December, 1972 
Vol. 39 No. 4 
Organ of the 
Euro -Africa Division 
(Come... and Help Us 
By St. IVoysch 
In Troas, a city in northwest Asia Minor, the apostle 
Paul received a vision in which he saw a man of Macedonia 
calling, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." The 
record says, "We (Paul and his companions) immediately 
endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering 
that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto 
them" (Acts 16:10). 
That vision changed the history of missions, and that 
call, the first of countless hundreds of calls to come to 
God's representatives during the centuries which have 
followed, set a pattern for response and sacrifice. In our 
day appeals come with greater urgency than ever before. 
Quarter after quarter, from every continent, from distant 
countries, from the islands of the sea, people rise to plead 
for spiritual and physical help. Again and again Seventh-day 
Adventists have been willing to sacrifice in order to answer 
the calls of needy and seeking peoples. 
This quarter, from the extreme northern sector of 
Madagascar comes an urgent call for a hospital. The 
hospital is to be built in the town of Andapa, the center of 
an area where hundreds of thousands of people live without 
any medical institution. Grateful for the work of the 
Seventh-day Adventist Church among them, the govern-
ment is supporting the project. The Indian Ocean Union 
Mission has been given a beautiful site for the hospital. 
Building plans have been drawn up and approved. All that 
is lacking is the money to build. 
From Angola, one of the African countries which form 
part of the Euro-Africa Division, children, young people, 
and adults are calling to us from an area where there is no 
organized work, no school, no mission station. Our 
brethren feel their responsibility. They know that the best 
way to establish the work of the church is to educate and 
prepare young people for God's service. 
Some Adventist families have already settled in this area 
of South Angola. These African families willingly left their 
homes and work to pioneer the giving of the gospel 
message in this unentered region. Through their faithful 
witness, many of the people have become interested in 
Bible truths. This is the opportune moment to establish a 
mission and a school. 
We have heard the calls. We have seen the outstretched 
hands. Now we have it in our power to answer. The 
overflow of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will provide 
the needed help. One fourth of all the offerings given on 
December 23 will be dedicated to these projects. 
It is Christmastide, the time of the year when Christendom 
celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the greatest gift ever 
bestowed on man. Should not the biggest birthday offering 
be consecrated to Him? Will you not bring a sacrificial gift 
to His altar on that day? 
These Angolan children thank you for their mission school. Thousands 
of boys and girls like them are still waiting to know about Jesus. 
1 
Doing God's Work Through SERVICE 
By Paul Pichot 
As he enters the Ambatoharanana Adventist Training 
School campus, a visitor, going up the fairly steep hill 
toward the main area, cannot fail to notice on his right a 
small blue building, surrounded by neatly kept grounds. 
Then he sees a large group of people — wives, husbands, 
grandparents, many with babies in their arms or small 
children at their side. Most of these people are not students. 
They are usually poorly dressed, and often they can give 
only a tired smile as one waves hello to them. This is the 
Ambatoharanana Adventist Dispensary. 
Amidst the sound of talking and crying, the gesticulating 
and general movement of the crowd, one soon notices a 
small woman clad in a white frock. Untiringly she goes from 
one to the other, dispensing medicines, giving injections, 
inspiring courage, smiling tenderly, and expressing sym-
pathy to all those who have come to her with their multi-
tudes of ills, some from very far. She is Mildred Vel, 
nurse-midwife-mother-friend-confidente to them all. 
Although the dispensary has been in operation only a 
few years, its reputation has gone far and wide, across 
mountains and rivers to the smallest hamlet, miles from 
the school. On a recent visit, Dr. Ramangalahy, chief of 
medical jurisdiction for Tamatave Province (the area in 
which our dispensary is located), told me rather matter-of-
factly that the reason our dispensary does not receive 
regular visits from medical inspectors is that they know it 
is the best in the area. "We have so many dispensaries which 
2 
are in deplorable condition that we do not worry about 
yours. We know the kind of work you are doing, and that 
is sufficient for us." 
And yet the needs in our clinic are urgent. The conditions 
under which Miss Vel must carry on her work are still 
unsatisfactory and certainly not representative of what an 
Adventist institution ought to be. Because of the heavy 
rains that fall in this area most of the year, she has had to 
move into the back rooms of the dispensary, which space 
would normally be occupied by a much-needed delivery 
room, a treatment room, and a supply room. In addition 
there should be space for six to ten beds. Previously Miss 
Vel lived in a small house four hundred yards from the 
dispensary, but on dark, rainy nights trudging in the sleek 
mud made reaching the dispensary a difficult undertaking. 
