in the lowly walks of life amongthe hills of Galilee. Everyone whonames the name of Christ should sowork that others, by seeing his goodworks, may be led to glorify their creatorand Redeemer” (p. 82).

God will reward faithful Christianstudents and employees no matterwhere they may study or work. I knowHe has fulfilled His promises in my ownlife.

Interview by Mary Wong.

Mary Wong (Ph.D., Michigan State Uni-versity) is the director of children’s minis-tries, family ministries, and women’s min-istries for the Northern Asia-Pacific Divi-sion of Seventh-day Adventists, in Seoul,Korea. Her e-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Namihira’s mailing address: 2-1-15,Ohara, Kamifukuoka; Saitama 356-8502;Japan. His e-mail: [email protected]

22 Dialogue 12:3 2000

The voice of conscienceA look at some who were willing to dieby G. Edward Reid

T he word conscience does not appear in the Old Testament (KJV), but the concept of conscience is evi-dent throughout. When Adam and Evesinned, they hid themselves from “thepresence of the Lord God” (Genesis 3:8,KJV). Their conscience was at work.When David took a census of Israelagainst the counsel of God, his “heartsmote him” (2 Samuel 24:10). His con-science was at work. The New Testament(KJV) uses conscience some 31 times.Paul stressed the need to keep one’s con-science clear before God, and personallystrived “to have a conscience withoutoffense toward God and men” (Acts24:16, NKJV).

Ellen White defined conscience as“the voice of God, heard amid the con-flict of human passions; when it is re-sisted, the Spirit of God is grieved”1 Shecounsels: “The Lord requires us to obeythe voice of duty, when there are othervoices all around us urging us to pursuean opposite course. It requires earnestattention from us to distinguish thevoice which speaks from God. We mustresist and conquer inclination, and obeythe voice of conscience without parley-ing or compromise, lest its promptingscease.”2

Examples of conscience at workThe Bible and history are abundant

with instances of men and women whoobeyed or defied their conscience. “Howcan I do this great wickedness and sinagainst God,” said Joseph as he fled theenticing temptations of Potiphar’s wife(Genesis 39:9). All the bounties of theking’s table could not induce Daniel togo against his spiritual resolve. On the

other hand, a betrayed conscience,dulled again and again by compromiseand moral ineptitude, drove Herod to aposition where “his moral perceptionshad become more and more degradedby his licentious life.”3

John Hus was willing to die ratherthan violate his conscience. “‘What er-rors,’ said Huss, ‘shall I renounce? Iknow myself guilty of none. I call Godto witness that all that I have writtenand preached has been with the view ofrescuing souls from sin and perdition;and, therefore, most joyfully will I con-firm with my blood that truth which Ihave written and preached.”4

Martin Luther illustrated the powerof conscience at the Diet of Worms.The power and pomp of the authori-ties put one simple question to Luth-er: “‘Will you, or will you not, re-tract?’” The Reformer’s answer was anappeal to the Word and to his con-science: ‘“My conscience [is] boundby the word of God, I cannot and Iwill not retract, for it is unsafe for aChristian to speak against his con-science. Here I stand, I can do no oth-er; may God help me. Amen.’”5

The whole assembly were for a timespeechless with amazement. They couldnot believe that a person would be will-ing to risk his life to stand up to thepowerful leaders of the church andstate. Later many leaders came to seeLuther in his room. They “made no at-tempt to conceal their sympathy withLuther. He was visited by princes,counts, barons, and other persons ofdistinction, both lay and ecclesiasti-cal.… Even those who had no faith inhis doctrines could not but admire that

lofty integrity which led him to bravedeath rather than violate his con-science.”6

The Pilgrim Fathers didn’t come tothe shores of America seeking wealth orfame. “It was the desire for liberty ofconscience that inspired the Pilgrims tobrave the perils of the long journeyacross the sea, to endure the hardshipsand dangers of the wilderness, and withGod’s blessing to lay, on the shores ofAmerica, the foundation of a mightynation.”7

More recently, Martin Luther King, Jr.became the keeper of the conscience ofour times—in upholding the biblicalprinciple of human dignity andachieving the dream enshrined in theU.S. constitution that all persons arecreated equal. For what will MartinLuther King remembered the most?For the marches he led to ensure civilrights for the oppressed? For the lan-guage of non-violence he chose tospeak to those who violated his peo-ple’s civil rights? For his famousmarch on Washington and the histor-ic speech, “I have a dream”? For theNobel Prize he won? All these are re-markable events, but in my opinionMartin Luther King was a great manbecause his conscience was awakenedand tempered by his commitment tothe Scriptures. The day before he wascut down by an assassin’s bullet, hespoke in Memphis, Tennessee:

“Well, I don’t know what will hap-pen now. We’ve got some difficult daysahead. But it doesn’t matter with menow. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, Iwould like to live a long life. Longevity

Logos


has its place. But I’m not concernedabout that now. I just want to do God’swill. And He’s allowed me to go up tothe mountain. And I’ve looked over,and I’ve seen the promised land. I maynot get there with you. But I want youto know tonight, that we, as a people,will get to the promised land. And I’mhappy tonight. I’m not worried aboutanything; I’m not fearing any man.Mine eyes have seen the glory of thecoming of the Lord.”8

With that glory still beaming on hisface, he died the next day. He was trueto His conscience.

The greatest want“The greatest want of the world is the

want of men—men who will not bebought or sold, men who in their in-most souls are true and honest, menwho do not fear to call sin by its rightname, men whose conscience is as trueto duty as the needle to the pole, menwho will stand for the right though theheavens fall.”9

When we are brought to the pointwhere we must choose between dutyand inclination it is easy to rationalizeand attempt to minimize the dangers ofviolating our conscience. Let me beplain. Do any of these thought process-es sound familiar?

“I know I shouldn’t be watching this,but…” (I am adult and it won’t hurt me.I can handle a little cursing and nudityand violence. I am in the privacy of myhome, etc.)

“I know I should be tithing, but…” (Ican’t afford to. I am in debt. The churchmisuses the money. The church hasapostatized. I am supporting what I be-lieve is best, etc.)

“I know I shouldn’t be eating ordrinking this, but…” (A little bit won’thurt me. God knows my heart is right.It’s hard to eat/drink right when you aretraveling, etc.)

If I engage in this rationalization Iam really trying to quiet my conscience.I am arguing with the Holy Spirit.

Dialoguefor you, free!

If you are a Seventh-day Adventist stu-dent attending a non-Adventist college oruniversity, the Church has a plan that willallow you to receive Dialogue free whileyou remain a student. (Those who are nolonger students can subscribe to Dia-logue, using the coupon on page 16.)Contact the director of the Education De-partment or the Youth Department inyour Union and request that you beplaced in their distribution network forthe journal. Include your full name, ad-dress, college or university you are at-tending, the degree you are pursuing,and the name of the local church ofwhich you are a member. You may alsowrite to our regional representatives atthe address provided on page 2, with acopy of your letter sent to the Uniondirectors listed above. In North America,you can phone us toll free at1-800-226-5478, fax us at 301-622-9627,or send an E-mail message:[email protected] If thesecontacts fail to produce results, write tous at our editorial address.

Postponing to a convenient dayI’ve heard some Adventists say:

“It’s premature to get excited aboutthe second coming of Christ now. Weare a long way from that event. Whenwe see the Sunday Law come we willbelieve that we are really at the end.Then we will get more involved andget right with God.” But will they?History clearly indicates that it justwon’t happen that way. Think ofNoah’s generation. “The period oftheir probation was about to expire.Noah had faithfully followed the in-structions which he had receivedfrom God. The ark was finished in ev-ery part as the Lord had directed, andwas stored with food for man andbeast. And now the servant of Godmade his last solemn appeal to thepeople. With an agony of desire thatwords cannot express, he entreatedthem to seek a refuge while it might befound. Again they rejected his words,and raised their voices in jest and scoff-ing. Suddenly a silence fell upon themocking throng. Beasts of every descrip-tion, the fiercest as well as the most gen-tle, were seen coming from mountainand forest and quietly making their waytoward the ark. A noise as of a rushingwind was heard, and lo, birds wereflocking from all directions, their num-bers darkening the heavens, and in per-fect order they passed to the ark. Ani-mals obeyed the command of God,while men were disobedient.…But menhad become so hardened by their persis-tent rejection of light that even thisscene produced but a momentary im-pression.”10

In spite of this amazing miracle ofthe animals entering the ark, not a sin-gle person changed their mind and ac-cepted Noah’s invitation. Persistent re-jection of the call of God’s Spirit hadrendered them helpless to change.

We face a similar danger. The time tostand for right is now! The voice of Godspeaking to our conscience must not besilenced, but obeyed.

G. Edward Reid, a lawyer and a minister,serves as stewardship director for the NorthAmerican Division of Seventh-day Adven-tists. His address: 12501 Old ColumbiaPike; Silver Spring, Maryland 20904; U.S.A.E-mail: [email protected]

Notes and references1. Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church

(Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Publ.Assn., 1948), vol. 5, p. 120.

2. Ibid., p. 69.3. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View,

Calif.: Pacific Press Publ. Assn., 1940), p. 730.4. White, The Great Controversy (Mountain

View, Calif.: Pacific Press Publ. Assn.,1911), p. 109.

5. Ibid., p. 160.6. Ibid., p. 165.7. Ibid., p. 292.8. From A Testament of Hope: The Essential

Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. ed. byJames M. Washington.

9. Ellen G. White, Education (Mountain View,Calif.: Pacific Press Publ. Assn., 1952), p. 57.

10. White, Patriarchs and Prophets (MountainView, Calif.: Pacific Press Publ. Assn.,1913), p. 97.

24 Dialogue 12:3 2000

ounded in 1551, the National Uni- versity of San Marcos in Lima, Peru, isone of the most renowned institutionsof higher learning in the Americas.Many of the intellectuals and leaders ofthe country received their education inits classrooms.

Through the years, a considerablenumber of Adventists have studied atand received degrees from the universi-ty. In 1984, a group of them establishedthe Center of Adventist Students at SanMarcos with the purpose of providingmutual support and presenting thetruth of the Bible to the university com-munity in an attractive manner.

Praise and worshipat Howard University

stablished more than 15 years ago, the Howard University AdventistStudents Association (HUASA) in Wash-ington, D.C., is committed to keepingthe light of the gospel shining bright onthe campus and the surrounding com-munity. Its members want the dramaticreality of last-day events leading toChrist’s soon return, as foretold in theBible, to shake the apathy of many ofour contemporaries.

