Spectrum Interviews

Filmmaker Martin Doblmeier Talks About Forgiveness

Bonnie Dwyer — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:38:12 -0700

Documentary filmmaker Martin Doblmeier made a film last year called The Power of Forgiveness that won critical acclaim - and got people talking. The film examines the role forgiveness can play in alleviating anger and grief, as well as the physical, mental and spiritual benefits that come with forgiveness. The Power of Forgiveness won Best Film award at the Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival in 2007.

Doblmeier talked to Spectrum about the impact the film has had.

Question: The Power of Forgiveness features seven stories about forgiveness from a variety of traditions. I'm sure you considered many stories. What criteria did you use to choose the final ones and the people whom you wanted to interview?

Answer: Several years ago a friend invited me to attend a conference where scientists were presenting the results of groundbreaking new research on the topic of forgiveness. Science, especially the field of health science, is uncovering mounting evidence that letting go of grudges and forgiving the transgressions that happen in our lives is undeniably good for our health. It lowers blood pressure, heart rate and can even stem depression.

For the past 25 years I have made films on topics of religion and spirituality, so I knew the value the various faith traditions afforded forgiveness. But here was a moment when the faith communities and the scientific communities were in sync around a common theme: forgiveness. For us, that was the makings of a great film.

In doing the research we had over 100 ideas for stories. We knew we wanted to include stories from a variety of faith traditions – Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc, as well as stories from the scientific/health world.

Also, a number of the scientists turned out to be terrific stories themselves – stories we wanted to include. Once those critical decisions were made, it was almost as if the stories began to select themselves.

Question: For Rose Foti, the mother of a firefighter lost on 9/11, forgiveness was a very difficult concept. Her struggle with it enriched the film. What was her response to the completed film? Did viewing it affect her concept of forgiveness?

Answer: Rose Foti is one of the most open and honest people I have ever met. When I went with her on the day we filmed at the garbage dump that is now home to the remains of her son and the hundreds of others who died on 9/11, I could feel the intensity of her suffering. What mother would not share that pain with the way her son’s remains were treated?

Rose has been a big supporter of our film because she sees it as one more way to gain attention for the injustice that has been done to her and the other victims of 9/11. But it is difficult to say there has been a conversion and a move toward forgiveness. In many ways she is like so many people I know who find forgiveness for a deep wound a near impossible task.

Question: Azim Khamisa and Ples Felix were major heroes in the film for the friendship they formed after one of their sons murdered the son of the other. I believe they spoke at Virginia Tech after the tragedy there. Can you tell us about that event?

Answer: My family and I live in Virginia and because of our teenage son’s sports activities we know many parents of Virginia Tech students. The shootings last spring wounded our nation – but they devastated Virginia.

When I was invited to come to Virginia Tech, present the film and speak, it was only five months after the tragedy.
I was both honored and concerned. Was it too early to talk about forgiveness? Would there be a backlash at the very idea? There were a lot of anxious moments.

I asked Azim Khamisa to join me for the presentation – first because I admire Azim for the courage he showed in forgiving the man who murdered his son. But secondly, because while I felt I had learned a great deal in making the film, I did not have the experience of losing a college-aged child to a random act of violence. Azim did.

The event was shown in the downtown movie theater that is the center for cultural activities in Blacksburg, Virgina. The house was full, and the conversation direct and frank. Later many people, including the parents of a young girl who had been killed, came up and thanked me.

I don’t believe the value of these kinds of events is in an instant conversion, but rather in the planting of a seed of hope. I felt the same way several weeks later when I was asked to present at the United Nations. Now plans are underway to include forgiveness training in UN educational materials. These are hopeful signs.

Question: The name of your company, Journey Films, prompts a question about your journey with the concept of forgiveness through the making of this film. How was your personal view of forgiveness changed by the stories that you have told?

Answer: One of the themes I came to during the process of making the film was the theme of self-forgiveness. Now I see how important a role self-forgiveness plays in how we relate to others in the world around us.

