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Website: http://jae.adventist.org Summer 2010Website: http://jae.adventist.org Summer 2010

The Journal of Adventist Education • Summer 2010 http://jae.adventist.org2

Index: The Journal of Adventist EducationThe indexes for previous volumes of The Journal of Adventist Education are available online at the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index Website:

http://www.andrews.edu/library/car/sdapiindex.html, and at the JAE Website: http://jae.adventist.org. At the JAE Website, you can search for, and download inPDF format, articles from previous volumes of the English, Spanish, and Portuguese editions of JAE by author, title, topic, and keyword in PDF format.

14,525 8,752 5,310 364+99* 443,452 346,655 85,354 9,363+2,080*

696 252 230 209+5* 5,526 2,099 2,248 1,114+65*

248 71 79 69+29* 2,297 531 420 1,313+33*

10,046 4,898 3,912 1,236 168,012 99,291 52,838 16,802

8,444 2,895 2,071 3,478 76,987 39,218 13,591 27,732

1,185 242 652 291 21,366 4,937 8,930 7,469

16,168 9,429 4,460 2,279 232,116 167,364 46,040 18,712

2,741 1,627 908 183+23* 54,724 39,364 12,411 2,393+556*

8,057 1,259 6,236 441+121* 154,659 21,943 127,558 3,873+1,285*

4,440 2,453 1,742 149+96* 124,370 78,478 40,669 4,286+937*

7,004 3,801 2,094 1,109 120,664 74,748 28,624 17,292

1,475 598 498 281+98* 13,308 6,668 2,380 3,068+1,192*

9,652 7,236 1,876 402+142* 252,688 203,880 37,592 9,290+1,926*

East-Central Africa Division (ECD)

Euro-Africa Division (EUD)

Euro-Asia Division (ESD)

Inter-American Division (IAD)

North American Division (NAD)

Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD)

South American Division (SAD)

South Pacific Division (SPD)

Southern Asia Division (SUD)

Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (SID)

Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD)

Trans-European Division (TED)

West-Central Africa Division (WAD)

East-Central Africa Division (ECD)

Euro-Africa Division (EUD)

Euro-Asia Division (ESD)

Inter-American Division (IAD)

North American Division (NAD)

Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD)

South American Division (SAD)

South Pacific Division (SPD)

Southern Asia Division (SUD)

Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (SID)

Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD)

Trans-European Division (TED)

West-Central Africa Division (WAD)

Schools Tertiary*

Schools Elementary

Schools Total

Schools Secondary

1,582 1,100 471 6+5*

51 29 12 9+1*

15 7 5 2+1*

1,027 706 307 14

861 738 108 15

52 22 25 5

881 577 290 14

357 289 62 4+2*

286 105 157 9+15*

345 218 115 5+7*

997 881 100 16

109 52 40 10+7*

1,232 1,159 63 3+7*

Teachers Tertiary*

Teachers Elementary

TeachersTotal

Teachers Secondary

StudentsTertiary*

Students Elementary

Students Total

Students Secondary

World Education Statistics • December 31, 2009

Education-RelatedBaptisms

2005 32,892

2006 32,632

2007 35,773

2008 29,554

2009 40,593

Total 171,444

*Second number is for teacher-training institutions.

4 EditorialThe Uniqueness of Adventist Education By C. Garland Dulan

6 Adventist Education in the 21st Century:Eight Significant TrendsBy Humberto M. Rasi

10 CIRCLEThe “Google” of Adventist Education By Glynis Bradfield

ADVENTIST EDUCATION AROUND THE WORLD2005-2010 Division Reports

12 East-Central Africa DivisionConsolidating With Strength and Hope Despite the Challenges—By Hudson Kibuuka

16 Euro-Africa DivisionOpportunities, Blessings, and Challenges—By Roberto Badenas

20 Euro-Asia DivisionA Story of Struggle, Tenacity, Faith, and Blessing—By Branislav Mirilov

24 Inter-American DivisionAdventist Education . . .More Than Mere Instruction—By Moisés Velázquez

28 North American Division“Something Better”—By Larry Blackmer, Debra Fryson, and Dennis Plubell

32 Northern Asia-Pacific Division“Mission First”: The Northern Asia-Pacific Division’s Educational Mandate—By Chek Yat Phoon

36 South American DivisionGrowing Seventh-day Adventist Education in a Sustainable Way—By Carlos A. Mesa

40 South Pacific DivisionAdventist Education: A Proven Soul Winner—By Barry Hill

44 Southern Africa-Indian Ocean DivisionAdventist Education on the Move—By Ellah Kamwendo

48 Southern Asia DivisionMaking Grace Known Through Adventist Education—By G. Nageshwar Rao

52 Southern Asia-Pacific DivisionReality Today—Vision Tomorrow—By Mike Lekic and Lawrence Domingo

56 Trans-European DivisionGood News in Difficult Places—By Daniel Duda

60 West-Central Africa DivisionEducation for Redemption and Restoration—By Chiemela Ikonne

http://jae.adventist.org The Journal of Adventist Education • Summer 2010 3

Summer 2010 • Volume 72, No. 5

Art and photo credits: Unless otherwise indicated, all photos arecourtesy of the respective authors and their division offices of ed-ucation. Cover, Harry Knox; pp. 22, 31, Luis Schulz; p. 31, cour-tesy of the School of Business, La Sierra University; pp. 57 (bot-tom), 63, Lisa Beardsley.Bible credit: Scripture texts credited to NIV are from the HolyBible, New International Version, copyright © 1973, 1978, Inter-national Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan BiblePublishers.The Journal of Adventist Education®, Adventist®, and Seventh-day Adventist® are the registered trademarks of the GeneralConference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists®.

C O N T E N T S

28

52The Association

of Educational Publishers

16

The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2010 http://jae.adventist.org4The Journal of Adventist Education • Summer 2010 http://jae.adventist.org4

EDITORBeverly J. Robinson-Rumble

ASSOCIATE EDITOR(INTERNATIONAL EDITION)

Luis A. Schulz

SENIOR CONSULTANTSC. Garland Dulan

Lisa M. Beardsley, Ella Smith Simmons

CONSULTANTSGENERAL CONFERENCE

John M. Fowler, Luis A. Schulz

EAST-CENTRAL AFRICAHudson Kibuuka

EURO-AFRICARoberto Badenas

EURO-ASIABranislav Mirilov

INTER-AMERICAMoisés Veláquez

NORTH AMERICALarry Blackmer

NORTHERN ASIA-PACIFICChek Yat Phoon

SOUTH AMERICACarlos Alberto Mesa

SOUTH PACIFICBarry Hill

SOUTHERN AFRICA-INDIAN OCEANEllah Kamwendo

SOUTHERN ASIANageshwar Rao

SOUTHERN ASIA-PACIFICMike Lekic

TRANS-EUROPEANDaniel Duda

WEST-CENTRAL AFRICAChiemela Ikonne

COPY EDITORRandy Hall

ART DIRECTION/GRAPHIC DESIGNHarry Knox

ADVISORY BOARDC. Garland Dulan (Chair),

Lisa M. Beardsley, Larry Blackmer, Erline Burgess,Hamlet Canosa, John M. Fowler, Dunbar Henri,Linda Mei Lin Koh, Michael Ryan, Luis A. Schulz,

Carole Smith, Charles H. Tidwell, Jr., Bonnie Wilbur

THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION pub-lishes articles concerned with a variety of topics per-tinent to Adventist education. Opinions expressedby our writers do not necessarily represent the viewsof the staff or the official position of the Departmentof Education of the General Conference of Sev-enth-day Adventists.

THE JOURNAL OF ADVENTIST EDUCATION (ISSN0021-8480) is published bimonthly, October throughMay, plus a single summer issue for June, July, Au-gust, and September by the Department of Education,General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists,12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904-6600, U.S.A. TELEPHONE: (301) 680-5075; FAX:(301) 622-9627; E-mail: rum bleb@ gc.ad ventist.org.Subscription price: U.S.$18.25. Add $3.00 forpostage outside the U.S. Single copy: U.S.$3.75. Pe-riodical postage paid at Silver Spring, Maryland, andadditional mailing office. Please send all changes ofaddress to P.O. Box 5, Keene, TX 76059, includingboth old and new address. Address all editorial andadvertising correspondence to the Editor. Copyright2010 General Conference of SDA. POSTMASTER:Send address changes to THE JOURNAL OF ADVEN-TIST EDUCATION, P.O. Box 5, Keene, TX 76059.

dventist education func-tions within a globalcontext of overwhelm-ing challenge and undi-

minished commitment.Consider the challenges first: As

of 2009, the church operated 7,647schools; 157 colleges, universities,and worker-training institutions;and enrolled 1.67 million studentsaround the world.1 For the mostpart, the system is funded from tu-ition and the church’s limited funds,and does not take public funds as domost other educational systems. Thecurricular challenge of Adventist ed-ucation lies in its commitment to awholistic education, a stand thatplaces on the teachers a peculiarburden to integrate Christian faithand learning. In addition, the in-creasing non-Adventist enrollmentin church-operated schools, whileproviding an opportunity for mis-sions, increases the burdens of thefirst two challenges, and to that ex-tent can diminish the “Adventist-ness” of the education offered tochurch members’ children.

Despite these challenges, Advent -ist education continues to maintainits undiminished commitment andhopeful future. From a little villageschool in Banepa on the Himalayanslopes of Nepal to the 8,054 stu-dents enrolled in Brazil AdventistUniversity, Adventist educationstands for quality spiritual maturity

THE JOURNAL OF

ADVENTISTEDUCATION

The Uniqueness of Adventist Education

that ensures its certainty for thepresent and its dreams for the future.

What makes Adventist educationso stable, and so unique? I suggestseven elements:

1. Its unifying mission. Adventistschools have a common mission andpurpose: to communicate to all peo-ples the everlasting gospel of God’slove as revealed in the life, death, res-urrection, and high priestly ministryof Jesus Christ2 and to restore humanbeings into the image of their Maker.3

Coupled with this mission is a Christ-centered educational philosophy thatdefines the quest of reality, truth, andethics that shapes the teaching proc -esses and course content. Adventistsbelieve that, under the guidance ofthe Holy Spirit, God’s character andpurposes can be understood as re-vealed in the Bible, in Jesus Christ,and in nature.

2. Its whole-person developmentwithin a framework of faith. Othereducational systems offer excellentacademic programs, have wonderfulresources, and have achieved highlevels of prestige. But the uniquenessof Adventist education is located inits wholistic framework—the har-monious balance between the spiri-tual, mental, social, physical, andmoral dimensions of learning.

3. Its faith perspective. Because ofour belief that knowledge and truthcome from God’s revelation, Advent -ists hold that truth is absolute andunchanging, and the reference point

AC . G A R L A N D D U L A N

E D I T O R I A L

As long as these seven compo-nents remain the core of Adventisteducation, its stability is certain, andits future is full of hope.

C. Garland Dulanis world Director ofEducation for theSeventh-day Ad -vent ist Church inSilver Spring,Maryland, U.S.A.

REFERENCES1. World Report 2009. Adventist Education

Around the World, General Conference ofSeventh-day Adventists, Department of Edu-cation, December 31, 2009.

2. General Conference Working Policy,2008-2009, p. 29.

3. Ibid., 2006-2007, p. 213.4. Paraphrased from Proverbs 2:1-6.5. Ellen G. White, Counsels to Parents,

Teachers, and Students (Mountain View,Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1943), p. 394.

6. Ellen G. White, Education (MountainView: Pacific Press Publ. Assn., 1952), p. 57.

of knowledge is God. Hence, “if youlisten to the words of God andsearch for understanding and knowl-edge, you will be given wisdom anddiscernment; because these comeonly from the Lord.”4

4. Its academic excellence. Embrac-ing a faith perspective does not un-dermine academic excellence. TheChristian doctrine that God createdhumans in His image (Genesis 1:26),includes the idea that God has sharedwith human beings His creativity, andimplies that they possess a capacityfor rationality. The goal of honoringtheir Creator and Redeemer meansthat Christians are held to a higherstandard than secular educators andresearchers. Says Ellen White: “Allwho engage in the acquisition ofknowledge should strive to reach thehighest round of the ladder. Let stu-dents advance as fast and as far asthey can; let the field of their study beas broad as their powers can com-pass.”5

5. Its emphasis on moral and ethi-cal values. Adventist educa-tion’s core values demandstudent outcomes that arebroader and deeper thansimply achieving academicexcellence. Character devel-opment, integrity, knowingand practicing right fromwrong are critical to Chris-tian living and preparationfor God’s kingdom.

Ellen White’s statementis foundational to Advent -ist understanding of char-acter development: “Thegreatest want of the worldis the want of men—menwho will not be bought orsold; men who in their in-most souls are true andhonest, men who do notfear to call sin by its rightname, men whose con-science is as true to duty asthe needle to the pole, menwho will stand for the rightthough the heavens fall.”6

6. Its emphasis on service as a vitalcomponent of academic life. In anAdventist school, curriculum doesnot stand alone. It goes hand inhand with unselfish service to Godand humanity. Students are encour-aged to serve while still in school,with many provided opportunitiesfor international relief efforts andfor local community service

7. Its enduring anchor is God. Stu-dents who pass through Adventistportals of education learn that Godis the sure and certain anchor in life.They discover that the strongest andmost reliable currency in life is notgold or silver, not dollar or euro, butan unshakeable, enduring trust inGod and responsibility to Him.They learn to “trust in the Lord withall thine heart, and lean not untothine own understanding. In all thyways acknowledge him, and he shalldirect thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5, 6,KJV).


The General Conference Department of Education staff, March 2010: Standing, left to right: C. Garland Dulan, director; Esther Ro-driguez, departmental executive secretary; Lisa Beardsley, associate director; John Fowler, associate director; Susana Schulz,managing editor of Dialogue; Luis Schulz, associate director. Seated: Linda Torske, secretary to Lisa Beardsley; Beverly J. Robin-son-Rumble, editor of The Journal of Adventist Education; Chandra Goff, secretary to Beverly Robinson-Rumble and John Fowler.

The pioneers who officially launched Adventist edu-cation in 1872 would be truly amazed if they couldsee the international reach of that initiative some138 years later.1 From a one-room school that metabove the living quarters of the teacher, GoodloeHarper Bell, in Battle Creek, Michigan, that tenta-tive project has truly become a global enterprise.2

If our forerunners were alive today, they could take awhirlwind tour of an Adventist floating school with 26 in-digenous students on Lake Titicaca in Peru, then travel tothe largest Adventist higher secondary school in ManingarEast, India, with 8,550 students, and later visit the four Ad-ventist universities with more than 5,000 students in Brazil,Jamaica, Korea, and Nigeria. What amazing things Godhas wrought!

An Expanding FocusWhat was originally conceived of as a sheltered setting

to teach the basics to children of Adventist families in Bat-tle Creek soon became the first training center for futureAdventist ministers. As time went on, other college pro-grams were added to prepare teachers, health-care special-ists, managers, and missionaries for the Adventist Churchin North America and to become trailblazers abroad.

As the educational network expanded rapidly duringsubsequent decades, it became clear that denominationalschools at mission outposts were an effective method of at-tracting students of other faiths to Adventist beliefs. Moreadjustments followed. By the second half of the 20th cen-tury, our colleges were providing professional education toa growing number of Adventists who did not plan to work


B Y H U M B E R T O M . R A S I

rolled come from non-Adventist homes. In addition, by na-tional decrees or charter documents, national governmentscontinue to grant authorization to open new Adventist uni-versities—from Argentina to Zimbabwe. The latest was au-thorized by the government of Paraguay in late 2009.Many students graduating from our professional pro-grams—in business, education, and nursing—are eagerlysought by employers for their moral values and superiorskills.

• Spiritual formation and service. Many Adventist second-ary and tertiary institutions have been strengthening theirreligion courses and implementing a spiritual master plan tocoordinate all curricular and co-curricular activities in orderto better convey biblical beliefs and values to the students.4

In addition, a large number of colleges and universities haveincorporated a service component in their programs, thusengaging students in improving the living conditions ofhuman beings in their own countries and abroad.

• Mission. Adventist educational institutions continueto provide gospel entry intolarge regions of the worldwhere public evangelism isrestricted or forbidden. Keydenominational workers—pastors, teachers, health-care personnel, managers—as well as professionals whoserve as lay leaders in theircongregations receive theirformation in Adventist edu-cational centers. Manychurch administrators relyon the specialists teachingin Adventist universities to

conduct surveys, draft public statements, and developstrategic plans. More benefits would accrue to the churchat large if this cooperative partnership were expanded.

Challenges Then and NowThe first steps in the journey of Adventist education

were uncertain. Limited human resources, perennial finan-cial difficulties, and disagreements regarding the purpose,scope, and methods of the educational enterprise causedfrustration and delays. Only during the first two decadesof the 20th century, when Frederick Griggs became theleading voice in Adventist education, were clearer focus,broader consensus, and stronger organizational structurefinally achieved. Yet many challenges remain. Let’s reviewthe major ones.

• Declining students-to-members ratios. As the Ad -ventist message has spread and the church membership hasexpanded—especially in the developing countries ofAfrica, Asia, and Latin America—a growing gap has ap-peared between the number of Adventist members and stu-dents enrolled in Adventist schools. In some areas of theworld, there is stagnation or retrenchment as Adventist el-

for the church, but intended to find employment in variousorganizations or establish their own businesses. A decadeinto the 21st century, students pursuing undergraduate orgraduate degrees in the 110 Adventist colleges, seminaries,and universities envision careers in a broad variety of pro-fessional settings.

A Visionary VoiceFrom the very beginning, the leading voice in providing

the conceptual foundation and projecting the vision of Ad-ventist education was a woman who did not have extensiveformal schooling but who was well read—Ellen HarmonWhite. In her 30-page essay “Proper Education” (1872-1873)—later expanded in her books Education (1903) andCounsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students (1913)—sheoutlined a visionary yet practical philosophy and missionfor Adventist education that continues to guide and chal-lenge our teachers and leaders. The distinctive features ofher vision include an education that:

• Affirms God as theCreator and the ultimatesource of all truth, good-ness, and beauty;

• Is Bible-based, Christ-centered, and projected to-ward an eternal life withGod;

• Seeks harmonious de-velopment of the wholeperson—heart, mind, body,and relationships;

• Nurtures the forma-tion of a character basedon core Christian values;

• Provides balance among solid scholarship, creativethinking, and practical skills;

• Promotes loving service to fellow human beings aslife’s highest calling; and

• Encourages students to commit their lives to Christand join the Adventist Church.

