Story by Adventist Journey Staff
Dr. Bemnet Meried is an evangelist living in Virginia. Born into a Seventh-day Adventist family in Eritrea, he always wanted to be a doctor. After the Adventist churches were closed in Eritrea during his teen years, Meried went to college and medical school. He graduated and was working when he decided he needed to escape. After months of struggles, Meried arrived in California and a heard a sermon that changed his life—and his mission.
Story by Jacklyn Ruth, Chesapeake Conference Communication Department
Kylynda Bauer graduated as president and valedictorian of Highland View Academy (Hagerstown, Md) Class of 2009. As a microbiologist, she now conducts cutting-edge research in the microbiome field. In this TEDx Talk, Bauer shares research that observes the impact of malnutrition and microbes on the gut-brain axis.
Story by Potomac Conference Staff
Jose Vazquez, the pastor of the Fredericksburg (Va.) church, was recently named Potomac Conference's vice president for administration. He begins his new assignment August 19.
Vazquez joined Potomac as a pastor in 2014. He previously served as a pastor in both the Central California and Indiana conferences. While in Indiana, he also served as the conference’s director for community services.
Story by Vicki Swetnam
Recently students and faculty from Ohio Conference's Spring Valley Academy (SVA) gathered for a K–12 assembly to dedicate the kindergarten classroom in memory of Zelda Dunn, who taught at SVA from 1994–2011, and kindergarten aide Stephanee Oberer (affectionately known as “Mrs. O.”) Together they established the foundation of the school’s early childhood kindergarten program, in accordance with counsel from the Spirit of Prophecy.
Story by Leonora Seferlis
Two high school students from New Jersey Conference's Lake Nelson Adventist Academy were recently honored for their achievements at the 29th annual Paul Robeson Youth Achievement Awards. The Paul Robeson Institute for Ethics, Leadership and Social Justice sponsored the event. This institute, located at the Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC), was founded in 1999 to preserve Paul Robeson’s legacy as a role model for excellence. The students who received the awards attained a GPA of 3.0 or higher and excelled in four areas: Scholarship, the Arts, Community Service and Athletics.
Story by Tamyra Horst
At the conclusion of The Great Controversy: Origin of Evil performance, Lawrence Galera, the music director of Pennsylvania Conference's Blue Mountain Academy (BMA), took a final bow. For eight years, Galera impacted the lives of many students on BMA’s campus in Hamburg. Galera announced he has accepted the position of music director at Collegedale Academy (Tenn.)
Story by Elizabeth Long
Kettering Adventist Health Network is implementing an advanced EMS-to-hospital, real-time notification system to exchange vital patient information more quickly. It is partnering with ESO to use ESO Health Data Exchange (HDE) and TrackEMS to improve closed loop communication between hospitals and EMS agencies. The network is providing this technology to area EMS.
ESO HDE is a bidirectional data exchange platform that allows EMS and hospitals to share patient data electronically. The platform translates the information EMS and the hospital needs automatically from any prehospital patient electronic record system to any hospital electronic medical record system.
Story by Shari Loveday
This spring Potomac Conference's Takoma Academy family accepted a mission that some might view as impossible. The Week of Prayer’s overall theme was, “What’s God Got to Do With it?!” As each youth faced this question, Lola Moore Johnston, senior pastor of the Woodbridge (Va.) church, challenged the students to figure out how God fits into the personal lives of young people. She also shared that all of us should be “Living for 1 Like.”
Story by Heidi Shoemaker
A record 95 couples from across the Ohio Conference recently met at Salt Fork State Park (Ohio) to celebrate the second annual Hispanic Marriage Retreat, titled “Families of Faith—Matrimonies in Victory.”
Story by Sadrail Saint-Ulysse
It has become painfully clear that there is a great need for school safety and security training in this country. As my wife, Malou Saint-Ulysse, principal of Meadow View Junior Academy in Chesterfield, and I sat through the school safety and security training presentation by Thomas Gambino from the New Jersey State Department of Education, we quickly realized that every principal, teacher, substitute teacher and school staff needed the same training. So, I invited Gambino to our Spring Teachers’ In-service, so that our entire New Jersey Conference school personnel could receive the same instruction.