Later, as I started to look at the film through those eyes I could see how the theme of self-forgiveness was there in almost every story.

It was lack of self-forgiveness that propelled the young man to go into the Amish schoolhouse and shoot those girls.

So one of the things that will stay with me from making the film is I have begun to look more seriously at self-forgiveness and recognize how it plays out not only in my own life but in the lives of others - even in the lives of nations.

Question: What do you see as the most powerful motivator for forgiveness: moral obligation or personal benefit?

Answer: Part of the interest in forgiveness today comes from the discovery that forgiveness is good for our health. Scientists are saying if we want to live longer, healthier lives, forgiveness may be a key – not an answer but a key.

But while I see that as a value, I also recognize that as a person of faith, I am called to change the world around me for the better, and that is where the concept of forgiveness as a tool for transforming the “other” is key.

From a Christian perspective, I don’t think Christ spoke about forgiveness from the cross as an act of self-help. He didn’t do it to lower his blood pressure. I believe he did it as an example of how we are called to transform the world and that is the example I try to follow.

Question: You have said that the climate for spiritual talk is very different today after 9/11, the Iraq War, and so on. What effect do you see the political campaign this year having on spiritual talk?

Answer: Forgiveness is not a word you will hear very often during an election year. That’s because forgiveness is too often considered an act of weakness. I believe it should be seen as exactly the opposite - forgiveness takes enormous strength. But the word forgiveness and the spiritual talk so many of us hope will make its way into political conversation, will not begin to emerge unless the people demand it.

The great mistake is believing politicians are those in the forefront, where time and time again we see politicians only mirror what people call for.

If we want change we have to demand it of our politicians, but more importantly, like Gandhi said, we have to “be the change we want in the world.”

Question: The climate for documentary film is very different today than when you founded Journey Films 25 years ago. What is your assessment of the role of documentaries in today's culture?

Answer: The documentary film world is very different today than it was 25 years ago when I made my first film, The Heart Has its Reasons, the story of Jean Vanier and his homes for mentally handicapped people based on the Beatitudes.

Back then only a few people had access to the equipment needed to make a film. Today, with the advent of digital technology, the equipment is much more affordable and available.

In the 1980s, television still believed it should serve the “common good” but with deregulation, television has become a for—profit free-for-all. That is why so many programs on the air appeal to the lowest common value.

The film theaters are all becoming multiplex theaters so the chance to get a smaller “art-house” documentary into theaters is getting more difficult.

We had great success with our film Bonhoeffer (the story of German theologian/Nazi resister, Dietrich Bonhoeffer) but a success like that is becoming more the exception than the rule.

I am asked to speak at a number of colleges and universities – especially around the topic of faith and filmmaking. So I know there are many young people out there who see documentary filmmaking as a possible career that allows for the creative expression of their faith. I try to encourage them in every way I can, sometimes offering internships, but also I try to alert them to the changes.

I continue to do this work because I continue to believe that good films that speak to the core values of our faith, will always find an audience.

Question: Films on spiritual subjects can often come across as preachy or sugary. How do you keep your movies from those traps?

Answer: I consider myself less a teacher and more an explorer of ideas. I approach each film as a chance to learn, not preach about what I think I already know.

While these last 25 years have been an extraordinary first-person education, I continue to be critical of my own beliefs. I try to always challenge and question. I think it makes me a more faithful person, more understanding of a God I grow more and more confident in, and ultimately I think it makes for better films.

Question: Did anything happen during the making of this film that you felt you needed to ask forgiveness for?

Answer: I have done 40 showings/presentations of The Power of Forgiveness, before probably 20,000 people, and never been asked this question.

Yes, I needed to ask forgiveness of my wife because in accepting all the invitations to present the film and speak, I was away from home too much. I have been home now for many months – things are well at home again – mostly because Jelena, my wife, is so forgiving.

