Adventists in Iraq continue to carry out the church's mission despite growing concerns about a war against their country, according to Pastor Michael Porter, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Middle East region.
Vandals have inflicted serious damages, including broken windows and arson fire, to the Seventh-day Adventist Church's premises in Arhus, Denmark, which houses the local church, the Danish Bible Correspondence School and a media center.
The climate of religious freedom is not really getting better, says Dr. John Graz, director of public affairs and religious liberty for the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide.
The question of religious freedom remains unsettled as Afghanistan wrestles with its new constitution.
The recent opening of the first Seventh-day Adventist publishing house in Israel, "Chaim Veshalom," which is Hebrew for "Life and Peace," marked a milestone for the church, which has ministered in Israel for 107 years.
A high illiteracy rate throughout Central America has prompted Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in the region to declare 2003 as a "year of literacy."