Every Friday evening, Adventist stu-dents gather to pray, sing, testify, andstudy. Topics such as the love of God,the Adventist health message, tests of atrue prophet, the importance of fastingand prayer are discussed with the assis-tance of guest speakers and area pastors.

For the past four years, HUASA lead-ers have organized a special weekend oncampus. In April 2000, the theme for

F

E

During 1999 the Center organizedtwo seminar series presented by Adven-tist scholars. The first dealt with BiblicalHistory and Archaeology; the secondaddressed the topic of Creation and

Some of the students remained after oneof the seminars to speak with thelecturers (the two pictured on back row,center).

the event was “The Time Is Now.” We areconvinced that Satan is in constant battlewith our Saviour and His followers. Ourtask is to remain close to our heavenlyLeader and claim the victory that He hasalready won. Indeed, the time is now be-cause tomorrow may never come.

More than 400 students and theirfriends were present for the weekend pro-gram that met at the Andrew RankingMemorial Chapel and included fastingand prayer. The presence of the HolySpirit was evident as hearts were touchedand participants rededicated their lives toGod.

HUASA welcomes all students andvisitors to our programs and activi-ties. For more information, contact usthrough our e-mail address:[email protected]

—Raven White, HUASA Public Relations

Leaders of the Howard UniversityAdventist Students Association, inWashington, D.C.

Adventists atPeru’s oldestuniversity

Evolution in the Context of Contempo-rary Science. Attendance to these eventsaveraged 250 persons.

This year we have also organizedmeetings designed to highlight the Bi-ble as a reliable historical document andthe God of the Bible as the best solutionto human problems. The first dealt withthe New World Order and the secondwith the Flood.

We will be pleased to exchangeideas and experiences with other Ad-ventist student associations. Contactus by mail: Av. Alejandro Bertello1015, Urb. La Luz; Lima 1; Peru.E-mail: [email protected]

—Marco Antonio Huaco PalominoPresident

Center of AdventistStudents at San Marcos University

Action Report


dventists and other conservative Chris- tians have generally opposed socialdancing, so popular today. However, thePsalmist twice invites the faithful to praiseGod “with dancing” (Psalm 149:3; 150:4).Does this mean that dancing is appropriatefor Christians inside the church but inap-propriate outside?

any see these references in Psalms as supportive of religious dancingin the church and social dancing out-side. They reason that if dancing in theBible is a component of worship, then itmust be a legitimate form of social en-tertainment. This assumption is basedon a superficial reading of the two textsand on a misunderstanding of the na-ture of social dancing in the Bible.

Scholars dispute the translation ofthe Hebrew term machowl as “dancing”in Psalm 149:3 and as “dance” in Psalm150:4. Machowl is derived from chuwl,which means “to make an opening,”1 apossible allusion to a “pipe” instrument.In fact KJV renders this as the marginalreading.

The KJV marginal reading is support-ed by the context of both passages,where machowl occurs in the context ofa list of instruments to be used for prais-ing the Lord. Since the Psalmist is list-ing all the possible instruments to beused in praise, it is reasonable to assumethat machowl also is a musical instru-ment. The parallelism of expression, sotypical of Hebrew poetry, also supportsthis conclusion.

Further, the figurative language ofthese two psalms hardly allows for a lit-eral interpretation of dancing. Psalm149 encourages people to praise the

A

Dance in the Bible

Lord on the “couches” and with “atwoedged sword in their hand”—obvi-ously figurative descriptions. The sameis true of Psalm 150. The purpose ofthese passages is not to specify the loca-tion and the instruments to be used topraise the Lord during the divine ser-vice. Nor is it intended to give a licenseto dance for the Lord in church. Rather,the purpose is an invitation to praise.

David founded the music ministry atthe Temple. He instituted not only thetimes, place, and words for the perfor-mance of the Levitical choir, but he also“made” the musical instruments to beused for their ministry (1 Chronicles23:5; 2 Chronicles 7:6).

The two instruments that accompa-nied the Levitical choirs were the lyreand the harp, which were called “instru-ments of music” (2 Chronicles 5:13,KJV) or “instruments for the songs ofGod” (1 Chronicles 16:42, NASB). Theirfunction was to accompany the songs ofpraise and thanksgiving to the Lord (1Chronicles 23:5; 2 Chronicles 5:13).

Garen Wolf says: “String instrumentswere used extensively to accompanysinging since they would not cover upthe voice or the ‘Word of Jehovah’which was being sung.”2

The Bible speaks of dance 28 times.Each reference is to a social celebrationof special events, such as a military vic-tory, a religious festival, or a family re-union. The dances were either proces-sional, encircling, or ecstatic. They weredone mostly by women and children,who performed separately.

The Scriptures do not indicate thatmen and women danced together ro-mantically as couples do today. As H.

M. Wolf observes, “While the mode ofdancing is not known in detail, it isclear that men and women did not gen-erally dance together, and there is noreal evidence that they ever did.”3

Those who appeal to the biblical ref-erences to dance to justify modern ro-mantic dancing inside or outside thechurch ignore the vast difference be-tween the two. To apply the biblical no-tion of dance to modern dance is mis-leading, to say the least.

Samuele Bacchiocchi (Ph.D., PontificalUniversity, The Vatican), the author of manybooks, taught theology and church history atAndrews University. This response is basedon chapter 7 of his book The Christian andRock Music (Berrien Springs, Mich.: BiblicalPerspectives, 2000). Address: 4990 AppianWay; Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104; U.S.A.E-mail: [email protected] Web site:http://www.biblicalperspectives.com

Notes and references1. See, for example, Adam Clarke, Clarke’s

Commentary (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon,n. d.) 3: 688.

2. Garen L. Wolf, Music of the Bible inChristian Perspective (Salem, Ohio: SchmulPubl. Co., 1996), p. 287.

3. H. M. Wolf, “Dancing,” The ZondervanPictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Merrill C.Tenney, ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.:Zondervan, 1976), 2:12.

M

Open Forum

26 Dialogue 12:3 2000

Books

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Christ Is Comingby Norman Gulley (Hagerstown, Maryland:Review and Herald Publ. Assn., 1998; 575pp.; hardcover).

Reviewed by Aecio Cairus.

orman Gulley’s study of last-day events is not just a re- hash of the usual, addressed to the rank-and-file churchmembers. The work is a massive one, bringing together philo-sophic, theological, historical, and biblical arguments thatundergird the Advent hope. In short, Gulley shows that thehope of the second coming of Jesus is rooted firmly withinthe unshakable foundation of God’s revelation.

The author weaves a unique theological fabric, blendingthe doctrine of the Second Coming with other doctrines, suchas the Sabbath, the state of the dead, and Ellen White’s con-cept of end-time events. In the process, Gulley takes into ac-count contemporary issues (such as the denial of God’s fore-knowledge, concepts of origins, justification by faith, post-modernism) and shows how biblical eschatology confrontsthese trends in religious thought.

Gulley’s comprehensiveness, of course, has its drawbacks.His style is readable, lucid, and explicit, but quite frequentlybecomes homiletical and evangelistic. Perhaps it is not adrawback, after all, for it provides an ease of reading in anotherwise highly scholarly work.

The book’s wide range of topics contributes to an unevenlevel of elaboration. For instance, Gulley’s answer to post-modernism addresses an oversimplified version of this trend.Those who choose to ascribe meaning and truth value only tological and empirical statements derived from sense data donot thereby have to renounce to art (p. 33), since art does notdeal primarily with true or false statements, but with beauty,which is certainly perceived through the senses. A “readingcommunity” does not necessarily imply a chaos of individualinterpretations. Even if a given community understood a redtraffic light (p. 33) not as “stop” but as “caution,” and a yel-low light as meaning “hurry up,” traffic lights could still per-form a useful function in that community.

Gulley oversimplifies the history of science as well. Ein-stein’s contribution to astrophysics is manifold and of primeimportance, but does not include “challeng[ing] the heliocen-tric theory” with the concept that “all parts of the universe,including the earth and its sun” are “in motion together” (p.180). The solar system’s motion within the local galaxy, aswell as the notion of galaxies, was well understood long be-

fore Einstein. Another example: Quoting Dawkins (p. 392) assaying that God “is invaluable as a pricker of conscience and acomfort to the bereaved, but as an explanation of organized

Juventud enamoradaby Alfonso Valenzuela (Berrien Springs,Michigan: Promise Productions, 1998; 111pp.; paperback).

Reviewed by Ada Garcia.

H ow does a Christian view courtship? What constitutes true love? What factors are involved in mate selection?Can you predict happiness in a marriage? Why do marriagesfail, and what contributes to their success? What is the role ofsexuality during courtship and in marriage?

Juventud enamorada provides some helpful answers. Read-able, lively, and experience-oriented, the book offers muchneeded guidance regarding “happiness, romanticism, intima-cy, understanding, comradeship, illusions and many otherbeautiful things” involved in a subject often misunderstood.The author, an associate professor of pastoral counseling andfamily studies at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Semi-nary at Andrews University, approaches the subject from aChristian perspective of building the foundations for a greatmarriage.

Young people will find chapter five the best in the book; itexplores the difference between love and infatuation, some-thing the turbulence of youth does not take time to analyze.By the time you read through this chapter and ponder overthe questions the author raises, you should have a better con-cept as to what constitutes true love—at least in its Christiandimension.

The author also explores the principles that Christiansshould consider regarding sexuality. He outlines the steps to-ward sexual fulfillment in marriage, which at once leads himto talk about limits of physical intimacy in courtship. Hestresses that both males and females are responsible for set-ting and honoring limits and gives reasons why waiting untilmarriage for the full expression of sexuality is best.

One weakness of the book is that it does not delve deeplyinto the varied aspects of love. The author addresses only theagape part of love. I agree that this should be the basis formarried love. However, marriage also requires other compo-nents of love, like intimacy, romance, friendship and com-panionship, which Valenzuela leaves unexplored. Neverthe-



Desperate Escapeby Alexander Ponomarov (Hagerstown,Maryland: Review and Herald Publ. Assn.,1999; 223 pp.; paperback).

Reviewed by Oleg A. Zhigankov.

Understanding IntimateViolenceedited by Barbara Couden (Hagerstown,Maryland: Review and Herald Publ. Assn.,1999; 160 pp.; paperback).

