Free Republic

A nighttime fire at the North Valley Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church in Phoenix, Arizona is being blamed on arson, with city and federal officials investigating. The Feb. 7 blaze gutted the church, and caused a reported $200,000 in damage. While the congregation, which has 150 members, is insured, the emotional toll is heavy. Discussing the thought that the fire was set, church Pastor Claudio M. Martin told the "Arizona Republic" newspaper, "I don't want to even suspect that someone would do such a thing." However, that same newspaper report indicated arson is, indeed, suspected. Division Chief Mike Sandulak of the...

An estimated 770,000 people in the Western Ninewa province of Iraq will benefit from eight tons of essential medicines delivered Oct. 24 by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Turkey. Three major hospitals and 37 primary health clinics in the cities of Telafer, Sinjar, Al-Ba'aj and surrounding areas received the supplies. The shipment is part of a larger project in which ADRA shipped more than 45 tons of medicines and other supplies to the country. "These drugs were very much needed and arrived at the right time," wrote Dr. Fawzi M. Mohammad, director of the Telafer Hospital. ADRA...

Just three days after a Baptist home service was raided in Abadan, across the country in Turkmenabad (formerly Charjou) police raided an Adventist home on 7 August. The family's children and guests were watching a video of Finding Nemo, but police confiscated all the literature they could find, confiscated the owners' identity documents and pressured the husband to sign a statement that an "illegal" religious service was underway. The Adventist pastor in the capital Ashgabad has complained that his congregation cannot hold public worship as it cannot rent premises for worship, despite having state registration. "All hall managers turn us...