Closer To Heaven
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Hi AT Family! I’ve got friends that work in mainstream Adventist media outlets that are constantly frustrated at how little freedom they have in what they are allowed to publish. No matter how valid the opinion expressed in an editorial or how important the breaking news story, the powers that be can (and do) step […] Source: https://atoday.org/heres-how-we-keep-at-censorship-free/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=heres-how-we-keep-at-censorship-free
Support for the mission activities of the Seventh-day Adventist church has always been part of the Sabbath School program. This video is Mission Spotlight for this week.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8LdS8srhnw&w=560&h=315]
(0)The post Mission Spotlight for December 31 appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-december-31/
by Jack Hoehn | 30 December 2022 | [This is the second of two related articles. The previous article introducing this topic is called “DO ANGELS HAVE WINGS?”] I was baptized by a Trinitarian immersion in the White Memorial Church in Los Angeles, California, by A.L. Bietz. The baptistry in that church was far up […] Source: https://atoday.org/in-the-name-of-the-father-the-son-and-the-motherly-spirit/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=in-the-name-of-the-father-the-son-and-the-motherly-spirit
29 December 2022 | Mexico Inaugurates New Regional Office After Earthquake Recovery Five years after an 8.2-magnitude earthquake hit the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, killing nearly 100 people and damaging more than 110,000 houses and structures, the Isthmus Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church inaugurated a brand-new headquarters building to minister to the growing church […] Source: https://atoday.org/news-briefs-for-december-29-2022/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news-briefs-for-december-29-2022
Wailoaloa Beach is a popular tourist destination known for affordable lodging, restaurants, and especially bars and night spots in Nadi, Fiji. But when COVID-19 struck, many small cafes, fast food outlets, and restaurants lost business along the beach. One such place was the Bamboo Resort.
Image © Pacific Press
Sensing an opportunity, three local Seventh-day Adventist churches teamed up with Bamboo Resort to open Bitu Wellness Bar, a juice bar offering health and wellness programs such as free biometric screenings, exercise programs, fat-loss challenges, and personalized meal plans. The bar, whose name bitu means “bamboo” in the local language, quickly gained popularity among the locals, who streamed in for healthy fresh juices daily.
Church members prayed that the bar would serve as a center of influence to encourage Fijians to take a more wholistic approach toward health in a region where people struggle with lifestyle diseases, particularly diabetes. The bar — supported by the South Pacific Division’s 10,000 Toes campaign, a recipient of a 2019 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering — also sought to raise awareness about healthy alternatives to alcohol.
But then a second wave of COVID-19 struck Fiji, and the authorities ordered that the Bamboo Resort shut down along with the juice bar. For two weeks, customers called daily to find out when and where the juice bar would reopen. What happened next surprised everyone.
A married couple who managed the neighboring Beach Escape Resort had watched crowds pouring in and out of the Bamboo Resort daily and had noticed that more people visited the juice bar than the liquor bar. They also noted with satisfaction a decrease in alcohol-related incidents on their street.
The couple contacted church members and offered the use of their liquor bar and other premises as a wellness hub. Church members initially declined the offer, not wanting to offer fruit juice in the same place as alcohol, but the managers explained that they wanted to stop selling alcohol altogether.
Alcohol was cleared out, and bar equipment was replaced with juicing machines, blenders, and fruits, vegetables, and herbs. The Bitu Wellness Bar was up and running again.
Church members expressed amazement at the marvelous way that God leads. The juice bar has not only influenced the patrons of the Bamboo Resort, but it also has transformed the Beach Escape Resort into a center of influence that is bringing hope and healing to the community.
Thank you for your 2019 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering that supported the South Pacific Division’s 10,000 Toes campaign in Fiji and other South Pacific countries. Thank you for planning a generous Thirteenth Sabbath Offering this quarter to support new projects to spread the gospel in the South Pacific Division and beyond.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org
(3)The post Inside Story: Influential Juice Bar in Fuji appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/inside-story-influential-juice-bar-in-fuji/
Intercer is a website with biblical materials in Romanian, English, Hungarian and other languages. We want to bring the light from God's Word to peoples homes. Intercer provides quality Christian resources...[Read More]
