Story by Keisha May
I am a graduate from the Appalachian School of Law (Va.). In 2001 Peter Odighizuwa was one of my classmates and acquaintances. On January 16, 2002, Odighizuwa, fueled by the news that he had been suspended, stormed through the law school with a handgun. During his killing spree, he shot the academic dean, a professor and a first-year student. Three other students were wounded and hospitalized, but survived.
Read these stories from the May 2018 Visitor:
Editorial by Dave Weigley
Recently my niece, a determined genealogist, discovered through her research that we Weigleys came from a little German village not far from the city of Worms. A quick look online reveals this was the place Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, took his stand for conscience, declaring before the Diet of Worms in 1521, “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason, I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God” (Martin Brecht, Martin Luther: His Road to Reformation 1483-1521, Vol. 1, p. 460).
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nterview by V. Michelle Bernard
In an Anxious Kind of Mind, Randy Fishell, a member of the Chesapeake Conference’s Willowbrook church in Boonsboro, Md., shares his story of how his life turned around after years of struggling with anxiety disorders.
Read our interview with Fishell to find out more about his story and the book:
America was founded by religious refugees. At our best, we continue the tradition by welcoming those in greatest need. At our worst, we close our doors to those in dire distress, as we did in 1939 when we rejected the call to bring 20,000 Jewish children to America. As a result, many of those beautiful children were starved, beaten, brutally abused in unimaginable sadistic ways, and systematically slaughtered in the Nazi death factories. Today as we see men, women and children reaching out to us in hope, we can either open our hearts, or we live with the eternal consequences of turning our backs.
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
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.”
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!