Reviewed by Selma A. Chaij Mastrapa.

The book includes several chapters that specifically addressthe intervention of pastors. Church officers can help for bet-ter or for worse—they can become enablers of abuse or agentsof healing and redemption.

Understanding Intimate Violence is an excellent resourcebook written for Adventists, by Adventists, and about Adven-tists. It is highly recommended for all pastors, teachers andhealth-care professionals. It is also a book for all caring adults.The abuse victims themselves will benefit by the informationprovided by the authors. This book is bound to improveawareness and give us the courage to confront an ugly prob-lem without fear. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear,but of power and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy1:7, NKJV).

Selma A. Chaij Mastrapa (Ph.D., Northwestern University) is a licensed

psychologist working in Takoma Park, Maryland. Her address: 4513

Powder Mill Road; Beltsville, Maryland 20705; U.S.A.

I

less, his approach offers a valuable description of the unself-ish love that should permeate intimate relationships.

Overall, the book is a basic review of themes that youngpeople in love should think, talk and investigate about.

Ada Garcia is a specialist in family-life education, a counselor, and

mediator in private practice in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

S

t took courage for the Seventh-day Adventist Church to print this book. By acknowledging that domestic violenceis a serious problem among church members, we have taken amajor step toward understanding and preventing abusive re-lationships, and helping the healing process of persons affect-ed by such relationships. Domestic violence includes morethan physical attacks. “There are no visible scars or bruisesfrom emotional or verbal abuse. But as water dripping on astone can eventually break it, so a continual barrage of hostileverbiage can break the strongest spirit” (p. 29). The book de-fines, describes, and delineates the cycle of abuse.

One of the many strengths of the book is that it is a compi-lation. It brings together professionals with varied back-grounds and expertise, and each in his or her own excellentstyle focuses on specific areas such as the dynamics of theabuser, the effect on children, the paradox of religion and vi-olence, and resources available to individuals and families.

This is not a book of theories or platitudes. It is written bypersons who show breadth of experience. No soothing or falsereassurances here. Instead, one finds a wake-up call to churchmembers, pastors, teachers, and health-care workers, withspecific and practical recommendations. For example, sincewomen are the most common victims of intimate violence,some churches place resource telephone numbers in thewomen’s restrooms where they will feel safe to discreetly usethem. The men’s restrooms may include a laminated list ofabusive traits on the wall.

The role of the pastor is pivotal in dealing with abuse. Pos-sibly a third of abuse victims will talk first to a pastor. It isoften shameful and frightening for victims to break the wallof silence. However, many pastors fail to provide the means tostop the cycle of violence or the safety needed by the families.

asha was not a pickpocket. He did not wield a knife at any- one. He did not hold up a bank. He was not even a pettythief. But as a teenager, jail was his home—for no reason, ex-cept that he confessed Jesus as his personal Saviour. Faith car-ries its price, its risk. But for Sasha, the price was too large andthe risk came too early. His lot was brutal punishment in a so-called juvenile prison in the former U.S.S.R.

When Sasha publicly affirmed his desire to follow Jesus, hewas only 12. He knew that what he had done was unaccept-able to a religionless government. The giant and invisible eyesof the KGB were everywhere, watching any such defiance ofthe official atheistic policy of the Soviet government and theCommunist party. Sasha knew the Christian underground; hewas aware of where to go, how to pray, and with whom tofellowship—but the KGB was just one step ahead of him. Oneday, the KGB caught up with Sasha, pulled him out of hishome, and made him a ward of the all-powerful state. The ju-venile prison was not exactly a child-care center; there he was

Continued on page 31

28 Dialogue 12:3 2000

y spiritual pilgrimage from rock music to the Rock of Ages is a painful story of addiction, self-destruction, and final redemption.

My parents were Seventh-day Adven-tist missionaries. Therefore it wouldseem almost absurd that their youngestson, brought up in the heart of Africa,would turn up in the world of rock. Yet,it did happen.

Not suddenly, but gradually. It all be-gan with just joining friends and listen-ing to some music. One song led to an-

Pilgrimage from rockby Brian Neumann

M other, and eventually my natural talentsfor music and art were channeled intothe swirling, psychedelic “pipedream”of rock. I got hooked. The power, theclothes, the fame, and the sheer globalpresence of the rock revolution captivat-ed me. Soon I found myself being sev-ered from the world and religious faithof my parents. A new era, a new culture,had taken center stage in my life—as ithad done in the lives of so many others.

I soon found myself in a state of re-bellion. In the words of rock star DavidCrosby, “I figured the only thing to dowas to swipe their kids…By saying thisI’m not talking about kidnapping, I’mjust talking about changing the valuesystem, which removes them from theirparents’ world very effectively.”1

Rock music did remove me effective-ly from my parents’ world. While still ateenager, I ran away from boardingschool and from home; I was arrestedfor drugs and stealing; and I fought,sometimes physically, with fellow stu-dents and teachers.

My dream was to learn to play theguitar, which I was doing with haste, sothat I could work my way into the glam-orous world of “sex, drugs, fashion, androck ‘n’ roll.” Of course, I knew that thiswas what “rock” was all about. Even themanager of the Rolling Stones had stat-ed unequivocally: “Rock is sex. You haveto hit teenagers in the face with it!”2

Rock music and popular culturepreached to my subconscious that therewas nothing wrong with premarital sex.The result became evident in 1980, oneyear after finishing high school, when Ibecame a father of a baby girl.

Establishing on the music sceneI established myself on the local mu-

sic scene in South Africa. The band I waswith, “Front Page,” appeared on televi-sion, and our music was played on somepopular music radio stations. My con-nection with a producer soon addednew moves in my career. I became agood friend of Manlio Celloti, of HI-ZStudios. Soon he formed a new three-member group. After recording for ayear in the studio, we were ready toleave for overseas.

Within three months of landing inGermany, our pop rock band, “The Re-espect,” signed a contract with PolydorRecords in Hamburg. Polydor releasedour record, “She’s So Mystical” in Sep-tember 1986. This release opened newdoors of opportunity. Our band was in-vited to appear on a German compila-tion LP with such artists as Janet Jack-son and Elton John.

Life became a constant mirage of per-formances, studio sessions, interviews,women, drugs, and still more drugs. Bythis time, my moral state had deteriorat-ed to such a point that no type of vicewas beyond me. Meanwhile, the successof our recording caused dissensionsamong our band members and eventu-ally we broke up.

One day after a marathon studio ses-sion and a huge drug binge, I foundmyself face down on a cold bathroomfloor, in the home of a female vocalist inHamburg. I was drowning in my ownvomit, fighting for my life. However, Iwas conscious enough to call out to theGod of my youth, whom I had forgottenlong ago.

Making goodmusical choices:Some questionsto ask

1. Does the music really have some-thing worthwhile to say? Is there somereal moral substance and depth in themessage of the music, both lyrically andinstrumentally?

2. What is the intention behind themusic? Does the music send out a posi-tive or negative message? When you lis-ten to the music, do you find that itconforms to the criteria that Paul spellsout in Philippians 4:8?

3. Is the intention of the music beingcommunicated effectively? If an atmo-sphere of reverence is being conveyed,then is the musician doing an adequatejob?

4. Are you seeking the guidance ofthe Holy Spirit in your choice of bothsecular and religious music?

Viewpoint


But He had not forgotten me or for-saken me. Something miraculous hap-pened that day. My spiritual journeyhad taken an important turn, but thiswas only the beginning of a tortuoustrip, during which I would experiencemany relapses into rock music, beforegaining complete freedom from its ad-diction.

Return to sanityI returned to South Africa, deter-

mined to break away from my sinfulpast and forge a new life. I decided tofollow the example of ContemporaryChristian Musicians by using my musi-cal talent to adopt a modified version ofrock music as a witnessing tool.

Soon I realized that there is no signif-icant difference between secular rockmusic and its “Christian” version, irre-spective of its lyrics. ContemporaryChristian Music that conforms to rock’sessential criteria, in any sense, cannotbe legitimately used for church worship.The reason is simple. The impact of rockmusic is through its music, and notthrough its lyrics.

This lingering attachment to rock(through its “Christian” cousin), provedto be my downfall. I began compromis-ing on the kind of music that I was per-forming. The compromise was easy be-cause all I had to do was to change thelyrics. The music style remained thesame. I found myself gradually spiralingback into complete darkness. But Iquickly re-established my rock career inCape Town.

At one of my live performances, Imet Sue, who was to become a very im-portant part of my life. Sue and I attend-ed the Prophecy Seminars held in ourtown. As a result, we were baptized intothe Adventist Church. The new-foundtruth satisfied our deepest convictions.Yet, three months later we were out ofthe church. Rock music was still in mysoul. Before I knew it, I was once moreslipping into the popular music scene.

At this time I formed my own bandcalled “Project Cain,” a fitting name formy spiritual despondency. I was busyrecording with the popular keyboardplayer, “Duncan Mckay” of the famousband “10 CC,” when I was called to goto Port Elizabeth, 700 miles north ofCape Town. The contract called for athree-month performance. I was hired asa solo artist performing six nights a weekat one of the top night spots in the city.

Port Elizabeth became the final turn-ing point of my spiritual pilgrimage. Irented a cottage in the country, near abeautiful, isolated beach. Since my per-formances were at night, I had time dur-ing the day to wander along the beachand reflect on all that had been going inmy life for the past few years. I sensedthe Holy Spirit speaking to me as neverbefore. I examined the innermost re-cesses of my confused mind. At timesthe hidden truths of my wounded soulwere too hard to face. I would breakdown in shameful anguish and allowthe tears of repentance to wash awaythe stains of my sins. Sometimes Iwould sense the chiding and consolingof the Spirit, bringing spiritual healingto my life.

The door of God’s acceptance seemedwide open. I boldly walked through it,leaving behind my dark past. Upon myreturn home, in June 1994, Sue and Imade the decision that by God’s gracethere would be no turning back into theworld of rock. I cut all my working tieswith rock music. Six months later wewere married, and since then we havededicated our lives to a special ministryon behalf of those who seek deliverancefrom the hypnotic power of rock music.

