2003 ADRA-UK Appeal will respond to the - BUC News

ACTS 2003by Melody Tan, Newbold Advancement departmentMore than 1,800 people from allaround the BUC, from placesas far away as Wales andNorthern Ireland, visited NewboldCollege on Sabbath 22 February forACTS 2003. For four years now,Newbold’s Advancement departmenthas been organising this annual eventboth as a day of fellowship and as anOpen Day for young people who areinterested in getting a taste of life onthe Newbold campus.‘We want young people to knowthat life on the Newbold campus isnot just academic but also offersworship, fellowship and fun,’ said KayChoudary, acting Advancementdirector.The day began with worship servicesin three venues on campus: Back2 Back Preaching in the gymnasium,contemporary worship in the Newboldchurch centre, and a more traditionalfamily service in Moor Close chapel.The gymnasium held the largest numberof people, and the balcony had tobe opened up to make space for moreseats as people poured in endlesslythroughout the three-hour service,extended as the enthusiastic crowdenjoyed themselves singing.Some people moved from oneservice to another to get the benefit ofall three. One said, ‘All the speakerswere preaching about grace.’A beautiful motherIt is a blessing from God to live toreach your 100th year. On Sunday 2February, one day before her birthday,a seemingly endless stream of guestscame and went to celebrate withSister Victoria Ruth Clemonds thiswonderful event.Sister Clemonds came to Englandin 1976 to live with her daughter RubySantineer. It was a lovely tribute toSister Clemonds that her son Leonardand her two daughters, Ruby andFlorence, plus three of her grandsons,Herschel, Hugh (better known asDavid), and Howard were present toacknowledge the Christian influence ofSister Clemonds in their lives. Herdevotion, to her family, her friends,and her sons-in-law, comes from herChristian faith. Born into the home ofa Methodist minister in India on 2February 1903 she has maintained hercommitment to her Lord unceasingly.Though a member of the Riverway6The theme was further emphasisedby Newbold graduate Ed Sammons,whose intention as one of the Back 2Back preachers was to allow the peopleto meet Jesus. He and his wifeShana brought with them a group ofyoung people from Wales to introducethem to Newbold.‘ACTS is a really great social event.It offers something that people from allover the United Kingdom can come to,and see people that they haven’t seenfor a long time,’ said Shana.In the afternoon, the visitorsSpiritual Vibes, youth from Slough churchchurch she is housebound but continuesto support the Lord’s work faithfullyand generously with her tithesand offerings. Many tributes were paidto our sister by, among others, her sonand the writer. One took the form ofverses written by her daughter Ruby. Itwas a sincere and beautiful tribute toone who is a true mother in Israel.PASTOR PATRICK J. BOYLEScarborough witnessOn 11 December 1977 John andNorma Kent were united in marriageby Pastor Alan Conroy in the HullBoulevard Adventist church. Twentyfiveyears later the same minister,armed with his notes from the originalservice, listened as the happy couplerenewed their marriage vows. In thepresence of over fifty witnessesgathered together in our WorshipStreet church, they received a blessingfrom Pastor Conroy.were offered different workshops onpersonal growth and various aspectsof a Christian lifestyle. One of themost popular workshops, attractingabout 200 people, was Men andWomen Communicating TheirDifferences.For some visitors, the climax of theday was the evening concert in theCollege gymnasium where artistesfrom Korea, Russia, USA, London andBirmingham entertained an audienceof one thousand until 11pm. Top of thebill was Blessed Voices, winner ofChannel 4’s Gospel Singers of the YearAward in 2002. The energetic masterof ceremonies for the evening wasEddie Hypolite, pastor of theKennington church and chaplain ofJohn Loughborough School.We were there, not only to sharewith one another this happy occasion;not just to reaffirm the sanctity of themarriage bond, but in the content ofthe order of service to bear witness tothe never-failing love and concern ofour Saviour for his children.It is testimony to John and Norma’swillingness to bear witness, thatamong the seventeen non-Adventistspresent, nine were from theScarborough area who had beenbefriended in the relatively shortperiod that John and Norma have livedin Scarborough. This was the firstoccasion that most of these peoplehad set foot in an Adventist church.Tony, John and Norma’s foster son,paid a moving tribute to his parents ashe recited a poem he had speciallywritten for the occasion. Finally, ourthanks to the Malawian Choir fromYork for their tribute in song.PETER WALLERMeshach of Blessed VoicesThe Trans-European Division is seeking anoffice secretary to the Communication/PublicAffairs & Religious Liberty director at the internationalheadquarters of the Seventh-day AdventistChurch covering Northern Europe, the Middle East,part of Africa and Pakistan. This is a full-time positionin a busy and varied department. The successfulapplicant should be able to work well underpressure and on their own initiative, and wouldneed to have an excellent command of Englishtogether with some writing and editorial skills. Agood working knowledge of Microsoft office anddesktop publishing is essential, together with databaseand website management. For an applicationform, please apply in writing with full CV to:Harald Wollan, Executive Secretary,Trans-European Division, 119 St Peter’s Street,St Albans, AL1 3EY.Closing date 21 April 2003.Ellen G White-SDA Research Centreat Newbold College is seeking a part-timesecretary/research