Story by Debra McKinney Banks and Celeste Ryan Blyden
A longtime mainstay in many Seventh-day Adventist homes, meat analogs are steadily gaining popularity outside our community, thanks to the growing trend of plant-based eating; Meatless Monday campaigns to eliminate animal protein one day a week; the rise of flexitarians seeking to adopt a healthier lifestyle; and a segment of the population driven to alleviate chronic health issues.
Story by V. Michelle Bernard/ Photos by Allison Shelley
When Summer Porter drove to Washington Adventist Hospital (WAH) in Takoma Park, Md., last June, she thought that maybe the dog at the daycare had bitten her almost 4-month-old baby Breelyn Elizabeth. “Death had not entered my mind,” she says. A WAH employee told Porter to wait and that somebody would come talk with her. She soon found out that Breelyn hadn’t woken up from a nap at daycare.
Editorial by Rick Remmers
The Advent celebration is synonymous with lights. They decorate our neighborhoods, malls, trees and homes. When we look in the gospel accounts of the first advent of Jesus, we find the angels appearing to the shepherds with a brilliant light. Their presence or message could not be missed—Christ had come.
Then there was the star from the east leading wise men to the humble dwelling to see Jesus. The light of the star provided a guide for those who were willing to find the One who would light the world.
Story by Heidi Whetmore
As Spencerville Adventist Academy (SAA) sophomore Autumn Uhrig watched a YouTube video one morning, something piqued her interest. Millions of people who can’t speak rely on text-to-speech devices to communicate. Most devices have the same vocal sound for all users, regardless of age or gender. Uhrig learned of VocaliD, which, according to their website, is “the human voicebank of the world.”
VocaliD records human voices, mixes them with sounds a non-speaking person can make and blends them to make a unique humanized voice in which the machine talks for them. Uhrig wanted to do her part in helping someone find their voice. She visited the website, recorded a couple of sentences and waited to see if there was anyone her age who needed assistance. Months later she received an email that a young girl, Tesa, was a good match for her voice. Uhrig now needed to record 3,488 sentences to get the job done.
Story by V. Michelle Bernard
Diego Boquer, pastor of Chesapeake Conference’s Living Word church in Glen Burnie, Md., recently wrote “Journey to Freedom: Leaving the past behind and moving to a new life,” a 40-day devotional on the book of Exodus. He’s encouraging his church family to start 2017 by studying the Bible in companion with his book in preparation for a year of evangelism.