November 15, 2000 - 10:30am - Steve Daily
Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute, was recently asked, in a radio interview on KBRT, a Southern California Christian station, what he thought of Seventh-day Adventists. His reply, "It depends on which Seventh-day Adventists you are talking about. The denomination has become so diverse that one group bears little resemblance to the next." Adventism has become so fragmented by its pluralism that the last thing we need, in the opinion of many, is more new models for change. And yet current models are not generally working. Most of our North American churches are declining in attendance as aging memberships begin to die off. The majority of our schools are struggling to survive.

For years we have focused on reaching the public through large-scale evangelism (Revelation Seminars, Net Meetings, etc.) and Dorcas or Community Service activities that provide food and clothing for people in need. But these methods have done little to change the general perception which persists in the public square, that Adventists are an isolated sect preoccupied with externalism and sabbatarianism. Nor have they helped us to meet the rapidly escalating needs of fragmenting families in our society.

When we consider the major social problems, and resulting needs, found in some of our major cities today we could prioritize them as follows:

Problem: Single parents and poor dual-career families.
Need: Affordable quality infant and child care

Problem: Declining literacy rates and school performance
Need: Tutoring and mentoring programs

Problem: Increasing delinquency and teenage crime
Need: After-school empowerment programs

Problem: Marital problems and increasing divorce
Need: Affordable community counseling centers

Problem: Other family and community problems
Need: Free adult-education classes/seminars

Most churches and schools, be they Adventist or otherwise, are not reaching out to help meet these needs in our communities. This was not the approach that Jesus modeled or what he calls his church to do today. Christ related to people at the level of their felt needs. He listened to them, assessed their needs and met their needs before he called them to follow him. In the same way our churches and schools have an unprecedented opportunity to follow Jesus? example in our communities by establishing community service centers that are ADRA affiliate agencies.

For years ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) has been known for its impressive work providing humanitarian aid and development around the world. But in recent years, this agency, which is able to attract significant private and public grants, has begun to focus its attention on American cities in a manner that has tremendous implications for our Adventist churches and schools. To illustrate, approximately a year ago we began laying the groundwork to establish an ADRA affiliate in Orange County. We formed committees, made demographic studies, and surveyed neighborhoods identified as having the greatest needs. As a result of this needs assessment we determined and prioritized the needs mentioned above.

The next step was to become integrated into the communities where these needs were most visible. We did this by joining city and county task forces and collaboratives who were also trying to address these needs. As we made friends and established relationships with these people, they expressed tremendous surprise and joy to see Adventists taking a hands-on interest in community affairs. I was told by several community leaders that they were used to seeing Catholics and Lutheran Social Services involved in such a manner, but that this was a new day for Adventists, and that they were thrilled.

We named our ADRA affiliate KEYS (Keeping Education Your Strength) Family Resource Center. And it has been amazing to see how God has opened one door after another since we stepped out in faith and started our Center. Rudy Torres, senior pastor of the Garden Grove church, has a vision for this kind of ministry and is serving as the chair of the KEYS Board. Other local pastors and our Orangewood Academy principal are also serving on the board, but the KEYS center has not drained finances from our local churches or schools in order to operate. By contrast, we have already received more than $130,000 in grants and donations, with more than 75 percent of this money coming from non-Adventist sources. We currently have applications being processed to receive another $240,000 in the months ahead. One non-Adventist donor was so impressed with our program that he provided scholarship monies which allowed 54 students to attend our local academy this year, who could not have attended otherwise. Many of the students who received scholarships in turn volunteered to participate in our after-school tutoring program.

In its short existence, our KEYS Center has started a community counseling center, is providing quality child-care and an excellent pre-school program, and has plans to start soon with an Infant/Toddler Development Center with affordable rates for single parents and low-income families. We are presently offering the following adult education curriculum free of charge to our community:

• Healthy Nutrition for Busy Families
• Building Healthy Marriages
• Saving Your Marriage
• Dealing With Divorce
• Single Parenting
• Coping with Adolescence
• Finding Financial Freedom Seminar
• The Many Faces of Domestic Violence
• 5-day Plan to Stop Smoking
• Dealing with Depression
• Child Immunization Program
• Community Health Fair
• Preventative Health Care
• Stress Management
• Effective Parenting
• Anger Management
• Dealing with Addictions
• Preparing for Aging and Retirement
• Child Abuse and Molestation
• Money Management
• Debt Counseling and Family Law
• Teaching Basic Computer Skills
• Law School for Laymen
• Landlord/Tenant and Neighbor Rights
• Bad Checks and Bankruptcy
• Personal Injuries and Insurance

These meetings have been attended by more than 500 people from our community already, and we are less than a fifth of the way through our curriculum. People are hungry to find churches and schools that are willing to step into the gap to meet these needs. Since January we have seen our church attendance at Garden Grove more than double. What God has done in our community can happen in any community where there is vision and faith.

Some may argue that a program like ours violates, or at least flirts with violating, the line separating church and state. But that is the beauty of an ADRA affiliation. By working through this branch of our denomination, which functions separately from churches and conferences, we can protect our congregational autonomy while still accessing much-needed resources through ADRA that can help to transform our communities. Our ADRA programs function in a nonsectarian context, thus preserving the freedom of our churches and schools to continue teaching the principles that we hold dear.

My vision for the 21st century involves a paradiogm shift from the traditional way of relating to communities and peoples to a community-centered, need-based approach that is much more in harmony with the method of Jesus. There has never been more public openness to faith communities trying to help at-risk families. We are incapable of meeting these needs in our own strength, for God has said, "It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord" (Zechariah 4:6). This is why prayer has played a foundational role in our ministry and outreach. Those who say that the Adventist Church in North America has lost its relevance, or that our best days are behind us, need to take a sip of this "new wine." God wants to empower our churches and schools in new ways that will not only get our own blood pumping with passion again, but will minister to him (in the person of those in need) as we?ve never ministered to him before. He offers us the KEYS to his kingdom, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against us. '