assistant. This is along-term appointment. The successful candidatewill possess computer skills in Microsoft Word,Access and Excel, and have good people skills.Some knowledge of library science and the abilityto work independently is important. Salary is inline with denominal pay scale. Please send CV to:Roland Karlman, Newbold College, Bracknell,Berks, RG42 4AN or email: rkarlman@compuserve.comor fax: 01344 484993.Closing date 14 April 2003.Dreams come trueThis month a dream came true for ayoung man visiting Watford fromBrazil. Samuel Neves is no stranger toWatford. Seven years ago, at the ageof 14, he was sent to StanboroughSecondary School as a boarder. Hisfather is a colonel, and Samuel hopedto become a diplomat, so he wasexcited at the thought of coming hereand learning English.His mother, Regina, was thedaughter of Italian immigrants toBrazil. At first her marriage was childless.Three years had passed whenshe met an Adventist friend, PastorJulio de Melo, who offered Bible studies.Samuel’s father had studied withJesuits as a young man and foundPastor Julio’s studies inspiring.Hearing the biblical story of Hannah,Regina prayed, ‘Lord, I have oftendoubted your existence, although Iwant to believe in you. If you do exist,do to me what you did to Hannah, andif so, I will also dedicate my son toyour service. Amen.’Samuel was born and named afterHannah’s son. But Samuel Neves hadone leg shorter than the other, so anoperation was booked. It would be thefirst of many, and he would have towear leg braces until the age of 19.Regina asked the surgeons to delaythe operation for one week, and prayedagain. Her prayer was: ‘My God, youhave proved that you exist. . . . Ifthese Adventist people are your chosenpeople for the end of time, pleaseprove it by curing my son and makinghim whole again.’ After a week, theysaid an operation was no longer necessary.During the three years Samuel wasat school in Britain, two very importantthings happened to him. The first wasthat he met a fellow pupil called AmySwain. The second was that hechanged his mind about becoming adiplomat and reverted to his childhooddream of becoming a minister. Sittingin the boarders’ seats up in the galleryat Stanborough Park church, he wonderedwhat it would be like to bepreaching down there in the pulpit. Hedreamt that one day he would.Eventually he returned to Braziland started studies at the SouthAmerican Adventist TheologicalSeminary in São Paulo. In December2001, Amy joined him for six monthsand they became engaged – onedream come true. On 18 January,Samuel preached at Stanborough Parkchurch – another dream come true!He asked us to imagine what it waslike to be a first-century Christian andasked, ‘What difference does it make ifwe know that Jesus is coming again?’Later he urged us to pray that the HolySpirit will come so we’ll proclaim in aloud voice that Jesus is coming soon.Samuel plans to go back to Braziland complete his BA in theology, thenmarry Amy and study further atNewbold. Of course Regina is delightedthat her son is planning to become apastor.BRONWEN ATKINSONBournemouthhelps RomaniansSabbath 9 November saw a wonderfuldisplay of 211 shoeboxes inBournemouth church, all wrapped incolourful paper and containing toys,sweets and useful family items, andbound for families in Romania.For the third year running ourchurch has been involved in thisscheme through Link Romania, part ofPartnership for Growth – an interdenominationalcharity based atWorthing.This year, because we were one ofonly three area collectors in Dorset,the boxes were brought to the churchfrom several groups includingBrownies, Guides, WI groups and otherchurches, as well as from our ownchurch members and Mother & ToddlerGroup.Let’s praise the Lord for this generosityshown towards our brothersand sisters in Romania.J. ELLIOTTBaptism atBoltonOn Sabbath afternoon 8 FebruaryBolton church was packed to its fullcapacity as friends and relatives gatheredto see Hilda Lawrence and MarkPrescott make public the declarationof faith in Christ their Saviour. PastorBarry Stokes from Liverpool preacheda sermon entitled, ‘Adoption’.Inspirational music was provided bythe Zion Singers from Preston, andCharles Ngandwe and Ruby Dyer fromManchester. Hilda, who comes fromChorley, has been acquainted with theChurch since the 1960s. Mark hasbeen attending the Bolton church sinceApril 2002. The members welcomethem into the family and wish themboth God’s richest blessing on startinga most glorious journey.COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENTAnother churchfor BristolDuring the last seven years, under thecare of Pastor Ron Edwards, BristolCentral has witnessed a steady growthin numbers. Our family has beenblessed with increase in adults,approximately eighty children underthe age of 12, and thirty young people.As a result of this, for some months avideo link has been set up in the backroom so that everyone can fit in. Onbaptism days people even cram intothe foyer just to be part of what ishappening!After much prayer and consultationwith the members, it was decided thata sister church should be created inan unentered area of Bristol. The areachosen was Horfield, and the UnitedReformed Church has kindly allowedus to rent one of their halls. So on 5October, approximately fifty peoplewillingly left the family to branch outon their own. It is hoped that this willjust be the beginning of more churchesin Bristol and will finally culminate ina church plant.This change is the most importantevent to happen to Bristol for a numberof years. It is also the result ofPastor Edwards’ vision to establishanother church in Bristol before heretired.LISA SABADINMembers of the sister church set up in the Horfield area of Bristol7