Positive TrendsBy God’s providence, Adventists now operate the broad-

est (in global scope), most unified (with a supervisory struc-ture ranging from the local field to the world headquar-ters), and coordinated (by interconnected governanceboards) church-related educational system in the world.3

Four positive trends in Adventist education deservemention:

• Steady growth. Today, on a regular class day, 1.67 mil-lion children and young adults study with 7,800 teachers,in 84,000 Adventist schools, colleges, and universities, in145 countries of the world. See Charts 1 and 2.

• Increased recognition by government authorities andfamilies from other faiths of the value of the educationprovided by Adventists. More than half of the students en-


Schools Teachers Students

Elementary 5,899 43,491 1,085,177

Secondary 1,748 30,287 457,934

Training Schools 47 612 8,076

Colleges & Universities 110 10,607 122,641

Totals 7,804 84,997 1,673,828

Chart 1. Seventh-day Adventist Education

World Statistics December 31, 2009

ementary and secondary schools are closed for lack of sup-port. Statistics indicate that while in 1960 there were 23 stu-dents attending an Adventist educational institution per100 church members, by the year 2000, the ratio haddropped to 9 students per 100 church members. This pro-portion remained stable through the end of 2008. (SeeChart 3.) However, fewer than half of these students nowcome from Adventist homes.5 (See Chart 4.) This growingimbalance should deeply concern all of us—church lead-ers, ministers, parents, and members—because it meansthat fewer Adventist students receive their education andmoral formation in Adventist classrooms.

• Preserving Adventist identity and mission. The increas-ing reputation of our education programs in many coun-tries has reached a point in which more non-Adventist stu-dents than Adventists are now enrolled in our schools, atall levels. (See Chart 4.) While we rejoice in this trend, weneed to critically evaluate whether we are diluting our iden-tity and evangelistic mission in order to accommodate thelarge influx of students of other faiths. We also need tofind out why many church members are not enrolling theirchildren and youth in our schools. Statistics reveal a steadydecline in the percentage of Adventist students at all levelsof education. In addition, the proportion of teachers ofother faiths also continues to increase. (See Chart 5.) Towhat extent are such teachers able to convey core Adventistbeliefs to our students? Administrators must also askwhether we are starting schools and launching new degreeprograms before we have the required personnel.

• Attracting and upgrading educators and leaders. Thegrowing complexity of leading and managing the church’sschools, academies, and universities requires skilled peoplecommitted to the Adventist educational mission. There is anurgent need for qualified Adventist teachers who love stu-dents and are passionate about their eternal salvation. Arewe carefully selecting and initiating them, as well as provid-ing them with adequate salaries? Teachers who are alreadyin our system need to receive quality in-service training tostay up-to-date in their disciplines and in their spiritual mis-sion. Well-planned teacher conventions, seminars on the in-tegration of faith and learning, and substantial workshopswill help. Educators who show Christian leadership abilitiesmust be identified early by their principals, superintendents,and boards, and given opportunities and financial supportso that they can obtain professional upgrading and be readyto assume administrative positions when vacancies occur.

In addition, all boards governing our educational cen-ters should consist of members who value Adventist edu-cation, understand its mission and challenges, are knowl-edgeable regarding academic matters, financial issues, andfuture planning, and will offer the wise guidance and sus-tained support our schools need. Board members shouldreceive training and in-service to equip them for their re-sponsibilities.

• Providing access to Adventist schools. An educationthat is both thoroughly Christian and academically supe-

rior is not inexpensive. Our schools, academies, and uni-versities must offer such quality while responding to risingnational standards, increasing government requirements,high parent and student expectations, and restricted churchappropriations. At the same time, many Adventist familiesof limited resources struggle to pay their children’s tuition,cover teachers’ salaries, or contribute the funds required to


1,600,000

1,400,000

1,200,000

1,000,000

800,000

600,000

400,000

200,000

0

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2009

Chart 2. Seventh-day Adventist Schools

Growth in Student Enrollment Worldwide

16,000,000

14,000,000

12,000,000

10,000,000

8000,000

6000,000

4000,000

2000,000

0

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2008

Chart 3. Seventh-day Adventist Schools

Declining Students-to-Members Ratios

upgrade, build, or expand our school buildings. Will Ad-ventist parents recognize that the eternal salvation of theirsons and daughters is at stake and make the required sac-rifices to enroll them in an Adventist school? Will churchleaders provide adequate budget support for the educationof our own children and youth? Will all church membersregularly contribute the money needed so that all Adventistchildren and youth can receive the long-term benefits ofstudying in an Adventist school or academy?

Global Adventist Membership

Total Students Enrolled

ConclusionIt is well known that most facets of contemporary cul-

ture are hostile to Christian beliefs and values. Some Ad-ventist homes are unable to provide the balanced forma-tion that our children and youth need. Thus Adventistschools, academies, and universities offer students a uniqueopportunity to develop their God-given talents and pre-

is that he or she will be academically successful, will forma Christian home, and will support Adventist mission.6

One thing is clear: Without our educational institutionsand their dedicated teachers, this world would not see a dy-namic, unified, and mission-oriented Seventh-day Advent -ist Church moving forward to prepare people for God’skingdom. ✐

Humberto M. Rasi, Ph.D., served asteacher, editor, and administrator in Ad-ventist institutions and as Director of theGeneral Conference Department of Ed-ucation (1990-2002). Although retired,he continues to lecture, write, and sup-port educational projects such as the In-stitute for Christian Teaching (http:// -

ict. adven tist.org), the Foun da tion for Adventist Education(http://fae.ad vent ist.org), the Adventist Professionals’ Net-work (http://apn.adventist.org), and Adventus AcademicPublishers (http://www.Adventus21.com).

NOTES AND REFERENCES1. The first school with an Adventist teacher and Adventist students

was organized by five families in Buck’s Bridge, New York, in 1853. Thefirst teacher was Martha Byington, the daughter of John Byington, whowould eventually serve as the first president of the Seventh-day AdventistChurch (1863-1865). This experiment in Adventist education lasted onlythree years.

2. Floyd Greenleaf expertly describes this global expansion and itsaccompanying struggles in his comprehensive book In Passion for theWorld: A History of Seventh-day Adventist Education (Nampa, Idaho: Pa-cific Press Publ. Assn., 2005). An updated edition of this book is nowavailable in Spanish: Historia de la educación adventista: Una visión global(Buenos Aires, Argentina: Adventus/Casa Editora Sudamericana, 2010).

3. The Roman Catholic Church has many more students enrolled intheir educational institutions. However, Catholic schools are either oper-ated by their individual dioceses or by separate religious orders, withouta worldwide coordinating or supervisory organizational structure.

4. See “A Guidebook for Creating and Implementing a Spiritual Mas-ter Plan on Seventh-day Adventist Campuses of Higher Education,” inHumberto M. Rasi, compiler, Christ in the Classroom (Silver Spring,Maryland: General Conference Education Department, 1999), vol. 23,pp. 363-394.

5. The author thanks Dr. Lisa Beardsley for making available this andthe following chart to accompany this article.

6. See, for example, Warren Earl Minder, “A Study of the RelationshipBetween Church-Sponsored K-12 Education and Church Membershipin the Seventh-day Adventist Church,” Ed.D. dissertation, Western Michi-gan University, 1985; Kenneth James Epperson, “The Relationship ofSeventh-day Adventist School Attendance to Seventh-day AdventistChurch Membership in the Southern Union Conference,” Ed.D. disser-tation, Loma Linda University, 1990; Robert W. Rice, “A Survey of theRelationship Between Attending Seventh-day Adventist Academies 9-12and Subsequent Commitment to the Seventh-day Adventist Church,”Ph.D. dissertation, University of Denver, 1990; Roger L. Dudley, “Chris-tian Education and Youth Retention in the Seventh-day AdventistChurch: Findings from a 10-Year Longitudinal Study,” The Journal ofAdventist Education 62:3 (February/March 2000); and Elissa E. Kido,Jerome D. Thayer, and Robert J. Cruise, “Assessing Adventist Academics:A Mid-Point Update on Cognitive Genesis,” The Journal of Adventist Ed-ucation 71:2 (December 2008/January 2009), pp. 3-9.


Primary

Secondary

WorkerTraining

Tertiary

2000 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Chart 4. Percentage of Adventist Enrollment

at All Levels, 2000-2008

pare for a useful life while being nurtured by Adventistteachers and mentors, and set their ultimate goal an eternallife on the Earth Made New.

In spite of their challenges, our educational institutionscontinue to provide the best context for the formation of aChrist-like character, preparation for advanced degrees,and achieving their professional goals. Several studies havedemonstrated that the longer a young person attends anAdventist school, academy or university, the more likely it

46% 43% 43% 40% 40% 44%

43% 43% 38% 37% 34% 36%

80% 52% 51% 48% 47% 49%

75% 66% 62% 60% 57% 60%

Primary

Secondary

WorkerTraining

Tertiary

Total

2000 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Chart 5. Percentage of Adventist Teachers

at All Levels, 2000-2008

81.5 80.8 78.6 66.5 68.8 77.1

79.4 74.7 75.7 72.9 72.1 71.3

85.2 76.7 72.6 77.6 77.0 75.6

82.0 78.9 75.6 73.3 77.6 75.8

82.0 78.5 75.6 69.6 71.0 74.8


With the ever-expanding array of resources, anonline search often produces more options thana busy Adventist teacher has time to in vestigate.

CIRCLE provides quick and easy access to thou sands ofresources uniquely created by and for Adventist education,as well as other materials recommended by Ad ventist ed-ucators for specific disciplines and levels.

Since 1999, CIRCLE’s services have been funded by theNorth American Division Office of Education and sup-ported by the General Conference Office of Educa tion.Resource management is coordinated from the An drewsUniversity School of Education, with servers hosted byWalla Walla University. Adventist faculty and graduatestudents in several world regions are contracted to manageresources and Website development.

Collaboration synergizes. If only 25 percent of Ad -ven tist educators contributed just one resource they createor recommend each year, more than 20,000 new itemswould be available annually. Educational leaders can fa-cilitate resource sharing by offering continuing educationcredit, release time, or other recognition to educators will-ing to contribute to CIRCLE.

Website daily visits more than doubled through 2009,indicating that what some have called “the best-kept secretin Adventist education” (CIRCLE) is becom ing a fre-quently used tool. Website navigation in English, French,Portuguese, and Spanish is facilitating resource sharingglobally. Resources in any language, for any level or disci-pline of education encompassing a biblical world view arewelcome.

E-newsletters and CDs extend CIRCLE’s online serv-ices to many Adventist educators in regions with lim itedor no Internet access. Many documents are shared as e-mail attachments in response to e-mailed questions. JoinCIRCLE today to find or share resources as you continuethe teaching ministry of Jesus Christ.

Glynis Bradfield is the CIRCLE Directorworking from the Andrews University School ofEducation in Berrien Springs, Michigan. E-mailquestions, suggestions, and resource submis sionsto [email protected] or contribute online athttp://circle.adventist.org.

The Curriculum and Instruction Resource Center Linking Educators increasingly serves as the “Google” of Seventh-day Adventist education.

“CIRCLE needs to be better known. Thank you again foryour excellent services.” Euro-Africa Education Director, Switzerland

“I planned to print all resources on the 2008 CIRCLE CDsuntil I discovered how MUCH there was. What a hugegift!” School Principal, Namibia

"Thank you for the e-mails. CIRCLE is doing wonderfulwork.” Southern Asia Division Education Director, India

“Through CIRCLE we can now share all our publications.Thanks for helping us reach Portuguese Adventist educa -tors online.” UNASP, Brazil

The Journal of Adventist Education • April/May 2010 http://jae.adventist.org12 The Journal of Adventist Education • Summer 2010 http://jae.adventist.org12

espite the challengesfaced in the East-Cen-tral Africa Division(ECD) territory such

as scarcity of resources and recentwars in Burundi, the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo, and north-ern Uganda, the Lord has ensuredthe success of several new educationendeavors, and the development ofmost of the institutions. The ECD,comprising the countries of Eritrea,Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya,Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Bu-rundi, and the Democratic Republicof the Congo, operates one collegeand five universities as well as sev-eral secondary and primary schools.This report highlights some of thequinquinnium’s major programs anddevelopments.

Education Planning and Advisory

The June 2006 education advi-sory, attended by all ECD union ed-ucation directors and division uni-versity representatives, set the pacefor the quinquennium. Among thefacilitators was the church’s worldeducation leader, C. Garland Dulan.The ECD strategic plan for educa-tion was launched to guide all theactivities in this period. Major em-phasis was placed on the role and in-volvement of the education depart-ment in evangelism and nurture,human resource development andleadership training, collaboration,and improvement of educationalquality.

Board Members’ Seminar andGuidebook

In the area of leadership training,one of the highlights of the period

was the 2007 seminar for boardmembers in Nairobi, which educatedattendees about their roles and func-tions, and related issues. All six ECDhigher education institutions wererepresented, along with union offi-cers and education directors. As aresult, a board members’ guidebookhas been published.

Higher Education Consultation Meetings

Another main goal of the quin-quennium was to enhance collabora-tion and cooperation among institu-tions. To help achieve this, ECDconducted meetings for all of its col-leges and universities in 2007, 2009,and 2010. As the institution leadersvisit with their colleagues, they cometo better appreciate them and learnfrom them. These meetings also ex-plore ways the institutions can sharepersonnel through an exchange pro-gram. All of the schools have nowadopted somewhat similar academiccalendars, which will facilitate theexchange of professors. The Univer-sity of Eastern Africa, Baraton(UEAB) in Kenya has already pro-vided this service to other universi-ties.

ECD Teachers’ ConventionThe ECD teachers’ convention in

August 2008 was the first since theECD was organized in 2002. Morethan 650 participants from all theunions and universities in the divi-sion converged at the University ofEastern Africa, Baraton (UEAB)from August 27 to 30. Facilitatorsincluded General Conference Edu-cation Director C. Garland Dulanand Associate Director John Fowler,North American Division Vice Pres-ident for Education Larry Blackmer,the ECD president, and other facili-tators whose topics ranged from phi-losophy of Adventist education tomanaging personal finances toHIV/AIDS and drug abuse. Thebreakout groups provided additional

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time for fruitful discussions. Theconvention was officially opened bythe Kenya Minister of EducationHonorable Professor Sam Ongeri,who mentioned in his speech that hisschool experience at Bugema Mis-sionary College (now Bugema Uni-versity) shaped the way he does hiswork. He urged teachers to remem-ber that their work is very important

in shaping the society of tomorrow. This convention fulfilled several

of the major goals for the period, in-cluding collaboration, training, andlearning through travel.

Integration of Faith and LearningSeminar; and Faith, Creation, and Science Conference

In order to strengthen the faith ofstudents and teachers, the ECD con-

tinues to support integration of faithand learning seminars internationallyas well as locally. In November 2009,the ECD hosted a Faith, Creation,and Science Conference in collabora-tion with the Geoscience Research In-stitute (GRI). Church leaders andpastors, university science and reli-gion teachers, as well as some invitedcreationists participated in reviewingissues that challenge the church’s be-lief in a seven-day creation. The meet-ing reaffirmed participants’ faith inthe biblical creation story. The facili-tators were Jim Gibson, GRI direc-tor; and Ben Clausen, a scientist-re-searcher at GRI.

ECD University Student Leaders’Evangelistic Meetings

In September 2009, the ECD Ed-ucation Department participated inthe special year of evangelism by im-mersing its university student lead-ers and deans in a two-week evangel-istic campaign in northern Uganda,a territory that is recovering fromthe devastation caused by two dec -ades of war. To stimulate interest inevangelism and provide an opportu-nity for fellowship, the departmentdecided to provide 35 students withleadership training and the opportu-nity to discuss how to collaboratewith one another. The students alsoperformed community service workin the city and prayed about themany kinds of prayer requests andchallenges. The Lord provided an-swers in miraculous ways. The evan-gelistic campaign, which resulted in147 baptisms, was conducted atthree sites in the city of Lira. One ofthe main speakers was a femaleUEAB student, Elizabeth A. Ouma.

Inter-University CouncilIn recognition of the contribution

of Adventist tertiary institutions, theInter-University Council of EastAfrica, an inter-governmental aca-demic body that oversees all univer-sities in the region, has invited theAdventist universities in the territory


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Above: Participants in aHigher Education Consultation Meeting

Left: Dr. Ben Clausenexplains features of rockformation during a fieldtrip.

14 The Journal of Adventist Education • Summer 2010 http://jae.adventist.org14

to be members and to participatefully in its activities. The Universityof Eastern Africa, Baraton, thelargest and oldest private universityin the region with a strong sciencebase, was featured prominently in arecent Kenya Ministry of Educationnewsletter, the first time a privateuniversity had been recognized inthe region.

Djibouti Language SchoolDjibouti is one of the unentered

territories in ECD and a difficultone to enter in a conventional way.Education being the right hand ofthe gospel, it was decided to find avolunteer English language teacher,since most people in this French-speaking territory bordered by An-glophone countries want to learnEnglish. Amita Kamsuon is cur-rently teaching nearly 20 students onthe Adventist Church’s dental clinicproperty. One student has indicateda desire to study theology, and plansare being made to help him realizehis dream.

Other Schools in Hardship AreasOther schools have been or are

being established in places such as

Moyale, in Northern Kenya, andAru in the Northeastern DemocraticRepublic of the Congo (DRC).Moyale is an arid area in northernKenya bordering Ethiopia and So-malia that has no Christians. TheCentral Kenya Conference, withsupport from ECD, has establisheda school that is greatly appreciatedby the community. In Aru, an areainhabited by the naked tribe ofDRC, where there were very fewschools, money wasraised to establish atechnical school thatwould provide youngpeople with job skills.In 2009, its first year,the school enrolledmore than 70 stu-dents. Many peopleare waiting for thedormitories to openso they can come tothe school.

Evaluations andAccreditations

As an indicator ofimprovement in thequality of ECD insti-

tutions, a number of secondary andtertiary schools have become eligiblefor accreditation. All of our six col-leges and universities hold currentdenominational accreditation, andall have government accreditation.The first Ph.D. program at an Afri -can Adventist university was ap-proved and launched at UEAB in2008. The university already offeredseveral advanced degrees in collabo-ration with the University of Kwa-

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Djibouti Language School session

Advent Hill School primary students perform at the ceremonies marking the open-ing of their school in 2008.