Often she fell down and arrived covered with mud. 
Patients come at all hours. They shyly knock at the back 
door, eventually waking up the nurse, who often has been 
working hard all day, from dawn until late at night. 
Nonetheless, she always greets the patient with a smile. 
Quickly she dresses and, without losing a moment, attends 
to the needs of whoever has come to her with such urgency. 
Most people who come for treatment are unwilling to go 
to the hospital in Tamatave, twenty miles distant, because, 
they say, "People who go there die." They often prefer 
simply to disappear after their treatment than to be taken 
into town, even if their condition is very serious. They 
trust the Adventist nurse, but not the doctors. 
On July 31 of this year, one man, who had traveled some 
seventeen miles on foot and in dugout, arrived at the dis-
pensary at three o'clock in the afternoon. He was trembling, 
not with fever but from weakness. The nurse urged him 
to let her take him to the hospital, but he strongly resisted. 
He had been sick for more than a month, and when he 
finally decided to come for help it was too late. Realizing 
the hopelessness of his condition, Miss Vel prayed with 
him and for him. At last he agreed to go to the hospital. 
A few days later we learned that he had passed away soon 
after his arrival. 
Because ignorance is often responsible for untimely 
deaths, the nurse, in addition to her normal duties, spends 
much time teaching the people how to care for themselves 
and their families. One sad case involved a seventeen-year-
old girl who came to the dispensary with two other women 
and two men from her village some twelve miles away. 
They left home at nine o'clock in the evening. After paddling 
all night, they arrived at the dispensary at sunrise, but the 
Miss Mildred Vel, 
nurse-midwife-friend of 
 
the sick and ailing in 
the Tamatave area. 
The Ambatobaranana Adventist Dispensary at Tamatave is the only 
medical endeavor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Madagascar. 
A small hospital with modern facilities is envisioned as the result of the 
overflow of the r3tb Sabbath Offering, December 23. 
girl, who was pregnant, did not reach help in time. She 
had delivered in the canoe, and by the time they knocked 
at Miss Vel's door the baby was dead, suffocated by the 
placenta. 
The real purpose of the dispensary, however, is to tell 
the people of the wonders of redemption, which has been 
made possible through Christ's atonement, and of our 
Saviour's imminent return. Sometimes the enemy of souls 
is very present, attempting to keep within his grasp those 
who reach out for eternal life. 
An example of the fierce struggle that is being waged 
for souls is the experience of Vavyroa, a young woman who 
recently came to the dispensary for help. Unwilling to go to 
the hospital for the delivery of her baby, she insisted that 
the nurse attend her. Before the time for delivery she came 
to the dispensary for frequent visits. During those visits 
she had many opportunities to become acquainted with 
Adventists. She even witnessed a baptismal ceremony with 
great interest. When the date for the delivery came and 
went, her husband told her that her interest in Adventism 
was the cause of the delay. Then when she was coughing 
one day, he again intimated that the Adventists were 
responsible for her problems. 
Finally she arrived at the dispensary in labor, sure that 
the baby would soon be born. By seven o'clock in the 
evening, however, all pain ceased. Vavyroa started to get 
up to take a little walk, but she was unable to stand on her 
feet because of dizziness. Soon she became delirious and 
started screaming like a possessed person. She cried out 
that she was going to die. Turning to her husband, she 
said, "Your father (who had long been dead) is coming to 
get me. I see his hand stretched out toward me." 
Greatly alarmed, the husband implored, "Father, do not 
take her away. Leave her with me." 
On the Dispensary porch are several mothers with their babies and small 
children waiting to see the nurse. Many of the patients travel long 
distances to receive help from Miss Vel. 
As her condition seemed to be worsening, Miss Vel 
decided to take her to the hospital immediately. The school 
truck arrived, but the husband refused to have her placed 
on a stretcher, claiming that only dead people travel that 
way. Knowing the gravity of the situation, the attendant 
pushed him aside. As the vehicle sped toward the city over 
the bumpy dirt road, Vavyroa delivered twin girls. 
This experience changed this young mother. Now when 
she comes for her regular checkups, she seems to be a 
different person. Some day, God willing, Vavyroa, with 
many others, will be waiting to welcome their Saviour, 
thanks to the small dispensary and the devotion of the 
Master's servants who so kindly represent Him in this little 
known area of Madagascar. 
