GORDON L. RETZER Southern Union President Forgive "No Matter What . .?" My friend, Frank Taitague, I met for the first time while When Frank arrived at PUC, he checked in with the men's Cheryl and I were with Adventist World Radio in Guam. He's dean, was told he had been assigned to a room, and that his Guamanian, or Chamorro, and has been a pastor for many years roommate was already in the room. Frank reached his room, on the island. When he and I became acquainted, he was presi- knocked, and when the door opened he almost fainted, then dent of the Guam-Micronesia Mission. During lunch one day, automatically lifted his fist to knock out the person standing in he told me a story about how God changes people. He told me the doorway. You're right, his new roommate was a Japanese a story about God's gift of forgiveness—a story that inspires me student. Frank had no time for this and immediately went back to ask God to help me forgive "no matter what." to the dean and asked for a new room. "I refuse to live with a During World War II the Japanese army was determined Japanese after everything my family's been through." to control Guam and to kill every resident, including the Cham- The dean thought differently. And, as Frank was telling me orro race. Frank was in his teens when he had to flee to the hills the rest of the story, he was now crying. "It was God," Frank with his family. They could not get away, and he watched as said, "who assigned a Japanese roommate." The dean told Frank Japanese soldiers threw his eight-year-old niece to the ground he should go back to his room, give it a try for a few weeks, and brutally kicked her. He escaped, but saw too much, and then come back and talk to him. And, God performed a miracle. when the war was over and Guam was liberated, his heart was It's one of the greatest miracles that can be experienced, for a full of hate. He was determined to get revenge. person who feels he has every right to hold resentment against He carried a rifle with him, and one day came upon some another person or group, to be able to forgive and become friends Japanese soldiers who had not left the island. He took aim and with that person. suddenly felt someone grab his arm. It was his Dad, Frank said, Frank and his new roommate became the best of friends. "who kept me from becoming a murderer." Frank's anger and resentment were lifted by God. Today, his Frank's parents were Seventh-day Adventists, and Frank college roommate lives in Los Angeles and Frank stays with him had always wanted to study to be a pastor. His Dad thought it and his wife whenever he's in Southern California. would be good for Frank to leave the island to attend Pacific Union College. "And forgive us . .as we forgive . ." Matthew 6:12 PAGE 6 • COVER FEATURE Obituaries 24 Making a Big Difference in Small Ways Classified Advertising 26 by Heidi Martella Calendar 30 NEWS PAGE 3 • ESPECIALLY FOR WOMEN Carolina 4 Mothers Florida 8 by Cheryl Retzer Georgia-Cumberland 10 Kentucky-Tennessee 12 South Atlantic 14 PAGE 18 • FLORIDA FEATURE Southern Union 16 Winter Haven Church—Where FEATURES There Is More Than Preaching by Walter Maier, Martin Butler, and GCA Receives "Academy of Exellence" Award 22 Gladys Neigel Adventist Church World First— Jewish Outreach Training Center 29 COVER PHOTO BY COURTESY OF SAU CAMPUS MINISTRIES SOUTHERN TIDINGS (USPS 507-000) VOLUME 98 NUMBER 5, May 2004. Published monthly by the Southern Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Cover: Southern Adventist University students Tonya Tuell (left), and Free to members. $8 yearly subscription to others. Periodical postage paid at Rachel Tyson during a spring break mission trip to Tijuana, Mexico. Decatur, GA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER send changes of address to SOUTHERN TIDINGS, P.O. Box 849, Decatur, GA 30031. 2 • SOUTHERN TIDINGS • MAY 2004 ESPECIALLY FOR WOMEN BY CHERYL RETZER abor and delivery nurse, and the miracle of a human occurs, and fat is stored in places not previously seen. There g conceived, developed, and created within a mother's is increased water retention, changes in the thyroid gland, the ody never ceases to amaze me. God has given mothers parathyroid, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands, as well the special privilege of experiencing what it feels like to have as increased stress on the pancreas. And, changes occur in a real person become part of us, dwell in us, become one with our emotional makeup. us. This little person, even when he or So you see, when this miracle of new she leaves