Question: I understand that you are considering making a film about the Seventh-day Adventist journey with the concept of health. What is the latest on that project?

Answer: We have been developing a new film on the Seventh-day Adventist Church – with a particular focus on the theology of health care. We hope it will be in production by the end of the year.

I think it is a great story – truly an American faith that has so much to say to the wider nation about how to think of our bodies not as our own, but God’s.

It would be nationally released to PBS stations through our partner, South Carolina ETV (like with 'Bonhoeffer' and 'Forgiveness') and several Adventist hospital groups have already committed support, but we continue to raise the remaining funds. I think it could be a terrific film.

Read a review of The Power of Forgiveness here.

New Movie Takes On "Big Science"

Alita Byrd — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:20:24 -0700

A new movie called Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed advocates "intelligent design" and promotes itself as a film that uncovers the persecution of educators and scientists for challenging evolution. Starring Ben Stein as questioner - Michael Moore-style, except conservative - the movie banked $3.2 million on its opening weekend.

It has garnered plenty of criticism, and even a lawsuit from Yoko Ono who isn't happy about the movie's use of John Lennon's song "Imagine."

Associate producer Mark Mathis says "this is a movie about freedom of speech and freedom of inquiry and the way that academic elites are trying to muzzle those that dare to question the Darwinian orthodoxy."

Mathis spoke to Spectrum a week after the movie came out on April 18 about the ideas behind the movie and the controversy surrounding its release.

Question: What kind of reaction are you getting so far to Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed?

Answer: It depends on who you are taking about. The mainstream press – like the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times-type media – are absolutely over-the-top scathing in their reviews, calling it things like “the worst film ever made.” But this was fully expected. They are secularists from the left side of the political spectrum. They are atheists or agnostics, and they are hostile toward anyone who would offend their non-religious sensibilities. We know who they are. It’s no surprise.

But the wonderful thing is that our audiences are having the exact opposite reaction: they are over-the-top in their praise, and just loving it. We did some market research, and we did polls in six states as people left the movie. Ninety-seven percent of the people we asked said they liked the movie, and 96 percent said they were going to recommend it to a friend.

Q: But surely this is because only certain people chose to go and see the movie in the first place? The kind of people who would like such a movie?

A: Absolutely. But that exposes what is going on in this debate. People who say they are religious – Christian, Jewish, whatever – are tired of the elitist academic establishment standing shoulder to shoulder with the elitist media and telling them there is no God. This is what our film exposes. It is about much more than science – it is about a world-view battle.

What matters is the people who have the power. The majority of people in academic establishments are of a single persuasion: atheists or agnostics. That impacts the way science is taught. Intelligent design is completely excluded. Anyone who challenges [the academics] is persecuted and expelled from the system.

So everything we are seeing with the reaction to the film validates exactly what we are doing.

Q: There have been various criticisms made of the film. Some critics have said you are one-sided. What is your answer to that?

A: We give extensive amounts of time to people who are passionate about their Darwinian views. What about Al Gore’s award-winning film, An Inconvenient Truth? Al Gore gave not a single second to anyone who was against his beliefs. We have given major portions of our film to the people who are Darwin’s big supporters. People like Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, influential biologist and atheist blogger PZ Myers and Eugenie Scott, head of the National Center for Science Education. I don’t even know how to answer that allegation that it’s one–sided. We give them lots of time to speak their mind, and they do.

Q: Have you been involved in any similar project before?

A: I have never done anything related to this topic.

Q: How has making this movie impacted you?

A: I used to believe, (the way I think most people believe who haven’t had the opportunity to look at this up close), that science was more empirical, more experimental, and there was more protection built into the system to protect scientists against their own biases. Now that I have seen what is really going on underneath the surface, my automatic reaction to anything I am told that is validated by science is that I am much slower to accept it. I have seen what’s going on, and scientists are human beings. As such they are influenced by philosophical and political baggage. That affects way they look at the world.

