Executive Secretary of the General Conference announces hisretirement; and other world news

ANN brings you the latest reports in the Adventist community: After nearly 50 years of ministry, executive secretary of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church, G. T. Ng, announced last week about his retirement effective June 1, 2021. Ng was born and raised in Singapore. God called him to enter the ministry at the age of 18, and he married Ivy in his early 20’s. The young couple had served Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. After working as a chaplain and health educator at Youngberg Memorial Adventist Hospital for several years, he received his doctorate at Andrews University. He then taught for 11 years at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies in the Philippines until he was elected to be the Southern Asia-Pacific Division executive secretary. In 2005, he was elected to serve as an associate secretary of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. In 2010, at the General Conference Session in Atlanta, he was voted as the General Conference executive secretary. As an executive secretary, his roles include making significant decisions, trouble-shooting, and peace-making, looking after minutes, policies and agendas, and promoting and strategizing world mission. Ng and Ivy have two children and three grandchildren. In Indonesia and Timor Leste, heavy rains on April 2 – 4 caused massive flooding, landslides, and destruction to lives and properties. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) will conduct a rapid needs assessment this week, together with the Civil Protection of Timor Leste. Initial reports from the local government mentioned bedding and cooking equipment as the first needs in evacuation centers. ADRA will be distributing food, water, bedding, and cooking stoves to evacuees in the worst affected area of Tasi Tolu. The Seventh-day Adventist church is requesting prayers for the affected. In Haiti, Seventh-day Adventists rejoice over the release of four church members kidnapped during a live online worship service on April 1. The kidnappers took them from a studio next to an Adventist Church in Diquini, Carrefour, Port-au-Prince. Church members across the country and around the world held prayer vigils, worship programs, and prayer sessions, interceding for the victims. For now, the studio is closed to ensure safety. In North Mexico, ADRA lost no time to assist hundreds of emergency responders from the Nuevo Leon Civil Protection. For more than two weeks, the responders have been risking their lives fighting forest fires in the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains that destroyed many homes and displaced more than a thousand people. ADRA delivered water and hydrating drinks, protein bars, personal hygiene items, instant soups, special shoes, clothes, water hoses and tanks, and clearing tools to firefighters and emergency responders in the region. The organization also works on a specific proposal to continue giving aid on a larger scale. Adventist church leaders are also waiting for the green light from local authorities to deliver food and essential supplies to affected families. For more information, visit facebook.com/adramexico. Meanwhile, Adventist Risk Management, Inc. (ARM) announced on April 1 the appointment of Karnik Doukmetzian as interim president for both ARM and Gencon Insurance Company of Vermont after president and CEO Tim Northrop submitted his resignation. Doukmetzian previously worked for ARM for 12 years. While serving as interim president, he will continue his current role as general counsel for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. A search committee is already formed to find a permanent replacement. Visit and find more Adventist news here. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgWnEqpAk4I