News Articles

North American Division Adventist Community Services Calls for Prayer Amid Tornado Recovery Efforts

March 19, 2025 | Columbia, Md. | North American Division Communication and Adventist Community Services

Tornado aftermath — *Archival photo of a tornado aftermath. Photo: Getty Images*

A massive storm system tore through the central and southern United States the weekend of March 14, 2025, spawning roughly 66 tornadoes across seven states and claiming the lives of at least 37 individuals. Mississippi, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Louisiana experienced widespread destruction, with hundreds of buildings in ruins.

The North American Division Adventist Community Services (NAD ACS) is monitoring the situation in partnership with ACS directors in affected states. Recovery efforts are in progress, as ACS representatives from the South Central, Iowa-Missouri, and Arkansas-Louisiana conferences participate in daily VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active Disaster) calls with local disaster response communities to coordinate response efforts. NAD ACS has been present on all VOAD calls, offering support and determining the next steps.

Displaced Communities and Continued Storm Threats

To date, Missouri is one of the hardest-hit states, with at least 12 fatalities as an estimated 10 to 15 tornadoes, ranging in severity, hit 27 counties. Other states reporting casualties include Arkansas (at least three), Mississippi (at least six), and Alabama (at least two).

The system advanced toward the East Coast on Sunday, March 16, bringing tornado risks to the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. A separate but related weather event in Kansas caused at least eight deaths after high winds and a dust storm on Friday, March 14, led to low visibility and resulted in a pileup of dozens of vehicles.

Some attendees of last week’s NAD ACS South-Central Summit in Birmingham, Alabama, which ended a day early due to weather concerns, returned home to find their neighborhoods impacted by the tornados. Barbara Barnes, the South-Central ACS co-director, shared that one attendee’s neighborhood experienced losses, including two fatalities. None of the 100 attendees were injured.

Call for Prayer

As rescue and recovery efforts are ongoing, the NAD ACS solicits prayers from members and friends across the North American Division for the victims, responders, and affected families. “Please pray for wisdom and strength for ACS leaders as they address the devastation and support the rebuilding of impacted communities,” W. Derrick Lea, NAD ACS director encouraged.

“ACS will remain engaged, offering assistance and support to those affected by this tragedy as we continue to work with our partners in the disaster response community,” Lea added.

Stay tuned for further updates as the situation becomes clearer.

Click here to learn more about a centralized NAD disaster response warehouse training center in North Carolina.

Strongest Participation of Adventist Scholars at 2025 Annual American Society of Church History Meetings

In this Pentecost 2025 year and beyond, Adventist scholars can “witness” by accurately and dispassionately sharing with other scholars who Adventists are and what they believe. Over the past 15 years, a steady uptick of Adventist historians have regularly participated in meetings of the American Society of Church History, one of the premier academic organizations in the world for the study of religious history. This year’s meeting ran from January 3-6, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois. Themed “Legends,” it featured research by eight Adventist scholars, including two panel sessions focused on Ellen White and the Adventist experience.

North Carolina Governor Tours Multi-Agency Warehouse During Adventist Community Services Training

The North Carolina state disaster relief warehouse in Statesville has recently become a critical training ground, equipping Adventist Community Services (ACS) teams from around the North American Division with the skills necessary to manage disaster response operations effectively. This initiative, held throughout March, focuses on preparing volunteers to oversee multi-agency warehouses (MAW) that receive and distribute essential supplies to disaster survivors in their communities.

War Divides Their Homelands; Christ Unites Them in Cleveland

In a small Cleveland church, where worshippers from Russia and Ukraine kneel side by side, peace reigns, defying the war that divides their homelands. This unique congregation sings, prays, studies and fellowships together, with no trace of the painful divisions or hatred that mark their nations’ conflict.

North American Division Adventist Community Services Calls for Prayer Amid Tornado Recovery Efforts

They Also Served: A Podcast Uncovers the Lost Stories of Women in Adventist History

In 1940, the Review and Herald Publishing Association published a book with a dark blue cover that you have probably never seen — They Also Served — by Ava Covington Wall. Written roughly 80 years after the founding of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, it was the first book to detail the many women who contributed to the church's founding and growth. This now-elusive book has been out of print for more than 80 years, and many stories of women in the early Adventist denomination remain largely unknown. Thus, historian Dr. Heidi Olson Campbell created the podcast They Also Served: Stories of Adventist Women, using historical research and expert interviews to reveal how American Christianity and the Seventh-day Adventist Church were shaped by these women's contributions.