Q: Do you mean that they make conclusions before they experiment? They find evidence to support a hypothesis?

A: That happens more than people realize. But what happens most often is that scientists don’t fully appreciate the degree to which their biases affect how they interpret the evidence. Thoughtful self-examination is greatly lacking in science today. And it is lacking among almost everyone – not just people who believe in Darwinism. We must always check our own personal biases.

Q: Have you had any negative feedback on the film from conservative Christians?

A: Certainly I would think some liberal religious organizations or groups (liberal in their world view, endorsing ideas that the conservative wing of church doesn’t, like gay marriage, or pro-choice, or certain theological positions), could take exception to the movie, but I have not heard anything specific.

Q: There is a lot made in the film of a connection between science, or Darwinism as you say, with the Nazis and the Holocaust. Why have you given so much play to this in the film?

A: I was the associate producer. My function was to go out and arrange interviews, and assist Mr. Stein. I did not play a role in deciding the amount of play a specific topic got.

But in general, yes, there is a connection between Darwinian ideas and Nazi ideas. But we were very careful in the film to note that Darwinian ideas do not necessarily lead to Nazi ideas. But a materialist philosophy, the idea that there is no God, can take you into an arena where a secularist society embraces extermination of entire groups of people. It gets easy when you have devalued human life. If human beings are no more valued than a frog or a fly, then the people who might have handicaps, for example, then these people are seen as useless eaters and there is a need to do away with them. People who don’t have good genetic background, and don’t fit the template, they are sterilized. Then of course there are the political enemies, the Jews.

So when you look at big secular societies of the 1920s, that is where the big massacres happened. Not just in Nazi Germany, but in the Soviet Union under Stalin where 20 million people lost their lives, or what happened under Pol Pot or Chairman Mao. These are secular societies.

Q: But certainly there has been lots of killing under the guise of religion. Going back, what about the Crusades?

A: People can find all sorts of reasons to attack and kill other human beings. Yes, religion has been used to justify mass murder. But the number of people killed in the Crusades pales in comparison to massive massacres in the 20th century.

Q: What inspired the movie?

A: Any time intelligent design, Darwinism, science, education, any of these things are brought up, they are all thrown into a pot, and the pot boils very quickly. It is clear that these issues need investigation.

Q: How long did it take to make the film?

A: Pre-production took close to a year, while production and post-production took about another 20 months.

Q: What kind of marketing strategies have you used to get out word about the movie?

A: We haven’t spent much on advertising. We have mostly organized grassroots screenings. We are taking the movie around the country, and showing it to different groups.

Read a review of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed by biology teacher Dr. Aimee Wyrick from Pacific Union College here.

A Lawyer Speaks Out for the Vulnerable

Alita Byrd — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:10:21 -0700

Renee Battle-Brooks is chief of the Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Unit at the Prince George's County (Maryland) State's Attorney's Office. She spoke candidly to Spectrum about the tough cases she deals with every day and how frustrating the job can be. But she sees that believing in people empowers them, and she keeps on fighting.

Question: How long have you been in your job and what led up to it? How did you pick this area of work?

Answer: I have been chief of the unit for six years and in the State’s Attorney’s Office for eight years. Previously I was in the Office of the Public Defender for eight years.

When I first came to the State’s Attorney’s Office, I was in the Narcotics Unit. I was there four months when I was told there was an opening in the Sexual Assault Unit and that my name had come up. I was asked if I would consider the move. I did my tap dance about how I had so much more to learn in the Narcotics Unit and how I was a team player blah, blah, blah. I did not hear anything from management and thought I had dodged a bullet.

I went off on tour to South Africa with the New England Youth Ensemble and lo and behold, while I was away, I was transferred to the Child Abuse/Sexual Assault Unit! So, basically, it picked me. Looking back I see how God was leading.

Q: What are you trying to accomplish in your job, overall?

