Typical produce market in Luzern, Switzerland

Roses in The Netherlands. This picture will be on the  back cover of September 2008 Old Paths.

Our Sabbaths this month have been special to us as we have all pitched in to help during Sabbath School and church while Pastor Allen has been gone. We are also glad to have a few more pictures from Pastor Allen’s Trip to share with you.

Sabbath School: Each Sabbath this month we have had devotionals in our Sabbath School by Brother Glen Ford, Sister Ann Ford, Sister Anna, or Sister Holt, and the lesson studies have been led by Brother Leon Holt. We have had many visitors for which we have been glad. The children’s Sabbath School has had many important lessons, most recently on guarding the avenues of our soul and how one wrong thing can spoil whatever we are watching or reading, for example, just as one bad apple can spoil the whole batch of apples. Each Sabbath four new countries have been selected for special prayer during the week. A synopsis of the countries for this week follows. Geo-quizzes for all the countries have finally been uploaded to give you more valuable information concerning them.

The Worship Service: Our worship services have been a blessing, with Brother Glen Ford, Brother Dennis Robertson, and Brother Leon Holt sharing a message on various Sabbaths, and next Sabbath Brother Robertson will be back with us. Following that, our pastor will have returned, Lord willing, and will present the Worship Hour message for us the first Sabbath in September. Our children’s story has been given by different ones, including Sister Ann Ford, Brother Jon Marihew, Brother Leon Holt; and Sister Anna will share the story next week. We are so thankful for everyone’s willingness to contribute and make the Sabbath worship hours a blessing for all. May God richly bless you during the coming days is our prayer.

Pastor Allen will be in Oslo this coming Sabbath (August 30) and we ask that you will continue to pray for him and then his safe travel back to the United States:

Countries in Prayer: We are sorry that we have not been able to upload the last few Geoquizzes until now but we have the links below for first three quizzes of the month as well as the quiz for this week. Our four countries chosen for prayer for August 23 are Afghanistan, Bermuda, Comoros, and Fiji.

Link for August 2 for the countries of Albania, Belgium, Cameroon, Georgia.

Link for August 9 for the countries of Greece, Jordan, Malta, Papua New Guinea.

Link for August 16 for the countries of Rwanda, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam.

Link for August 23 for the countries of Afghanistan, Bermuda, Comoros, and Fiji.

 In Afghanistan, there is no official provision for religious freedom in the Afghanistan constitution. The number of Seventh-day Adventists in this country is unknown. Violence and instability in the government have made the protection of religious freedom very difficult. The government operates according to Shari’a law. The Sunni majority discriminates against all other religions, including other branches of Islam. Under the Taliban conversion to Christianity was punishable by death. This was expected to change after the Americans orchestrated overthrow of the Taliban, but in March 2006 the new government threatened to execute Abdul Rahman who had converted from Islam to Christianity.  After an international outcry, including a strong reaction from religious groups within the United States, the judge referred the case back to the prosecutor because of certain “flaws.” Under intense international political scrutiny and pressure, the Afghan government eventually released Mr Rahman, who immediately sought and received asylum in Italy. There are no Seventh-day Adventist churches. There are serious problems for any non-Muslim religious minority. Sabbath observance in Afghanistan is very difficult. Under Shari’a law evangelism of Muslims is illegal. Those caught and convicted of evangelism may be beheaded.

In Bermuda, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is generally allowed to evangelize freely. There are ten Seventh-day Adventist churches. The church also operates one K-12 school and one bookstore. These institutions are generally allowed to operate freely. There are no reports of major problems regarding Sabbath-keeping for Adventist students or employees.

 There is no reported evidence of Seventh-day Adventists in the island of Comoros, which is 98% Sunni Muslim. There is a ban on proselytizing in this country, and the law also prohibits citizens from converting from Islam. There is discrimination against non-Muslims, particularly Christians. All citizens face societal pressure to elements of Islam, especially during the month of Ramadan. Most non-Muslims do not openly practice their faith for fear of discrimination. The people treat citizens who convert to Christianity more cruelly than foreigners who practice their faith. Discrimination most often takes place at the local level behind closed doors. There is also concern that Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise.

In Fiji, there are 144 Seventh-day Adventist churches. The church also operates a secondary school, high school, and college. These institutions are generally allowed to operate freely. There are no reports of major problems regarding Sabbath-keeping for Adventist students or employees. Generally Fiji allows for the free exercise of religion. However, there is a movement by Christian-political groups to make Fiji a Christian state, and in 2005 a string of incidents of robbery and vandalism of Hindu temples and mosques were reported. Fijian authorities believed that those incidents were religiously motivated.