All God’s People with Ricardo Graham and Connie Jeffery
November 11, 2017 Episode #026

In this week’s program, we share footage of the inauguration for the Vietnamese School of Evangelism at the El Monte Vietnamese Seventh-day Adventist Church. This Mission Training Center is the realization of a vision in our Vietnamese community, and on September 2, the doors opened for the first group of students who gathered from across the country for this moment. Learn more about this story via the links below.
Watch the groundbreaking of the Vietnamese Mission Center (June 9, 2012) at: https://youtu.be/IfHNM3ndCF0
Watch a fun time lapse of the groundbreaking at: https://youtu.be/j8V-s0cQnpA
Additional footage of the groundbreaking: https://youtu.be/jv5MeWYGFAU
Recording of the Brown Brothers singing “He’s the One” at the Groundbreaking Ceremony: https://youtu.be/YMQjV_lJuaU
Clips of construction from Feb., 2013: https://youtu.be/iKUFWVPFy5k
Photo album documenting the construction process: http://www.vietsda.org/missioncenter

This week we also share news from one of our elementary schools in Utah. Following news of the Hurricanes that hit the Atlantic Coast earlier this fall, this school decided to take action. “Upon hearing of Hurricane Harvey’s destruction in Texas at the end of August, Summit Christian Academy sprang into action to raise funds to help victims. The Salt Lake City school launched a two-day bake sale in front of their campus and their local church on August 31 and September 1. School parents responded by bringing a variety of home-baked goods. Students made large signs which they used to flag down passing traffic…”
Read the rest of the story at the link below:

Finally, this week we share some pathfinder memories from Ted Benson, Treasurer of the Pacific Union. From sleeping in tents made of old parachutes, to attending the Union Camporee in Lone Pine, near Mt. Whitney, these pathfinder memories represent the timeless joy of this ministry. On October 7, at the Union Camporee at Lake Skinner, the Pathfinder organization in the Pacific Union honored Benson with a special award citing their appreciation for his many years of service to the Pathfinder ministry of the Pacific Union. See the photos of the award presentation via the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/PacificUnionSDA/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1508170572595752

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AGP Story Updates:
Last week we featured Life Church in Berkeley, Calif., and the creative way they commemorated the 500th Anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation. This week we’ve got a video of this Reformation celebration on the UC Berkeley campus. Watch the video at: https://vimeo.com/242002050

All God’s People with Ricardo Graham and Connie Jeffery
November 3, 2017 Episode #025

The North American Division (NAD) has moved into their new headquarters in Columbia, Maryland. The NAD is one of 13 divisions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide, and has long shared offices with the General Conference in Silver Spring, Maryland. The new complex is the organizational center for the nine unions in North America, our Pacific Union being one of them.

For more information on the NAD Grand Opening: http://www.nadadventist.org/article/1073743602/news/current-and-archived-news-stories/2017-current-news-archives/10-26-17-nad-welcomes-more-than-600-guests-to-grand-opening-of-new-headquarters

The Grand Opening ceremonies were part of the annual NAD Year-End Meeting, and 2017 was the first year in which these meetings were live-streamed in their entirety. Find the links here: http://bit.ly/NADlive
http://bit.ly/NADlive

Young adults from all of the NAD colleges and universities were included as delegates with voice and vote, including delegates representing students on public colleges and universities. Our Pacific Union representatives included Megan Weems from Pacific Union Conference; Rajesh Inparaj from La Sierra University, and Bryan Nashed from UC Berkeley—representing Adventist Christian

Tuesday was the 500th Anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation (discussed more in-depth in last week’s program). This last weekend, Life Church in Berkeley, Calif., commemorated this day with a creative way to survey students at UC Berkeley. The church constructed their own “Wittenberg Door,” placed it on campus, and invited their fellow students to write their own “Theses” or suggestions about how the church should change on the door. Adventist Christian Fellowship Volunteer Coordinator Ron Pickell said, “students broke for discussion around questions relics in the church today and suggested reforms. Also, the Wittenberg Door was up on campus all week inviting UC Berkeley students to share their comments.” They were also provided copies of Luther’s 95 theses, and were invited to watch the full length feature of the “Luther” film at LIFE Adventist Church.
https://www.facebook.com/LIFEberkeley/

“Growing Young Adventists” (GYA) is being introduced to the churches in North America as a way to transform the relationships within local congregations. The program focuses on bringing generations together. This grassroots movement seeks to “build faith communities that will not only survive, but thrive in the years ahead.” Our Pacific Union, All God’s People, production team was proud to work with Dr. Allan Martin, the GYA Point for the North American Division, in producing a short video that helps introduce the Growing Young Adventists program to churches across our division. The video was part of the focus on Young Adults at the NAD Year-End Meetings this week. Learn more about GYA—and check out the video—by visiting one of these links:
https://www.facebook.com/GrowingYoungAdventists/
http://www.youngadultlife.com
http://www.youngadultlife.com/growing-young-adventists/