Brian Neumann resides in South Africa.He has conducted seminars on music appre-ciation in Africa, Europe, and North Ameri-ca. His e-mail: [email protected]

The full story of Neumann’s musical pil-grimage is included in the book The Chris-tian and Rock Music, Samuele Bacchioc-

How to makeradical decisionsregarding music

1. Decide on what constitutes goodmusic on the basis of real information,and not of peer pressure. You will nothave to sacrifice your personal taste orspecial preferences. They will simplyhave to become sanctified and refined.

2. Consider your new musical choic-es to be an adventure, a process of dis-covery. Take time to define and refineyour taste. You will discover that whatyou considered the only option in musicwas only a small fraction of the goodmusic available.

3. Listen carefully to the lyrics to de-termine whether or not they are biblical-ly sound. Although there is a distinctionbetween the music and lyrics we use forworship and for personal relaxation, thebasic concept of choosing that which ispure and ennobling, remains the same(see Philippians 4:8).

The General Conference published in1972 a document titled Guidelines To-ward a Seventh-day Adventist Philosophyof Music. To secure a free copy, contact:Dialogue - Music; 12501 Old ColumbiaPike; Silver Spring, Maryland 20904;U.S.A. Fax: 301-622-9627,E-mail: [email protected]

chi, ed. (Berrien Springs, Michigan: BiblicalPerspectives, 2000). Address: 4990 AppianWay; Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104;U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected]

Notes and references1. In Peter Herbst, The Rolling Stone Interviews

(Rolling Stones Press, 1981).2. See Time (April 28, 1967), p. 53.

30 Dialogue 12:3 2000

For Your Information

Category 2 includes countries where,in spite of favorable legislation towardreligious freedom, Seventh-day Adven-tists experience some difficulties in pub-lic schools and at the workplace: Anti-gua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Ba-hamas, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Ber-muda, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burki-na Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman,Central African Republic, Chad, Chile,Colombia, Congo, Croatia, DemocraticRepublic of Congo, Denmark, Domini-ca, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia,Ethiopia, Finland, French Guyana,French Polynesia, Gambia, Germany,Great Britain, Grenada, Guadeloupe,Guyana, Haiti, Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Ja-pan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Latvia,Lithuania, Malawi, Martinique, Mont-serrat, Mozambique, Netherlands Anti-lles, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue,Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portu-gal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Senegal, Slo-venia, Somalia, Spain, St. Kitts-Nevis, St.Marten, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Suriname,Sweden, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad andTobago, U.S. Virgin Islands, Uganda,Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Van-uatu, Venezuela, Western Samoa, Zam-bia, Zimbabwe.

The difference between Category 1and 2 is subject to interpretations. Inmost cases, IRLA has accepted the classi-fications applied by its correspondents.For example, a person living in theUnited States, Canada, or Brazil is likelyto be more critical of the religious-liber-ty situation in their own country. Eventhough there is a general pro-religiousliberty climate in such countries, restric-tions such as school and workplace ac-commodations for keeping the Sabbathare seen as real problems.

Category 3 includes countries whoselegislation is not against religious free-

dom, but religious extremists, authori-ties, and/or some of the media createdifficulties for Seventh-day Adventists:Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovi-na, Bulgaria, China, Comoros, Cyprus,Djibouti, Egypt, France, Greece, India,Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Luxem-bourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova,Mongolia, Niger, Nigeria, Russia, Tajiki-stan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Yu-goslavia.

France for several years has been theEuropean leader against “sects andcults.” Although Adventists have notbeen so labeled, prejudice against mi-nority religions does exist in the coun-try and anti-sects legislation is beingprocessed. Democracies such as Franceand Austria respect human rights, butare less concerned about the rights ofreligious minorities.

Religious-liberty problems in somecountries have more to do with estab-lished churches than with the govern-ment. For example, there are strainedrelations with minority religions inUzbekistan. The government’s Councilon Religious Affairs is controlled by ad-herents of Islam, and their actions showthat other religions are not welcome.

China has tightened its governmen-tal control over religion, while HongKong enjoys its religious freedom, andTaiwan is open to all religious practices.

India, the largest democracy in theworld, has enshrined in its constitutionthe freedom to profess, practice, andpropagate the religion of one’s choicewithout hindrance. But a recent rise infundamentalism has caused persecutionsin some parts of the country, particularlyattacks on Christian churches. Houses ofworship have been burned, and someclergy have been killed. One Australianmissionary and his two boys were burned

Religious LibertyWorld Report 2000

he International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA), a non-governmental agency founded in 1893 bythe Seventh-day Adventist Church andregistered with the United Nations, re-cently submitted its report for the year2000. It notes that not all countries ofthe United Nations implement the char-ter of the world body, which guaranteesone of the precious freedoms of human-ity—the freedom to worship, practice,and share the faith of one’s choice. Thedegrees of violation of freedom of reli-gion vary from country to country, and,at times, within countries. Informationfor this report has been gathered fromdiverse sources, including news ac-counts, reports of religious organiza-tions from various countries, and othernational and international sources.

The IRLA report, as summarized here,includes only the highlights. The coun-tries of the world have been placed inone of five categories, from most toler-ant to least tolerant, with respect to thereligious situation and its effect on Sev-enth-day Adventist believers as preva-lent during 1999.

Category 1 includes countries whosegovernment and legislation provide reli-gious liberty to all. Currently there areno problems for Seventh-day Adventiststo practice their beliefs. These countriesare: American Samoa, Australia, Belize,Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, CookIslands, Costa Rica, Cote d’lvoire, CzechRepublic, Dominican Republic, Equato-rial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Guatemala,Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Honduras, Hun-gary, Iceland, Italy, Kiribati, Liberia,Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Nether-lands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea,Pitcairn, Poland, Rwanda, Seychelles,Solomon Islands, St. Eustatius, Switzer-land, Tonga, Tuvalu.

Tby John Graz


to death. Some states have passed lawsbanning conversions. The Seventh-dayAdventist Church has long had goodcommunity relations throughout Indiaand except for a few cases carries on itswork of witness, healing, and teaching.

Egypt recognizes the Seventh-day Ad-ventist Church, but the church has ex-perienced some difficulties in the area ofmarriage because of the highly influen-tial Coptic Church.

Israel offers no evangelistic opportu-nities, and on the West Bank, the Pales-tine Authority is suspicious of Seventh-day Adventists as judaic because of theSabbath observance.

Category 4 includes countries whosegovernments have voted legislation re-stricting public religious practice andpropagation: Armenia, Azerbaijan,Bahrain, Belarus, Georgia, Indonesia,Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Nauru, Ne-pal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sudan,United Arab Emirates, Vietnam.

Nepal has officially declared itself asa Hindu kingdom, but allows the workof some relief organizations and hospi-tals operated by Christian churches, in-cluding Adventists. However theirmembers must worship in private.

In July 2000, Pakistan declared itselfan Islamic state. Christians are restrictedin the practice and propagation of theirreligion. The Seventh-day AdventistChurch operates a seminary, a majorhospital, and some schools.

Lebanon recognizes the AdventistChurch only as a unit under the um-brella of an organization for evangelicalchurches.

Vietnam has tight control of religion.Many Adventist church buildings havebeen demolished, although five churchbuildings and the mission office are un-der the church operation.

Category 5 includes countries thatdo not have religious freedom and havebanned the Seventh-day AdventistChurch: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Iran, Lib-ya, Maldives, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia,Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Yemen.

The banning of the Adventist Churchin Syria is due to the fact that Adventistshave been mistakenly seen by the gov-ernment as politically pro-Israel and tothe stance of traditional churches oper-ating in the country. The Seventh-dayAdventist Church, however, is strictlyapolitical.

According to religious-liberty activ-ists, Saudi Arabia is the only country inthe world that formally prohibits on itsterritory any public practice of any reli-gion except Islam. In some cases, evenprivate worship by its Christian immi-grant workers has been reported as pro-hibited.

Maldives allows only Islam, but expa-triates of other faiths may worship inprivate.

Turkmenistan has refused to registerthe Seventh-day Adventist Church. Theonly Adventist church building in Ash-khabad was demolished in November1999.

Religious liberty: A precious rightThe right to practice, profess, and

propagate one’s religion is a fundamen-tal and precious human right. Withoutthat right, every other right gets dimin-ished. Religious intolerance is not al-ways an act of the government. Often itis carried out by either organized reli-gions or individual extremists. Whatev-er, the International Religious LibertyOrganization and other such bodies arecommitted to uphold tolerance and re-spect for all religions, and the right ofan individual to choose or not to choosea particular faith.

John Graz (Ph.D., Sorbonne University)is the secretary general of the InternationalReligious Liberty Association (IRLA). Webpage: www.IRLA.org Dr. Graz’s address:12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring,Maryland 20904; U.S.A. His e-mail ad-dress: [email protected] Inter-ested readers may obtain a free copy of Reli-gious Freedom World Report 2000 bycontacting Dr. Graz’s office.

brutally punished for his faith, beatenand tortured, just like many of theadults in his congregation. It was a try-ing time for his body, mind, and soul.But Sasha, because he relied on the HolySpirit, was made of sterner stuff. Hisfaith was not for sale; his Christianitywas not for compromise.

In his autobiography, Sasha Alex-ander Ponomorav chronicles his suffer-ing and endurance with great skill andbalance. Readers may at times considerthe narratives to be a result of fantasy ora dream sequence, but they are wrong.The book is no fiction. Imprisonment,harassment, escape, arrest, torment, es-cape again, another imprisonment, andfinally a miraculous rescue run throughthis book. You will not want to put itdown till you come to the last page.

The book is the story of a single indi-vidual who affirms his faith in defianceof a huge, faceless foe that is determinedto root out the name Jesus. Put a hun-dred stories like this, perhaps evenmore, and construct similar or worsescenarios, and you have a history of thesuffering Adventist Church in Russia.But in Sasha and others, there is a cen-tral theme that cannot go unnoticed:God is able to keep His own in spite ofrepression, persecution, jail, and exile.When freedom finally knocked atSasha’s door, he came out under thebright blue skies with faith intact andbecame a pastor, evangelist, and achurch administrator.

If you want to be moved and encour-aged, read this fascinating narrative foryourself. It will convince you that thegallery of faith of Hebrews 11 continuesto grow.

Oleg A. Zhigankov, a professor at Zaoksky

Theological Seminary, in Russia, is completing his

doctoral degree in systematic theology and church

history at Andrews University in Berrien Springs,

Michigan, U.S.A.

Desperate EscapeContinued from page 27.