A: Protection of the citizens – adult and children – of Prince George’s County. Also I am trying to make this journey – for those who have to travel the road - as easy as I can make it by showing kindness (to the moms who for whatever reason place their children in harm’s way), not judging (the prostitutes or university students who drank or used drugs before an assault), believing (the children who thought no one would believe), supporting, and so on.

I am also trying to achieve "justice," whatever that means. I say that because justice comes in so many different forms. Sometimes justice or victory is in the reporting, not the outcome. There are so many things that cannot be controlled, including the bench, the citizen jurors and even the police themselves. Many days, the "system" is so incredibly discouraging. Our work is not done in a vacuum and politics plays a much bigger role than it should. We like to believe that justice is blind, but honestly, it is not sometimes. The only thing that keeps me going some days is God – the fight can be incredibly hard.

Q: Can you describe a case you prosecuted that you feel was particularly successful? Or maybe particularly interesting for some other reason?

A: I had a case where everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Despite that, God made it work.

The case
Victim is in her early 30s. She is asleep in her bed in her home. She has turned on her alarm system. She wakes up to find the defendant crawling around on the floor of her bedroom. It seems that he got into her condo through a very small window that was not alarmed. The defendant was about six-foot-three and over 300 pounds!

The subsequent hours were torture for my victim/survivor. The defendant penetrated every orifice of her body. He tied her up; he put a cover over her eyes. She tried to escape one time but he reached the front door before she could exit. He choked her and punched her in the face. The victim was five feet tall and maybe 100 pounds.

The victim/survivor's condo looked like a war zone after the assault. When the defendant entered the condo, he already had a cut on his leg. He bled all over her condo, all over her bedding. She had been wearing an ankle bracelet and an arm bracelet. When the assault was over she said that those items were missing, and that he had stolen them.

The defendant then made the victim drive him to a condo in the same large complex – where his mother lived! The defendant was 39 years old. He lived with his mother and was not employed.

The victim reported the assault immediately. She was taken to the hospital and a sexual assault exam was done. DNA was recovered from her vaginal swabs.

Problems: evidentiary
The defendant left his blood all over the place. I asked very specifically that the blood be analyzed to 1) make sure that it was blood, so I could call it blood, and 2) compare it to the defendant’s DNA so that I could say it was his blood. This would help to corroborate the victim’s testimony.

The lead detective was awesome. He made his special request to have the blood analyzed as I requested. But the lab took it upon themselves to not do as requested. They did not even pick the phone up to talk to the lead. As a result, I could never call the stains in the condo blood, and could never link that part of the case.

Also, during the trial my victim answered my question about whether she saw any injury on him by saying “No”! We had spoken about this before and she told me she saw a huge gash on his thigh!

The DNA results came back, and the semen found on the vaginal swab of the victim matched the defendant’s DNA.

Problems: testimony
The victim was unable to provide a strong picture of what happened for the jurors. She downplayed everything. Instead of the repeated punches her face took, the jurors got the impression that it was an open-handed slap, just to give an example.

Then there was the bedding with "blood" on it (which I was not allowed to call blood).

So I had marked the bags containing the bedding and I cut the bags open in front of the jurors. I had on my biohazard gloves and I placed the bedding up on the stand so that the victim could say that "those brown spots" were not on the bedding or in the apartment before the defendant broke into her condo.

As I went to place the bedding back into the evidence bag, guess what fell out? Yep, you guessed it, the bracelet he was accused of stealing!

I referred to the bedding as "the magical blanket" because things kept falling out of it! The problem? That evidence had been sealed the day of the crime and only unsealed by me in front of the jurors. But if the material had been analyzed as I requested, the lab would have found the various items.

God still worked it out. The verdict was guilty. The defendant is doing life plus five years.

Q: Do you have the power to choose which cases to prosecute? If so, what criteria do you use?

A: Yes. We have vertical prosecution in my Unit, meaning the police call us at the inception of the case. We are in during the investigative portion.