PHOTO CREDITS: pages a and 3, courtesy of the author; pages 4 and 5, with the exception 
of lower left page 4, and upper right page 5, courtesy of Oscar Heinrich of MISSION SPOT-
LIGHT; pictures of VBS, page 7, courtesy of Henrique Berg; picture of Lourenco Marques, 
courtesy of the portuguese Bureau of Tourism, Geneva, Switzerland; page 8, column t, 
courtesy of Oscar Heinrich of MISSION SPOTLIGHT; and picture at top of page 8, courtesy 
of Edwin Ludescher. 
3 
Mothers like the one pictured below with her sick baby plead for a hospital. 
Spotlight focused on 
Madagascar 
On December 23 the attention of 
Sabbath school members around the 
world will be focused on Mada-
gascar, an island located 25o miles off 
the east coast of South Africa and 
headquarters of the Indian Ocean 
Union Mission. Today more than 
7,000 Seventh-day Adventists meet 
each Sabbath in the Malagasy Repu-
blic, where we have i zo organized 
churches. 
In Central Madagascar, ages remov-
ed from the modern capital city 
of Tananarive, the Ambatoharanana 
School is the site of the only medical 
endeavor of our church on the island. 
The Ambatoharanana Adventist 
Dispensary is very small. Opened 
only three years ago, the clinic is 
staffed by one nurse, Mildred Vel. 
Paul Pichot, president of the school, 
reports that Miss Vel's work is 
greatly appreciated for miles around. 
Miracles of healing take place daily. 
People travel 20-30---even 4o miles 
to find help at the dispensary. 
Realizing that the medical work is 
an important avenue to the winning 
of souls, our leaders have chosen 
North Madagascar as the site for a 
new mission hospital. Work opened 
in this area only thirteen years ago, 
when Pastor Henri Long was sent 
there in answer to a request which 
came to the Voice of Prophecy office 
in Tananarive. After traveling up and 
down difficult mountain passes, Pas-
tor Long reached beautiful, fertile 
Andapa Valley. There he found a 
whole village studying the Voice of 
Prophecy correspondence course and 
keeping the Sabbath. A new $ 16 
million highway has now opened the 
area to the rest of the country, making 
it an important new area in the 
development of Madagascar. 
Sharing the spotlight with Mada-
gascar is Angola. The church plans 
to open a new mission station in South 
Angola. Picture, if you will, a pastor's 
Two Andapan children walking home from a Seventh-day Adventist school. 
Faithful church mem-
bers in the Andapa 
Valley, where there 
are now six Seventh-
day Adventist chur-
ches and four schools. 
4 
and Angola 
By Sylvia Powers 
Henri Long points to the sign which identifies the land as the future 
location of the Andapa Adrentzst Hospital. 
A view of beautiful Andapa Valley. 
Henri Long stands below the monument built 
I?), the company that constructed the new 
highway. It represents the Malagasy porter 
who used to carry coffee and vanilla to market 
and commemorates the end of an era. 
answering a request that came from 
villages near Gabela, where we have 
about zoo church members, and find-
ing 4,000 people waiting for him. 
Eighteen miles away another 3,500 
gathered to receive him. One village 
chief came with 75 representatives to 
request that a Seventh-day Adventist 
teacher be sent to his village. 
The gospel is making strides in 
Madagascar and Angola. Now is the 
time to go forward by faith. These 
fields need your gifts, your sacrificial 
gifts. Will you not respond this 13th 
Sabbath? 
When a church is built in Angola, it is soon 
filled to overflowing, like the one pictured 
to the right. 
when it had an enrollment of only 
25 students on the secondary level. 
Today it has an enrollment of 35o 
students. Sixty girls are housed in 
four rooms; often three girls must 
share a bed. 
The Central Mission, with A. N. 
Nunes as president, is to work out 
of Beira, the second largest city in 
Mozambique. This coastal resort 
town attracts thousands of tourists 
annually from Rhodesia and South 
Africa. 
A year ago Pastor Nunes approach-
ed the manager of the radio station 
and offered to prepare a weekly 
children's program at no charge to 
the station. The thirty-minute pro-
gram which Pastor and Mrs. Nunes 
presented soon became known as the 
Adventist Hour. So popular has it 
been among the listening audience 
that they are now airing three pro-
grams a week. During my visit to 
Beira, we visited the manager of the 
radio station and thanked him for 
his kindness in granting us this free 
time. Deeply touched by our visit, 
he assured us that the Adventists 
would always be welcome on his 
program schedule. Then he thanked 
us for what the Church is doing in 
Beira. 