32 Dialogue 12:3 2000

ships far outnumber them. Consequent-ly, interdependence found among livingthings now, negative relationships not-withstanding, suggests that they weremade this way. Original ecology wouldhave been somewhat different from to-day’s ecology. However, there can be lit-tle doubt that there was an original ecol-ogy. The creation account even refers toreproductive and feeding relationships.Ecology appears as necessary for life aseating and breathing. In fact, withoutecology, air would not be fit to breathe,and mineral nutrients would be mostlyunavailable to plants, our source offood.

Making the connectionWhen John Ashton asked me to con-

tribute to In Six Days, I already knewabout the necessity of ecological rela-tionships, although I had not yet madethe connection that ecology containedsupporting evidence for a six-day cre-ation. But as I considered the problem,it immediately hit me that I had in myhands the evidence that would supporta six-day creation. If ecosystems requirewhole sets of organisms to functionnow, would they not have requiredwhole sets of organisms in the begin-ning, too? That is how the connectionwas made.

Both the Anthropic Principle andbiochemical pathways suggest a design-er, but still allowed those impressed bythese evidences to believe in theisticevolution. This is little different fromoutright evolution. In such gradual de-velopment of life, ecology would gradu-ally develop, too, starting with limitedecology which then expanded over timeas new organisms evolved. However, ifecology developed over time, alongwith evolving species, ecosystems

would have failed for lack of essentialcomponents. Thus, life could not havecontinued, if indeed it could even havestarted. On the other hand, if creatureswere created over a short time span, to-gether with their ecological interdepen-dencies, there would have been com-plex life-supporting relationships in na-ture from the start.

The complex and vitally essentialecology and biodiversity we find in na-ture today, at the top of the structuralhierarchy of nature, suggest that manyinteracting organisms would have beenrequired right from the beginning. Onlya short-term creation would providesuch ecosystem requirements. Thus,while ecology, as now understood, doesnot precisely require a creation in sixdays, it does support the possibility of asix-day creation. Moreover, it is definite-ly contrary to the idea of a gradual evo-lutionary development of ecology.

Henry Zuill (Ph.D., Loma Linda Univer-sity) has taught and conducted research inbiology and ecology for many years. He con-tinues to write from his address: 64 Nor-wood Drive; Norman, Arkansas 71960;U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected]

Notes and references1. John F. Ashton, ed., In Six Days: Why 50

Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation(Sydney, Australia: New Holland Press,1999).

2. Very large ecosystems are usuallydesignated as biomes.

3. For a more detailed discussion of thissubject, see the author’s “Evidence forDesign at the Ecological Level,” GeoscienceReport 29 (Spring 2000), published by theGeoscience Research Institute (LomaLinda, California 92350, U.S.A.) and“Ecology, Biodiversity and Creation,”Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal 14:2(2000), pp. 82-90. (P.O. Box 6307; AcaciaRidge, D.C.; Qld. 4119, Australia.)

4. P. H. Raven, “Ethics and Attitudes,” inSimmons, et al. (eds.), Conservation ofThreatened Plants (New York: PlenumPublishing, 1976), pp. 155-181. Cited byY. Baskin, The Work of Nature: How theDiversity of Life Sustains Us (Washington,D.C.: Island Press, 1997), pp. 36, 37.

Ecology...Continued from page 9.

complexity he simply will not do,” Gul-ley concludes that Dawkins thereby ad-mits the existence of God. A more care-ful reading of the statement would see itas merely assessing the value of the ideaof God, very much in line with classicskepticism, as an emotional crutch anda societal restraint.

Some shortcomings of the work can-not fairly be blamed on the author.Many readers will be tantalized by hisassertion (“I sympathize with the Chris-tian Coalition in their frustration butnot in their solution,” pp. 492ff.), onlyto find out that no clear alternative isoffered to the Coalition’s guidelineabout just how thick the wall of separa-tion between church and state shouldbe. But this only evinces a lack of suffi-cient detail in the political thinking ofthe Adventist movement as a whole.

Notwithstanding a few typos, thebook is well edited and provides a com-prehensive view of the doctrine of theSecond Coming in the context of otherkey biblical teachings.

Aecio Cairus (Ph.D., Andrews Universi-ty) teaches systematic theology at the Ad-ventist International Institute of AdvancedStudies in Silang, Cavite, Philippines. E-mail: [email protected]

Christ is ComingContinued from page 26.


Self talk…Continued from page 6.

inner thinking, influenced by them-selves and others in their lives, Chris-tians believe they can be influenced bythe self-talk that originates from a spiri-tual realm. In other words, the hu-man mind can find a new resource inGod, which can also improve our self-talk. Thoughts such as “I’m no good”can be transformed to “God loves meso much, He died to give me eternallife. I’m valuable” (John 3:16). Ormessages of “I’m alone and have noone” can be substituted for words ofcomfort from Christ who tells us “Iwill not leave you as orphans; I willcome to you” (John 14:18).

Paul’s thoughts, when understood inthe light of the importance of positiveself-talk is, take on a whole new mean-ing: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true,whatever is noble, whatever is right,whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,whatever is admirable—if anything isexcellent or praiseworthy—think aboutsuch things. Whatever you have learnedor received or heard from me, or seen inme—put it into practice.… And thepeace of God, which transcends all un-derstanding, will guard your hearts andyour minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians4:8-9, 7).

By repeating these steps you will beable to get into the habit of thinkingpositively. Be patient with yourself. Itmay take weeks or months to refuteyour repertoire of negative messages.Identifying this kind of “self-indoctrina-tion,” challenging it, and replacing itwith healthier self-talk will take time—just as it does when you want to breakany entrenched habit. It may take a lotof work, but in the end, it is well worthit. You will be amazed at how muchmore effective you will be each day,leading a healthier, happier, and moreproductive life.

Nancy J. Carbonell (Ph.D., AndrewsUniversity) is associate professor of counsel-ing psychology at Andrews University. Hermailing address: Andrews University; Ber-rien Springs, Michigan 49104; U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected]

*All Bible passages in this article arequoted from the New International Ver-sion.

34 Dialogue 12:3 2000

First PersonSearching for my roots,I found the Messiah

C came relentless harassment and perse-cution.

The year 1492 saw a new wave of per-secution. The Jews who refused to con-vert to Christianity were expelled fromtheir homes after they were robbed oftheir money and property. No “Chris-tian” country would receive them. Theonly place that welcomed them was theOttoman Empire. Those who fled toTurkey prospered and grew.

When the 20th century dawned,many Spanish (Sephardic) Jews like ourfamily began to migrate to differentparts of the world. Some went to theAmericas, while others went to Rhode-sia (now Zimbabwe) and the BelgianCongo (now the Democratic Republic ofthe Congo). My parents moved to theIsland of Rhodes, just off the coast ofTurkey, which at that time belonged toItaly.

I was born in Rhodes. My formal edu-cation began at a Hebrew school. I lovedgoing to the synagogue. Sabbath wasthe best day of the week for us, and weknew how to celebrate it. Life seemedhappy, and we had much to look for-ward to. But then came the distantthunder, bringing in the worst ever for aJew. Hitler came to power, and the Holo-caust raised its ugly head. Even the ghet-to could not keep us away from evil’shands, and our family had to fleeRhodes.

Overnight we became stateless.Where could we go? Who would take usin? Fortunately, we had some relativesin the Belgian Congo. My father leftfirst, bribing his way out. As soon as heestablished himself, he wanted us tojoin him. It was no easy task to get trav-

el documents for my mother and fivechildren. With Buchenwald and Beer-gen-Belsen staring at us, bribery wasonce again our way out. It’s amazinghow human greed can open doors asquickly as it can shut them. We leftRhodes to join my father.

Elisabethville (now Lubumbashi) inthe Belgian Congo became our home foralmost two years. We moved again toNorthern Rhodesia (now Zambia). ThereI learned English.

One year before the war was over, Icompleted grade nine. For further edu-cation, I had to go to a boarding schoolin South Africa. The limited family fi-nances ruled out this option. So I tookup an apprenticeship on the ZambianCopperbelt in another town. I missedmy home a lot, and I would hitchhikethe 35 miles to home every weekend.On one such joyous trip, I hitchhikedwith the Anglican priest.

Finding my rootsWell, the Anglican priest kept his

promise—partially. Since he could notfind an Old Testament, he gave me acomplete Bible. “Never mind,” I said tomyself, “I can keep to the Old Testa-ment. I won’t even peep into the New.It’s full of lies.”

There began my journey back to myroots. Genesis was fascinating reading.Although we revered the Torah, we nev-er read it at home. In Zambia, we wereno longer observing the Sabbath. Some-times we went to the synagogue on Fri-day nights to open the Sabbath, and weobserved the High Festivals, but it wasnot the same as in Rhodes. There wehad a close-knit community, and reli-

ould you get me an Old Testa- ment, please?”

“I will do my best,” the Angli-can priest said. “But Old Testamentsdon’t come by themselves. They’rebound with the New Testament.”

I didn’t want to even touch the NewTestament. That’s the book of the Chris-tians—the tormentors of Jews through-out history. Jews like me!

A few weeks earlier, someone hadgiven me Merlin Neff’s Faith of Our Fa-thers. Since I was bored and had little todo, I started reading the book. Soon mycuriosity was kindled. For the first time,I found a Christian book that spokeabout Jews with respect. In fact, the au-thor said some good things about Jews.No mention of Christ-killers. No cursehanging upon the Jews. The author onlypointed out how much Christianityowes to the Jews, to the Old Testament.

Neff’s book created in me an intensedesire to know my own roots in the OldTestament—to discover for myself whatthe faith of my ancestors was all about. Ieagerly awaited the Anglican priest’sfulfilment of his promise.

A reason to hateHaving born a Jew, I had plenty of

reasons to hate Christians. Often Iwished I could set fire to a church ortwo as a payback for all the abominablethings Christians had done to the Jewsever since A.D. 70, when the Jerusalemtemple was destroyed and the Jews werescattered throughout the Roman Em-pire. The Jewish group I belong to es-caped to the Iberian Peninsula. Thingsdid not go badly for us except when theChristians came to power. With them

By Alf Nahman


gion bonded us closely.Now, alone in my room, away from

home, I spent a lot of time with mynewfound treasure. The story of Cre-ation, the origin of Sabbath, the mean-ing of the covenant—all took on a fresh-ness. The patriarchs and the prophets,the psalms and the proverbs, the heroesand the villains of the Old Testamentwere all leaping before me. One com-mon thread seemed to run through theentire Old Testament: the hope of theMessiah. In that hope I found my roots.My soul’s hunger found its nourish-ment.