New academic building at Adventist University of Central Africa

Zulu Natal in South Africa. The Ad-ventist University of Central Africain Rwanda moved to a new locationin Kigale, Rwanda, in 2008 after theformer campus was destroyed in1994.

Sponsorship and UpgradingIn order to develop leaders and

human resources, the division hasprovided more than 250 bursaries.Many recipients are already servingat various levels of the church, in-cluding administration. This in-cludes more than 60 graduates spon-sored for M.A. degrees in theologyand leadership at the Adventist Uni-versity of Africa.

Extraordinary Tithe PlansAs a result of the “extraordinary

tithe” funds received from the Gen-eral Conference, more than 100 per-sons in DRC and Burundi are re-ceiving training in ministry throughextension programs close to theirworkplace, in Kinshasa, Kananga,Lubumbashi, and Bujumbura. Up-grading would have been nearly im-possible if the recipients had beenrequired to make long, grueling tripsto university campuses far fromtheir homes. Up to now, these coun-tries and territories have had veryfew trained pastors. The students areexpected to complete their studies in

2012.

Baptisms andWeeks of Prayer

ECD schools re-ported 7,862 bap-tisms in 2005, 5,146in 2006, 9,747 in2007, 5,481 in 2008,and 10,812 in 2009.The number of bap-tisms for 2009 washigher, as all schoolswere involved in thespecial year of evan-gelism.

Several studentswere baptized as the

result of weeks of prayer conductedby the ECD director of education.The University of Eastern Africa,Baraton continues to conduct out-reach programs in neighboring sec-ondary schools, resulting in about700 baptisms each year.

A DRC Pilot TestimonyPeople sometimes ask, “Is Ad -

ventist education still worth it?” orsay that it is “too expensive.” Thefollowing story shows that it still isworth the price and will remain aslong as we continue to fulfill thegospel commission.

A pilot of a small plane who flieswithin and between the DRC andUganda was about to take off one

morning in 2008 with several Uni-versity of Lukanga board memberswhen he spotted a mechanical prob-lem on board. After explaining thereason for the short delay, he asked,“Are you pastors? You look like pas-tors.” The division president re-sponded in the affirmative. Whenthe pilot asked where the group wasgoing, the division president toldhim that they were going toLukanga. The pilot smiled, ex-plained that he had attended the sec-ondary school in Lukanga beforegoing to the U.S.A. for flight train-ing, and had learned how to prayand to study the Bible while study-ing there. He then showed them hisBible, which he said he has alwayscarried with him and studied oftenwith his children when he was athome. Although not an Adventist,he said he behaves like one and hasbeen telling his co-pilots and friendsabout the good lifestyle he learned atLukanga, including the dangers ofsmoking. He spoke of several teach-ers and pastors who had shaped hislife.

Thus, a seed that was sown byteachers at Lukanga is still growing.Because of the time students spendwith teachers, they learn a lot ofthings that make an impression for along time.

As we look at the way the Lordhas led in the past, we continue topraise Him for His guidance andblessings, and look to the futurewith hope. ✐

Hudson Kibuuka isDirector of Educa-tion for the East-Central Africa Di -vision of Seventh - day Adventists inNairobi, Kenya.


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Week of Prayer baptism at Rwankeri SecondarySchool, 2008

TMK Air Commuter chief pilot Ted Hoareu


dventist education inthe Euro-Africa Divi-sion (EUD) has facedconstant challenges and

received constant blessings duringthe past quinquennium (2005-2010).Despite difficulties and problems,our institutions have succeeded increating new programs, developingnew projects, and taking advantageof new opportunities.

New DevelopmentsIn Romania, kindergarten educa-

tion is reaching new milestones.During the past five years, the num-ber of Adventist kindergarten pro-grams in the country has climbed to56, with more than 1,000 childrenenrolled, many of them from non-Adventist families. These kinder-gartens will provide the pupils for a

nationwide network of elementaryschools that will eventually swell theenrollment in our three academies,which baptize an average of 100youth every year.

The construction of a new build-ing for our elementary school on thebeautiful island of Madeira (Portu-gal), linked to a community center,will enhance the image of the Ad-ventist Church there and provideoutstanding support for social workand outreach. “Talent Workshop,”an extracurricular program in Lis-bon, has generated high expecta-tions. It teaches music and six otherextra-curricular activities, and offerscounseling and guidance to parentsand children in need.

After operating for many years inthe church building, the school “Abis Z” of Zurich (Switzerland) inJuly 2009 opened a new complex ina green zone outside the city.

Friedensau Adventist University(Germany) holds state recognition,recently renewed, for both its theol-ogy and social work programs. It hasrecently been able to extend thebene fits of its official governmentaccreditation to the theology depart-ments of Adventist University ofFrance and Sazava Theological Sem-inary (Czech Republic). An agree-ment with Waldfriede NursingSchool in Berlin (Germany) will leadto a new accredited B.A. program innursing. Recently, Friedensau hasadded two new programs taught inEnglish: a Master of Arts in Inter-national Social Sciences and a Mas-ter of Theological Studies, both ofwhich attract international students.

In June 2009, Italian AdventistCollege in Villa Aurora (near Flo-rence) received state accreditationfor its theology programs, includingan M.A. in religion with two mainemphases: Religion, Rights, and So-ciety; and Family Pastoral Care. TheAdventist Theological Institute inCernica (Romania) received state ac-creditation for its theology programsin September 2009. Its social workdegree also has official accredita-tion.

Sagunto College (Spain) has re-quested state recognition. Mean-while, it has affiliated with Col-longes and Friedensau for theaccreditation of its fifth-year pas-toral training. In 2006, the Bulgar-ian Union launched a new pastoraltraining program in Sofia, thenewest Adventist seminary in theEUD.

The division’s European cam-puses offer programs in collabora-tion with Adventist institutionsaround the world. Andrews Univer-sity, for example, operates M.A. pro-grams in international developmentand leadership at Villa Aurora(Italy) and Collonges (France),M.A. programs in religion at Cer-nica (Romania) and Sagunto Col-

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lege (Spain), and is investigating thepossibility of offering a D.Min. inSpanish at Sagunto. The AdventistTheological Institute of Cernica hasstarted an M.A. extension programin education in collaboration withMontemorelos University (Mexico).

Miraculous EventsMany developments at our

schools could be labeled as mira-cles. The Timon School in Madrid(Spain), which operated in an oldtown building, was about to beclosed by the government for failureto comply with the European Com-

munity requirements. When the edu-cation authorities saw that it pro-duced excellent results despite thehigh percentage of foreign pupils,they proposed including it in an edu-cational project to integrate migrantfamilies into the community. For theprice of one symbolic euro, the cityof Madrid donated a large piece ofland for a new school. The new facil-ities, inaugurated on September 20,2005, provide Adventist education tomore than 300 children, 85 percentof them foreigners. The school re-ceives full state subsidies and is con-sidered a model pilot program.

Something quite unexpected alsohappened to our Urgell School incentral Barcelona (Spain), whichneeded a playground. The town al-lowed them to build an “impossible”playground suspended over the roofof the nearby Adventist church, aunique innovation for that city. Thisschool, operating in the Catalan lan-guage, also receives subsidies fromthe Catalonia government.


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Pupils of the Oliveira do Douro Adventist Elementary school in Portugal enjoy a Week of Prayer.

New facilities of the Zurich A bis Z School in the vicinity of Zurich, Switzerland


Other AchievementsOur college at Sagunto has al-

ways placed a strong emphasis onmusic. In 2005, it obtained recogni-tion as a music conservatory withthe name of “Centro professional degrado elemental y medio Johann Se-bastian Bach.” It now has 10 teach-ers and 120 students, offers trainingon 12 musical instruments, and hasthree orchestras and three choirsthat have won awards in state andregional competitions.

Two nursing schools, one at-tached to Waldfriede Adventist Hos-pital in Berlin (Germany), the otherone in Braila (Romania) every yeargraduate scores of high-qualitynurses. Both are seeking to affiliatewith Adventist universities.

Through their agreements withAdventist Colleges Abroad (ACA),the EUD language schools have along tradition of teaching the lan-guages of the countries where theyare located. Thousands of studentsfrom around the world have learned

French at Adventist University ofFrance, Spanish at Sagunto Collegein Spain, German at Frie densauUniversity in Germany and Bogen-hofen Schloss Seminar in Austria,and Italian at Villa Aurora in Flo-rence, Italy. These schools, togetherwith Newbold College, have formeda consortium (SDA Lan guages in

Europe, http://www.sda languages.eu),to optimize their efforts in offeringhigh-quality training in these impor-tant languages.

Integration of faith and learningis a constant concern for our institu-tions. In order to help our scienceteachers with their difficult assign-ments, the EUD Education Depart-ment, together with the GeoscienceResearch Institute (GRI) organizeda study tour in the Pyrenees Moun-tains (summer 2007) for 26 partici-pants. Another seminar on the inte-gration of faith and learning tookplace in July 2009 for about 100teachers from the Portuguese andSpanish unions. The next seminar isscheduled for the summer of 2010 atSagunto College.

At the same time, the student as-sociation chapters of AdventistMinistry to College and UniversityStudents (AMiCUS) continue to or-ganize seminars on the important is-sues that interest Adventists study-ing at public universities. The mostrecent congress at the division level

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The Sagunto Academy choir in Spain won first prize in the Valencia Province Christmas contest.

Student enrolled in Maurece Tieche Academy’smountain sports program (France) gets a climbinglesson on Salève Mountain.

took place in September 2008 atCernica University (Romania) onthe topic of “The Christian Re -sponsibility in Regard to ClimateChange.” The mayor of Bucharestcongratulated the students on thisimportant event.

Special RecognitionSometimes it takes a long time

before one’s efforts are recognized.On September 14, 2006, Israel’s am-bassador to the United Nations gavethe “Medal of the RighteousAmong the Nations” to Emile andYvonne Bernard, formerly farmersat Adventist University of France.An engraved plate on a large stoneat the entrance of the Theology De-partment honors them, togetherwith John Weidner (1912-1994), forhaving taken great risks to save thelives of Jewish people during the

Holocaust and German occupation,by helping them escape to Switzer-land. The plate also includes thenames of other members of our in-stitution who were involved in thesenoble actions, including Roger Fas-nacht, business administrator; Fred-eric Charpiot, Jean Lavanchy, Ray-mond Meyer and Jean Zurcher,professors; and Pierre Toureille, amedical doctor who acted with theoccasional complicity of several stu-dents. To resist for God and dedicateour lives to His service remains aninspiring ideal for Adventist educa-tion. ✐

Roberto Badenasis the Director ofEducation for theEuro-Africa Divi-sion of Seventh-dayAdventists in Berne,Switzerland.


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New library, Friedensau Adventist University (Germany)

Students in the Italian language program at Florence enjoy a field trip.


n the cover of thebook In Passion for theWorld by FloydGreenleaf, the history

of Adventist education is referred toas “a story of struggle, tenacity, faith,and blessing.“1 This description is es-pecially true of the short history ofAdventist education in the Euro-Asia Division (ESD).

Currently, the ESD, which in-cludes the countries of the formerSoviet Union except the Baltic coun-tries, has only a handful of schools:eight primary/secondary schools (inTula; Nizhny Novgorod and Zaok-sky, Russia; Kiev and Lviv, Ukraine;Sukhumi, Abkhazia; Tiraspol, Mol -dova; and Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan) andtwo institutions of higher education(in Zaoksky, Russia; and Bucha,Ukraine) with a total enrollment of

about 2,500. In addition, there areseveral English language schools(Almaty, Kazakhstan; Moscow, Rus-sia; and Kiev, Ukraine). The one inKiev has expanded and now hasbranches in the cities of Levov,Harkov, and Dnepropetrovsk. Dur-ing 2009, more than a thousand stu-dents attended these languageschools. However, as most ofschools are fairly new and operate invery different political, cultural, reli-gious, and linguistic contexts, eachfaces special challenges. Thus, everyone is a miracle school with aunique story.

Although, over the years, theoverall enrollment has gradually in-creased and most schools are man-aging quite well, unfortunately dueto a lack of adequate facilities andfinances, the primary school inRyazan, Russia, had to close in2007. Yet we believe that during the10 years it was in operation, it was a

real blessing to the many Adventistand non-Adventist children who en-rolled.

However, we are glad to reportcontinuing initiatives in opening newprimary schools, such as in NizhnyNovgorod, Russia; and Lviv,Ukraine. The school in Nizhni Nov-gorod has tremendous potential fordevelopment. Plans are being madeto build a new modern facility thatwill offer a complete primary andsecondary education.

Another cause of rejoicing wasthe dedication of the new elemen-tary school facility in Tokmok, Kyr-gyzstan, on November 4, 2009. This12-year-old institution, the only Ad-ventist school in Central Asia, en-rolls primarily non-Adventist pu pils.Many people and church organiza-tions from the local fields andabroad worked hard on this project,which also received a generous con-tribution from Global Mission.

The news about higher educationalso contains both successes and dis-appointments. Russian SahmyookUniversity in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk onSakhalin Island, founded by theSouth Korean Union in 1992, whichhad functioned well for a number ofyears, closed in 2006 due to the lossof facilities and other problems. Theuniversity still exists as an entity andis currently under the jurisdiction ofZaoksky Adventist University(ZAU), where some of its assets arepreserved. Despite setbacks, thework of the ZAU and the UkrainianInstitute of Arts and Science (UIAS)have consistently progressed. In fact,both institutions celebrated anniver-saries during this quinquennium—ZAU its 20th and UIAS its 10th.

Over the past five years, ZAUmade a number of improvements inits facilities and expanded its aca-demic and professional programs.Currently it offers a Bachelor ofTheology, B.A. programs in religion(English language emphasis), music,and music pedagogy, a B.B.A. in ac-

A Story of Struggle, Tenacity, Faith,

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counting; M.A. programs in reli-gion,2 practical theology specializa-tion: youth ministry, leadership, mis-siology; and music ministry andmusic pedagogy; a D.Min. as well asa number of certified nine-monthprograms such as an intensive pas-toral course, a practical course forchurch musicians, a secretarial pro-gram, and a three-month agricul-tural diploma. During the twodecades since it was founded, ZAUhas graduated more than 3,000 stu-dents. Its major achievement duringthe past quinquennium was obtain-ing government accreditation for itsB.B.A. program in accounting(2008). The school is currently work-ing on government accreditation forits other programs.

UIAS, which opened in theBucha, Kiev, region in October1999, is the first Adventist educa-

tional institution in the Ukraine toreceive state accreditation for its pro-grams. The school currently offersB.A. programs in language and liter-ature, religious studies, as well as inbusiness administration, marketing,and management. In addition tothis, UIAS is offering the first twoyears of a B.A. in theology (its stu-dents finish their degrees at ZAU)and special summer/winter pro-grams in the study of Ukrainian andRussian. The campus is also used asa training center for distance educa-tion and the professional develop-ment for denominational workers.

The students of both institutionsare very active in community workand Christian witness. The studentsof ZAU visit local hospitals, nursinghomes, and orphanages; and eachyear prepare a Christmas program


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Government accreditation for B.B.A. in accountingat Zaoksky Adventist University (ZAU)

Zaoksky Adventist University graduation, May 2009

grades 9-11 entitledThe Biblical Historyand the World Culturewith photos of artisticobjects from ancientand contemporaryworld culture: repro-ductions of art by fa-mous Russian andnon-Russian artists,spiritual poetry, shortvideo clips, selectedclassical music, as wellas geographical andhistorical maps. Thedocument has beenhighly praised by reli-gious and non-reli-gious educational bod-ies for its content,layout, and non-sectar-ian approach to teach-ing biblical values.

However, despite itsmany accomplish-ments, the ESD Edu-cation Departmentfaces a long list of ex-ternal and internalchallenges. The four


that attracts thousands of childrenfrom the regional orphanages andpoor families. The UIAS studentsare also known for their contribu-tions at the local churches in theKiev region and for their communityinvolvement. As UIAS has a largenon-Adventist student body, the in-stitution places great emphasis oninternal witness—and as a result,each year many students are bap-tized.

During this quinquennium, theESD Education Department organ-ized two major advisories (in 2007and 2008), which brought togetherschool directors and teachers, andunion educational leaders. Bothevents took place at ZAU and em-phasized the integration of faith andlearning, professional development,motivation building, as well as thesynchronization of educational ef-fort within the division. The guestspeakers for the 2008 advisory wereC. Garland Dulan (the church’sworld director of education) andElla Simmons (General Conferencevice president).

In May 2009, ZAU hosted, forthe first time, the European Theol-ogy Teachers Conference, attendedby more than 60 professors from thethree European divisions (Euro-Asia, Euro-Africa, and Trans-Euro-pean divisions). Only a few yearsago, organizing a conference of thiskind was almost unimaginable. Thisis another proof of the tremendouschanges that have taken place andthe opportunities that are still avail-able for expanding and enhancingAdventist education in this territory.

During the past quinquennium,both ZAU and UIAS have publisheda number of books and doctoral dis-sertations. However, the materialproduced by the school in Tula de-serves special notice. In 2008, aftermany years of hard work, they pub-lished an attractive five-piece educa-tional-methodological guide for

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ZAU students witnessing

Ukranian Institute of Arts and Sciences (UIAS) student baptism, December 2009

Graduation at UIAS

most pressing are:1. The constant need to challenge,

in many countries of the former So-viet Union, government prohibition ofprivate religious education. In coun-tries where private schools are al-lowed, the state legal requirementsare so high as to make it financiallyimpossible for conferences andunions to operate schools or to ex-pand educational opportunities.

2. Making members, and some-times even church pastors and admin-istrators, aware of the importance ofAdventist education. For manychurch members, paying for Chris-tian education when governmentprovides free quality education isnot considered a viable option.

3. Implementing existing Adventisteducation policies. Although we havegood strategies for the advancementof Adventist education, sometimesother church needs take priority,leaving many Adventist childrenwithout necessary financial supportand many schools functioning inde-pendently of the church structure.

4. Developing a strong primaryand secondary school system to feedour institutions of higher learning.These, in turn, need to develop newways to attract larger numbers of

Adventist youth.The above mentioned challenges,

and many others, still unforeseen,will definitely help to shape ouragenda for the next quinquennium.Yet we thank the Lord that He turnschallenges into opportunities, forHis many blessings upon our dedi-cated school administrators, teach-

ers, staff members, and especiallyour children and youth who have, asa result of attending Adventistschools, entered into a saving rela-tionship with Christ and committedthemselves to the path of serviceand the mission of the church. ✐

REFERENCES1, Floyd Greenleaf, In Passion for the

World (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press Publ.Assn., 2005).