The criteria: we have ethical considerations. We should not have anyone arrested if we do not believe we can make the case even if we know that they committed the crime. We also look to see what corroboration we have – another witness, physical evidence, scientific evidence, medical evidence. Each case is different and judged on its merits. There is no “bright line”.

Q: How do you feel you relate to your colleagues?

A: We have a great Unit. We all get along well. This is very important because of the type of work that we must do.

We are constantly talking to each other about our cases, laughing together, crying together, supporting each other. As a result of having to coax the deepest, darkest, ugliest things out of people, we become secondarily victimized. This camaraderie is vital.

Our fellow colleagues in the State’s Attorney’s Office always tell us how thankful they are that they are not prosecuting these types of cases and give us a lot of support too.

Q: How is it different being a prosecutor than a defender?

A: As a prosecutor, the case rises or falls with you and you alone. You have the burden of production, burden of proof, and so on. It is a lot of responsibility and it also carries a lot of emotional heaviness.

As a defender, you are in the best possible seat. You just have to show up, listen, and poke holes in the State’s case.

Q: What do you find most satisfying about your work?

A: Seeing that look in the victim/survivor’s eyes after he or she has told you all the sordid details and you have just told them how proud you are of them for coming forward. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can give a victim is saying that you believe them.

Q: What do you find most frustrating or difficult?

A: Having to tell a victim or victim’s mother that although you believe the victim, you cannot prove the case and therefore the State’s Attorney’s Office will not be prosecuting.

Q: Does your job involve you heavily in an emotional way? Do you find it encroaching on your whole life, even when you are not in the office?

A: Yes. Sometimes it is too much to bear emotionally. I try to leave it at the office. I have a great team and that is very helpful - emotionally as well as professionally.

Q: Do you feel you are making a difference in the world through your job?

A: I don't know, only time will tell, but every time we tell a child that we believe them, I see how it empowers that child. I still hear from some of my young victims/survivors letting me know how they are doing, and telling me about a graduation, inviting me to a birthday, and so on.

Q: What do you enjoy or find difficult about talking to a jury?

A: Jurors are not always easy to read. You never know if you are getting through to them. Sometimes, they nod affirmatively at you and still do something different. Sometimes when you have some of the more bizarre tales of abuse, you really have to think about how you are going to put it into some sort of order so that they understand exactly what is going on.

Q: How do you feel when you lose a case?

A: Incredibly horrible for the victim and his/her family.

Q: What made you want to be a lawyer? Do you feel you made the right choice?

A: I did a business degree and went to work for Martin Marietta (now Lockhead Martin). But I hated what I was doing.

I'm sorry to say that I had no great scheme or plan. I absolutely believe that this is where God wants me to be at this moment. I don't know what he has planned for me in the future, but I do believe that the devil is working really hard when it comes to sexual abuse. If you think about it, what better way to distract someone from God, Jesus, salvation and forgiveness if you can keep them focused on the awful devastation that sexual abuse takes? Now imagine if you are a child and the abuser is a father or some other type of authority figure. How do you learn to trust anyone? The Christian model of God the Father and Jesus the Son would forever be distorted for you.

Q: Do you feel that your background as an Adventist, or your grounding in a strongly moral Christian church, makes any kind of a difference in the way you approach your job?

A: When times get hard, I hang on to my faith. It is not always easy, but I know that God is in the mix somehow. I don't always understand how, or the outcomes, but I am learning and trying to grow. I keep reminding myself that the lessons learned are not always about the victim, or me or even the defendant.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your family background in the Adventist church?

A: I was born in Accra, Ghana, West Africa to missionary parents. I have also lived in England, Cyprus and Lebanon. I went to high school in Lebanon (the Beirut Overseas School) and started college there (Middle East College). I am a fourth generation Adventist on my Dad's side. Now I am active in my local church. I attend Sligo in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Q: Do you find the Adventist church relevant in your work and your everyday life?

