ADRA expands COVID response in Nepal and Sri Lanka; and other world news

This week on ANN. In India, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, or ADRA, has delivered a new critically needed oxygen production system to the METAS Hospital. The system, known as a Pressure Swing Absorption Generation Plant (PSA), was airlifted from Italy and is being installed at the 300-bed facility located in the state of Gujarat in Western India. This PSA will provide 600 liters of medical-grade oxygen per minute, 24-hours a day, to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients. In addition, ADRA plans to install additional oxygen generation plants in other medical facilities in Pune and Delhi. The humanitarian agency is also scaling up operations in other COVID-19 hot spots in Asia to aid major hospitals in Sri Lanka and Nepal as the deadly virus surges in the region. In British Columbia, Canada, the Adventist Church issued a statement on the discovery of 215 unmarked children’s graves at the former Kamloops Residential School Site. The statement says, “The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada mourns with the families of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation and all the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island following the discovery of 215 unmarked children’s graves at the former site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. This horrific event reminds us of the troubled relationship that Canada continues to navigate with the Indigenous nations who pre-existed its founding. In Colombia, Seventh-day Adventist leaders took part in a special prayer session for the nation amid the civil unrest brought on by protests for over a month. The Adventist Church was invited to participate by Meta, the central Colombian government’s religious liberty leaders. More than 100 religious leaders and citizens of the Vistahermosa district gathered with white balloons in hand at the city’s main park to pray for peace amid a national crisis that has paralyzed businesses and left 46 people dead. The Seventh-day Adventist Church recognizes June 19 as World Refugee Sabbath. This year, the world will set aside June 20 as World Refugee Day. The theme for World Refugee Day 2021 is “Every Action Counts,” which means everyone can make a difference, and everyone has a role to play to bring about change for the more than 79 million people who have been forced from their home by conflict and persecution. More than 2,300 new believers joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church after a recent four-week evangelistic campaign streamed across dozens of islands comprising the Caribbean Union. The virtual event drew thousands of viewers every night and finished off with the largest number of baptisms ever reached during the territory’s annual evangelism efforts. More than 25000 viewers connected every evening with over 50,000 viewers during the Sabbath worship programs. In Fiji, ADRA has provided emergency funding and food support to hundreds of Fijians as the number of cases of COVID-19 community transmission continues to escalate. According to the latest ADRA Fiji situation report, there were 223 active COVID cases, including 41 new cases recorded over the weekend of May 22 and 23. Emergency funding, which included contributions from the Trans-Pacific Union Mission, the Fiji Mission, ADRA Australia, and ADRA New Zealand, has enabled it to assist more than 200 families in the central and western divisions. The United States Agency for International Development, better known as the US-AID, awarded a 120,000 dollar grant to ADRA Slovakia to implement the homeless program “DrumoDrom” in Serbia. Recently, representatives of US-AID in Serbia and the Embassy of the Slovak Republic signed a memorandum of understanding. The financial award will enable the continuation of the project, specifically created to provide support to homeless people. Amazonia welcomes 36 young missionaries who will live on missions for the next year. The feeling of wanting to make an impact in someone else’s life and putting mission into practice was what made 22-year-old Luana Collen leave her sixth study period of Social Work at the State University of Ponta Grossa to live a year in the mission field. Luana represents the group of 36 young people who are linked to the One Year In Mission (OYIM) 2021 project in Northwestern Brazil. The initial training program usually takes nine weeks, but this edition lasted only five weeks due to the pandemic period. For more current events and inspiring stories, go to News | Adventist News Network Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLwveRujn2M