2. The M.A. in religion and the D.Min.degree are offered in affiliation with AndrewsUniversity, the missiology degree in affiliationwith Griggs University.

Branislav Mirilov isthe Director of Edu-cation of the Euro-Asia Division ofSeventh-day Advent -ists in Moscow,Russian Federation.


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European Theology Teachers’ Conference at ZAU, May 2009

Teaching materials for Religious Education, grades 9-11


n Proverbs 29:18, King Solo-mon tells us, “Where there is novision, the people perish”(KJV). Can we apply these

words to the Adventist educationalsystem in the 21st century? Certainly!We need to have clear vision and wisediscernment to accomplish the taskbefore us. The only solution is to doas King Solomon did—ask for wis-dom from our Heavenly Father to dowhat must be done. “The world hashad its great teachers, men of giantintellect, . . . but there is One whostands higher than they. . . . As themoon. . . shine[s] by the reflected lightof the sun, so, as far as their teachingis true, do the world’s greatestthinkers reflect the rays of the Sun ofRighteousness” (Ellen G. White, Edu-cation, pp. 13, 14).

The Inter-American Division(IAD) is blessed with 12 universities,

the Inter-American Theological Semi-nary, and the Inter-American Educa-tional Center, an institution that of-fers college-level study programsonline. We also have 1,000 elementaryand secondary schools, more than168,000 students in the three levels ofeducation, and 10,000 teachers.

Following is a summary of theevents and projects during the pastfive years that will set the stage forthe “Quinquennium of AdventistEducation” planned for our division(2010-2015).

IAD Education SummitsWe held three summits—in

Panama (October 2005) and Miami,Florida, U.S.A. (January 2007 andOctober 2009)—to integrate the di-vision’s three educational levels—primary, secondary, and tertiary.Union administrators and educationdirectors, university presidents, and

division officers met together to voteon important events and projects.

Bible Textbooks for Grades K-6 Thanks to the Education Depart-

ment of the General Conference,Montemorelos University (Mexico),and the Inter-American Division,books for grades K-6 are now avail-able. Montemorelos University has

Adventist Education. . .More Than MereInstruction

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been authorized to begin the secondphase of the project to prepare Bibletextbooks for the secondary level(grades 7-12). We hope to have thefirst books in the summer of 2011.

Textbooks for Various K-12 SubjectsA difficult challenge for Adventist

educators is to teach from textbooks

that do not contain the principles orphilosophy of our church. For thatreason, we have started to work on aseries of textbooks for English,Spanish, mathematics, and science(biology, chemistry, and physics)with a group of teachers from Mon-temorelos and Antillean Adventistuniversities (Spanish), NorthernCaribbean University and the Uni-versity of Southern Caribbean (Eng-lish), and from the University ofHaiti (French). We hope to have thefirst series of books for grades K-6in the summer of 2011 and the onesfor grades 7-12 in 2012.

French Bible Textbooks forGrades K-6

The Inter-American DivisionPublishing Association and theFrench Antilles-Guyana Union havebegun to translate the Bible text-books into French for grades K-6.

New Educational Institutions During this quinquennium, in the

IAD territory, four new university ex-tension programs were initiated (inVilla Hermosa, Mexico; San Juan,Puerto Rico; San Cristóbal and LaRomana, Dominican Republic).

Education SymposiumUnion and local field directors of

education met at Montemorelos Uni-versity in September 2007 to developand integrate a division-wide pro-gram with a twofold emphasis: educa-tional evangelism and recruitment ofAdventist students. We have seen amoderate increase in our K-12 enroll-ment, and we are delighted with thisgrowth. However, there is still roomfor improvement because it has notreached the same proportion as thegrowth of church membership.

Educational EvangelismWe firmly believe that educa-

tional evangelism is an important as-pect of our church. We are consoli-dating a strategic plan for soulwinning that will be integrated intothe division plans for evangelism.


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Page 24: Spanish and French grades K-6 textbooks. This page: Center: Poster for Education Symposium. Above: Staff at the Inter-American Division headquarters.


Secondary Level Evaluation and Accreditation Training Program

One of the achievements of theIAD’s second education summit wasdelegating accreditation for the K-12grades to the union offices of educa-tion. The division will do the accred-itation visits for the secondaryschools belonging to our universi-ties. Presently, more than 80 percentof the unions have been trained andcertified by our office, following theguidelines of the Adventist Accredit-ing Association.

Choir and Band FestivalThe IAD’s first Choir and Band

Festival occurred at the Central Amer-ican Adventist University in CostaRica, on March 28-April 1, 2007. Par-ticipating students from 12 unions andeight universities produced high-qual-ity music performances. The secondchoir festival will be held in Jamaicaduring the next quinquennium, withthe participation of all the IADunions and universities.

Adventist Virtual LibraryIn May 2007, the division com-

mittee authorized the Office of Edu-cation to develop the Adventist Vir-tual Library (AVL) so that ourstudents, teachers, and church em-ployees will have trustworthy re-search resources at minimal cost(http://www.bva.interamerica.org/).

Training Seminars for Library Personnel

The inception of the AVL alsocreated the need for training. Threetraining seminars were held (one in2007, and two in 2009) for universitylibrarians and union representatives.Presently, the AVL offers 18 data-bases in three languages (Spanish,English, and French) and containsmore than three million items.

Ellen G. White MedalThe IAD authorized the offering

of the Ellen G. White Medal to recog-

nize educational excellence and phi-lanthropy by teachers, leaders, andlay persons who have made signifi-cant contributions on behalf of oureducational institutions. Thefirst medals were conferredduring the First Inter-American TeachersCongress in Cancun,Mexico (September2009).

International Educational Tripsand Events

In 2008, the division or-ganized an educational trip toIsrael, Egypt, and Jordan. Efrain Ve-lazquez and Eric del Valle, theologyspecialists, shared their knowledgewith the more than 90 participants. InFebruary 2010, a second tour wasscheduled for IAD university Bibleteachers.

Integration of Faith and Learning(IFL) Seminars and Guidelines

IFL seminars have been heldthroughout the division, includingone abroad for the French-speakingfields. We commend the great workcarried out in this area by HumbertoRasi, former General Conference di-rector of education. The IAD Officeof Education is publishing a guideon the Integration of Faith and

Learning for grades K-12 preparedby Xenia Gamboa and her teamfrom Central America in French,Spanish, and English.

The Inter-American Edu-cational Center

This center wascreated in January2007 to enable ourchurch members whocannot afford tostudy full time or to

attend one of our insti-tutions an online study

alternative to enable themto complete a career or grow

professionally. The center functionsunder the leadership of Myrna Costaand is seeking to establish new sites inHonduras and Colombia.

Scholarship PlanThis plan took off in January 2006

with the help of some faithful laymenwho enjoy donating funds for educa-tion. Even though the fund has in-creased and many students have beenhelped, there is never enough to sup-ply the needs of all those enrolled, es-pecially our future pastors, teachers,and doctors. We urge our members tosupport this noble cause.

Evaluation and accreditation training program for secondary-level participants

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Fund Raising for UniversityProjects

In 2008, we began to raise fundsfor specific university projects. TheHaitian University received thelargest donation for their library andcomputer lab. Other projects willprovide furniture for the Cuban Ad-ventist Seminary and secondaryschools in Merida, South Mexico,and Bucaramanga, Colombia. Weespecially recognize Denis Soto andNorman Gonzalez, together withother donors, for their gifts, whichhave helped fund various educa-tional projects in several countries.

University Presidents CouncilsThese events, for university presi-

Castillo, president of MontemorelosUniversity.

First Inter-American Teachers’ Congress

This event took place September6-10, 2009, in Cancun, Mexico, withthe theme “Let Your Light SoShine,” highlighting the work and in-fluence of teachers in preparing stu-dents for service in this world andfor the world to come.

The congress included approxi-mately 1,000 K-16 teachers, princi-pals, university presidents, adminis-trators, representatives from La Sierraand Loma Linda universities and theGeneral Conference, as well as civic

membership in IAD (currently morethan 3.2 million members), the divi-sion administrators are studying howthis will impact the quality of educa-tion in our territory. An action wastaken to channel almost all of thestrategic planning budget for the2010-2015 quinquennium toward ed-ucation (more than U.S.$8 million),according to Israel Leito, IAD presi-dent, who points out that 2010-2015has been designed as the “Quinquen-nium of Adventist Education.”

These resources will be directedtoward financing teachers’ continu-ing education, student scholarshipsand loans, improvement of univer-sity libraries, and the reorganizingand coordinating of academic de-grees. Model elementary and sec-ondary schools will be selected, withfocus on formal as well as non-tradi-tional education. Several committeesare working to gather the necessaryinformation to design a strategicplan for the next quinquennium.

An important new policy is the re-design of the selection process forlocal- and union-level educational ad-ministrators. These leaders must haveexperience in the Adventist systemplus an appropriate combination ofteaching and administrative experi-ence. “We want to show respect forthe selection of our educators as wedo when we employ our pastors,” de-clares IAD President Leito.

As IAD education director, Iwould like to thank God, the IADofficers, university presidents, unionadministrators, directors of educa-tion, and teachers and staff of oureducational system for the successesachieved during this quinquennium.To God be the glory! ✐

Moisés Velázquezis Director of Educa-tion for the Inter-American Division inMiami, Florida,U.S.A.


First Inter-American Division Teachers’ Congress, 2009

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dents and vice presidents, highlightcooperation in different areas suchas academic, financial, personnelsupport, and integration of gradu-ate programs. The first council metin Medellin, Colombia, in 2008, thesecond in Jamaica in March 2010.

University ConsortiumThe Consortium of Adventist

Universities of Inter-America wascreated in 2007 to improve our terti-ary programs. Herbert J. Thompson,president of the largest university inour division, was its first president.The current president is Ismael

leaders from the region, who partici-pated in seven general assemblies and90 concurrent workshops/seminars inthree languages.

Awards for academic excellencewere conferred by the General Con-ference, and the IAD presented theEllen G. White Medal to a selectgroup of people. Each night, theunions took turns presenting a cul-tural program filled with music andcolorful clothing.

Church Leaders Focus on New Education Strategy

Given the rapid growth of the


omething better’ is thewatchword of education,the law of all true liv-ing.” With these words,

Ellen White in the book Education(p. 297) described a goal for educa-tional excellence that is possible onlyin Christian schools. Guiding stu-dents into a growing relationshipwith Jesus and the pursuit of excel-lence from early learning throughgraduate school begin here. The mis-sion of Adventist education thusleads students on a journey to excel-lence; a journey to excel in faith,learning, and service.

Students Excel in FaithThe first lessons in Adventist

schools are of God’s love and care.From California to Virginia, fromCanada to Florida, across the NorthAmerican Division (NAD), studentsopen the Bible, not just in Bible

class, but in social studies, science,and other classes as well. Storiesabound of students learning to trusta personal God through answeredprayers for tuition money, for find-

ing lost passports, cell phones, andteacher’s keys, and for safety onschool trips. Students thus learn toexcel in faith.

Eleven-year-old Wyan lives inPennsylvania, U.S.A. He loves Godand was thrilled when his motherenrolled him in a Seventh-day Ad-ventist school near their home.Wyan especially liked the Bible class,where his teacher answered his ques-tions about God in ways that hecould understand. Wyan invited hismother to attend a seminar held bythe school, where they learned thatthe Sabbath was God’s special day.Wyan wanted to go to Sabbathschool, but his mother explainedthat Saturday was her busiest day. “Ican’t afford to close my shop to at-tend church,” she said. Wyan prayedabout it, and in time, his mother de-cided they should trust God. Sheclosed her shop and went to churchwith Wyan.

When the church announced amission trip to Central America,Wyan wanted to go. He asked hismother to accompany him, butagain she explained that she couldn’tafford to close her shop for threeweeks. “God will work it out,” Wyansaid. He soon learned that somemembers were raising money so thathe and his mother could go on the

“SomethingBetter”

BY LARRY BLACKMER, DEBRA FRYSON, AND DENNIS PLUBELL

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Teachers have shared amazing stories of what happens when students pray.

trip. Convinced it was God’s will,Wyan’s mom closed her shop andwent with Wyan on the trip.

In Central America, Wyan spokeat the children’s meetings, and 23children gave their hearts to God.But all during the mission trip,Wyan’s mother worried about herbusiness. Upon their return home,God had a surprise for her. In herfirst week back in the shop, sheearned enough to make up for thethree weeks the shop had beenclosed. “And her business just keepsgrowing,” Wyan added.

Wyan’s faith helped his mothertrust God. When Wyan asked to bebaptized, his mother decided to bebaptized, too. And to their surprise,Wyan’s grandmother decided to jointhem.1

Students Excel in LearningAn Adventist school principal in

Louisiana recently summed up oureducational philosophy quite simply.He said, “Seeking the kingdom ofGod and His righteousness first andforemost promises that all the otherthings involved in learning andgrowing God’s kids—the reading,writing, mathematics, physical edu-cation, etc.—will follow.” Researchis proving this to be true. For thepast four years, CognitiveGenesis,2 a

project to assess academic achieve-ment in NAD Adventist schools, hasbeen conducted by researchers fromLa Sierra and Andrews universities.The data reveal some amazing find-ings.

The composite results from thenine unions and 58 conferencesacross the NAD confirm that stu-dents in Adventist schools performbetter than the national average andhalf a grade level higher than pre-dicted based on standardized cogni-tive ability measures. This occurs inschools of all sizes, in all regions ofthe division. Thefour-year re-search project ofabout 20,000 stu-dents alsoshowed that thelonger studentswere enrolled inan Adventistschool, thehigher they per-formed. Somecall this “the Ad-ventist advan-tage.”

Students Excel in ServiceNAD students are involved in

service projects in the communityand around the world. From build-ing a school at Maluti Hospital inAfrica to presenting evangelisticmeetings in the Philippines, fromneighborhood literature distributionin California to beach cleanup inBermuda, our students connect withthe gospel commission. Kelli Virgil,a student at Maplewood Academy inMinnesota, shares her experience:

“Despite the cool breeze and wetground, spirits were high as vanloads of Maplewood Academy stu-dents unloaded at their first stop.Imagine the surprise of the home-owners as they looked out of thewindow to see teenagers scatteredacross their yard with rakes in hand!What better way is there to reachout to the community than by doingsomething thoughtful. This annualoutreach continues to make a posi-tive impact on the participants aswell as those who benefit from theraking. Sometimes it’s the littlethings in life that show Jesus’ love inthe biggest way.”3

Journey to ExcellenceTo empower our youth to excel in

faith, learning, and service, Christianeducation must have schools of re -

nown, foundedon eternal prin-ciples, which arecontinually seek -ing to achieveexcellence. Jour-ney to Excel-lence capturesthe concept of“something bet-ter.” As a guid-ing theme forAdventist edu-cation in theNorth AmericanDivision during



CognitiveGenesis research confirms that students in Adventist schools have a learning advantage.

Global Mission service by secondary students has expanded students’ view of the church.


this first decade of the 21st century,Journey to Excellence has been morethan a marketing scheme or the titleof a strategic plan. This theme refo-cuses on the mission of Adventistschools and gives motive for investingresources for school improvement.4

In August 2006, it was the focusof the second division-wide K-12educators’ convention. The morethan 6,000 Adventist educators fromacross North America who met inNashville, Tennessee, were chal-lenged to excel in teaching and lead-ing young people to know the Saviorand to prepare for service in Hisname. From the opening keynote ad-dress by George Knight through themorning worship services, the sixgeneral and nearly 400 breakout ses-sions, to the closing consecrationservice with division President DonSchneider, educators were inspiredto create schools of excellence forthe young people in their church andcommunity. Plans are being devel-oped for a third NAD-wide educa-tors’ conference in 2012.

Projects and InitiativesTo support a focus on school im-

provement has required an invest-ment in up-to-date materials and rele-vant professional development toequip K-12 teachers and administra-

tors with best practices to meet stu-dent learning needs. Young learnershave benefited from special projectsin curriculum resources aligned withour Adventist beliefs and values. Ped-agogy changes, but truths are eternal.

Increasingly, technology is beingharnessed to improve instructionand organizational effectiveness. Arenewed Website for the NAD Officeof Education5 and the expansion of

CIRCLE6 are connecting Adventisteducators across the division andaround the world. The division hasprovided a free Website for each K-12 school. Several schools have de-veloped new distance-education pro-grams, and a digital Week of Prayerpresentation has been created anddistributed in each of the past threeyears. Technology has enhanced our

ability to fulfill our mission andmore effectively market our schools.

Improving curricular materialscontinues to be a division-wide ini-tiative. In 2007, an elementary reli-gion curriculum was completed.NAD has shared the text materialwith the other world divisions. Com-pleted in 2009, Pathways: A Journeyto Excellence Through Literacy, acomprehensive integrated language-arts program (reading, writing,grammar, and spelling) uses the-matic literature that upholds Chris-tian faith and principles. By Design:A Journey to Excellence ThroughScience, a K-8 science curriculumthat is aligned with the biblical per-spective of God’s creative power, iscurrently being developed. Kinder-garteners will soon benefit from therelease of a new, fully integratedfaith-based curriculum.

Other recent NAD projects: com-prehensive new learning standards forall secondary subjects, enhancedmathematics instruction, and strate-gies to REACH (Reaching to EducateAll Children for Heaven) challenged

learners.7 All of these andmore are tools in the handsof God to evangelize Hisyouth.

Early Childhood Educa-tion and Care̶Wherethe Journey Begins

For years, churches andschools have met the needsof young families throughchildcare and preschool ed-ucation. Educational lead-ers have recently been askedto develop a cohesive orga-

nizational strategy to support theseendeavors, infusing them with excel-lent resources and ensuring safepractices. An Early Childhood Edu-cation and Care program is anemerging part of the work for NADeducational leaders in the new quin-qennium.

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Don Schneider, NAD President, challenges 6,000 Adventist educators to be “youth ministers.”

The integration of technology in Adventist schools has grownexponentially in the 21st century.

