The following are the top nationality of refugees who have resettled across the Columbia Union (by state) in the last three years.
Source: Pew Research Center
Who We Are, How We Serve
The Columbia Union Conference, established in 1907 to coordinate the Seventh-day Adventist Church's work in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, is part of the worldwide Protestant denomination of 23 million members in more than 212 countries. At the union level, we connect and provide administrative leadership, governance and support services to our conferences, schools, health care networks and ministries. Each year, our organizations sponsor programs and projects that address human needs, improve quality of life and introduce people to Jesus. Read our Mission, Values and Priorities.
We Believe
God is love, power, and splendor—and God is a mystery. His ways are far beyond us, but He still reaches out to us. God is infinite yet intimate, three yet one,
all-knowing yet all-forgiving.
Story by Kimi-Roux James
On June 16, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), the humanitarian arm for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, will commemorate World Refugee Sabbath.
ADRA works with refugees in 39 countries providing food, clean water, hygiene kits and shelter and offers livelihood and education trainings to help refugees sustain their nutrition and generate income. It recently undertook a new project to send letters on behalf of refugees in dire distress to local lawmakers.
Terri Saelee (pictured with a Mizo member), North American Division Adventist Refugee and Immigrant Ministries coordinator, believes it’s vitally important to reach out to refugees. “Reaching refugees is at the core of finishing the work because when we reach other cultures they can do a work we cannot do to reach their own people and other related language groups, both here in North America and in their home countries, where we cannot send missionaries.”
Professor Joseph Ruben Spicer born June 9, 1929 in Chicago, Ill. passed away peacefully on January 22, 2018 of natural causes in Clemmons, NC. He was the son of the late Seventh-day Adventist Elder Joseph and Anna Spicer from the Adriatic coast of former Yugoslavia.
Editorial by Rick Christman
I've always had an interest in health and wellness. While in college, I served as a student missionary “health educator” for one year in Papua New Guinea. While living in remote jungle villages, I learned the devastating impact of malaria, dysentery, viruses and poor hygiene. I was grateful to provide the villagers with basic health education, as well as diagnose and treat (I’m not sure that was a good idea!) their various illnesses through natural remedies and medication. To my surprise, many of the villagers experienced improved physical health!