Then, one day, an ad in the local pa-per caught my attention: a free Biblestudy course from the Voice of Prophe-cy. I sent in my name. The lessons capti-vated my interest. The study on the Sab-bath found an immediate response inmy heart. After all, a Jew should knowthat Saturday is the Sabbath of the Lord.But I found one point in the lessons dif-ficult to accept: the bold assertion thatJesus was the Messiah. How could thatbe? Isn’t He the one in whose name mil-lions of Jews had been massacred?Wasn’t the church in the forefront ofpersecuting the Jews? What about theChristian clergy who encouraged Jewsto be hunted and persecuted like wildanimals throughout “Christian” Eu-rope? This Jesus cannot be the Messiah!

The spiritual struggle continued formany months. I carefully studied theprophecies, particularly those of Danieland Isaiah. Slowly my resistance crum-bled, and I accepted Jesus as my Messi-ah.

Living my faithI had to break the news to my par-

ents. I wrote them of my convictionthat Jesus is Israel’s Messiah. I told themthat I had become a fulfilled Jew andnot a Gentile. I tried to make things aseasy as possible.

My dad wasted no time. He showedup at my apartment. He had already ar-ranged with my employers to give me

some leave, telling them that my moth-er was seriously ill and that she wantedto see me. I was really concerned. As wetraveled home, my father hardly spoketo me. When we reached home, I dis-covered that my mother was at themovies. As soon as she returned, shescreamed, yelled, and threatened. Shedemanded to kow how I could be a trai-tor to my family and people. The tiradewent on for a long time. I let her do allthe shouting while I held my head inmy hands. I was at peace, and herscreams—although painful—did notmove me.

Gradually she calmed down. Firstcame the promises. I could returnhome, and my dad would find me em-ployment locally. Then came thethreats. If I did not give up my foolishideas, I would be disinherited. Theywould conduct a funeral service for me,with a real coffin and regular burial ritu-als.

It was late when I went to bed thatnight. The next morning I was requiredto visit all the prominent Jews in thecommunity in the hope that theywould be able to persuade me to changemy mind. I was glad when this inquisi-tion was over. Realizing that I would notchange my mind, my mother and fathermade one final attempt. As long as I be-lieved in Jesus as the Messiah, I need notcome home again to visit. I would nolonger be their son. This hurt me verymuch, especially as my dad and I weregood friends.

I returned to my apartment. I spoketo my employer about my newfoundfaith. I wanted Sabbaths off. “My dearfellow,” he replied, “I am a Christian,and I have to work on Sundays. I amvery sorry. I can’t let you have Saturdaysoff.”

“In that case, sir,” I answered, “I haveno choice but to resign.”

“Don’t be a fool, young man,” mymanager admonished in genuine con-cern. “Do you know that you’re throw-ing away a wonderful career? In a few

years you’ll be an electrical engineer.You will be a rich man. Don’t be sohasty and stupid!”

“Sorry, sir,” I replied, “but I mustobey my conscience. If I can’t do that,then I must resign.”

I did resign. Soon I found myself un-able to get a job with Sabbaths off.Gradually my savings ran out. I hardlyhad enough to eat. My landlord threat-ened to evict me if I didn’t come upwith the rent. I begged him to let mestay a few days. Just when I was comingto the end of my tether, a registered let-ter arrived. It contained some money—enough to care for my immediate needs!Someone had felt impressed to come tomy rescue.

Soon I joined the literature ministry,even though I was shy and stutteredbadly. And the Lord did show me away—out of the ghettos of Rhodes, fromthe claws of history’s worst tyranny,from the copper belts of Africa, to be ateacher in church schools. From the dis-covery of my roots to the achievementof joy, my life has been one of findinglife’s true meaning in God’s Word.

What’s more, I was not alone in thisprocess. Years after my own discovery,my father moved to Houston, Texas,where in 1998 he met some HispanicChristians. My dad loved to speak theSpanish he learned in his younger days.His new friends told him about Jesus theMessiah, and before he died at the ageof 90, he became a believer.

Alf Nahman has taught for 30 years inchurch schools and public schools. Now heresides in South Africa, where he does free-lance writing, especially for children. His e-mail address: [email protected]


YourFriendshipNetwork

dventist college/university students and professionals, readers of Dia- logue, interested in exchanging cor-respondence with colleagues in other partsof the world.

ACelestin Abdallah: 25; male; single;

pursuing a degree in business administra-tion; interests: camping, youth activities,and computers; correspondence in French,English, Spanish, or Kinyawanda. Address:Universite Adventiste d’Haiti; Diquini 63;B.P. 1339; Port-au-Prince; HAITI. E-mail:[email protected]

Moises Acosta B.: 28; male; single; anindustrial chemical engineer; interests:camping, sports, and making new Chris-tian friends; correspondence in Spanish.Address: Jose Moreno Irrabien # 124-1,Col. 1o. de Mayo; Villahermosa, Tabasco,86190 MEXICO.E-mail: [email protected]

Gbenga Ademodi: 28; male; single; alawyer; hobbies: exchanging ideas, playingchess, watching and playing football, andlistening to music; correspondence in En-glish. Address: c/o Dr. B. Ademodi; Dept.of Chemical Engineering; ObafemiAwolowo University; Ile-Ife; Osun State; NI-GERIA. E-mail: [email protected]

Demrose Joy Adlaon: 22; female; sin-gle; completing a degree in pharmacy; in-terests: playing the piano, cross stitching,and sports; correspondence in English. Ad-dress: Seventh-day Adventist Church; Lap-ulapu Ext., Digos, Davao del Sur; 8002PHILIPPINES.

Edilia Aguilera: 25; female; single; asystems analyst; interests: outdoor activi-ties, camping, hiking, and youth pro-grams; correspondence in Spanish. Ad-dress: La Paz #858; Villa Alemana; V Re-gion; CHILE.

Josephat Akunga: 24; male; single; anative of Kenya studying toward a master’sdegree in commerce; interests: playingfootball and volleyball, reading, and learn-ing about other cultures; correspondence

in English or Kiswahili. Address: 19c Amed-abad Palace; Bhopal 462001, M.P.; INDIA.E-mail: [email protected]

Boris T. Alomia: 21; male; single; study-ing medicine at Universidad Privada Abier-ta a Latinoamerica; correspondence inSpanish or English. Address: Av. San Mar-tin Nro. 250; Cochabamba; BOLIVIA. E-mail: [email protected]

Omama Isaac Amoah: 23; male; single;studying agriculture; interests: teachingagriculture, listening to gospel music, andexchanging postcards; correspondence inEnglish. Address: c/o Mr. D.K.A. Amakoh;P.O. Box 723l; Nsawam, E/R; GHANA.

Claudia Amoedo: 25; female; single;studying history at Universidade do Ama-zonas; interests: travel, photography, read-ing, and making new friends; correspon-dence in Portuguese, English, or Spanish.Address: Rua Tomas Antonio Gonzaga, 63;D. Pedro II; Manaus, AM; 69042-560 BRA-ZIL. E-mail: [email protected]

Merari S. Arciaga: 28; female; single; anurse studying toward a degree in elemen-tary education at Naga College Founda-tion; interests: evangelism, sports, outdooractivities, classical and religious music;correspondence in English or Tagalog. Ad-dress: Seventh-day Adventist Multigrade;Magsaysay Avenue; Naga City; 4400 PHIL-IPPINES.

Bela Peter Barabas: male; single; study-ing electrical engineering at BudapestTechnical University; address: Gyakorloutca 4/c VI. em. 23; Budapest; 1116 HUN-GARY. E-mail: [email protected]

Geoffrey Birundu: 25; male; single;studying sociology at Egerton University;hobbies: singing, playing lawn tennis, hik-ing, and making new friends; correspon-dence in English. Address: Box 588; Njoro;KENYA. E-mail: [email protected]

Ruth N. Blanco: 22; female; single;studying business administration at Uni-versidad Simon Rodriguez; interests: mu-sic, praising God in song, reading, andmaking new friends; correspondence inSpanish. Address: Ave. Rep. Dominicana,Edificio Delcha 1, Planta Baja; Boleita Sur,Caracas 1070; VENEZUELA.

Collins Boit J.: 27; male; single; studyingtoward a degree in business administrationat Bugema University; hobbies: readingnovels, singing, listening to music, andphotography; correspondence in English.Address: P.O. Box 6529; Kampala; UGAN-DA. E-mail: [email protected]

Yenny Bouchard: 23; female; single;teaching at an Adventist elementaryschool; interests: making new friends,travel, and exchanging poetry; correspon-dence in Spanish or English. Address:Pedro Ferre 874; 3432 Bella Vista, Corri-entes; ARGENTINA.E-mail: [email protected]

Taurai Bwerinofa: 23; male; single;studying at Masvingo Technical College;hobbies: playing and watching soccer,nature conservation, and computers;correspondence in English. Address:P.O. Box 233; Gweru; ZIMBABWE.E-mail: [email protected]

Bethlorgen Cabaluna: 34; female; sin-gle; completed a master’s in public healthat Adventist University of the Philippines,now working for the government; inter-ests: gardening, cooking, organizingchurch activities, and designing clothes;correspondence in English or Filipino. Ad-dress: 508 Orchid Street, Flores Village;Bangkal, Davao City; 8000 PHILIPPINES.E-mail: [email protected]

Azland Chungan: 28; male; single; ateacher; interests: badminton, fishing,camping, and travel; correspondence inEnglish or Malay. Address: TenghilanChurch; P.O. Box 7; 89257 Tamparuli, Sa-bah; MALAYSIA.

Nahira Colón: 19; female; single; study-ing marketing at Universidad de PuertoRico; interests: nature, foreign languages,baseball, and basketball; correspondencein Spanish or English. Address: Calle 1-E-12, Extension Sta. Juanita; Bayamon, Puer-to Rico 00956; U.S.A.

Marlie C. Conson: 27; female; single;completed a degree in secondary educa-tion at University of Mindanao; hobbies:outdoor activities, swimming, listening togood music, and making new friends; cor-respondence in English. Address: PurokBulaklak III, La Fortuna; Tagum City,Davao; 8100 PHILIPPINES.