College and University AwardsThe journey to excellence for

NAD education encompasses earlylearning through graduate degreeprograms. Adventist colleges anduniversities in North America havereceived numerous awards for stellarprograms and successful studentachievement. U.S. News & WorldReport’s rankings of America’s BestColleges have frequently been popu-lated with Adventist schools. Awardsfor community engagement andservice, outstanding educationalprograms in specialty fields andrecognition for contributions in avariety of scholarly pursuits haveheadlined reports from NAD’s 15colleges and universities. Especiallyexciting are awards for excellence instudent learning. Regional, national,and international competitions haveawarded top prizes to students fromNAD colleges and universities inareas such as music performance,free enterprise business develop-ment, engineering, creative writing,tax accounting, and general aca-demic knowledge.

The reward for true higher educa-tion is eternal. Throngs of youth inour colleges and universities haveshown their commitment to the mis-sion and ministry of the churchthrough volunteer assignments aroundthe globe and in the local community.

This is anotherway that Adventisteducation makes adifference.

Charting theFuture

For many peo-ple, a knowledgeof Adventistscomes from ourhospitals andschools. In recentyears, communitymembers haveshown that theysee “somethingbetter” in our in-

stitutions by enrolling their childrenin increasing numbers. However, thishas often masked a declining enroll-ment among Adventist families thathas resulted in the closure of somesmall schools. Higher education hasnot been exempt from this phenome-non, particularly liberal-arts pro-grams. Given that church member-ship has grown across NorthAmerica, enrollment declines in Ad-ventist schools are a very seriousconcern at all levels.

From elementary schools andacademies to colleges and universi-ties, we are experiencing unprece-dented pressures. Factors underlyingthis trend are topics of frequent dis-cussion. Some families are simply toofar from an Adventist school. In anearlier era, boarding schools miti-gated this problem, but today, fewerparents are choosing this solution.Others believe the decline results fromlocal churches’ decreasing emphasison the distinctiveness of Adventisteducation, and despite data from theCognitiveGenesis study that demon-strate otherwise, some people ques-tion whether academic excellence canbe achieved in small schools.

Clearly, financial challenges doaffect young families’ ability to payfor education. Church statistics alsoshow that membership growth is

most pronounced among lower so-cioeconomic groups. Improved mar-keting initiatives and expandedscholarship programs have not madethe dramatic difference desired. Thechurch must continue to pursue apartnership with families thatchoose to home school their childrenor turn to other educational options.

These are challenging times. Butour apparent extremity is God’s op-portunity. So it is with confidencethat we look forward to continuingwith the Master Teacher on a journeyto excellence through new unchar-tered waters in the coming monthsand years. The kingdom of heaven isour destination, and we want to bethere soon with all God’s youth. ✐

REFERENCES1. General Conference Office of Mission

Awareness. 2. http://www.cog nitive genesis .org/.3. Adapted from Kelli Vigil, Minnesota

Conference Education News, November 10,2009.

4. http://www.journeytoexcellence.org/.5. http://www.nadeducation.org/.6. http://circle.adventist.org/.7. http://www.nadeducation.org/ reach.

Larry Blackmer isVice-President forEducation; DebraFryson and DennisPlubell are Associ-ate Directors of Ed-ucation for theNorth American Di-vision of Seventh-day Adventists inSilver Spring, Mary-land, U.S.A.


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Larry Blackmer

Debra Fryson

Dennis Plubell

The La Sierra University SIFE Team (Students In Free Enterprise) was named aRegional Champion at the SIFE Los Angeles Regional Competition (one of adozen such competitions around the U.S.), qualifying them to compete at theSIFE U.S.A. National Expo May 11-13 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.


dventist education is onthe march in the North-ern Asia-Pacific Division(NSD). The mandate of

a redemptive mission is the clarioncall to all educational institutions inthe division. It is not only what skillsstudents acquire but what they willbecome that is of concern to all edu-cators in NSD. The division currentlyhas five tertiary institutions, 15 highschools, 10 middle schools, and 23 el-ementary schools. There are also 55language schools in Korea, Mongo-lia, and Taiwan. All of them have oneunited anthem: “Tell the World of theAdvent Hope of Christ.”

Although the vast territory ofChina is part of NSD, we have no of-ficial schools there. However, a num-ber of Adventist churches run theirown unique schools in collaboration

with local government entities. Inorder to impress on young people’sminds the church’s doctrines andbuild a strong biblical foundation, in-

tensive summer Bible schools are op-erated by many churches in China.

The focus of “Mission First” isalive and well in our NSD territoriesdespite the challenges of changingtrends as well as religious and politi-cal constraints in this area.

The emphasis on Integration ofFaith and Learning (IFL) has led toimportant projects in the division. InMarch 2007, the NSD hosted the35th International Seminar on Inte-grating Faith and Learning, whichdrew Seventh-day Adventist scholarsfrom around the world to the cam-pus of Hong Kong Adventist Col-lege for the 12-day session.

Subsequently, in every union,seminars and conferences were con-vened to keep this emphasis alive.NSD, assisted by the church’s Geo-science Research Institute (GRI),brought together science teachersand pastors for a three-day Cre-ation, Faith, and Science Conferenceat Kunming, Yunnan, China, in Au-gust 2007, and another at TaiwanAdventist College later in the yearfor all college and academy faculty.

Japan Union Conference (JUC)hosted a faith and learning seminarin conjunction with the kinder-garten/elementary teachers’ conven-tion at Hiroshima in July 2009. Inthe Korean Union Conference(KUC), integration of faith andlearning was the theme for the Con-ference on Ministerial and Theologi-cal Education held in August 2009 atSahmyook University.

The rest of this report will high-light events in each of the NSD’sunion territories.

Korean Union ConferenceThe Korean Union Conference

(KUC) operates the largest Advent -ist education system in NSD, and in-cludes one of the church’s largesttertiary institutions, Sahmyook Uni-versity (SU), which held its centen-nial celebration in 2006. SU cur-

“Mission First”: TheNorthern Asia-Pacific Division’s

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Bus stop in front of the Honam Sahmyook HighSchool. The street was designated SahmyookStreet by the city because of the school’s signifi-cant contributions to the community.

rently has a student population of5,945, offers 24 degree programs,employs 339 staff and teachers, andis ranked 19th among all South Ko-rean tertiary institutions due to itsexcellent academic performance.John Choi Chong Geol, the NSDGeoscience Research Institute direc-

tor and a science professor of SU,was named director of an EnglishEdu-Science Park, fully supportedfinancially by the Nowon districtgovernment, where creationism isstrongly promoted.

In the words of SU President KimKi-Kon: “Sahmyook University is a

large universitythat is challengedwith a great mis-sion. Only one-sixth of the fresh-man class isAdventist . . . butthe university iscommitted to shar-ing the Adventmessage with theseyoung people.”SU’s faculty areactively involved insoul winning, andits Adventist stu-dents are taught to

reach out to the non-Adventist stu-dents. Forty sophomore theology ma-jors have been assigned to serve incampus ministries.

Sahmyook Health College(SHC), another KUC institution,has recently become a senior college,and offers Bachelor of Science de-grees in nursing and dental hygiene.

In South Korea, where populationgrowth is declining, 3,016 govern-ment-run elementary, middle, andhigh schools were closed as of March2007. Adventist schools have benefit-ted from this cutback. Donghae Mid-dle and Senior High School, thesmallest of all the schools operatedby the East Central Korean Confer-ence (ECKC), has a current enroll-ment of 188, 30 more than last year,even though the local population isdecreasing significantly as people mi-grate to bigger cities for job opportu-nities. This year, the school received“The Excellent English LeaderSchool Award” from the Ministry of


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A Taiwan Adventist College professor teaches a group of members in China.

A building and land, along with an annual budget, were donated to Sahmyook University by the government for the Seoul English Science Edu-Center,in Seoul, South Korea, where students from schools in Seoul can come to learn English and science. The director, from SU, presents creationism as a viableoption for the origin of the earth.


Education and Science, an awardgiven to only the top 100 middle andhigh schools in the country.

Hankook Senior Academy has636 students, up from 606 last year.Eighty-seven percent of the studentscome from Adventist homes, and615 are baptized church members.The school was ranked 18th among204 schools in the Seoul district forthe percentage of its students chosenfor university entrance.

The Education Department ofthe Korean government recognizesthe significant contributions of Ad-ventist education in the country. Thestreet in front of one of our schoolswas named Sahmyook Gil (Sahm -yook Street) by the district govern-ment in that area, a great honor.

Integration of faith and learningis a priority in the Korean Union.SU has been running IFL seminarsthree times each year since April2007. On September 24, 2009, SUinaugurated the Society of ChristianWorldview and the Institute of Inte-grating Faith and Learning and pub-

lished its first English journal, Inte-gration of Faith and Learning, witharticles submitted by scholars fromNSD tertiary educational institu-tions and abroad.

Japan Union Conference

One of the greatestchallenges facing Japanis a graying population,which also affects ourchurch and schools. TheJapan Union Conference(JUC) has a senior col-lege and a senior acad-emy, three junior acade-mies, and 10 elementaryschools, which employ169 teaching faculty.

In 2008, SanikuGakuin College (SGC)was granted permissionto offer a Bachelor ofNursing program by theJapanese EducationDepartment and thechurch’s InternationalBoard of Education (IBE). The current en-

rollment is 83. Japanese students have enjoyed

participating in mission projects inCambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia

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Students studying the Bible on the beautiful Sahmyook Universitycampus in South Korea.

Opening ceremony for the Sahmyook University Welfare Center for disabled students.

led by their teachers and pastors,sometimes with the involvement ofADRA.

The Chinese Union Mission In Hong Kong and Macau, we

have one college, four secondaryschools, and one elementary school.In Taiwan, the church operates onesenior college, three secondaryschools, two elementary schools, andtwo English-language schools. In ad-

dition, the churchcollaborates with theTaiwanese govern-ment to run an Eng-lish village nearTaipei.

In the unorgan-ized territory (UT) ofChina, many of theindividual churchesrun vacation Bibleschools to supple-ment the secular gov-ernment curriculum.Taiwan AdventistCollege developed anagreement with the

local district government of Xiamen,China, to assist in the training ofhealth personnel in that province.

A number of creative approachesare used by the churches in China toprovide Adventist education. In thenortheast region of China, a highlyregarded vocational school run bythe government offered our churchan old school building near Shen -yang to house 80 Adventist students.While the students acquire voca-tional skills, the church supplementstheir education with Bible and Spirit

of Prophecy classes at the end of theschool day. Six committed youngteachers act as dormitory preceptorsin this creative program.

The Mongolia Mission FieldIn collaboration with the Korean

Seventh-day Adventist Language In-stitute (SDALI), the Mongolia Mis-sion Field (MMF) opened its firstlanguage institute in 2006. MMF isthe youngest entity in NSD. Most ofthe church members are below theage of 30. Because training workersis a top priority, in 2008, the divi-sion, in affiliation with Griggs Uni-versity (GU), began to offer theMaster of Ministry program to pas-toral workers who have received de-grees from the local universities andcolleges. MMF launched its kinder-garten and elementary programsduring the last quarter of 2009.

“Mission First” Jairyong Lee, president of NSD,

has often reminded the division fam-ily that “Mission First” is the man-date for all educational institutions inthe region. Through the schools (theregular grammar schools and the lan-guage schools) in NSD, more than17,000 students were baptized intothe church between 2005 and 2009.We thank God for dedicated mission-ary teachers who serve in this chal-lenging mission field. We long for theday (should the Lord’s coming be de-layed) when the NSD educationalwork under the quality supervision ofthe AAA will be established in Chinaand North Korea as well. ✐

Chek Yat Phoon isthe Director of Edu-cation for the North-ern Asia-Pacific Di-vision of Seventh-dayAdventists in GoyangCity, Gyeonggi-do,Republic of Korea.


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“I Can Do All in Christ” on the school building sets the tone for students at Yungnam Academy inSouth Korea.

At the Mongolian Ministry of Education, Griggs University President DonSahly (second from right), representatives from the Mongolian MissionField, and the NSD education director (far left) meet to discuss the possi-bility of using the Griggs International Academy curriculum in Mongolia.


he Adventist EducationNetwork in the SouthAmerican Division(SAD) is growing, not

only in relation to the number ofstudents, teachers, and staff, but alsoin terms of the quality of educationoffered and the spiritual trainingprovided. In the past five years,many projects, programs, and ac-tions enhanced the school environ-ment of the eight countries in theSouth American Division (Ar-gentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, andUruguay). The yearly goals havebeen achieved and even surpassed,thus showing the vitality of an edu-cational system that is gaininggreater respect and has created aunified operation in these countries.

In the past quinquennium, the

South American Division had atleast 10 major accomplishments inreligious, pedagogical, administra-tive, and financial areas. In 2005, the

Adventist educational network inthe SAD comprised 809 primaryschools, secondary schools, and col-leges. By October 2009, this figurehad increased to 881 schools—in-cluding 38 new secondary schools,two of which include boarding facil-ities and a tertiary-level training pro-gram. Moreover, during the sameperiod, the division began 19 newundergraduate and eight new gradu-ate programs.

Between 2005 and 2009, the num-ber of SAD teachers (elementarythrough tertiary) increased from14,113 to 16,168, and the student en-rollment grew from 198,571 to232,116. Including the 2010 enroll-ment increase of 4,971 reveals thatthe number of students in SAD in-creased by almost 20 percent be-tween 2005 and 2010 (a nearly fourpercent increase per year).

During the past five years, SADschools, colleges, and boarding insti-tutions undertook many new con-struction projects, which led to a sig-nificant expansion of the Adventisteducational network in the region. Atotal of U.S.$104 million was in-vested in construction projects dur-ing the quinquennium. The re-designing and rebuilding of the

Growing Seventh-dayAdventist Education in a Sustainable Way

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The Adventist Accrediting Association (AAA) team interviews students during an evaluation at PeruvianUnion University, Juliaca campus, in 2007.

Seventh-day Adventist Technical In-stitute in Ecuador (ATIE) and thecompletion of the construction ofthe Amazon Seventh-day AdventistCollege (FAAM) are two SAD proj-ects funded in part by the worldchurch’s 2009 third-quarter Thir-teenth Sabbath Offering.

Development PlansBut beyond mere figures and sta-

tistics, Seventh-day Adventistschools in the South American Divi-sion have also established themselvesas part of a trustworthy edu-cational network in the eyesof the church constituencyand the general public,mainly due to the sys-tem’s ongoing empha-sis on academic qualityand moral/spiritual val-ues instruction. In addi-tion to the blessings and thedivine approval seen in everyplan and project, growth can beattributed to well-defined goalsand effective implementation. Spe-cific development plans were put inplace in 10 areas:

Council of College and UniversityPresidents—Currently, there are 12tertiary institutions and four highereducation extension programs in theSAD territory, which enroll 21,475students. A Council of Seventh-dayAdventist College and UniversityPresidents was created in 2006 with avery clear mission: to make a positivecontribution to the Adventist educa-tional system, and to produce gradu-ates who are ethical, proactive, andcreative, and who show a deep com-mitment to spreading the gospel tothe world. The goals of this councilinclude: (1) strengthening spiritual-life activities in the institutions ofhigher learning; (2) making human,economic, and institutional resourcesavailable to the church within a planof integrated evangelism; (3) actingas an advisory body to the SADunion departments of education; (4)taking part in the general planning

very impor-tant accomplish-ment because it

shows the division’scommitment to the evan-

gelistic mission of the church.After measures of spirituality are as-sessed on each division campus, thefindings will be used to plan activitiesthat will enhance faculty and studentunderstanding of Seventh-day Ad-ventist principles, beliefs, and valuesthat contribute to personal and col-

for higher education throughout thedivision; (5) aiding Adventist collegesand universities in offering programsthat are committed to excellence andsupportive of the Adventist philoso-phy of education; and (6) supportingand managing the exchange of scien-tific publications.

Spiritual Master Plan—The Spiri-tual Master Plan (SMP), which hasbeen implemented in each SADschool during this quinquennium, is a

lective growth.These actions will include ongo-

ing improvements in the religioncurriculum, the involvement of asubstantial percentage of facultyand students in spiritual and evan-gelistic programs, and pastoral visitsto students’ families by teachers, ad-ministrators, and chaplains.

Textbooks—In the past five years,the SAD made significant progressin providing new textbooks for itsschools. Church publishing housesnow produce materials for every

level (elementary through second-ary), group, and subject in Por-

tuguese, and are working onSpanish textbooks. Currently,

there are more than 100 differenttextbooks in these two languagesbeing produced in a joint effort withthe church’s two publishing housesin SAD (Brazil Publishing Houseand South American Spanish Pub-lishing House), which ensures thatAdventist teachings and philosophyare present in the materials used bystudents.

An Education Website—Becauseof the technological advances in ourschool communities, the division re-alized that it needed a Website thatcould provide materials and re-



Main entrance of the new Amazon Adventist College in Belem, Brazil, 2009.


sources for parents, students, andteachers. The new SAD Website(http://www.educacaoadventista.org.br) has become a valued tool be-cause of its multiple databases andother online resources. According todata from 2009, about seven millionpages have been accessed. The Web-site also seeks to foster online com-munication among parents, teachers,and students. It is currently availableto the Brazilian unions and is beingintroduced in the remaining coun-tries of the division.

Student and Faculty CooperationAgreements and Exchanges—In thepast five years, the SAD has encour-aged faculty exchanges in othercountries within the Adventist edu-cational network for brief periods oftime. These agreements have helpedto foster unity and collaboration.

A Standardized Publicity Cam-paign—Another important accom-plishment during this quinquenniumhas been the unification, for the firsttime, of the message presented tothe public by means of a publicitycampaign (see http://www.edu ca cao -adventista.br and http://www.edu ca -cionadventista.com). These have en-sured the better conceptualization ofthe Adventist educational messageand its more effective transmissionthrough an advertising campaign.This unified concept has been alsostrengthened through the adoptionof a standard uniform for everyschool in the division.

Plans for Integrating Evangelismand Education—During the past fiveyears, the division’s educational net-work has participated in Adven-tism’s global plan of integratedevangelism. SAD teachers and stu-dents are involved in a variety ofstrategies, such as small groups, mis-sionary teams, intercessory prayer,hospitality, public evangelism, Bibleclasses, and discipleship.

Pedagogical Handbook—In 2009,the SAD published Seventh-day Ad-ventist Pedagogy in Portuguese and

Spanish. This handbook was pre-pared by a group of educational ex-perts and division leaders, with thesupport of local Adventist publishinghouses. The book elaborates on theSeventh-day Adventist philosophy ofeducation, and will serve as a refer-ence handbook for administrators,educators, and the general public.

Ellen White’s Books—EllenWhite’s education books were madeavailable to the faculty of every Ad-ventist school in the division.

