This week on ANN The United States is celebrating Thanksgiving this week—a time to pause, take stock of all blessings, and give thanks to God for everything He has done. ANN made a special episode for the Thanksgiving celebration to express how ANN has been grateful throughout the past year. Adventist pastors, teachers, young people, communicators, and digital missionaries have worked tirelessly to share Jesus with their communities. Adventist World Church president Ted N.C. Wilson also left his special message in this special episode. ANN also recalled numerous stories about how the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has worked tirelessly to help people throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. ADRA partnered with the Adventist Church to help more than 35 million people. Every year, Giving Tuesday is celebrated on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. This year, Giving Tuesday will be on November 30 and ADRA is matching each donation received. If ADRA receives a one-dollar donation, it will match that dollar with three. Hence, a 15-dollar donation will be 45 dollars. People can also check ADRA’s Gift Catalog for more gift-giving ideas. The Solomon Islands Mission education department took the opportunity to visit rural schools. In Fiji, teachers from Suva Adventist College visited their sister school, Navesau Adventist High School, with groceries to support the teachers and their families. In South Korea, teachers at Tusgal School prepared and taught a total of 647 online classes. In the US state of Wisconsin, students from Adventist Christian Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point encouraged, motivated, and inspired students to remain faithful to Jesus. The Southern Asia Pacific Division hosted the Adventist Health Professional Summit, bringing together various professionals for fellowship, prayer, and recognition. Medical professionals from 14 countries attended the virtual summit held in late September 2021. COVID frontline healthcare workers shared testimonies of working with patients. Representatives from other institutions also shared testimonies of how God has worked through them to touch lives over the past year. In the US, AdventHealth Global Missions has prompted healthcare teams to volunteer on medical mission trips at ten locations in Rwanda and Peru, performing more than 50 surgeries in Juliaca, including general surgery, reconstructive burn surgery, and surgery to repair birth defects like cleft palate and cleft lip. In Argentina, the Adventist Sanatorium of Plata is carrying out advanced work on developing more tests for the disease in collaboration with the Adventist University of Plata, which provided the necessary equipment for diagnostic procedures. The testing will help the country do more for people infected and help prevent the spread of the disease. Over the past 18 months, despite constant setbacks, disappointments, and cancellations, pastors and ministerial directors around the world have seen more creativity in ministry during the second wave of the pandemic. In the South Philippine Union Conference, young people organized 275 simultaneous evangelistic series, both in-person and virtual, resulting in over 3,800 baptisms. Pathfinders and youth groups in El Salvador collaborated with ADRA to distribute 105 packages of brand new clothes and blankets to displaced individuals following devastating landslides. Through social media, Christians can evangelize all over the world. The Church launched an app “Adventist Teams” for digital missionaries to create, share and distribute hope in Jesus. The Adventist Church in Puerto Rico released its first major evangelistic film “Spin”; the second season of The Uncertainty Project was released—the result of the joint work of different countries, media entities, and five worldwide administrative offices of the Seventh-day Adventist Church: Inter-European Division, Trans-European Division, North American Division, Inter-American Division. Two churches in the US lake Union region of the Adventist Church created a digital animation evangelism project. Adventist communication experts from different Adventist Church entities worldwide worked together to share messages of hope through a series of 12 #DearCoronavirus videos shown globally on social media/viewing platforms. Erbil, Iraq, has a history that spans more than 5,000 years and has a deep connection with biblical history. President of the Middle East and North Africa Union, Rick McEdward, visited the citadel in the heart of the city and shares how it reminds him how God wants us to treat others. Adventist Mission has more: (link). Be in the know of the latest news and current events within the Adventist community. Visit Adventist News Network for more. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovLSxgivlWU

Sweet As Honey #shorts Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95CDzQjhm9M

