Adventist Church and Healthcare Recognize and Honor Lucy Byard; and other world news

08 Jan 2022

This week on ANN.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church and Adventist HealthCare recognize and honor Lucy Byard, a devoted black Seventh-day Adventist, who was turned away from Washington Sanitarium in 1943 because of the color of her skin. On December 10, Adventist HealthCare leaders unveiled a commissioned portrait of Byard and a series of significant scholarships in her name that will benefit nursing students at three universities. The event brought together various Church, healthcare, and community leaders and representatives to acknowledge the decades-old indignity and move toward healing and reconciliation by owning the wrong and taking committed action to ensure it never happens again.

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in the Philippines dispatched teams throughout different provinces affected by Typhoon Rai. The teams are working to assess the effects rapidly and support communities distressed by the most powerful typhoon of 2021. Typhoon Rai left behind massive destruction and displaced over 1.8 million people, suddenly uncertain where to get the necessary resources to keep them alive. Together with Adventist Community Services and Hope Channel Northeastern Mindanao Mission, ADRA Philippines interviewed more than 800 families to identify essential needs. Initially, ADRA was able to distribute assistance to more than 850 families in Surigao City.

President of the Cabo Verde Conference, Natalino Martins, accompanied by some pastors and directors, recently welcomed the prime minister of Cape Verde, Dr. Ulisses Correia E. Silva, to the Adventist Church’s headquarters. The visit is part of the program called “Mobilization for Accelerated Social Inclusion (MAIS),” an initiative of the government to end extreme poverty. Silva also informed everyone that the government, within the framework of the targeted program, intends to emphasize improving the living conditions of families through the rehabilitation of houses. The idea is to develop actions with entities daily on the ground and know the local reality.

ADRA has stepped up humanitarian relief operations to aid more than 31,000 Venezuelan refugees and migrants rebuilding their lives in Brazil. ADRA has launched the ANA Project to provide food and household and hygiene items to families in some cities. The ANA Project is locally known in Portuguese as the Food and Non-Food Actions for Venezuelan Migrants in Brazil.

The city of Florence, Italy, has Ellen Gould White Street. The ceremony for the street renaming took place on Friday, December 10. Attendees included the Councilor for Toponymy in Florence, Alessandro Martini, the Italian Union president, Stefano Paris, president of the Italian Union.

Go to the Adventist News Network website for more Adventist news and current affairs.