Standardization of FinancialManagement, Software, and PhoneSystems—In the past five years, fi-nancial software and even IP (Inter-

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Students in workshop classroom at the Milton Afonso Adventist School, Brazilia, Brazil, in 2009.

Work team of the Portal of Adventist Education, Brazil Publishing House, Tatui, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

net Protocol) phone systems havebeen standardized in all SADschools. This has resulted in cost re-duction, more efficient transmissionof data, and a decrease in errors.

These landmarks and initiativessummarize the accomplishments of

Seventh-day Adventisteducation in SouthAmerica during the pastfive years. Clearly, edu-cation in the SouthAmerican Division has abalanced approach andis committed to techni-cal, learning, and peda-gogical improvements, aswell as in the spiritualedification of students,faculty, and staff.

Goals for the NextQuinquennium

For the next five years(2010 to 2015), the SADeducational network has

volves the ongoing process of stan-dardization;

2. Religious initiatives, whichfocus on the Spiritual Master Plan,religious courses for Adventistteachers who have not attendedchurch colleges, the integration offaith and learning, chaplaincy min-istries, integrated evangelism, in-creased emphasis on creationism,and the celebration of Christian Ed-ucation Day in our churches;

3. Management, which will em-phasize showing greater apprecia-tion for professionals, the training ofmanagers, job descriptions forschool management positions, poli-cies for hiring school administrators;and the creation of new courses andprograms;

4. Academic development, whichamong other initiatives, will focus onthe training of leaders and experts,and providing academic support forprimary school education;

5. Community projects, which willcontinue the current emphasis in-volving students in service and vol-untarism; and

6. Institutional development,which will focus on expandingschool facilities and implementingnew programs.

The data for the current quin-quennium show that Adventist edu-cation in the SAD has made consid-erable progress, but also reveal thatthere are challenges ahead. ✐

Carlos A. Mesa isEducation Directorfor the South Ameri-can Division of Sev-enth-day Adventistsin Brasilia, Brazil.


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well-defined goals that emphasizethe religious, evangelistic, and peda-gogical aspects of education. Sixmajor areas have been highlighted:

1. Unity of the network, which in-

Brazil Adventist University students doing missionary work in SauPaulo, 2008.

New engineering building at Peruvian Union University, Lima, Peru, 2008.


he South Pacific Division(SPD) education system iscomprised of four unionsystems—the Australian

Union Conference (AUC), the NewZealand Pacific Union Conference(NZPUC), the Papua New GuineaUnion Mission (PNGUM), and theTrans Pacific Union Mission (TPUM).The conference and mission status ofthe unions mark a clear divide be-tween the rich and poor areas of ourterritory.

Since the previous quinquennium,our system has grown by more than15,000 students so that we now havemore than 50,000 students enrolled in351 schools, four tertiary institutions,and two vocational schools. This isdramatic growth. The largest increasehas been in PNG, which joined otherchurches in the New Guinea Govern-

ment Unified System in 2006. Sincethen, their student population has al-most quadrupled. There has beenhigh student growth in the Trans-Pacific and Australia Union as well asin all tertiary schools.

The Pursuit of Adventist Mission and Ethos

During the past quinquennium,the SPD Department of Educationhas taken measures to strengthenAdventist mission and ethos in ourschools. For example, in 2006, wecompleted a Commission on Ad -ventist Secondary Education inwhich we interviewed a total of 260principals, chaplains, teachers, andstudents in 19 schools across the di-vision to find out how well schoolswere achieving their Adventist mis-sion and objectives. Schools gener-ally fared well. Then, in March 2009,the AUC Education Departmentconducted a major strategic consul-tation involving 75 of its key stake-holders. Position papers, keynotepresentations, and breakout groupsaddressed issues such as Adventistcurriculum, teacher supply, growingnon-Adventist clientele, and finan-cial viability. Pastoral and teachingministries were powerfully unitedthrough this experience.

The division has also ensured thatprofessional development for princi-pals and teachers in all unions isfaith-oriented and highlights Ad -ventist distinctives. In May of 2009,SPD sponsored two unions tojointly run a leadership conferenceto train leaders to disciple students.Speakers such as Ben Maxson and

Bailey Gillespiehelped make thisoccasion a spiri-tual high.

Many other ini-tiatives have pro-moted Adventistmission and ethosin SPD schools. In2008-2009, the di-vision sponsoredvisits by educationdirectors and prin-cipals from the twolarge union mis-sions to schools inAustralia and New

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Wainibuka Seventh-day Adventist School (Fiji) receives resources from theSPD Education Department, 2009 (Fiji).

Zealand so that they could observehow Adventist ethos or “specialcharacter” is displayed visually andtaught. Also the division and“home” unions have helped Avon-dale College establish an attractiveWebsite featuring teaching as a min-istry, and publish Teach magazine.Meanwhile, quality school chap-laincy programs continue to develop.

Service LearningService to others is a pivotal value

of Adventist education. As the SPDEducation Department attempts tocoordinate the work of its fourunions, it becomes a broker betweenricher and poorer systems and seeksways to promote the value of serv-ice. One way to do this is to linkschools together for mutual support.Some conference schools are send-ing teacher-student teams to sistermission schools every year to helpwith repairs and maintenance, andto strengthen teaching and learning.

CurriculumBecause the needs are so great,

the SPD Education Department in-vests in curriculum development andimplementation for the poorer areasof the division. While most activityis Bible-oriented, we also emphasizeimprovement in the basics of teach-ing and seek opportunities to dis-tribute high-quality resources pro-vided by donors. Therefore, in 2009we sent out U.S.$2.5 million worthof donated primary English andmathematics books to all primaryschools in the Trans Pacific UnionMission.

In the past three years, we haveemployed a committee to develop andlaunch a new primary Bible curricu-lum. This program has been so suc-cessful that it has changed teachingand learning across the curriculum inmany schools. Since 2008, we havedistributed more than 1,500 teachersyllabi and 300 sets of Uncle Arthur’sBedtime Stories, and run 10 majorprofessional development events.

Currently, the AUC and NZPUCeducation systems are collaboratingto develop an exciting EncounterBible Project whose goal is to trans-form Bible teaching in grades K-10.Numerous writing workshops con-vened in retreat settings have in-spired the teachers who have beenassigned to write 250 units.

Tertiary SystemAdministrators of all tertiary in-

stitutions have worked diligently todeal with the complexity of highereducation. This sector faces a num-ber of challenges, including expand-ing non-Adventist student enroll-

ments, the quest for credibility, diffi-culty in attracting qualified staff,and the global economic downturn.

Pacific Adventist University inPapua New Guinea is prominent inits territory, and its graduates are ea-gerly sought after. Since 2005, itspolicies and publications have moreclearly emphasized strategic plan-ning, research, and postgraduatework. The division’s commitment toprovide better facilities has spawnedmore than 12 major projects. Avon-dale College in Cooranbong, NewSouth Wales, Australia, has estab-lished a reputation for high-qualityteaching and learning, gaining seven

five-star rankings in theAustralian Good Universi-ties Guide 2010. In Janu-ary 2009, it also receivedan excellent report fromthe Australian UniversitiesQuality Agency. Mean-while, Fulton College inTailevu, Fiji, has decidedto relocate near Nadi In-ternational Airport, andSonoma Adventist Collegein Kokopo, New Guinea,is at full capacity.

To avoid undue compe-tition for the same stu-


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Trans-Pacific Union education directors met in Honiara, Solomon Islands in 2009.

Values are highlighted at Suva Adventist Primary School in Fiji, 2009.


dents and financialresources, and tomake the systemmore efficient, theSPD initiated a re-view of its tertiarysystem in 2006.Subsequently, wehave employed anintegration officerto help us affiliateour smaller collegeswith Pacific Ad -vent ist University, amove that has al-ready enhanced thequality of the divi-sion’s tertiary edu-cation.

ChallengesOur challenges are virtually the

same as five years ago. In the Pacificregion, we need effective leadershipat all levels. Also, because manyteachers lack proper qualifications,we are using retired volunteers torun a series of short courses to giveschool personnel the basics. Further,since governments now pay most ofour teachers, some start to see them-selves as government employees, soour task is to induct them into“real” Adventist thinking.

A set of challenges has emerged be-cause of the departure of the large ex-patriate contingent for many years,creating gaps in local leadership devel-opment and resourcing. Consequently,schools now have few resources, par-ticularly in the areas of library books,textbooks, classroom equipment, andbuilding maintenance. Even morepressing is the ongoing need for allstaff to show initiative, be responsibleand self-motivated, and to pursue ex-cellence.

Although resources and financialviability are still an issue, and an in-fusion of cash would help thesmaller schools, the greater chal-lenges are faith-oriented. It is a chal-lenge to maintain the same percent-age of Adventist teachers duringcurrent school growth phase, letalone reduce the percentage of non-Adventist teachers, and as schoolsenroll more non-members, it is achallenge to maintain their Advent -ist ethos. There is the need to pro-mote education as soul winning toadministrators, to retain ownershipof schools by churches, and tostrengthen teacher spirituality.

Looking to the FutureAlthough the challenges point the

way forward, we have learned that itis not the best strategy to pursue toomany initiatives at once. In the terti-ary sector, we want a well-affiliatedsystem moving to achieve full inte-gration. We also aim to see FultonCollege relocated, to establish asmall teacher-education institutionin the Solomon Islands, and to helpAvondale College attain universitystatus. Our quality-assurance pro-gram must ensure genuine account -ability that includes effective ap-praisal and support, and a betterschool accreditation process. Wewant to develop an effective second-ary Bible curriculum and higherteacher accountability and skill lev-els through long-term school-basedprofessional development.

Education in the South PacificDivision is a proven soul winner, aministry that is growing rapidly. Thefuture looks bright. ✐

Barry Hill is the Di-rector of Education forthe South Pacific Divi-sion of Seventh-dayAdventists in Wah -roonga, New SouthWales, Australia.

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Vanuatu teacher graduation, 2008—where a large number of teachers received their first teaching certificate.

Students attend chapel at Jones Adventist College, Solomon Islands.


n April 2006, the SouthernAfrica-Indian Ocean Division(SID) Education Departmentsuffered the sudden tragic

death of its education director—Dr.Elden Gerald Kamwendo, who hadbeen in office for only three months.The SID Executive Committeeelected his widow, Dr. Ellah Kam -wendo, to lead the education workin SID.

That same year, the division relo-cated from Harare, Zimbabwe, toPretoria, South Africa.

Despite these challenges, the SIDEducation Department pressed for-ward to fulfill its Mission Statement:To ensure quality Adventist educationthat covers the spiritual, mental, phys -ical, and social dimensions of life forproductive life here and the world tocome.

SID’s Five Initiatives as Applied to Education

The SID Education Departmentcoordinates and supervises schoolsto ensure their adherence to the mis-sion statement through the imple-mentation of five initiatives:

1. A call to school administrators,teachers, and students to develop astrong intercessory prayer life andintentional spiritual growth throughpersonal daily devotions (Colossians4:12).

2. A call to equip school adminis-trators, teachers, and students withknowledge and skills to “Lift UpChrist” and to “Tell the WorldAbout Christ!” (2 Timothy 2:2).

3. A challenge to the wholeschool community to engage in per-sonal and public evangelism andnurture, according to each person’sspiritual gifts (Zechariah 8:22, 23).

4. A challenge to all educationalinstitutions to become self-support-

ing through proper management oftime, talent, and treasure (2 Chroni-cles 31:9-12).

5. A challenge to the unions tobuild more quality Adventist schoolsand/or repair old ones, and maintainacademic quality (Haggai 2:8).

New Building ProjectsSchools have been built with sup-

port from the General ConferenceAdventist Mission Department, 13thSabbath Special Project Offerings,Maranatha, and other sources.

• Montemorelos University inMexico is helping the Angola Unionto rebuild Bongo Adventist Semi-nary in Huambo after 30 years ofwar and destruction. Division anduniversity officials requested permis-sion from the Angolan Minister ofHigher Education to operate theschool, who expressed pleasure atthe request and said that this waslong overdue.

• Maranatha International hasbuilt several primary schools in Ma-puto and other parts of Mozam-bique.

• Former Malawi Union Presi-dent Fred Wilson supervised thebuilding of a modern girls’ dormi-tory and several staff homes at LakeView Campus in Malawi.

• Adventist University Zurcherin Madagascar has completed amen’s dormitory and extended thewomen’s dormitory and cafeteria. Anew block of classrooms has beencompleted.

Schools that were placed on pro-bation because of poor infrastructurehave made a major turnaround. InMalawi, Mbwatalika Primary School(accredited in 2009) has built new pitlatrines and a new cafeteria and isrenovating the boys’ dormitory. Pu -pils who used to sit on the floor atNsambe Primary School now havedesks and benches to sit on.

Adventist Educationon the Move

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which gained offi-cial church recog-nition in February2009.

Work ProgramsMatandani

Sec ondary Schoolin Malawi has re-suscitated its farmand vegetable gar-den, which hadbeen lying idle foryears. They areproducing vegeta-bles, beans, sugarcane, maize, andother products to

feed the students and staff, withenough left over to sell to the sur-rounding community.

Evangelism“The Blessed Hope Crusade” was

held in Tati Siding Village in Fran-cistown, Botswana, in October 2008by the two SID female directors.Car oline Chola, children’s andwomen’s ministries director, took themain service, while Ellah Kam -wendo, the education director, pre-sented health talks. Daily activitiesincluded visitations in the village

Student ActivitiesMogoditshane Adventist Primary

School and Little Lambs Preschoolin Botswana offer well-rounded edu-cation that includes swimming, gar-dening, and other activities. Thepupils have planted and take care ofa maize garden.

New SchoolsThe Botswana Union Mission

has built the first Adventist second-ary school in the country—EasternGate Academy in Francistown,

and blood pressure screening. Six-teen people were baptized.

Renewed Accreditation of Institutions

Five tertiary institutions wereevaluated by the Adventist Accredit-ing Association (AAA) with the fol-lowing outcomes:

• Zambia Adventist University inZambia—Candidacy status ex-tended for another two years.

• Solusi University in Zimbabwe–Regular accreditation status ex-tended for four years.

• Helderberg College in SouthAfrica—Regular accreditation statusextended for five years.

• Beira Seminary in Mozam-bique—Status pending, subject to itsaccreditation as a junior college.

• Adventist University Zurcher inMadagascar—Regular accreditationstatus extended for three years.

Helderberg Primary School andHelderberg High School (SouthAfrica) received high ratings, andwere granted five and four years’ ac-creditation status respectively. AfterSedaven High School’s evaluation in2009, teachers, students, and parentswere excited that their institutionhad at last regained its official recog-nition as an Adventist school, fol-lowing a long period when it heldonly government accreditation.

For the first time, during thisquinquennium, some secondary andprimary schools in the ZambiaUnion Conference were ready forevaluation. Five schools receivedregular accreditation. When the vis-iting team arrived at Mupapa Sec-ondary School in Ndola, a formerstudent, Evangelist Ernesto Ricci,was conducting a Week of SpiritualEmphasis.

Teacher Service AwardsMalawi Union Education Direc-

tor Margaret Masamba and theunion officers, teachers, and stu-dents from Adventist schools


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In Gabarone, South Botswana, Mogoditshane Adventist Primary School students engage in recreationalswimming with their principal.

The Adventist Accrediting Association Team that visited Beira Seminary in Mozambique

Adventist Education’s Challenges in SIDIncreased Enrollment

Adventist education is thriving inZimbabwe, despite the severe eco-nomic and political problems. Whenteachers in government schools wenton strike, many students came to ourschools. Because of this, TshabandaPrimary School for example, nowenrolls more than 1,000 students. In

Angola, the church isgrowing so fast thatthe classrooms areovercrowded as peo-ple seek to betterthemselves througheducation. Of course,rapid enrollmentgrowth creates its ownchallenges—providingadequate facilitiesand hiring qualifiedAdventist staff.

Scarcity of QualifiedAdventist Teachers

The political andeconomic challengesthroughout the SID

territory have caused a brain-drainin our schools, leading to the recruit-ment of some unqualified, non-Ad-ventist teachers. Because the major-ity of the students and teachers onour campuses are non-Adventist, itrequires constant effort to create awholesome campus environment toeliminate behaviors, adornments,and language expressions that donot reflect Adventist values.

Effects of HIV and AIDSAs a result of the high rates of

HIV infection and AIDS in most ofthe sub-Saharan countries of SID,millions of young adults have died,leaving tens of thousands of or-phans to fend for themselves. Someunions are building orphanages tocare for these children and alleviatethe burdens of young people whohave become guardians to their sib-


throughout Malawi met to promoteAdventist education from May 30 toJune 1, 2008, in Blantyre. One hun-dred nineteen teachers were awardedfive- to 40-year service pins. On Sun-day, the Honourable Deputy Minis-ter of Education for Malawi govern-ment, Mrs. Olive Masanza, was theguest of honor at the event.

Teacher / Leader UpgradingEvery year, the SID provides bur-

saries to the unions to enable teach-ers and administrators to study foradvanced degrees. In 2008 alone,SID sponsored 221 educators at Ad-ventist International Institute of Ad-vanced Studies (Philippines); theAdventist University of Africa(Kenya); and Helderberg College(South Africa).

The Adventist University ofAfrica (AUA), a General Conferenceinstitution inaugurated in 2006, hasits headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.Currently, AUA has teaching-learn-ing centers in each of the threeAfrican divisions. The one for SIDwas opened at Solusi University but

has relocated to Helderberg Collegein South Africa.

Special EventsDespite the adverse conditions in

Zimbabwe, in 2008 Solusi Universityhad one of its grandest graduations,granting diplomas to 998 students.Three people who have played signifi-cant roles in the development of theuniversity received honorary degrees.

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One of the beautiful new schools built by Maranatha in Maputo forthe Mozambique Union

The Deputy Minister of Education for the Malawi government was the guest of honor at an Adventist educa-tion promotion in Blantyre that featured booths highlighting student activities and projects, including onewith baked goods.

lings. Many of our schools are feed-ing and educating these orphans,which further strains the limited re-sources of the institutions.

Language BarriersThe SID faces the challenge of

reaching its constituent territory inthree major languages—English,French, and Portuguese—making itdifficult and expensive to share im-portant information and curriculaamong the unions.

Lapsed AccreditationsOnly about 16 percent of SID’s

324 schools have been evaluatedsince 2005. Some have lost their ac-creditation due to lack of follow up.Because of this and a deteriorationin the infrastructure, personnel, andacademic programs, many schoolsare sub-standard.

