Story by Lori Zerne
As the 2018-19 school year opens, Chesapeake Conference's Highland View Academy (HVA) welcomes new faculty members and a few changes in responsibilities for returning staff.
The administration has hired David Nino to teach music, and his wife, Anaynsi, as school secretary. Andrew Lay, HVA’s previous music teacher, is now focusing his roles as the academy’s advancement director and alumni coordinator.
Editorial by Diane Gregg
One Sabbath Grandma dropped off her five grandchildren at church. She was familiar with the Seventh-day Adventist Church—and the Grafton (W.Va.) church, in particular—from visiting their food pantry and letting the children attend Vacation Bible School (VBS).
In addition to attending church services each week, the grandchildren participated in the summer Community Picnic and the Christmas program. One of the younger boys joined Adventurers. Whenever there was a social gathering, they were there, mainly because they were hungry. Each Sabbath they stayed for fellowship lunch and took a plate home for Grandma to eat.
Read and share these stories from the September 2018 Visitor:
Editorial by Dave Weigley
I admire courageous people. When it comes to courage, we often think of Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer who took a stand to uphold the primacy of God’s Word; Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation to end 265 years of slavery in the U.S.; and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who facing the advances of Nazi Germany during World War II, declared, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
Story by Shannon Kelly / Photos by Brad Barnwell
After years of being homeless and drug-addicted, Stephanie Grant finally hit rock bottom. "I was sick and tired of being sick and tired," she says. "I had the audacity to tell God, 'If you exist, prove it. Fix me. And by the way, God,'" she laughs, "'don't send me to a church to do it.'"
Story by Shannon Kelly/ Photos by Ty Wright
Mariya Marton recalls with painful clarity the day her life turned upside down. She was pursuing a Master of Arts in Practical Theology and completing her residency at Ohio State University's hospital in Columbus, when she started feeling dizzy and sick.
Story by V. Michelle Bernard
Love in Pictures is Alexis A. Goring’s second Christian novel about how faith and love intertwine. Goring, a member of Potomac Conference’s Restoration Praise Center in Bowie, Md., says she hopes readers will come away realizing, among other things, that “God is good. God is in control, and true love should always win.”
Read our interview with her below:
Visitor Staff: What would you like readers to take away from reading this book?
Social media sites in the U.S. have been buzzing with news of Andrew Stoeklein's recent suicide, the lead pastor of the Inland Hills church (Calif). Responses from other pastors struggling or who have struggled with mental health problems also remind us that suicide isn’t an isolated issue and local clergy need support from their members.
Vincent Dehm, pastor of Allegheny East Conference’s Recreation church in Baltimore, has given us permission to share the following:
Tread softly this could get dark.
Story by Juliana Savoy
This summer 21pastors, many from the Columbia Union Conference, enrolled in the “Seminar in Preaching Class,” offered by the Institute of Hispanic Ministry (IHM) at Andrews University (Mich.) Evangelist Alejandro Bullón taught the class at Potomac Conference’s Washington Spanish church in Silver Spring, Md. Seventeen additional pastors attended and assisted with the course.
Historia por Juliana Savoy
Este verano 21 pastores, la mayoría del territorio de la Union de Columbia se inscribieron en la clase "Seminario de predicación" ofrecido por el Instituto de Ministerio Hispano (IHM) de la Universidad de Andrews (Mich.) El evangelista Alejandro Bullón enseñó la clase en la iglesia Washington Spanish de la Conferencia Potomac en Silver Spring, Md. Diecisiete pastores de la Unión se sumaron a la clase como oyentes.