the cradle within our bodies, is life takes place within our bodies, we are always part of us; whether we cherish the changed beings. So it is when Jesus and experience or not, we never forget it. So the Holy Spirit dwell within us. Galatians it is with our relationship with Jesus when 2:20 says: "I am crucified with Christ: He says in John 17:21— "That they all nevertheless I live; yet not I,, but Christ may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and lives in me . ." And, God promises, "A I in thee, that they also may be one in us . new heart also will I give you, and a new . ." How easy for mothers to understand spirit will I put within you . .," Ezekiel this relationship that Jesus describes, for 36:26. In II Corinthians 5:17, He says we know how it feels to have a baby alter He will make us a new creation, and in I our entire being. Corinthians 6.7, God says we will be one Pregnancy affects nearly every part of in spirit with the Father. How wonderful to our anatomy. It increases uterine capacity be a mother, who has been given a personal and air capacity of the lungs, understanding of Jesus abiding in us. and oxygen consumption Jesus answered Nicodemus, ". I increases. Cardiac output say unto you, except a man (or woman) be increases 20-30 percent, born again, he cannot see the kingdom of peripheral blood flow God," John 3:3. When a baby comes from 600 percent, its mother's womb, he or she is a com- and blood pletely new person and could have some volume 48 percent. There of the mother's genes, or the father's, or a cousin's, or a great- are increases in leukocytes, great grandfather's. When Jesus says we must be born again, fibrinogen, platelets, lipids, He is not saying we just change our ways and actions or incor- phospholipids, and cholesterol. porate Him into our lives. He is talking about a completely The bladder is stressed and new person inside, with new tendencies and new desires. kidney functions are in- I can't scientifically explain how this occurs, but I know creased. There are many through personal experience and relationship with Jesus 7 visual changes, such as that He can change hearts and lives. Oswald Chambers says: skin pigmentation and "What is the proof that carnality is gone . God will see that stretch marks. The you have any number of opportunities to prove to yourself the joints of the pelvis marvel of His grace . You will never cease to be the most relax and posture amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the changes occur. inside." Metabolic functions Cheryl Retzer is the wife of Gordon Retzer, president of the Southern increase, ap- Union; Southern Union women's ministries advisor; shepherdess direc- petite is altered, weight gain tor; and a labor and delivery nurse. MAY 2004 • SOUTHERN TIDINGS • 3 CAROLINA • CONFERENCE In September, 2003, Sylvia Dona- hue, a member of the Fletcher, N.C., church, attended Lifestyle Center of America's (LCA) 19-day program in Oklahoma to learn about the Well- spring Diabetes Program. Wellspring is a community version of the 19-day program for Type II diabetics. LCA provides a DVD presentation plus manuals, workbooks, and materials designed to enable anyone, healthcare professional or not, to easily present Wellspring to their community. Pictured at the Four Seasons Theatre in Hendersonville, N.C, are Jon and Maria Donahue wanted to bring the pro- Ivascu, Wayne Moon, and Don and Gail Pridmore. gram to Fletcher. Nine participants and their spouses completed the entire pro- gram, which went four nights a week through four weeks. Though some did Passionate for Christ not want to come at first, they became Distributing Literature to "Passion" Moviegoers enthusiastic as the program went on and their health improved. One attendee, Joe Padgett, had been a diabetic for 10 years, and had A fantastic response to the offer of demand. two bad heart valves. His doctor told The Great Controversy and other books, The overall response has been over- him his health was so bad they couldn't following the opening of the Mel Gibson whelmingly positive. People have actually help him. It was a wakeup call for Joe. film "The Passion of Christ," reported lined up to receive them, often asking for Then he and his wife Elaine heard by Patti Guthrie, Fletcher, N.C. An area more to share with a friend or relative. A about the Wellspring program. Now church member, Wayne Moon, felt im- homeless ministry in Asheville transports Joe is faithfully sticking to his exercise, pressed to give out The Great Controversy homeless individuals to see the movie.