Plans for the Coming Quin quennium

• To accredit more schools andthereby assure quality personnel, in-frastructure, and academic pro-grams. It is the goal of the SID Edu-cation Department to allow onlyfully accredited institutions to iden-tify themselves as Adventist schools.

• To encourage institutions to

subscribe to THE JOURNAL OF AD-VENTIST EDUCATION for teachersand libraries, and encourage teach-ers to read the publication.

• To urge educators to integrateBible lessons with life experiences.

• To require school administra-tors to develop, implement, andevaluate the Spiritual Master Planfor their schools.

• For educational institutions toconduct at least two weeks of prayerper year, as well as mid-week prayermeetings and vespers, and to spon-

sor Pathfinder and youth programs.• For teachers and students to en-

roll as many non-Adventist studentsas possible in Voice of Prophecy les-sons.

• For institutions to establish vi-able industries and work-study pro-grams to enable students andschools to become self-financing,and to supply commodities to theircommunities.

• To encourage school adminis-trators to upgrade facilities and in-frastructure and give serious atten-tion to cleanliness and maintenance.

• To distribute the “Ten OutlineLessons for the book Education” byEllen G. White to provide orienta-tion on the Adventist philosophy ofeducation.

• To continue to work to adaptthe Bible curriculum secured fromthe North American Division foruse in SID schools. ✐

Ellah Kamwendo isthe Director of Edu-cation for the South-ern Africa-IndianOcean Division ofSeventh-day Ad ven t -ists in Pretoria,South Africa.


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The state-of-the-art computer lab at Heidelberg High School in Cape Town, Southern Africa.

The first graduation at Adventist University of Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, August 7-9, 2009.


urat! At the mention of thename, varied images floodthe mind. A little Indianfishing village on the north-

western coast of India. The gatewayfor a merchant boat from England,an opening wedge to the British Em-pire. A crucial flagpost in modernIndia’s struggle for freedom. Andcurrently, a textile hub and theworld’s premier center for diamondcutting and polishing.

But today, the city is also knownfor another kind of diamondwork—cutting, shaping, and polish-ing young lives in a location wherethe flag of Adventist education isflying high. Each day, nearly 6,500young people—from toddlers tograduate students—from all parts ofthe metropolis, representing all reli-gions and social strata, flow throughthe portals of this Adventist educa-

tional center, to be shaped, molded,patterned, and polished—from theraw material of childhood innocenceand teenage dreams into mature anddynamic young people, transformedto change society, to lead the com-munity, and to achieve great things.Adventist education is the tool, ded-icated teachers are the means, acommitted administration is the mo-tivating power that has made a one-room, one-teacher institution of 70years ago into a dynamic center ofeducation—for the glory of Godand for the good of the community.

Until Surat’s tertiary programtook shape in 1998, the SouthernAsia Division (SUD) had only onehigher education institution, SpicerMemorial College in Pune, India. Thetradition and the historic rooting ofAdventism symbolized by Spicer haslinked with the dreams of the newand the challenge of the unknown

symbolized by Surat to produce ninetertiary institutions throughoutSouthern Asia. The advancement intertiary education to meet the in-creasing educational and leadershipneeds of a growing constituency is areminder of what God began—smallin the long ago—and what He willconclude in the near future.

Higher EducationThis development of the tertiary

program is SUD’s single most im-portant educational achievement inthe current quinquennium. Advent -ist colleges are strategically posi-tioned to serve the growing field.

Spicer Memorial College contin-ues to be the flagship institution, de-veloping pastors, teachers, and otherworkers for the division. Surat Ad-ventist College, with branch cam-puses in Nuzvid in the East CentralIndia Union Section and in Ranchi,Northern India Union Section, of-fers specialized training in nursing,health care, and in business leader-ship. Roorkee Adventist College,which serves the Northern IndiaUnion Section, trains teachers andaccountants. Northeast Advent istCollege, located amidst the beautifulfoothills of the Himalayas, servesyoung people from the NortheastIndia Union Section. Down on theeast coast is the Flaiz Memorial Ad-ventist College, which offers variedcourses in arts and commerce. Vel-lore Adventist College of Education,the youngest of the colleges, trainscertified teachers for elementary andsecondary schools throughout thedivision. Lowry Adventist College,the cradle of Adventist higher edu-cation, located in Bangalore, has ahighly acclaimed nursing program,in addition to degrees in teachingand computer technology.

The nine Adventist colleges in thedivision enroll 3,873 students, taughtby a highly qualified faculty of 441.Although some institutions have a

Making Grace Known Through

Adventist Education

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high percentage of non-Adventiststudents, the governing and adminis-trative structure of the institutionsensure that the Adventist ethos pre-vails on the campuses, in the class-rooms, and in the dormitories. Theemphasis on Adventist lifestyle, thecore Bible curriculum, and integra-tion of faith and learning in allclasses ensure that when studentsgraduate, they have achieved notonly academic excellence, but alsospiritual and moral maturity. “Ichose to teach here,” said oneteacher at Roorkee College to a re-cent church accrediting team, “be-cause of the moral imperatives andspiritual nurture that are upheld.”

Education That Makes a DifferenceDuring the current quinquennium,

elementary and secondary educationalso had a division-wide impact.From the tiny town of Banepa inNepal to the bustling city of Nager-coil at the southern tip of India, SUDoperates 262 elementary and second-ary schools, most of which offer col-lege-preparatory curricula. Almost150,000 students, most of them fromnon-Adventist homes, are enrolled inthese schools. Each child is a poten-tial member of God’s kingdom, and

that in itself justifies investing thechurch’s time, funds, and human re-sources in education.

The surge in elementary and sec-ondary education is typified by theAdventist Higher Secondary Schoolin Ahmedabad, north of Surat. Justa few years ago, it was a small,struggling institution. But thanks toa strong spiritual and moral empha-sis, a committed administration andstaff who care for each child as if he

or she were the only person on thecampus, the school has grown tobecome the largest school in theSouthern Asia Division, with morethan 8,500 students and sophisti-cated facilities.

Add to Ahmedabad such centersas Spicer Higher Secondary Schooland Hume McHenry Higher Sec-ondary School in Pune, Seventh-dayAdventist Higher Secondary School,Spencer Road, in Bangalore, Ad -ventist Higher Secondary Schools in

Pondicherry, Chennai, Madurai,Kuttapuzha, Secunderabad, Kol -kata, Lucknow, Shillong, and manyothers, you have a modern chapterof faith reflected and patterned afterHebrews 11.

While the curriculum of theseschools varies depending upon the re-gion, a common thread of unity andspiritual nurture, of vision and pur-pose, binds all the schools. The inte-gration of faith and learning providesa pervasive influence that bonds allclassroom activities. The SUD Educa-tion Department, assisted by able ad-ministrative and teaching personnelthroughout the division, provide con-tinuous training and materials inorder to ensure both academic excel-lence and spiritual nurture. The core


N A S I A D I V I S I O N

Both Adventist and non-Adventist students take an active part in spiritual-life activities as here at the Ad-ventist Higher Secondary School, Hosur, Tamil Nadu.

Graduation exercise at Roorkee Adventist College.


Bible curriculum is followed by allschools and taught by men andwomen dedicated to values of nurtureand faith development. Thus, Ad -vent ist schools are known and soughtafter for their philosophy of wholisticeducation—the training of the head,hand, and heart.

Education’s Golden RuleAdventist schools in SUD operate

in a largely non-Christian atmos-phere, which means that our educa-tors are often faced with a challengesimilar to the one faced by childrenof Israel camped by the rivers ofBabylon, who lamented, “How shall

we sing the Lord’s song in a strangeland?” (Psalm 137:4, KJV). Fortu-nately, we have the guidance of Scrip-ture and the Spirit of Prophecy: Loveis the way to bring about wholistic ed-ucation. During the current five-yearperiod, the educational leadership ofthe church, from administration toteachers, has adopted a 10-step for-mula, implementing the golden ruleof education in the way our schoolsare operated and our classrooms aremanaged. These steps are: (1) Be arole model; (2) be impartial; (3) lend asympathetic ear; (4) be cheerful; (5)help the children to pray and trust inGod; (6) instill right values; (7) wintheir confidence; (8) provide con-structive criticism; (9) build self-esteem; and (10) be a faithful steward.

An education based on such posi-tive values will certainly succeed. Godhas blessed our educational ministryin SUD. In the past five years, 3,960people were brought into God’s king-dom through the ministry of ourschools. Many more have come toknow the meaning of a personalGod. We have much to be thankfulfor. During the upcoming quinquen-nium, we are committed to makingGod’s grace known through the“nicest work” given to human be-ings—the work of education (seeEllen White, Counsels to Parents,Teachers, and Students, p. 73). ✐

G. Nageshwar Rao is the Director of Ed-ucation for theSouthern Asia Divi-sion of Seventh-dayAdventists in Hosur,Tamil Nadu, India.

S O U T H E R N A S I A D I V I S I O N

The ministry of Adventist schools is recognized and appreciated by the government and the public. One suchacknowledgement was received by students from the chief minister of Pondicherry State in southern India.

Each student is precious to Adventist education,and each one is invited to become a member ofGod’s kingdom.

investiture service at Northeast Adventist College, Shillong.

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he Seventh-day Adventistschool system in theSouthern Asia-PacificDivision (SSD) continues

to exist and grow with the goal ofproviding an education that will pre-pare its students “for the joy of serv-ice in this world and for the higherjoy of wider service in the world tocome” (Ellen G. White, Education, p.13). As we review the progress ofAdventist education in SSD duringthe past five years and considerplans for the future, it is clear that:(1) only through the grace of Godwere we able to accomplish what wedid, and (2) there are greater thingsto be achieved.

Reality Today̶Accomplishments and Challenges

The SSD Education Departmentexperienced a change in leadershipduring this quinquennium—a newdirector in 2007, and an associate di-

rector in 2008. Many of the division-level programs continue to functionwell; some recent initiatives havebeen added to meet current needs.

Statistical Update. In 2009, SSDhad a total of 997 schools, 120,664students, and 7,004 teachers. Thisrepresents a slight decrease in

schools and an increase in enroll-ment and teachers compared to theprevious quinquennium. The churchhas education programs in all butthree of the 18 countries that makeup the SSD territory.*

Evangelistic In-reach and Outreach.Each year, SSD’s education in-reachprograms result in more than 4,000people being baptized. In addition,all schools are also actively involvedin outreach programs in the commu-nities nearby and more distant fromtheir campuses. The division depart-ment of education has providedmatching funds to each college/uni-versity and union office of educationto develop and implement a plan forthe school-based evangelism outreach“Tell the World.” Our tertiary andsecondary schools as well as division,union, and conference/mission educa-tion leaders all hold yearly evangelis-tic meetings. These and other initia-tives add thousands of baptisms eachyear.

Reaching the Unreached Placesthrough Education (RUPE) programof West Visayan Academy in centralPhilippines, sponsored by the GeneralConference Council on Evangelismand Witness, seeks to establish an Ad-ventist presence in population sectorswith no church members by offeringfree education to qualified youngpeople whom they seek to win to

Christ duringtheir study at theacademy andwho can returnhome to sharetheir faith withfamily andfriends.

Bursary, Ed-ucation Aid, andNelson Scholar-ships. The SSDhas providedscholarshipfunds of morethan U.S.$300,000each year for

Reality Today̶Vision Tomorrow

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Baptism at Lipa Adventist Academy, Philippines.

upgrading college and universityfaculty, as well as K-12 teachers. Anaverage of 190 personnel were up-graded each year during the pastquinquennium thanks to the SSDbursary and education aid funds.More than 170 students from SSDcolleges and universities received theNelson Scholarship EndowmentFund.

DayStar Readers and Bible Cur-riculum. A new reading series forgrades 1-6 is now being used in SSDclassrooms. Teacher’s guides arebeing completed, and we will soonbegin revising our Bible curriculumbased on the North American Divi-sion’s Bible program.

Graduate Education Expansion andQuality. The Adventist InternationalInstitute of Advanced Studies(AIIAS), a General Conference insti-tution has offered Master’s and doc-toral degrees in the SSD territory formore than 20 years. The AdventistUniversity of the Philippines (AUP)has for some time offered Master’sprograms, but more recently has beenauthorized by the church’s Interna-tional Board of Education to offerseveral doctoral degrees and has re-ceived a national award from thepresident of the Philippines as one ofthe best universities in the country.

Other SSD tertiary institutionsoffering graduate degrees includeAdventist University of Indonesia,Klabat University, also in Indonesia,and Asia-Pacific International Uni-versity (formerly Mission College) in

Thailand, the SSD’s newest univer-sity. Mountain View College, Cen-tral Philippine Adventist College,and Northern Luzon Adventist Col-lege, all in the Philippines, are ac-tively seeking university status.

Strengthening School Administra-tive and Teacher Functions. The SSDEducation Code is being revised and

will include new policies governingteacher certification, core curriculafor the training of teachers and min-isters, teacher performance stan-dards and evaluation, and qualityassurance. The code will soon beposted on the SSD education Web-site (http://www.ssd.org/edu), whichhas recently been revised to featureeducation news/events and the ex-change of ideas and experiences.

In 2009, the division coordinatedan International Seminar on the In-tegration of Faith, Values, Teaching,and Learning on the beautiful cam-pus of AIU. Twenty-seven partici-pants representing 22 educationalinstitutions attended the event.

Adventist Accrediting Associa-tion team-member and schoolboard-member training have beenoffered in the past several years.Teachers’ conventions were held inmost of the division territories withthe SSD office of education person-

nel being major con-tributors. Also, twoworkshops for terti-ary- and secondary-level dormitory deanswere organized andsponsored.

Challenges. De-spite renewed effortsto strengthen schoollibraries by providingtraining for librari-ans, building bookcollections with do-nated books and ref-erence materials, andproviding incentives,the challenge of up-grading libraries inmany of our schools

remains. The availability of text-books from preschool through grad-uate level continues to be a majorconcern. In addition, many of theschools are unable to implement thevoted wage scale due to financialchallenges.


S I A - P A C I F I C D I V I S I O N

SSD students of the first Adventist school in East Timor.

Adventist University of the Philippines receives an award as one of the country’s best universities.


Vision Tomorrow̶Future Opportunities

Proverbs 29:18 reads, “Wherethere is no vision, the people perish”(KJV). Unless we understand clearlywhere we are headed, the probabilityof a successful journey is severelylimited. Also, vision without actionis merely a dream. Our plans for abetter tomorrow in SSD educationinclude the following.

Strategic Planning. College anduniversity presidents as well as unioneducation directors have agreed to fi-nalize, before the SSD Education Ad-visory in 2011, the strategic planningprocess that began in 2008. Areas ofemphasis include: (1) spiritual/moralfocus, (2) administration, (3) market-ing and enrollment, (4) curriculumand instruction, (5) school facilities,(6) finances and development, and (7)ongoing evaluation and revision. Aspart of this process, we held a bi-union tertiary education consultationand planning meeting in Indonesia in

August 2009. Similar events areplanned for the Philippines and else-where in 2010. These meetings reviewthe academic programs each institu-tion, as well as what they plan tooffer, leading to an agreement on howto collaborate to meet the needs ofthe church and each school’s sur-rounding community.

Division-Wide Teachers’ Conven-tion in 2013. The SSD EducationCommittee voted to organize anSSD-wide teachers’ convention inSeptember 2013 in Bangkok, Thai-land.

Review and Approve New Under-graduate Programs and Professional

Institutions. Theterms of refer-ence of our edu-cation board/ -committee havebeen revised inorder to be ableto review andgrant approvalsfor new collegeprograms andprofessional edu-cational institu-tions upondemonstrationof eligibility.

Building aQuality Educational Culture. AQuality Assurance Ad Hoc Commit-tee under the leadership of the SSDdirector of education has been es-tablished to formulate quality crite-ria and standards that will help es-tablish a culture of quality in SSDschools.

As we begin a new quinquen-nium, we remember the ApostlePaul’s words in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I

planted the seed, Apollos watered it,but God made it grow” (NIV). MayGod bless as we continue improvingthe church’s education ministry toour children and youth and to thesurrounding communities until thatday when we will be invited to liveeternally together with our Lord andSavior Jesus Christ. ✐

Mike Lekic is Di-rector of Educationfor the SouthernAsia-Pacific Divi-sion of Seventh-dayAdventists (SSD) inSilang, Cavite,Philippines;Lawrence Domingois Associate Direc-tor of Education forSSD.

*The SSD has education programs inBangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia,Myanmar/Burma, Philippines, Singapore, SriLanka, Thailand, Timor Leste/East Timor, andthe U.S. territories of Guam and Wake Island,the Federated States of Micronesia, MarshallIslands, Northern Mariana Islands and Palau;but not in the Lao People’s Democratic Repub-lic, Vietnam, or Brunei Darussalam.

S O U T H E R N A S I A - P A C I F I C D I V I S I O N

Master’s degree graduate with Princess Soamsowalee at Asia-Pacific International University.

Science students in the lab at Asia-Pacific International University.

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uring this past quin -quennium, Seventh-dayAdventist education inthe Trans-European Di-

vision (TED) achieved mod est butsignificant progress in spite of diffi-cult challenges.

The TED is the smallest of the 13world divisions, yet the most diverse.It stretches from Greenland in thenorth through Scandinavia (Norway,Sweden, Finland, and Denmark);the British Isles, Netherlands,Poland, and the three Baltic coun-tries; southward to Hungary, theAdriatic countries, and all the wayto Israel; and then farther south-ward to Egypt and Sudan in Africa.It stretches over six time zones fromthe west in Iceland, through Greeceto the Islamic countries of the Mid-dle East, the Arabian Peninsula, andall the way to Pakistan. The 616 mil-lion inhabitants of these territoriesspeak 60 languages and numerous

dialects in secular, Islamic, and ani-mist cultures.

Delivering Adventist educationthroughout the 40 countries in theTED is no small task. These coun-tries are organized into 13 unions andthree attached fields. Because of thediversity, there is no unified recipethat will work everywhere. Adminis-trators, educators, and students arecommitted to the foundational beliefthat our educational system must pre-pare people not only for useful servicein the specific conditions of thisworld in which they live and work,but also for the world to come.