It is the season of thanksgiving in many places around the world, including the United States. Now that the year is about to close, it's time to reflect on the many blessings we have received from God. In this episode, Pastor Ted Wilson would like us to reflect on one of the most uplifting passages in the Bible—Psalm 107. It says: "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south." This passage covers everyone. No matter where you are from, God has redeemed you from the hand of the enemy. It continues by covering the history of how God delivered ancient Israel. And it can apply to us today, delivering promise after promise of God's mighty power to save. As Psalm describes the various trials God's people went through, we hear this refrain again and again: "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses" (verses 6, 13, 19, and 28). God doesn't only deliver us out of distress, but He also "satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness (verse 9). He leads us forward "by the right way" (verse 7). Also, He breaks our chains and brings us "out of darkness and the shadow of death" (verse 14). "Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" (verse 15). God sends His Word to heal and deliver us from destruction (verses 19 and 20). With this, let us "sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing" (verse 22). "Cry out to the Lord in [our] trouble, and He brings [us] out of [our] distresses" (verse 28). "He calms the storm so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" (verses 29-31). "He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, and makes their families like a flock, the righteous see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth. Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the loving kindness of the Lord" (verses 41-43). Ellen White writes in Steps to Christ 102 and 103: "We need to praise God more 'for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men.' (p. 102, Ps. 107:8). "Our devotional exercises should not consist wholly in asking and receiving. Let us not be always thinking of our wants and never of the benefits we receive. We do not pray any too much, but we are too sparing of giving thanks. We are the constant recipients of God's mercies, and yet how little gratitude we express, how little we praise Him for what He has done for us." Indeed, we have so much to be thankful for. With this, Pastor Ted encourages you to spend time writing down at least ten things you're grateful for daily. Research shows that having a gratitude journal increases physical, mental, and spiritual health. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-W_HnoZKNw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj4uU0-Rg1c

God Knows the Desires of Our Heart #shorts Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj4uU0-Rg1c

Esta semana, el pastor Ted Wilson y su esposa, Nancy, comparten sus pensamientos sobre cómo ministrar a los niños más vulnerables del mundo. Según una investigación, los niños que crecieron en un hogar Cristiano amoroso y afectuoso son más resistentes y están mejor equipados para enfrentar los desafíos de la vida. Desafortunadamente, millones de niños viven hoy sin padres. Las estadísticas muestran que Asia tiene 61 millones de huérfanos, África 52 millones y América Latina y el Caribe 10 millones. A lo largo de la Biblia, Dios ha expresado su preocupación al pedirle a Su pueblo que muestre cuidado y preocupación por los huérfanos. Padre de huérfanos y defensor de viudas Es Dios en su santa morada. 6 Dios hace habitar en familia a los desamparados…" (Salmos 68:5, 6). Este sábado 20 de noviembre es el Día Mundial de los Niños Huérfanos / Niños Vulnerables. Bajo la dirección de los Ministerios Adventistas de Posibilidades, este evento anual fomenta la conciencia del bienestar de estos niños y nos anima a hacer lo que podamos para ayudar. La Biblia nos recuerda que debemos responder a sus necesidades. Mateo 19:14 nos dice que permitamos que los niños vayan a Jesús. El Salmo 82:3 dice que debemos "defender al pobre y al huérfano". Además, Proverbios 31:8 nos obliga a hablar por aquellos que no pueden hablar por sí mismos. Isaías 1:17 menciona que debemos proteger a los huérfanos de quienes los maltratan, y , Mateo 25 nos anima a alimentar y vestir a los necesitados. Finalmente, Lucas 3:11 y Romanos 12:13 nos recuerdan que debemos compartir nuestros recursos con los menos afortunados. Ministerios Adventistas de Posibilidades ofrece sugerencias e ideas para ayudar a los huérfanos y niños vulnerables, en el sitio web, www.possibilityministries.org/orphans. Estas sugerencias incluyen la oración, la adopción, la crianza temporal y el envío de obsequios especiales. Los niños necesitan sentirse especiales. Entonces, tómate un tiempo para escuchar sus historias. Además, bríndales un hogar temporal lejos del hogar. Sobre todo, muéstrales a Jesús como su mejor amigo. Testimonios para la Iglesia, volumen 6, dice: "Que los que tienen el amor de Dios abran sus corazones y hogares para acoger a estos niños. No es el mejor plan cuidar a los huérfanos en grandes instituciones. Si no tienen parientes que puedan sostenerlos, los miembros de nuestras iglesias deben adoptar a estos pequeñuelos en sus familias o hallar hogares apropiados para ellos en otras casas.” (6TI 284.3). Y continúa diciendo. ”Estos niños son en un sentido especial seres en quienes Cristo se fija, y descuidarlos es ofenderlo a él. Todo acto bondadoso expresado a ellos en el nombre de Jesús será aceptado por él como hecho a él mismo" (6TI 284.4).
La iglesia ha sido bendecida con organizaciones que brindan servicios para huérfanos y niños vulnerables. Algunos de ellos se enumeran aquí: www.possibilityministries.org/orphans.
Que el Señor abra nuestros ojos y toque nuestro corazón, mostrándonos cómo podemos ministrar a estos niños. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=345WF34npzI