A: I never forget that everything I do is somehow related to the bigger picture - the great controversy of good vs evil, which is the same for all of us who claim Christianity. "No man is an island".

Q: What do you do when you are not working?

A: “Not working”, h’mmm, I have heard of this concept before.

I love to travel. I love to do nothing. I love spending time with my husband.

Renee Battle-Brooks is chief of the Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Unit at the Prince George's County (Maryland) State's Attorney's Office.

Helping Refugees Find their Feet in Yemen

Alita Byrd — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:35:16 -0700

Sarah Porter, with a career in international development ahead of her, recently accepted a job with ADRA in Yemen. A few weeks in, Spectrum asked her what the country is like and what her job is teaching her.

Q: How would you describe Yemen from your experience so far? How is it the same, or different, than you imagined? What are the Yemeni people like?

A: My experience in Yemen so far has been interesting to say the least. I have been enjoying getting to know the staff here. I feel that it is especially important to get to know your staff, their personalities, their habits, and so on so that you can better know how to lead them.

The weather has warmed and will continue to get warmer and warmer. In the summer, temperatures are in the hundreds Fahrenheit (at least) with high humidity.

It is different than I expected in that I am not required to wear a head scarf. This has been a surprise for me – I was preparing myself to wear one at all times outside of the house. It has been a little bit shocking and difficult to get used to seeing everyone wearing the abaya and burka. (The abaya is a long black dress-like garment that goes over your regular clothes and the burka is the piece of cloth that is tied around the head to cover the face.) It is difficult sometimes to recognize the people I am seeing since I can only see their eyes.

The Yemeni people are wonderful. It is difficult sometimes to walk about as the men all stare hard at me since I do not wear the abaya. But my staff are wonderful! I have already formed close relationships with several of my staff.

Culturally, one of my favorite aspects is that when you are in Yemen, the Yemeni people are under obligation to protect you. This is part of the culture, which is amazing to me. If I am ever in trouble, all I have to do is ask for help and so many people are willing to drop everything and help.

Q: You are working to integrate refugees, right? Are they mostly Somali? Where do they come from and why have they come to Yemen? What is Yemen's attitude toward them? What is ADRA, and you, doing to help them?

A: I am actually working with two different projects. The first is a project funded by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) dealing with the social issues. This project is in two geographic areas. One is here in Aden – specifically in Basateen, a district in the city. The second geographical area is Kharaz which is about two-and-a-half hours from Aden. There is a camp coordinator who is also from the US working there. I am focused on Basateen.

There are three parts to this project. The first is vocational training. In Basateen we do embroidery, crocheting, and sewing. In Kharaz we do basketry, computer training, etc.

The second part is social counseling. We do social assessments of individual refugees as well as referring them to needed services both in Kharaz and in Basateen.

The third area is a kindergarten. This is mainly offered for refugee moms who need to go to work and cannot take care of their children while they are away at work. We do educational activities with the children. It’s fun to go and visit the kindergarten.

The second project that I am working on is focused on community integration of refugees. Specifically this project focuses on conducting a market analysis, training focused on market needs, literacy training, and income generation.

The majority of refugees in Yemen are from Somalia. There is a small percentage of refugees from Ethiopia as well. These refugees, specifically from Somalia, are fleeing war and persecution. I have met several people who had to watch as their parents were killed in front of them in Somalia. These people have had to go through incredible hardships. These projects are attempting to make it possible for these refugees to rely on themselves by increasing their skill level and ability to integrate themselves into the community they are living in.

Q: Where does ADRA Yemen's funding come from?

A: The projects in my region are funded by UNHCR, ADRA Netherlands, and ADRA Norway.

Q: Is it difficult to be a woman working in a Muslim country? How strict is society there? Is it similar to its neighbor Saudi Arabia?

A: It is not especially difficult to be a woman working here. Society is strict, but, quite honestly, I am enjoying the separation of men and women. It is one of those things that is difficult to understand from the outside. I find that, no matter which restaurant I go to, there is always a family section that I can go and sit in. This section is made for women and/or families. It is nice to have a separate area just for ladies. There is also a women-only swimming beach.