Adventist edu cation in the TEDaims to provide excel lent academictraining and intellectual develop-ment, but also seeks to nurture spiri-tual growth and to provide studentswith a solid grounding in Christiandiscipleship. Thus, our schools con-tinue to fulfill a key role in the lifeand witness of the Seventh-day Ad -ventist Church throughout the vastregion of our division.

Difficult OddsIn achieving these lofty goals, our

106 educational institutions battleagainst almost overwhelming odds.High on the list of difficulties arethe perennial problems of trying toattract paying students in countrieswith a wide availability of free andgovernment-subsidized education;declining birthrates; lack of avail-able subsidies, difficulty in promot-ing and nurturing biblical standardsand values in the midst of secular-ism and moral decline; lack of diver-sity in study options and majors;and the difficulty of staffing institu-tions with godly, motivated, ade-quately quali fied, and decently paidprofessionals in a time of globalcredit crunch. Small churches andunions of a few thousand membersstruggle to sustain secondary board-ing schools. Yet, in spite of thesedaunting challenges, by the grace ofGod our schools continue to prevail,celebrate success, and flourish inamazing and innovative ways.

Enrollment GainsDuring the past quinquennium,

we have seen an overall increase inthe num ber of students enrolled inour schools. Because of the condi-tions, the gains have not been evenlyspread across the division. However,some schools have had outstandingsuccess in attracting students. Forexample, in 2000, our Polish Spiri-tual Seminary had 15 full-time terti-ary students. In 2010, the school cel-ebrates 10 years of offering a B.A.de gree program called “Tourism inBible Lands,” which is now offeredin 10 centers around Poland. In thepast quinquennium, it began pro-grams in journalism and media com-munication, and promotion ofhealthful lifestyle, for a total of fivedepartments. The institution obvi-ously found a niche in the Polish ed-ucational market—incorporatingBible knowledge and Christian val-ues—and today, the Polish Sev enth-

Good News inDifficult Places

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day Adventist College of Theologyand Humanities is the largest Ad-ventist school in Europe! Its enroll-ment has grown from 15 to 2,137students since 2000, a huge increase!

The Adventist International In -stitute of Advanced Studies (Phil -ippines) has begun to offer a newMaster’s-level extension program inQatar, where we had no educational

presence before and would be hardpressed to open one with TED’s aca-demic and financial resources only.For this type of cross-divisional co-operation, we are truly thankful.

Throughout the system, merenum bers fail to reveal some excitingand important aspects of school life.High on this list is the enthu siasm ofstudents engaged in the life-chang-

ing educational ex-periences that aredaily offered in ourschools. To heartheir testimonies,and to see the en-ergy, vitality, andpotential of chil-dren and youth isalways heart-warming for thevisiting accreditingteams, church andschool administra-tors, and teachersalike.

Higher Education AchievementsNewbold College in southern

England, the TED flagship institu-tion, went through a difficult re-structuring period during the pastquinquennium. A new Departmentof Management, Art, and SocialStudies was created to offer new de-grees in media and diversity studies.By adding British-style Master ofPhilosophy and Ph.D. research de-grees in theology and new D.Min.degrees introduced in 2005, New-bold now offers all aspects of uni-versity training from one-semesterundergraduate courses to doctorallevel.

Recently, the Middle East Univer-sity in Beirut, Lebanon, which cele-brated its 70-year anniversary in2009, began offering undergraduatedegrees in elementary education,computer science, information sys-tems, and graphic design and digitalmedia. It also offers five postgraduatedegrees in a variety of specialties. Wepraise God for an excellent university


R O P E A N D I V I S I O N

Pakistan Adventist Seminary and College graduates, 2008

Moor Close (residence hall), Newbold College, in southern England


in a country where the Adventistmembership is around 300.

In the Baltics, the final gradua-tion of 30 pastors with a GriggsUni versity B.A. degree in religiontook place in Riga, Latvia, in June2007. More than 60 pastors haveearned this degree since 2002.

In Arua (Uganda) a graduationof 42 pastors from South Sudantook place in March 2010, complet-ing many years of off-campus train-ing. Middle East University offeredthis degree to these gospel workersusing their own faculty and otherguest lecturers.

In Croatia, Hungary, Poland,and Serbia, excellent work has beendone in correspondence training ofreligious education teachers in sec-ondary schools. These motivatedand committed people attend inten-sive classes one weekend each monthin order to earn their degrees.

In Hungary and Serbia, ourschools have had amazing successwith the Bible Open University,where each book of the Bible waspresented to the general public fromthe point of history, art, and litera-ture. A great deal of interest hasbeen generated by the work of ourteachers and as a result, a number ofpeople have been baptized.

Major financial support was pro-vided to enable students from eco-nomically challenged countries of theTED to attend Newbold College forministerial training, as well as busi-ness education for church treasurersand financial workers. The TED con-tinues to invest significant resourcesin contract sponsorships (more than£130,000 [U.S.$186,000] yearly). Inexchange for sponsorship, the stu-dents agree to work for the church fora number of years. The TED alsobegan to offer grants (£113,000[U.S.$162,000] yearly) to help youngpeople who would not otherwise havea chance to attend a Seventh-day Ad-ventist educational institution tostudy in areas other than theology.These students spend a year on the

T R A N S - E U R O P

Belgrade Seminary in winter

Adventist elementary school classroom in Iceland

Middle East University Administration Building, Beirut, Lebanon

campus of an Advent -ist institution, wheretheir lives are shapedintellectually, educa-tionally, and spiritually.

In-Service for Educators

The success of oursystem relies on and ispowered by our teach-ers’ faith in God andtheir dedication to de-livering high-qualityeducation. The TEDsupports them by pro-viding a variety of in-service training andnurturing events; forex ample, regional anddivision educa tionconventions. Three bi-ennial inter-divisionEuropean theologyteachers’ conventionstook place during thisquinquennium. Eachprovided significanten couragement, net-working, and profes -sional development forthe attendees from

Britain, Scandinavia, the MiddleEast, Eastern Europe, and Pakistan.

To support teacher develop ment,the division held its quin quennialeducation convention from July 7 to11, 2009, in the beauti ful Adriaticspa town of Rogaška Slatina, Slove-nia. On the opening day, the almost150 participants heard C. GarlandDulan, General Conference directorof education, deliver a chal lenging

keynote address, “Producing GlobalChristian Leaders in the 21st Cen-tury.” Other lecturers and work shoppresenters provided high-quality ses-sions during the ensuing days. Asimilar event in March 2009 tookplace at Middle East University inBeirut, Lebanon, under the leader-ship of Lisa Beardsley, GeneralConference associate director of ed-ucation.

Winning Students to ChristFinally, while we rejoice in numeri-

cal growth, statistics reveal littleabout the dedication of faculty andstaff who win many people to Christthrough our schools. From Finland toSudan to Pakistan, Adventist schoolsare igniting students’ spiritual inter-ests and aspirations and pointingthem toward eternal realities. One in-dication of their suc cess is that duringthis quinquennium (between 2005and 2009), our schools accounted for1,862 baptisms. While we give Godthe glory for this, we also acknowl -edge an enormous debt of gratitudeto our 1,475 teachers who inspire the13,308 students in our schools andworker-training institutions.

Because we believe that God “isjust as willing to work with the effortsof His people now” as He was in thepast (Ellen G. White, Patriarchs andProphets, p. 554), we can claim thepromise that “God will meet all [our]needs according to his glorious richesin Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19,NIV). Therefore, the team of educa-tors in the TED seeks to maintain aburning passion for the mission ofAdventist ed ucation. As followers ofChrist, they have been changed intheir personal lives. As leaders, theyembrace change in our institutions.As educators, they are the catalyst ofchange in our schools. And they envi-sion an even more exciting and chal-lenging future as their work continues to de liver Adventist educationthrough the grace and empowermentof our Lord Jesus Christ. ✐

Daniel Duda is Di-rector of Educationfor the Trans-Euro-pean Division ofSeventh-day Advent -ists in St. Albans,England.


E A N D I V I S I O N

Graduation for high school and nursing program students, Adriatic Union College, Marusevec, Croatia, 2007

Graduation of pastors, Griggs University program in Riga, Latvia, 2007


ost of the 22 coun-tries in the West-Central Africa Di-vision (WAD) are

located in an area referred to as the10/40 Window, a region in the East-ern Hemisphere between 10 and 40degrees north of the Equator withserious socioeconomic challengesand the smallest presence of Christi-anity on the planet. Thus, educationin this territory is a major means ofdevelopment and social advance-ment. Although WAD ranks seventhin membership among the 13 divi-sions of the world church, it rankssecond with regard to student enroll-ment in Adventist schools.

The WAD has nursery/primaryschools in 20 nations; secondaryschools in 10 countries; and terti aryinstitutions in three countries.Through their quality, Christ-

centered education, these schoolsbaptized more than 10,900 personsthis quinquennium.

AchievementsThe WAD educational program

grew significantly from 2005-2009—schools: 955 to 1,232 (29 percent);teachers: 7,359 to 9,652 (31 percent);students: 214,046 to 252,688 (18 per-cent). The growth occurred division-wide inspired by the theme “Educationfor Redemption and Restora tion.”Major achievements include:

Integration of Faith and Learning (IFL)

Because we strongly believe that“In the highest sense the work of ed-ucation and the work of redemptionare one” (Ellen G. White, Education,p. 30), WAD teachers faithfullytransmit biblical faith and valuesthrough every educational activity.To enable them to do so effectively,the division regularly offers IFLseminars on Adventist educationphilosophy, environments and meth-ods for effective teaching and learn-

Education forRedemption andRestoration

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WAD

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Babcock University president (far right) honors 2009 facilitators for Integration of Faith and Learning workshop.

ing, discipline, faith, and science.The topics are posted on our Web-site so the teachers can access themand request supporting materials.Commitment by teachers and stu-dents to serve the Creator-God andhumanity is evident. WAD schoolsare also recognized nationally andinternationally for academicachievement and the moral disci-pline of students.

Babcock University (BU)Babcock University (Nigeria) has

5,850 students, 248 faculty members,and 30 degree programs in educationand humanities, management andsocial sciences, science and technol-ogy, and law and security studies.The campus is blooming with mod-ern facilities, and the strong impactof BU, from spiritual life to academ-ics, has made this school Nigeria’s“flag bearer” university. BU includesIFL in its faculty orientation at thebeginning of every session; and in2009 hosted a special IFL seminarfor every employee, both teachingand non-academic staff. Because ofthese and other evangelistic activi-ties, BU baptizes 600 people everyyear, most of whom are students.

Besides its academic and spiritualexcellence, BU is a source of Niger-ian “academic pride,” and is steadilygaining international recognition.Among the achievements that haveearned BU wide recognition are thefollowing:

Supportive Christian environmentfor harmonious, wholistic develop-ment.

Collaborative relationships withprofessional bodies that allow its stu-dents to qualify for professional certi-fication even before they graduate.

Quality teaching and research:many BU graduates perform withdistinction, and BU faculty mem-bers ranked second on individual re-search projects in Nigerian universi-ties in 2008.

National approval for a medicalschool and accreditation for a law

program.Construction of a well-equipped,

185-bed capacity medical center tosupport clinical education.

Strong, cordial relationship withconstituent communities, includingstudents’ parents, who have financeda large water project that providesdrinking water for the university,and a 10,000 person-capacity sportsstadium for BU.

Valley View University (VVU)Valley View University is the first

private university to be chartered inGhana and the only one that receivedits charter directly from the country’spresident. Also, in May 2007, duringthe 50th anniversary celebration ofGhana’s independence, then-Presi-dent John Agyekum Kufuor awardedVVU President Seth A. Laryea the“Order of the Volta-Officer Division”

for his contribution tothe development of pri-vate tertiary education inGhana. In 2009, VVUhad 3,279 students and130 faculty members,and offered 17 degreeprograms in the arts andscience, education, andbusiness administration.VVU is strongly influ-encing its communitythrough:

A strong evangelisticoutreach program forcommunities in WestAfrica that producesabout 500 baptisms peryear.


R A L A F R I C A D I V I S I O N

Valley View University (VVU) in Ghana is Africa’s foremost ecolog- i cally designed and developed campus.

Integration of Faith and Learning workshop participants, Cameroon


Its status as Africa’s foremost eco-logically designed and developed campus, hosting the Center for Eco-logical Studies, sponsored by theGerman Ministry of Environment.

High academic performance. In2008, four VVU students qualifiedat the national to the continentallevel in the “Zain Africa Challenge”held in Kampala, Uganda. Each stu-dent received a cash award equiva-lent to a 50 percent sponsorship fora session, and the university receivedU.S.$10,000 worth of audio-visualequipment.

Leadership in Information Commu-nication Technology (ICT). The an-nual ICT Exposition showcases stu-dent-created software for variousorganizations throughout the country.

Attracting students from manycountries (25 in 2009), making VVUa center for cultural understandingand exchange.

Adventist University Cosendai (AUC)From an enrollment of about 250

students and 20 faculty members in2005, Adventist University Cosendainow enrolls more than 470 students,and has 37 faculty members. Degreeprograms in education and nursinghave been added to the existing onesin business (options in accounting,administration, and finance), com-puter maintenance, software engi-neering, information management,theology, and church administra-tion. A modern classroom complexand hostels for males and femalesare being constructed. AUC effec-tively touches its community with:

Christ’s love and care through thegospel of salvation and service.

Health education to empower peo-ple to enjoy good health and a long life.

Competent teachers and graduateswho exhibit the values of Adventisteducation.

K-12 Schools in Our UnionsLike its universities, the WAD’s K-

12 schools are impacting their com-

munities in remarkable ways. High-lights from the six unions provide evi-dence of their accomplishments:

Central African Union Mission(CAUM): Our schools have contin-ued to excel academically as well asspiritually. Enrollment increasedfrom 15,001 in 2005 to 21,512 in2009. Evidence of the influence ofour schools on the communities are:

National education leaders in mostof the countries of CAUM visit andvoice appreciation for our schoolspublicly and in writing; some sendtheir children to our schools.

Among those baptized by ourschools were 12 non-Adventistteachers.

Eastern Nigeria Union Mission(ENUM): Student enrollment in ouryoungest union grew from 8,428 in2005 to 11,149 in 2009. Its outstand-

ing achievements in-clude:

Academic success atAdventist SecondaryTechnical College(ASTEC) averages 98percent. Three studentsof ASTEC received the2008 Stanbic-IBTCprize for Excellence inthe English Languageand Mathematics in theSecondary School certi-fication exam.

The first prize in theProfessor Nagel Essay competitionwas won by a student of ASTEC.

Adventist Technical SecondarySchool Ebem Ohafia, received thestate government’s approval for itsprogram the first time it applied—evidence that the government recog-nizes the positive effect of the insti-tution on the community.

ENUM schools baptized morethan 1,094 students and teachersfrom 2005 to 2009.

North-Western Nigeria UnionMission (NWNUM): Student enroll-ment in 2009 is 3,399.

NWNUM schools baptized morethan 199 students from 2005-2009.

Its students have done well in avariety of competitions and regionaland national exams.

Numan Adventist Secondary

W E S T - C E N T R A L A

Special music at Adventist University Cosendai, Cameroon

Foumbot commander-in-chief on the building site for our new highschool in Cameroon.

School was first in a March Pass onthe 2009 Children’s Day in theirlocal government area.

Ghana Union Conference (GUC):More than 65 percent of the divi-sion’s K-12 students are in thisunion (148,115 in 2009).

Bekwai and Yembi Junior Second-ary Schools achieved first academicranking in their districts in 2008.

Agona Seventh-day AdventistSecondary School won the 2008 re-gional championship in volleyball.

Takoradi Secondary School’sEvangelism Club has opened a newchurch in the town.

The Ghana Government contin-ues to collaborate with us as part-ners in education.

Nearly 650 students were bap-tized through our schools from 2005to 2009.

In the Sahel Union Mission(SUM): Student enrollment was7,038 in 2009. Many parents andcommunities testify to the positiveinfluence of Adventist education ontheir children. Adventist schools inBurkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Mali,and Senegal received awards fromtheir national educational authori-ties in recognition of their academicsuccess, quality of instruction, lead-ership, and cleanliness.

West African Union Mission(WAUM): In 2009, student enroll-ment was 48,663. We are rebuildingAdventist schools after many yearsof destructive wars in the union’stwo main countries—Liberia andSierra Leone.

Our schools in Gambia have astrong appeal to the country’s largeMuslim population.

Academic success in our second-ary school in Liberia stands at 76percent—one of the highest in thecountry.

WAUM schools reported baptiz-ing 540 persons in 2008-2009.

WAD Education Department:Besides general supervision and

leadership in IFL seminars, the effectof the division leadership is being feltdivision-wide through the initiation of:

A doctor of ministry programwith Andrews University (Michigan,U.S.A.) in which 34 pastors success-fully completed their D.Min. studiesin 2009.

A multilateral scholarship projectaimed at sponsoring 35 teachers and25 pastors from the 10/40 windowcountries of WAD for B.A. degrees.

A scholarship project that will en-able WAD universities to send theirfaculty members to Andrews Uni-

versity for advanced studies.U.S. high school and GED pro-

grams through Griggs InternationalAcademy, which have benefited hun-dreds of adult learners.

ChallengesOur major challenges:Increasing the number of Advent -

ist students and, especially, teachers. Improving instructional facilities

and materials. Making Adventist education

more affordable. Gaining cooperation from gov-

ernments, which often impose theirsecular policies on our schools.

Improving religious and culturalunderstanding.

Plans for the FutureIntegration of Faith and Learning

will continue to be the “signature” ofour educational programs, and wehave plans to upgrade our Websitewith topical curricular examples. Bythe grace of God, our universities willexpand their undergraduate programsand start graduate programs the nextquinquennium, with the vision ofbeing benchmarks for excellence inAdventist education. Similarly, ourK-12 schools will continue to grow aswe seek to establish Adventist schoolsin the two countries (Mauritania andCongo Brazzaville) that currentlyhave none. And we will continue towork to overcome our challenges.

We express sincere thanks to theGeneral Conference and NorthAmerican Division education de-partments, Andrews and Griggs uni-versities, and to all our partners inAdventist education for their en-couragement and support. ✐

Chiemela Ikonne isDirector of Educa-tion for the West-Central Africa Divi-sion of Seventh-dayAdventists in Abid-jan, Cote d’Ivoire.


F R I C A D I V I S I O N

VVU radio station

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Documents

Website: Summer 2010 Summer 2010circle.adventist.org/files/jae/JAE_v72n5.pdf · Summer 2010 • Volume 72, No. 5 Art and photo credits: Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are