Carolyn de la Cruz: 27; female; single;working as a school nurse and studyingtoward a master’s degree in nursing; hob-bies: poetry, charcoal painting, reading,and travel; correspondence in English. Ad-dress: Domingo Street; Murcia, Negros Oc-cidental; 6129 PHILIPPINES.

Max Antoine Dantes: 31; male; single;holds diplomas in librarianship and elec-trical maintenance; interests: ancient civi-lizations, electrical production, music, andswimming; correspondence in French. Ad-

Insert A

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38 Dialogue 12:3 2000

dress: Rue Catherine Flon #7; Delmas,Port-au-Prince; HAITI.

Abakwue U. Dennis: 22; male; single;studying chemical engineering at FederalUniversity of Technology; involved in theAdventist Student Fellowship and alwaysready to share the gospel; correspondencein English. Address: Dept. of Chemical En-gineering; Federal University of Technolo-gy - Owerri; Hostel B; P.M.B. 1526; ImoState; NIGERIA.

Jonas A. Diaz: 21; male; single; study-ing medicine at Universidad Autonoma deSanto Domingo; interests: playing the gui-tar, listening to music, reading, and physi-cal exercise; correspondence in Spanish orEnglish. Address: Ave. Mexico, Edif. 40,Apt. 403; San Carlos, Santo Domingo; DO-MINICAN REPUBLIC.

Elvie S. Dolotallas: 29; female; single;completed a degree in commerce, workingas a secretary for an insurance company;hobbies: singing, playing the piano, stampcollecting, and nature; correspondence inEnglish or Tagalog. Address: 3792 Mirafu-entes Subdivision; Tagum City; 8100 PHIL-IPPINES. E-mail: [email protected]

Nick Dorlipo: 27; female; single; com-pleted a degree in cognitive psychology atUniversite Lumiere Lyon II; interests: Bibleprophecy, theater, cinema, and physicalexercise; correspondence in French or En-

glish. Address: 77 Rue Bellecombe; 69006Lyon; FRANCE.

Jorge Espinosa Reina: 40; male; single;a script writer and actor in Christian dra-ma; interests: exchanging experiences inpublic ministry utilizing clowns, puppets,or live drama; correspondence in Spanish.Address: C. Narciso Lopez entre C y D No.408; Ciego de Avila; 65100 CUBA.

Yenny Figueroa: 24; female; single;studying elementary education at Univer-sidad de Playa Ancha; interests: reading,aerobics, Christian music, and makingnew friends; correspondence in Spanish.Address; Poblacion Lautaro; Bio Bio 161,Artificio, La Calera; V Region; CHILE. E-mail: [email protected]

Arlene S. Garcia: 34; female; single; achurch school teacher; interests: singing,religious music, and travel; correspon-dence in English, Tagalog, Visayan or Pam-pango. Address: Kapatagan Valley SDA Ele-mentary School; Kapatagan, Lanao delNorte; 9214 PHILIPPINES.

Mary D. Garzota: 24; female; single;completed a degree in medical technolo-gy; hobbies: playing the flute and piano,travel, reading, and making new friends;correspondence in English. Address: 161Luna Mencias Street; San Juan, Metro Ma-nila; 1500 PHILIPPINES.

Heloisa Helena Goncalves: 34; female;single; a physiotherapist, with a degreefrom Universidade Federal de MinasGerais; interests: music, Bible study, travel,and the arts; correspondence in Portu-guese or English. Address: Rua FlorencioJose Dos Santos, 123; Bairro Alipio deMelo; Belo Horizonte, M.G.; 30820-630BRAZIL.

Estrella Gonzalez: 18; female; single;studying toward a degree in business ad-ministration; interests: reading, music,camping, and youth activities; correspon-dence in Spanish. Address: Obreros Tex-tiles No. 52, Col. Marco Antonio Munoz;91060 Xalapa, Veracruz; MEXICO. E-mail:[email protected]

Nabbosa M. Gorreth: 29; female; sin-gle; completing a teacher training pro-gram; interests: travel, reading, listeningto and singing Christian music; correspon-dence in English or Uganda. Address:Abaita - Ababiri S.D.A. Church; P.O. Box225; Entebbe; UGANDA.

Armando Guirado R.: 18; male; single;studying medicine at Universidad Centraldel Este; interests: swimming, ecology,

computers, and sharing the gospel; corre-spondence in Spanish. Address: Calle V. C.Duarte, Edif. 11, Apt. B-22; San Jose de losLlanos; San Pedro de Macoris; DOMINI-CAN REPUBLIC.

Luis Hernandez: 40; male; single; anagronomic engineer and a pre-medical stu-dent; interests: natural medicine, ecology,vegetarianism, and mission work; corre-spondence in Spanish, English or Portu-guese. Address: P.O. Box 1621; Col-legedale, TN 37315; U.S.A.

Babu N. James: 24; male; single; study-ing toward a master’s in biochemistry;hobbies: playing the guitar and piano,singing Christian music, and reading theBible. Address: Cirlas Colony, Plot No. 57;Aurangabad, Maharashtra; INDIA. E-mail:[email protected]

Marvin John: 24; male; single; studyingtoward a master’s in business administra-tion; interests: saxophone, motorcycles,soccer, and singing; correspondence in En-glish. Address; Spicer Memorial College;Ganeshkind; Pune 411 007, Maharashtra;INDIA. E-mail: [email protected]

Sonia Mabel Kidruk: 28; female; single;studying civil engineering; interests: col-lecting postcards and stamps, sports, andpoetry; correspondence in Spanish. Ad-dress: Rio Cuarto 1232; 3360 Obera, Mis-iones; ARGENTINA.E-mail: [email protected]

Olaniyi O. Labiyi: 22; male; single;studying management and accounting atObafemi Awolowo University; hobbies:watching and playing football, reading,listening to music, and collecting souve-nirs; correspondence in English. Ad-dress: c/o Mrs. C. L. Labiyi; Faculty ofE.D.M; Obafemi Awolowo University;Ile-Ife, Osun State; NIGERIA. E-mail:[email protected]

Susette D. Lamparero: 26; female; sin-gle; a registered nurse; interests: playingthe piano and flute, sports, missionary ac-tivities, and health evangelism; correspon-dence in English. Address: South Philip-pine Union; Box 208; Cagayan de OroCity; 9000 PHILIPPINES.

Khoi Sian Langh: 23; male; single;studying toward a degree in accountancy;hobbies: sports, travel, gardening, andcomputers; correspondence in English.Address: Spicer Memorial College; P.O.Ganeshkhind, Aundh Road; Pune 411007;INDIA. E-mail: [email protected]

Joseph H. K. Lee: 22; male; single;

Free subscriptionfor your collegeor universitylibrary!

Do you wish to see Dialogue availablein the library of your public college or uni-versity so that your non-Adventist friendsmay also have access to the journal? Con-tact the librarian, show him or her a copyof the journal, and suggest that they re-quest a free subscription to Dialogue,writing on an official institutional paper.We will take care of the rest!

The letter should be addressed to: Dia-logue Editor-in-chief; 12501 Old Colum-bia Pike; Silver Spring, Maryland 20904;U.S.A.

Insert B


studying at International Medical Uni-versity; correspondence in English. Ad-dress: P.O. Box 1; 89257 Tamparuli, Sa-bah; MALAYSIA.E-mail: [email protected]

Alcira Ludeña: 50; female; a widow;working as a Spanish-English translatorand pursuing a degree in English educa-tion; hobbies: walking, gardening, naturalmedicine, and vegetarian cooking; corre-spondence in Spanish or English. Address:P.O. Box 17-11-5007-5008, Sexto Piso;Quito; ECUADOR.

Kaeren N. Maceda: 25; female; single;studying nursing at Ago Medical and Edu-cational Center; hobbies: house keepingand making new friends; correspondencein English. Address: Nantes Compound,Basud; Camalig, Albay; PHILIPPINES.

Daniel Paunde Madumelane: 24; male;single; studying electrical engineering atEduardo Mondlane University; interests:science, technology, other cultures, andmusic; correspondence in Portuguese orEnglish. Address: Av. Amilcar Cabral No.1254; Maputo; MOZAMBIQUE. E-mail:[email protected]

T. D. Magaka: 37; male; married; work-ing with Adventist Community Services;interests: social work, travel, Bible reading,and making new friends; correspondencein English. Address: Box 678; Kisii; KENYA.

Ester Maidana: 32; female; single; ateacher at an Adventist elementary school;interests: camping, singing, sports, and ex-changing postcards; correspondence inSpanish. Address: Caseros 796; 3432 BellaVista, Corrientes; ARGENTINA. E-mail:[email protected]

Dockins Junior Mairura: 22; male; sin-gle; studying toward a degree in chemistryat Egerton University; interests: socializ-ing, hiking, swimming, and music; corre-spondence in English. Address: P.O. Box1221; Kisumu; KENYA. E-mail: [email protected]

Wake Mangu: 27; male; single; com-pleting a degree in business at Universityof Papua New Guinea; interests: singing,gospel music, travel, and exchanging post-cards; correspondence in English. E-mail:[email protected]

Daniel Mantilla: 21; male; single;studying at Universidad Tecnica de Am-bato; interests: singing Christian music,playing the guitar, camping, and helpingothers; correspondence in Spanish or En-glish. Address: Martinez, 4-27 y Bolivar;

Ambato; ECUADOR.E-mail: [email protected]

Emerald P. Marsala: 31; female; mar-ried; completed a degree in elementary ed-ucation; hobbies: hiking, singing, listen-ing to music, and cooking; correspon-dence in English. Address: Kapatagan Val-ley SDA Elementary School; Kapatagan,Lanao del Norte; 9214 PHILIPPINES.

Berenice Martinez: 25; female; sin-gle; completed a degree in computing;interests: reading, other cultures, pho-tography, and camping; correspondencein Spanish or English. Address: Fray Luisde Herrera 518; Col. Villa Insurgentes,Leon, Gto.; 37220 MEXICO. E-mail:[email protected]

Raul E. Mauro: 26; male; single; com-pleted a degree in economic engineering;interests: Biblical history and prophecy,campus ministry, religious freedom, andcomputers; correspondence in Spanish orEnglish. Address: Centro de Estudios y Pro-mocion del Desarrollo; Leon de la FuenteNo. 110; Lima 17; PERU. E-mail:[email protected]

Harrison Mburni: 34; male; single; anAdventist pastor who holds master’s de-grees in religion and sociology, pursuing adoctoral degree; interests: reading, music,sports, and social issues; correspondencein English. Address: Uganda Union ofS.D.A.; Post Box 6434; Kampala; UGAN-DA. E-mail: [email protected]

Daniel Mendoza: 22; male; single;studying at Universidad Nacional FedericoVillarreal; interests: music, camping, na-ture, and studying the Bible; correspon-dence in Spanish. Address: Valle Riestra630; Pueblo Libre, Lima; PERU. E-mail:[email protected]

James Mensah: 22; male; single; study-ing toward a degree in commerce at Uni-versity of Cape Coast; interests: reading,travel, soccer, and tennis; correspondencein English. Address: c/o Mary Addison;P.O. Box 53344; Accra; GHANA.