On the Wednesday evening of my 
visit in Beira, we gathered in a small 
African church for an unusual service, 
the inauguration of a lighting system. 
Interested in the work of the Seventh-
day Adventist Church, the owner of 
a large construction company in the 
city had offered to provide lighting 
for our church. At the close of the 
lighting ceremony, the man was called 
to the front and presented with an 
autographed copy of God's Holy 
Word. Pressing the Bible close to his 
heart, he said, "This is the most pre-
cious gift I have ever received." 
At the close of the worship hour, 
this man invited us to his home the 
following morning to see his large 
garden and his modern farming 
equipment. On our arrival, he gave 
us a cordial welcome. After our tour 
of the grounds, he asked a number of 
questions about Seventh-day Advent-
ists. We were pleased to be able to 
talk and pray with him. Then he 
confessed that the day before he and 
his family had agreed that they would 
keep only enough of their income to 
care for their needs and would give 
the rest to help worthy causes. His 
Organization of the 
Mozambique Union Mission 
By C. L. Powers 
On August 8, 1972, a representa-
tive committee of seventeen workers 
and laymen met at the headquarters' 
office in Lourenco Marques to com-
plete the work of reorganizing the 
Mozambique Mission into a union 
mission. Henrique Berg, the dynamic 
president who had recently come to 
the field from Brazil, and Joao dos 
Santos, the capable secretary-treas-
urer, had prepared well for this 
meeting. 
The committee carefully studied 
the physical geography of the country, 
taking into consideration the prob-
lems of transportation and communi-
cation in reaching the more than 
eight million inhabitants with the 
gospel message. They agreed that it 
was best for the future development 
of the work to divide the area geo-
graphically into three sections and 
laid plans accordingly for the orani- 
zation of the North, the Central, and 
the South Mozambique missions. 
The office of the North Mozam-
bique Mission is to be located in 
Mocuba, with A. N. Pires as presi-
dent and J. A. Vieira, secretary-treas-
urer. It was in the Zambesi district of 
this mission that the Seventh-day Ad-
ventist Church first established work 
in Mozambique. With permission of 
the governor general, Max Webster 
established the Munguluni (Light) 
Mission in 1933 and later a school in 
1940. Today the North Mission has 
1,797 members worshiping in 39 
organized churches. Last year 1,185 
new members were added to the 
church by baptism, most of whom 
were won by laymen. Their goal for 
1972 is 1,300 baptisms. 
That first school, known as the 
Munguluni Mission Training School, 
received official recognition in 1963, 
A Sabbath afternoon 
service under the trees 
in rural Mozambique. 
C. L. Powers is the 
speaker, with Joao dos 
Santos interpreting. 
6 
Sisters who helped Miriam Berg (first left), wife of Henrique Berg, Children presenting their memory verses at the program for the parents, 
to conduct the first VBS in Lourenco Marques, August 14-26. �
which marked the close of the very successful first Vacation Bible School 
in Mozambique. 
interest in giving had already been 
demonstrated by his gift to our nearby 
African church. 
Also in the Central Mission is Vila 
Pery, an unentered city. There we 
had an appointment with the mayor. 
On our arrival, we were ushered into 
his private office for a most informal 
visit. He immediately asked all about 
the work of the Seventh-day Advent-
ist Church in that part of Mozambi-
que. Formerly an educational super-
visor in the area where our Munguluni 
school is located, he and the mission 
president had become good friends. 
It was obvious during our conver-
sation that he has a deep appreciation 
for our educational work. 
He asked some questions that were 
difficult for us to answer. First, "Do 
you plan to open a school in Vila 
Pery ?" Then, and even harder to 
answer, "Do you plan to build a 
church here soon ?" Obviously he was 
disappointed when we told him that 
we must expand slowly for lack of 
funds. Then he quickly assured us, 
"Come to our city. I will help you." 
Although there are only three 
Seventh-day Adventist churches with 
168 members in the Central Mission, 
prospects are bright for advancement 
and growth. During the past few 
years the European church in Beira 
has grown from one to 45 members. 
With an aggressive evangelistic thrust 
this church could become a pillar of 
strength and support for the work in 
this mission. 
Headquarters for the South Mission 
will be in Lourengo Marques, with 
the union officers accepting the added 
responsibility of directing this local 
field. A beautiful modern city of 
600,000 inhabitants, Lourengo Mar-
ques has only two organized chur-
ches with 314 members. Last month 
Mrs. Berg, wife of the union presi-
dent, conducted the first Vacation 
Bible School ever held in Mozam-
bique. The response was overwhelm-
ing. On the first day 116 attended, 
91 of them from non-SDA homes. 
