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Oakwood Music Grad Selected As Young Artist for Performance Today — and More News Shorts

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In this week’s news round-up, Oakwood alum Mallory McHenry is selected as a Young Artist for American Public Media’s program “Performance Today,” an Ohio Adventist petitions to recall Cleveland mayor, Zimbabwean evangelists are threatened by villager with python, an Adventist women’s ministry in Ghana donates food to prisoners, and an SDA family serves their community through health food market in New York.

Oakwood Music Grad Selected As Young Artist for American Public Media Program. Mallory McHenry, graduate of Oakwood University, was recently named a young artist with American Public Media’s program, Performance Today. Broadcast on nearly 300 public radio stations across the country, Performance Today reaches approximately 1.4 million listeners per week and focuses on “the vitality of today’s classical music scene.” The first harpist selected for the program, McHenry’s residency will take place in March 2019 at Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul, Minnesota. Contrasting French music and music written in the 20th century, McHenry says her intent is to focus on works written specifically for the harp to showcase its range. “I want the audience to experience some of the strong and beautiful gems in the harp repertoire on a wide spectrum.” She holds a Master of Music degree from University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Music degree from Oakwood University. A native of Georgia, she has also worked with the Atlanta–based organization Challenge the Stats, which was founded to help diversify classical performing arts and empower artists of color. From harpcolumn, “Mallory McHenry named young artist with Performance Today.”

Ohio Adventist Leads Cleveland Mayor Recall. Seventh-day Adventist Jeff Mixon of Black Lives Matter in Cuyahoga County and Al Porter of Black on Black Crime, Inc., intend to pull petitions to recall Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson in response to what they call "ineffective leadership" and a "lack of concern for Cleveland neighborhoods." Mixon said that he was animated by the teachings of Jesus Christ, including the directive to love one's neighbors. "One of the ways we love our neighbors is by demanding better government," he said. "We are tired of leadership that serves corporate Cleveland and corporate Cuyahoga while ignoring the needs of the people who put them in office,” Mixon concluded. The men submitted a list of demands in an affidavit that included implementing a jobs program for teens, lowering property taxes for low- and middle-income residents, funding initiatives to combat bullying and domestic violence, and complying with the recommendations of the Cleveland Lead Safe Network. An affidavit of this sort, outlining the reasons for the recall attempt, is required by city charter. From Cleveland Scene, “Black Advocacy Groups Begin Process to Recall 'Ineffective' Mayor Frank Jackson.”

Zimbabwean SDA Lay Evangelists Threatened by Villager with Python. Zimbabwean Seventh-day Adventist emissaries who were on a door-to-door Bible teaching outing were threatened when a Nyamajura resident pulled out and released a three-meter long python in a stunning bid to demonstrate his magic and chase them away from his homestead. The SDA members said the snake man cuddled, caressed, and strapped the python around his body while holding its neck before teasing them with it. The snake man Laudon Chimwala, 63, is a popular herbalist in Village 9 of Nyamajura resettlement area. He allegedly took the four SDA devotees by surprise when he adamantly rejected and countered their teachings by arguing that he was protected by his paraphernalia. Chimwala told them he believes in Islam, not their Christian teaching rhetoric. He allegedly teased the four churchmen with the reptile in broad daylight arguing that their so-called Christian judgment teachings had no effect on him. From Bulawayo 24 News, “Python used to scare churchmen.”

Ghana Adventist Women’s Ministry Donates Food to Prisoners. The Women Ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Bolgatanga, Ghana, presented assorted items to the inmates of the Navrongo Prison in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality. The items included a bag of rice, quantities of bowls of gari, beans, pepper, onions, 25 kilograms of salt, dried fish, sugar, 55 tubers of yam, 25 liters of oil, 10 loaves of bread, and a box of key soap. Presenting the items to the inmates on behalf of the Ministry, Felicia Baafi, Bolgatanga Municipal Director of the Women Ministry, said the church holds the inmates dear to its heart considering the inconveniencing conditions these inmates lived. She said the items signified the church’s love for them and added that the church ceaselessly prayed to God on behalf of the inmates and asked them to continue to pray for themselves as they underwent their respective reformation periods. Edem Crentsil Williams Mensah, an elder of the SDA Church, admonished inmates to cultivate the culture of humility, as it was the backbone of most successful persons in society. The elder told the inmates of God’s love for them. He urged them to respect their caretakers because humility was the surest way to obtaining God’s blessing and favor. From Ghana News Agency, “SDA Women Ministry gives to inmates in Navrongo Prison.”

SDA Family Serves Community through Health Food Store, Eatery, and Retreat Center. Faith is the guiding force behind the St. Juste family’s mission to make the Hudson Valley a healthier place. Renoir St. Juste, 26, became a practicing Seventh-day Adventist in 2009 as a freshman at Miami International University of Art and Design, studying computer animation. He and his family are the new owners of the health food store in Pleasant Valley, New York. They started the Eden Lifestyle Home in 2016, a nonprofit educational and biblical healing ministry retreat in Pine Bush, Ulster County, dedicated to improving physical, mental and spiritual health through natural remedies, a vegan lifestyle and exercise. “Faith governs everything I do,” St. Juste said. “Right after graduation, I saw myself being of service to others instead of entertaining people.” Eden Life Market, a health food store and eatery, is guided by the same principles as the family organization, selling vegan products and meals and featuring a smoothie and juice bar. He and his family started the lifestyle center and health food store in the Hudson Valley after the health director for the Northeastern Conference of Seventh-day Adventists reached out to them. From poughkeepsie journal, “Faith bolsters mission of health for new owners of Pleasant Valley health food store.”

 

Pam Dietrich taught English at Loma Linda Academy for 26 years and served there eight more years as the 7-12 librarian. She lives in Yucaipa, California.

Image credits: Harp Column / Mallory McHenry

 

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