Stories & Commentaries

Pain comes in all shapes and sizes. Think about all the businesses that have been forced to close. How will the hundreds of thousands who’ve lost work pay their rent? How will they explain to their families that they might soon be living on the street? You and I can both extend the list of the agonies that plague our fractured planet and the people who live here. But there is always hope, healing hope.

On November 21, 2020, Adventist Surangel Whipps Jr. won the presidential election in Palau, becoming the 10th president of this beautiful Pacific nation. Whipps was sworn in as president on January 21, 2021, during the inauguration ceremony at the Palau National Capitol.

With a mother who is a professional radio personality and a father who is a disc jockey, communication is in Brittany Winkfield’s blood. It should come as no surprise that the young adult entrepreneur is successfully managing a career as a magazine editor and publisher of her own start-up, as well as balancing the roles of communication professional, wife, and mother.

Rockefeller "Rocky" Twyman was a guest the NewsPoints ON THE AIR Podcast in February 2021. Inspired by the Civil Rights Movement and molded by Adventist education, Tywman has led a life of service for decades. In addition, he is also a classically trained musician and prayer warrior. His “can-do” attitude has sustained the 72-year-old’s drive to do all he can to help others.

“‘Something better’ is the watchword of education, the law of all true living. …To honor Christ, to become like Him, to work for Him, is the life’s highest ambition and its greatest joy” (Ellen G. White, Education, p. 296). "Something Better" was the theme for the 2021 Association of Seventh-day Adventist School Administrators conference, which went virtual for the first time.

She was strong, committed, and determined to live for and be like Jesus. She read and studied her Bible daily. She cared for others—fed, clothed, nursed, housed, visited, taught about Jesus, and sang/prayed for and with others. Her purpose in life and her greatest joy, she often said, was to tell everyone about Jesus Christ. She was my "G" — and we called her a prayer warrior.

Much like the example in Joshua 3-5 where the Israelites placed stones to remember the spot the Jordan River dried up for crossing, each year during the month of February in the U.S. some African Americans celebrate their history by focusing on historical milestones or “stones of remembrance” that have led to progress on their journey from slavery to freedom.

It was Monday morning, Jan. 18, 2021, in College Place, Washington, a year into the coronavirus pandemic, and “As far as the eye could see, there were cars. The mood was one of anticipation and gratitude,” said Alareece Collie, executive pastor for the Walla Walla University (WWU) Church. While most of the world’s population has suffered from social isolation, unease, and painful losses during the past year, it was the promise of hope that brought the Walla Walla Valley community together.

You’ve read the social media posts before — the ones that make you cringe, angry, hurt, sad, depressed, or simply numb. By the way some "Christians" post online, you might think they don’t realize there is a real person(s) somewhere in the world reading and contemplating their potentially destructive words. Every encounter we have with one another matters.

As we draw to the end of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations of 2021 and reflect on the state of things in the United States, North America, and our world, one can’t help but be perplexed by the paradox of our times. In one of Dr. King’s most famous speeches he said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Some want to say that we have arrived at that place, but have we really?