ANN Video Full Episode transcript - June 14, 2012

This week on Adventist News Network, the final chapter in a decades-long legal saga in Australia
... a top civilian honor for former church President Jan Paulsen

... and Babcock University launches the first Adventist medical school in Africa

These stories and more, coming right up.

This is Adventist News Network, a service of the Seventh-day Adventist world church. Thanks so much for joining us this week.

First in the news, Adventist Church leaders in Australia say this week’s ruling on a decades-long legal saga over the disappearance of a baby could finally bring justice to the family. A coroner ruled that the nine-week-old daughter of Michael Chamberlain and Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton was indeed taken by a dingo from a campsite near Ayers Rock in nineteen-eighty. The girl’s disappearance has for years plagued the family and marred the image of the denomination in Australia. Many community members accused the couple of taking their own child’s life and some went so far as to suggest that the Adventist Church encouraged such acts. Shortly afterward, Chamberlain-Creighton was convicted of murdering her daughter. She spent three years in prison before new evidence reversed her sentence. This week’s ruling ultimately confirms the couple’s innocence.

A Veteran church leader Jan Paulsen received one of his home country’s top civilian honors earlier this year. The former Adventist world church president was appointed commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit for humanitarian service. Tor Tjeransen attended the presentation ceremony in Norway last week and has this report. 

Adventists in Norway realized they were part of a, “once in a lifetime” experience as they gathered at beautifully situated Tyrifjord Junior College to witness former world president of the Seventh-day Adventist church, Jan Paulsen received the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit.  The special event took place during the Sabbath evening program of the Annual Day Of Fellowship, for the East Norway Conference.  The bishop also for the Lutheran church of Norway, the Reverend, Ole Christian Kvarme, one of those who proposed to the Norwegian king that Paulsen’s ministry be recognized with the order of merit gave a short description of Paulsen’s ministry.  For ANN viewers, he summed it up in this way,  “Jan Paulsen is an outstanding church leader, he has so much warmth, he has depth in his faith and his thinking, he stands out with personal humility.”  The insignia of the order were given by Knut Vollebaek, former Norwegian Ambassador to the United States.  The official statement from the Royal Palace sites, “Meritorious worked for the good of humanity as the reason for giving the order.”  Vollebaek said this of Paulsen’s ministry, “He has had a great impact for the Adventist church in the world as it’s world leader, deepening it, large-ing it, making it more better known and received in the world.”  Paulsen himself felt very honored and humbled.

Well my feelings, I have been overwhelmed, overwhelmed by the kindness, by the generosity of comments, overwhelmed by the sense of fellowship we have here in the church and overwhelmed by the fact that the representatives who were officially here came and enjoyed the spiritual fellowship we have had together this evening.  You know, it is such a big thing – how can you put words to it?  I praise the Lord and I am thankful to the Church that has giving me this opportunity.

We turn now to Nigeria, where the church’s Babcock University officially launched a school of medicine this month. The Benjamin S. Carson Sr. School of Medicine is the Adventist Church’s first medical school in Africa. Church leaders say the move signals a growing commitment by Africans to address the continent’s sweeping public health needs. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to at least two-thirds of the thirty-three million adults and children worldwide living with HIV/AIDS. But according to the United Nations, just two percent of the global healthcare workforce comes from the region. World-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson spoke at the launch ceremony. Carson said he was pleased to have his name associated with Babcock University. He said the new medical school has the potential to produce excellent healthcare professionals who will impact communities in Nigeria, across Africa and even around the world.

The International Bible Conference is meeting in Israel this week. And for the first time, Adventists around the world can attend the meetings alongside hundreds of top scholars and theologians. Members can hear discussions and presentations through live streaming online. This year, scholars will discuss Biblical anthropology from an Adventist perspective. Topics include Greek philosophy, Judaism, Christian history, culture and contemporary theology. You can check out the discussions at Adventist Biblical Research dot org, forward slash live stream. The International Bible Conference is sponsored by the Adventist Church’s Biblical Research Institute.

Adventist historians are expanding the church’s research capacity. The church’s Office of Archives, Statistics and Research opened a new research center at Adventist world church headquarters. Adventist historian David Trim, who heads up the office, says the expanded facilities will encourage more scholars to study Adventist history. He hopes more research will not only inspire membership, but also guide church leaders in decision-making. The research center includes decades of church periodicals and other publications. Photos and documents are stored in a nearby vault. Adventist Church President Ted Wilson joined other church leaders to attend the launch. Wilson said that a careful study of history illustrates how God has led the church in the past.

Adventist satellite evangelists are trying out a new format. The church radio broadcast and Bible School ministry Voice of Prophecy is hosting a weeklong outreach series in Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. Instead of one speaker for the entire week, a different speaker is presenting each new theme. The series is the culmination of “Reach Alaska,” a Voice of Prophecy project to reach America’s last frontier. You can read more at V O P dot com forward slash Alaska.

And coming up, we have a preview of the latest edition of Adventist Review. This week, the magazine explores how Adventists should respond when an elderly or disabled person quits coming to church.

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