Connecting Columbia Union Seventh-day Adventists

Potomac Conference

"One Sabbath I was reading my Bible on the floor of our military housing. A captain came in and I could not hide. I started to pray—I could be imprisoned, even killed for having religious materials. When questioned, I did not get into trouble," says Bemnet Meried, an evangelist living in Virginia. "He said, “Good example.” That was one time on my Adventist journey when the Lord intervened."

Takoma Academy Week of Prayer

This spring Potomac Conference's Takoma Academy family accepted a mission that some might view as impossible. The Week of Prayer’s overall theme was, “What’s God Got to Do With it?!” As each youth faced this question, Lola Moore Johnston, senior pastor of the Woodbridge (Va.) church, challenged the students to figure out how God fits into the personal lives of young people.

Photo of the Perlas courtesy Calhoun Photography

“Two weeks later, my last living grandparent passed away,” Anissa Perla remembers. “It was a horrible, dark time in our life. I remember thinking, I need to grieve and just let my opinions out. I wanted to take it to another level in terms of sharing with other women and men. Miscarriages happen more often than we think; it’s [approximately] 1 in 4 women. We don’t talk about it. It’s like a sad, secret society.”

After 31 years, Beltsville's principal, Wendy Pega, is handing over the reigns to Jerson Malaguit.

For 31 years, Principal Wendy Pega was often the first one to arrive and the last one to leave Potomac Conference's Beltsville Adventist School (BAS) in Maryland. This summer Pega turned off her computer, handed her keys to the new principal, Jerson Malaguit, and closed the door for the last time. After more than three decades, Pega has retired.

Transformational Evangelism attendees discuss evangelism methods following a presentation. Photo by Brian Tagalog

At the Columbia Union Transformational Evangelism Conference, pastors discussed what's working and what's not in evangelism.