Kepha O. Mongare: 24; male; single;working as an accountant; hobbies: Chris-tian music, youth activities, story telling,and Bible discussions; correspondence inEnglish or Kiswahili. Address: P.O. Box 10;Kisii; KENYA.

Maria J. Moreno: 28; female; single;completing a degree in education at Uni-versidad de Oriente; interests: making newfriends, sharing my faith, travel, and ex-changing postcards; correspondence in

Spanish. Address: Calle Sta. Teresa; Cruz dela Union, Sector El Chaco No. 10; Cuma-na, Edo. Sucre; VENEZUELA.

Godfrey Hinzala Mulemba: 32; male;married; a primary school teacher; hob-bies: singing, listening to gospel music,swimming, and making new friends; cor-respondence in English. Address: LubambaMiddle Basic School; P.O. Box 670090;Mazabuka; ZAMBIA.

Katya Mulki: 21; female; single; study-ing marketing at Universidad TecnologicaEquinoccial; interests: music, singing,travel, and making new friends; corre-spondence in Spanish or English. Address:Rafael Portilla No. oe5-174; San PedroClaver II; Quito; ECUADOR. E-mail:[email protected]

Grezelda Nañez: 33; female; single;completed a degree in nutrition and die-tetics; interests: playing the piano, reli-gious music, nature, and travel; correspon-dence in English or Filipino. Address: 112Sparrow Street, Moonville Subdivision;Barangay Sunvalley, Parañaque City; 1700PHILIPPINES.

Carolina Tudella Nanias: 21; female;single; studying veterinary medicine; in-terests; singing, travel, painting, and mak-ing new friends; correspondence in Portu-guese, English or Spanish. Address: Av.Camilo Mazoni, 1055, Apto. 13-D; Jd.Paraiso, Botucatu, S.P.; 18610-460 BRAZIL.

Quentin Desire Nda Eboa: 21; male;single; completed a degree in mathe-matics, studying computer science atAdventist University - Cosendai; inter-ests: sports, church activities, and trav-el; correspondence in French or English.Address: s/o Pastor Anastasie Nda; P.O.Box 401; Yaounde; CAMEROON. E-mail:[email protected]

Aung Myn Myint Ngala: 23; male; sin-gle; studying toward a degree in businessadministration; interests: reading, travel,music, and sports; correspondence in Bur-mese or English. Address: Myanmar UnionAdventist College; Mosokwin Rd.;Myaungmya; MYANMAR.

Mitzie M. Nugas: 21; female; single;studying toward a degree in pharmacy; in-terests: reading, listening to music, stampcollecting, and playing the piano; corre-spondence in English or Filipino. Address:East Visayan Conference; P.O. Box 68;Tacloban City; 6500 PHILIPPINES.

Janine Carvalho Padilha: 22; female;single; studying industrial chemistry; in-

Insert C

40 Dialogue 12:3 2000

If you are an Adventist college/universitystudent or professional and wish to belisted here, send us your name, indicat-ing your age, sex, marital status, currentfield of studies or degree obtained, col-lege/university you are attending or fromwhich you graduated, hobbies or inter-ests, and language(s) in which youwould like to correspond. Provide yourpostal and e-mail address. Send your let-ter to Dialogue Interchange: 12501 OldColumbia Pike; Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600, U.S.A. Please type or printclearly. You can also use e-mail:[email protected] We willlist only those who provide all the infor-mation requested above. The journalcannot assume responsibility for the ac-curacy of the information submitted orfor the content of the correspondencethat may ensue.

terests: camping, chemical research, col-lecting phone cards, and swimming; corre-spondence in Portuguese, English or Span-ish. Address: UFSM, CEU II bl. 41. Apto.4111; Santa Maria, R.S.; BRAZIL. E-mail:[email protected]

Lilian Peña: 38; female; single; a dentalassistant; interests: wholesome recreation,reading, and making new friends; corre-spondence in Spanish. Address: MaximoGomez 412 F4 Altos, entre Angel Guerra yPeralejo; Holguin; 80100 CUBA.

Janitha Kalum Perera: 26; male; single;holds a photography diploma, studyingcomputer software; hobbies: travel, sports,collecting stamps and old coins, and hik-ing; correspondence in English. Address:815 Batagama North; Ja-Ela; SRI LANKA.

Mathias Quaicoe: 24; male; single;studying at University of Cape Coast; hob-bies: music and watching movies; corre-spondence in English. Address: P.O. Box477; Cape Coast; GHANA.

Wenes P. Reis: 30; male; a physician;interests: travel, photography, learningother languages, and making new friends;correspondence in Portuguese, English orSpanish. Address: Rua Julio Cesar SerranoN. 118, Apto. 107; Jardin Da Penha; Vito-ria, E.S.; 29060-430 BRAZIL. E-mail:[email protected]

Cecilio Merlotti Rodas: 29; male; sin-gle; studying computer science at CentroUniversitario de Votuporanga; interests:youth activities, photography, reading,and other cultures; correspondence in Por-tuguese or French. Address: Rua Barao doRio Branco, 420; Votuporanga, S.P.; 15500-055 BRAZIL. E-mail: [email protected]

Rosaly Rodriguez Vega: 35; female; sin-gle; working as a secretary; interests: trav-el, Christian and classical music, and read-ing; correspondence in Spanish. Address:P.O. Box 1958; Cayey; Puerto Rico 00737-1958; U.S.A.

Sonia A. Rojas: 24; female; single; anEnglish teacher, pursuing further stud-ies; correspondence in Spanish or En-glish. Address: Calle 21 #188, VentanillaSatelite; Callao 06; PERU. E-mail:[email protected]

Jeanneth Roldan: 22; female; single;studying medicine at Universidad San Car-los de Guatemala; interests; travel, soccer,cooking, and good music; correspondencein Spanish or English. Address: 1ra. Calle,Lote 9, Seccion “H”; Villa Victoria, Zona 6de Mixco; Guatemala; GUATEMALA.

Godfrey Sang: 24; male; single; work-ing for an insurance company and study-ing part-time toward an MBA at the Uni-versity of Nairobi; hobbies: nature, camp-ing, music, and collecting stamps andcoins; correspondence in English or Swa-hili. Address: P.O. Box 44997; Nairobi;KENYA.

Renata Santos: 27; female; single;holds a degree in mathematics, studyingEnglish; hobbies: travel and camping;correspondence in Portuguese, Englishor Spanish. Address: R. Amadeu Rossign-olo 29, Ap. 13; Baeta Neves, S. B. Cam-po, S.P.; 09760-130 BRAZIL. E-mail:[email protected]

Hisaya Sato: 40; male; single; a transla-tor; hobbies: Bible study, sharing thelove of Jesus, nature, playing and listen-ing to music; correspondence in En-glish. Address: 10-1-302 Higashi-rokugatsu-cho; Adachi-ku, Tokyo; JA-PAN. E-mail: [email protected]

Edward Kenga Shenga: 27; male; sin-gle; studying general agriculture; hobbies:travel, listening to and singing gospel mu-sic, and making new friends; correspon-dence in English. Address: P.O. Box 41207;Mombasa; KENYA.

Daniel Augusto de Aguiar Silva: 23;male; single; completed a degree in dataprocessing technology; interests: com-puters and good movies; correspon-dence in Portuguese or English. E-mail:[email protected]

Jameson Swaminathan: 23; male;single; studying toward a degree in busi-ness administration; hobbies: playingfootball and badminton, camping, andhiking; correspondence in English. Ad-dress: O.W.P.H. - Salisbury Park; P.O.Box 1418; Pune; 411037 INDIA. E-mail:[email protected]

Cornelius T.: 46; male; married and fa-ther of 2 children; completed an MBA,now engaged in business; interests: sing-ing, playing the organ, learning about oth-er countries, and helping others; corre-spondence in English. Address: 1, BethelAvenue; Jeeva Nagar II Street; Jaihind-puram, Madurai 625011; INDIA. E-mail:[email protected]

Josephine L. Tagalog: 26; female; sin-gle; completed a degree in accountancyand works at a bank; interests: missionarywork, playing musical instruments, sing-ing, and Bible reading; correspondence inEnglish. Address: Orient Bank - Cogon

Branch; Sky-Hi Bldg., Sotero Daomar St.;Cagayan de Oro City; 9000 PHILIPPINES.

Jean-Claude Tayari: 24; male; single;studying pharmacy at Universite Nation-ale du Rwanda; interests: Christian music,nature, reading the Bible, and sports; cor-respondence in French, English, or Swa-hili. Address: B.P. 117; Butare; RWANDA.E-mail: [email protected]

Ann Thomas: 26; female; single; ateacher; interests: foreign languages,camping, collecting stamps, phone cards,and postcards; correspondence in Englishor Malay. Address: P.O. Box 87; 89260Tenghilan, Sabah; MALAYSIA.

Ouradia Tudella: 47; female; single; adentist; interests: painting, interior deco-ration, and making new friends; corre-spondence in Portuguese, English or Span-ish. Address: Bandeirantes No. 35; Apto.41; Cambui, Campinas, S.P.; 13024-010BRAZIL.

Manoda Vagambrum: 29; female; sin-gle; interests: working with children, sing-ing, reading, and making new friends; cor-respondence in French or English. Ad-dress: Glen-Park; Vacoas; MAURITIUS.

Cynthia Zeller: 18; female; single;studying to become a bilingual executivesecretary; interests: sports, travel, camp-ing, and making new friends; correspon-dence in Spanish or English. Address: Av.Libertad 1258; 2826 Urdinarrain, EntreRios; ARGENTINA.

Insert D

26488 12.3 English Layout - Andrews University— David Dyjack and Angela Bennett Dyjack Editorial 3...

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