News

Image courtesy GC Archives

The Columbia Union Conference—which covers the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States—is home to many locations where people of the Seventh-day Adventist faith made (and continue to make) history. But how did the greater Washington, D.C., area become a church hub in the first place? And where can one find impactful, lesser-known historic sites within the Columbia Union territory?

Story by Iris Argueta / Image courtesy ADRA
 
As the world prepares to observe World Refugee Day on June 20 and World Refugee Sabbath on June 15, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) reaffirms its commitment to bringing attention to the challenges faced by millions of families, women, and children forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution, violence, and climate change. 
 
ADRA has been working to aid refugees and internally displaced families for more than four decades. The global agency recognizes especially the plight of the more than 43 million children who are displaced from their homes, and represent over 41 percent of the world’s refugees, according to UN data.  
 
Home and School volunteers help organize the international vegetarian food fair.

Story by Angela Peach

Spring Valley Academy (SVA) is blessed with dedicated faculty and staff who treat their jobs as a calling. But with more than 530 students this year, there are myriad opportunities for volunteers to “plug in” and work alongside SVA faculty and staff to enrich and encourage the students and better the school.

Natalya Zaritskaya/Unsplash

Editorial by Todd Casey

There is something powerful when children see their parent(s) daily set aside time to worship their Creator God both personally and corporately as a family unit. It is through daily connection with God that families receive a fresh supply of His mercy and grace.

 Changing the Future for Greater Dayton Families

Story by Konni Lorenz

Krista drives home with two toddlers in the backseat of her Mercury Mystique and waits for her fiancé, Ron, to answer the phone.

“Ron,” Krista begins slowly when he picks up. “I can understand if you don’t still want to get married, but I could not let these 15-month-old twin boys go into the system.

So, I’m bringing them home.”

Earlier that day, Krista’s niece, a 20-year-old single mother, awaited a verdict on her case. Krista sat in the courtroom, supporting her.

Story by Iris Argueta/Natalie Bruzon
 
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has mobilized aid to respond to the devastating floods in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The country declared a state of emergency on May 2. ADRA deployed a needs assessment team to evaluate the developing situation and identify gaps in humanitarian assistance to coordinate a comprehensive strategy for urgent aid to thousands of beneficiaries.
 
Seniors Kimorra Buggs and Danielle Johnson participate in the THIMUN conference.

Story by Shaun Robinson

In times like these, in which there are conflicts and strife across the globe, many often wonder if humans will ever live in peace and learn to occupy this planet as a single cohort of God’s most prized creations. To achieve that type of solidarity would require the kind of compromise, tolerance and communication that is taught during programs like The Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN).