Browse Articles
Burials are cultural events with religious undertones among many tribes in Kenya, and traditions associated with these events present several issues for Adventist believers there.
Braid patterns and hairstyles are an indication of a person's tribe or community, age, and marital status in many African cultures. Some Christians question whether braiding is compatible with biblical Christian lifestyle.
Jita is a tribe located around Mount Masita in the eastern side of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. The name Jita was adopted based on the location of Mount Masita. The colonial governors from Germany could not pronounce Masita; instead, they called it Majita. They put in writing the word Majita, and therefore it became the name for these people. Since then the whole area is called Majita.
The Kuria Tribe is among the Bantu ethnic groups. Adventism reached the Kurians in 1912. The missionaries soon discovered that the best way to introduce the gospel was, initially, to establish schools and, later, health services.
Levirate marriage is still practiced among the various African tribes in including, in Tanzania, the Luo, Pare, Hehe, Sukuma tribes. The unique struggles of the Adventist Church in its endeavors to evangelize these groups is discussed in this article.
The Luo are a Nilotic ethnic group that is spread out in East and Central Africa. Most of them inhabit the shores and the environs of Lake Victoria in Kenya and Tanzania. Adventism among the Luo of Kenya is over a century old, tracing its roots to the missionary activities of Arthur Carscallen and Peter Nyambo, who arrived at Kendu Bay in the eastern shores of Lake Victoria in November 1906.
The Maasai people live in the southern part of Kenya and northern part of Tanzania in east Africa. It is estimated that one million Maasai people live in Kenya and Tanzania, although most Maasai doubt these numbers. Many Maasai see the national census as government meddling and often miscount their numbers to census takers. This tribe is well known for being strong in preserving its culture.
The Adventist Church in Kenya survived numerous trials during the Mau Mau uprising (1952-1960).
Many Adventists in the Soviet Union, who were drafted into the army during World War II, refused to violate the fourth and sixth commandments of the Decalogue. For this reason, they were convicted, some of them being publicly executed by shooting.
Protestant Christians often disliked and mistrusted cities yet also sought to reform them and evangelize the people living within them. The relationship that Seventh-day Adventists have had and still have with urban environments can be characterized as being tidally linked, with some decades seeing Adventists advocate city work and other decades seeing other Adventists call for a return to the country. This push-and-pull between city and country is ongoing.
During the early decades of Seventh-day Adventist missions in the Caribbean, missionaries eschewed public service in the public arena. This stance was influenced by the views of early Adventist leaders and promoted among the laity reaching back to the Millerites. Among the earliest holders of government positions was Frank Bayne of Barbados, who was appointed a member of the colony’s legislative assembly in 1959. Since then, Adventists in the Caribbean have continued to step into the public square. One study shows that at least thirty-two Adventists have held public office in twelve Caribbean countries from 1959 to 2020.
Australasian Division income during the depression was remarkable in the face of widespread adversity. Any progress made by the church during the worst years was in sharp contrast to numerous bankruptcies and business failures in the secular world.
The close proximity of Australia to Southeast Asia naturally led union conference officials in Australia to adopt responsibility for the establishment of Seventh-day Adventist missions in that region, first in Sumatra, then Singapore, followed by the Philippine Islands and Java.
During the first half of the twentieth century at least three families from the Mona Mona SDA Mission for Indigenous Australians were sent as missionaries to Papua (part of what today is Papua New Guinea).
This article examines the history of the development of baptismal vows in concept, word, and usage throughout the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church—from early references in Adventist publications and letters to current, official baptismal vows found in church manuals.
The Bible Conference organized by church leaders in 1919 to discuss eschatological and theological issues was one of the most significant meetings in the history of the denomination. The gathering consisted of two overlapping meetings: the main Bible Conference, held July 1 to 19, with a Bible and History Teachers’ Council that met concurrently and continued until August 9.
The 1952 Bible Conference was the second of three major twentieth-century Bible Conferences held by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It was held at the Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church in Takoma Park, Maryland, September 1-13, 1952.
The Black Unions debate (1969-1980) concerned the wishes of the leadership of eight regional conferences of the North American Division in existence at that time to organize into two newly-created union conferences.
Even though the blood pact is not to be encouraged and is not practiced now as in the past, the concept of blood covenant has helped some in African cultures, particularly in Rwanda, to understand the Christian message.
Brinsmeadism arose within the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia during the 1960s and had run its course by the late 1980s. Its name derived from that of Robert D. Brinsmead, a Seventh-day Adventist church member, whose ideas became influential in small groups and meetings in Australia and along the West coast of the U.S.A. during that time.