VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3

Pastor's Blog

Feeling A Little Buggy Lately?

Feeling a bit bugged out about life this soon into the New Year? No need to feel bad. Turns out you’re surrounded by them—bugs, that is! Thanks to their new study published in the scientific journal Peer J, entomologist Matt Bertone and his colleagues have announced we aren’t alone when we’re “home alone” any longer. We’ve always suspected we lived with a few anthropods, but who knew we had this many house guests!

Bertone and his research team picked 50 homes within thirty miles of Raleigh, North Carolina. “Armed with knee pads, headlamps, tweezers and vials of alcohol, groups of entomologists scoured the superficial surfaces of each home,  putting at least one of each different type of bug they could find in a vial to analyze later” (read source). They headed back to their laboratories with over 10,000 anthropods of all sizes...read more

by Dwight Nelson, Lead Pastor

Serve Where You Are

From the time I was in 7th grade at Ruth Murdoch Elementary School, I was involved in community service. The “Outreach” minicourse allowed Junior High students to volunteer at the local grocery store, Apple Valley Natural Foods. We put on our aprons every other day and bagged oatmeal or nuts, washed glass windows, and sorted cans. During the summers, I volunteered through various local organizations such as the Southwest Michigan Girls on the Run 5K, the Journal Era (the Berrien County newspaper) and the Berrien County Youth Fair. By the time I got to Andrews Academy, my service had taken on an international flare: I joined the SOW Safari Mission Trip team to build a church in a small village in Chiapas, Mexico. Currently I serve my community through musical ministries such as Journey Ministries, as well as by writing articles that inform the public about various initiatives to uplift the community.

As Adventists, it is important to realize the depth and breadth of our mission field. If the purpose is to “make disciples of all nations,” then we are on the right track towards international evangelism and worldwide church organization. However we must not forget, in our hurry to convert people in third-world countries, that there are plenty of third-world environments to stabilize within our own borders. Service is a large part of an effective witness, and though international mission is important, we should not neglect serving our local communities in favor of reaching the ends of the earth.

We must be living witness and our goal should be to be of service to mankind. We have the privilege of expressing our God-given talents in a wide variety of service opportunities. Doctors heal the sick, and pilots fly in with needed resources. Teachers impart knowledge and activists organize forums for advancement. The elderly pray and the youth march. We can use the gifts and insights God has given us to further His kingdom. Our faith in God is strengthened when we “do unto others as we would have them do unto us.”

by Givan Hinds,  Andrews University Graduate