• Springtime Revival (President’s Editorial)
• Vision Cast At Prayer/Mission Conference
• Core Values To Guide Future Direction
• The Journey Into Transformation
• Generation Change: Déka Café…the Perfect 10!
• Planting Seeds of Friendship
• New Lay Training School Launched In Orlando
• Camp Meeting 2008
• ASI Members Share Christ In the Marketplace
• ASI National Convention 2008
• Youth For Jesus Coming To Tampa
• Valuable Services Available From Planned Giving and Trust Services
• Coming Events
• Thank You, Forest Lake Academy, For Polishing Our Jewels
• Forest Lake Academy Seniors Prepare For Life

“ACTS is currently finalizing plans to deploy a taskforce, based out of the Montgomery First Church, to meet the needs of this community that has requested our assistance,” said David Canther, executive director of ACTS “We will be the hands and feet of Jesus to the community as an extension of the outreach of the Montgomery First Church and Gulf States Conference.”

ACTS just returned from a seven-day response to the tornados that struck Lawrence and Hardin Counties in Tennessee. In this response, ACTS deployed almost 250 volunteers who contributed about 4,100 hours of volunteer labor. Teams were dispatched from six senior academies and two groups from Southern Adventist University. In Hardin County area near Harbert Hills Academy, the mayor and emergency management leaders personally gave thanks for the work of ACTS saying that this faith-based effort was worth more than $70,000 to the affected communities.

ACTS will continue to move in faith, even though there is a tremendous need for financial assistance for these projects. “Deploying equipment from Florida to Tennessee and now Alabama is a very expensive proposition,” said Dan Niederman, emergency operations director for ACTS, “Diesel fuel costs alone have increased by one third since last year when we mobilized for the tornados in Lady Lake, Florida, and Enterprise, Alabama.”

You are invited to financially support these tornado disaster relief efforts through Adventist Community Services or ACTS. General contributions can be turned in through your local church and marked “Alabama Tornado Relief.” They will then be remitted to Florida Conference for distribution.

You may also mail contributions directly to Florida Conference, PO Box 2626, Winter Park, FL 32790-2626. These contributions should be made payable to the organization to which they are turned in.

Alternatively, you can ensure 100% of your contribution directly benefits ACTS’ tornado relief effort with a donation sent to: ACTS, 7501 Savannah Dr., Ooltewah, TN 37363. Mark these contributions, “ACTS Tornado Response.”

ACTS is a 501 © 3 non-profit, faith-based charity. ACTS works closely with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and is supportive of its mission. However, it is not an official entity of the Adventist Church.

To view miracle pictures of ongoing response or to donate online, visit www.actses.org.

Funds are needed to assist in the relief. No clothing or water are needed.

Contact: www.communityservices.org or call 800-381-7171 to donate.

• Harvest 2008: An Emphasis On Evangelism
• Friendship Evangelism
• Cover Story—Banking On God’s Promises
• Thoughts From a Thanksgiving Message
• Blessings Blowing In the Wind
• Church Property Development Director Retires
• Investors Needed for Southern Union Revolving Fund
• In Search of the Storehouse—special feature
• Coming Events
• Avon Park Wins Church Beautification Award

Instructions for participation:
Plan enough time before the program begins to conduct the ordinance of humility and for people to be back in their seats before the beginning of the program for your area. You also will need to plan enough time to quietly distribute the emblems of Christ’s sacrifice during the service and be finished with that by 15 minutes before the end of the 1-hour program. There will be no break or signal to do that since there are so many different sizes of churches and they would each require a different amount of time. Elder Schneider will begin speaking at 15 minutes before the end of the program, and will lead out in partaking of the emblems just a few minutes after that, so that all those watching from across North America can participate together in this event of spiritual renewal.

More about the program:
Roscoe Howard, North American Division Secretary, and Fred Kinsey, Assistant to the President for Communication, plus musicians Marc and Andrea Judd, Gale Jones Murphy, Scott Reed, Adrian Presley, Del Delker, Sandy Wyman Johnson, Stephanie Kinsey and Tim Davis will participate in the special event planned to bring a spiritual emphasis to the conclusion of 2007.

This event, carried live on the HOPE Channel, will unite hundreds of thousands of Seventh-day Adventists in North America in the experience of rededicating their lives to Jesus at the same time. If you do not receive the Hope Channel at your church, or if you have shut-ins who would like to participate from their homes, it will also be carried live, in streaming video, via the Hope Channel web site at www.hopetv.org.

Rebroadcast dates and times (EST) for Hope TV are as follows:

December 28—10:00 pm
December 29—6:00 pm
December 30—11:00 am
December 31—8:00 pm
December 31—10:00 pm

The program is based on characters introduced in last year’s show Love’s Pure Light. However, this year’s program was filmed on location in various areas around Southern California, transformed to appear as snowy Nebraska. The show was shot in high definition. It was written by Jeff Wood, who also directed, and Donald Davenport and features the vocal music of Michelle Tumes. In addition to Joseph Campanella and Ruta Lee, the touching story also features performances by Mary McDonough who was one of the Walton children, and Talia Shire, the Oscar-nominated actress.

Church members are encouraged to contact any network or station they watch the show on and tell them of their appreciation for airing the show.

Fred Kinsey
Assistant to the President
for Communication
North American Division of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church

Childhood obesity is reaching epidemic proportions and making headlines across North America. Experts are calling it the gravest public health threat of our time, impacting the lives of millions of children. Fueling the crisis are sugary snacks, fast food, and the sedentary lifestyle accompanying a generation brought up on computer games and videos.

Voice of Prophecy tackles the tough issues of “Keeping Our Kids Healthy” in the 21st century by exploring the Bible’s timeless answers for eating right and staying active. Throughout the week beginning January 7, Pastor Lonnie Melashenko shares insights straight from the Scriptures to help parents and other family members keep the waist lines of their loved ones under control. Pastor Lonnie also speaks of biblical solutions for helping kids maneuver through this fast-paced world and dealing with the stress of being young, which often leads to poor eating habits.

To find a local radio station airing the Voice of Prophecy daily broadcasts, visit www.vop.com or phone 1-800-SDA-PLUS.

Providing input to this Voice of Prophecy series was Joseph G. Herman, a medical journalist who has researched and written on many health-related topics, and who recently became a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

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• The Good Old-fashioned Way To Reach People
• Major Leaguer Signs “Contract” With Florida Conference
• Camp Meeting 2008
• Cover Story—An Army of Youth Will Finish God’s Work
• Church In the Hands of Young People? Hallelujah!
• Evangelism—Still Changing Lives
• Florida Conference Financial Summary 2006
• Modern Day Paul
• Coming Events
• Festival de Otoño