Without doubt this city is ready and 
waiting for a major soul-winning 
breakthrough. The new Mozam-
bique Union Mission is urgently re-
questing a union evangelist to devote 
full time to the preaching of the 
message. Doors are wide open now, 
but we dare not count on tomorrow, 
A view of Lourenfo 
Marques, the modern 
capital of Mozam-
bique, East Africa. 
The reorganization committee vot-
ed to recommend to the Euro-Africa 
Division that the new organization 
of the Mozambique Union Mission 
become effective January I, 1973. 
The officers for the union will be 
appointed by the division committee. 
The departmental secretaries were 
elected as follows: Henrique Berg to 
carry the lay activities, Sabbath 
school, stewardship, radio and TV 
departments; J. B. Abella, health and 
temperance departments; and Joao 
dos Santos, education, YPMV, public 
relations, and religious liberty depart-
ments. 
(Continued on page 8) 
7 
Lepers receiving treatment at Nanga-Eboko. 
From here and there... 
Medical Work 
in Equatorial 
Africa 
If The Cameroun Mission Hospital, 
located in Koza, North Cameroun, 
is staffed by two doctors, twelve 
orderlies, and three nurses. The per-
sonnel dedicate their time and effort 
to bringing relief to the thousands 
and thousands of sick who come to 
the hospital seeking help each year. 
The hospital has 8o beds. 
There are also five dispensaries 
scattered throughout Cameroun, one 
in the Central African Republic, and 
one in Equatorial Guinea. At each 
dispensary a graduate nurse works 
almost around the clock to stem the 
tide of physical suffering in her area. 
This year construction will begin on 
another dispensary at Bere, in sou-
thern Chad. 
A leper hospital, located near 
Nanga-Eboko, Cameroun, is soon to 
be given to the Seventh-day Advent-
ist Church to run, according to an 
arrangement with the medical autho-
rities of the Cameroun Government. 
In the Equatorial African Union 
Mission workers are concerned with 
the whole man. They are dedicated to 
ministering to both the physical and 
spiritual needs of mankind. 
Edwin Ludescher 
*Every Saturday morning the third 
angel's message is being broadcast 
over Radio Younde, in Cameroun. 
After each broadcast hundreds of 
listeners write in requesting copies of 
the radio sermon. 
*As of June 3o, 1972, the number 
of baptized members in, the Equa-
torial African Union Mission reach-
ed 14,444. Plans call for the entering 
of Niger and Gabon with the gospel 
message during 1973 and 1974. 
*Beginnings of the work of the 
Seventh-day Adventist Church in 
Madagascar go back to the early 
1920's with the translation of the 
book Steps to Christ into the Malagasy 
language by Rasamoelina in his spare 
time. In 1925, this translation was 
published. A small bookshop was 
opened in Tananarive to handle the 
edition of 5,000 copies and the small 
tracts which followed. Conversations 
with customers led to Bible studies 
and conversions. By September, 1926, 
there were ten baptized church mem-
bers, the number required to sign a 
petition asking for authorization to 
hold public meetings. 
From that time the publishing work 
has been important to the progress 
of the work in Madagascar. Pictured 
to the left is Mrs. Bertha Ranoro-
hanta, who has translated and edited 
all the literature that has gone out 
from the Malagasy Press in Tanana-
rive during the past 42 years. 
*The Southern European Union 
Mission reported 483 baptisms during 
the first six months of the year. These 
additions to the church resulted in a 
4.36 % gain in membership. 
*With a 10.47% gain in member-
ship for the first six months of 1972, 
the Angola Union Mission led the 
Euro-African Division union fields. 
Organization of ... 
(Continued from page 7) 
Since 1967 the Mozambique Mis-
sion has baptized more than a thou-
sand souls each year. At the time of 
the meeting, the field reported having 
44 organized churches with 12,279 
members, 22, I 16 Sabbath school 
members enrolled in 84 organized 
Sabbath schools, and zo,000 interest-
ed people attending 207 branch Sab-
bath schools. 
Euro-Africa Division 
Quarterly Review 
Organ of the Euro-Africa 
Division of the Seventh-day Adventist 
Church published every quarter 
Address of Editor (to whom all 
manuscripts should be sent): 
Schosshaldenstrasse 17, 3oo6 Berne 
Switzerland. 
Jean Zurcher, Editor 
Sylvia Powers, Editorial Secretary 
8