The society is similar to Saudi Arabia but in Aden especially it is a bit less conservative. Aden used to be a British colony and still is a bit less conservative than Sana’a (the capital city).

Q: What is the most difficult thing about your job?

A: The most difficult thing about my job is the fact that everyone wants more than you can give. There have been a few cases where people become violent towards our staff. This is quite difficult to deal with.

Q: What do you enjoy the most about your job?

A: The thing that I enjoy most about my job is the people. It is an amazing feeling to see a change happen in a person. Just knowing that I am doing something and not just sitting around feeling sorry for people is enough reward. If I can help just one person have a better life, I am truly blessed!

Q: Can you describe a typical day at work?

A: I typically wake up at 7:00 in the morning. I get ready for the day and wait for the driver to pick me up from my house and take me to the office. I then spend a few minutes checking my email to make sure there are no urgent issues to deal with. Depending on the day, I make a plan of how to accomplish everything.

I usually work with the translator for a while in the morning to go over the social assessments he has translated. I also spend time with the social counselors listening to any issues they have. I work with our operations manager to make sure everything is going smoothly. I then focus on the project activities.

Depending on the day, I visit the kindergarten or the Community Center in Basateen. By the end of the month my office, as well as the translator’s office, will be in Basateen so I am trying to make sure that everything is on schedule. Somewhere around mid-day, if there is time, I eat a hurried lunch, then keep running until 4:00 pm when most people go home. This signals the end of the working day.

I typically go find something to eat, then head home. Depending on the evening, I may go for a walk on the beach or go to the supermarket. I especially enjoy walking on the beach after dark. It seems a fitting end to a busy day.

Q: What are the people like that you work with?

A: I wish you could meet the wonderful people I work with. They are extremely compassionate and truly want to help people in need. They have a vision of a world where peace reigns eternally and all live in equality. In that world there will be no more wars or rape or mental disease.

Q: What do you do when you are not working?

A: When I’m not working? Lately it seems like the only thing I can do is grab food and then sleep. I always find time to read a little bit before going to sleep and I do a Sudoku puzzle. Apart from that, I love to go walking on the beach as well as just talking with my staff.

There is a mall here in Aden and I enjoy going there to the supermarket and spending time perusing what is available. I also have been attempting to learn one word of Arabic per day. So far, it’s going alright although I keep forgetting certain words. I have learned “Mafish” which means “we don’t have any but can I help you with something else?”; “Shukran” which means thank you; “Afuan” which means you’re welcome; and “Salam Alequm and Wa’allai Kuma Salama!” which is the typical greeting. The meaning is “peace in God’s name to you”.

Q: What experience do you have that has prepared you for your work in Yemen?

A: I worked in Cambodia as an administrative intern for two years and have just completed my masters of science in administration with a focus on international development. I specifically focused my research on NGO sustainability through diversity of donors.

I have been exposed to development quite a bit before. When I was eight years old, my family moved to Sri Lanka, where we spent five years. After leaving Sri Lanka, we went to Russia for two-and-a-half years. In my third year of college, I spent a year in Kazakhstan teaching English.

Q: What do you find the most difficult thing about being away from the US?

A: The most difficult by far is the fact that my family is so far away. I miss them tremendously, but fortunately one of my staff members has adopted me, and I him as my adopted father. It is extremely important here in the Arab culture to have a father or husband to look after you, so it is great to have this person taking care of me!

The second thing that I find most difficult is the fact that there is no church here. I attend an Anglican-style service for prayer on Fridays, but on Saturday it is difficult.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish in your year in Yemen?

A: In my year in Yemen, I want to help just one person. Quite honestly I just want to use my talents and skills to help people.

Q: What do you believe are the best ways for wealthier nations to help poorer nations?

A: I believe that the best way for wealthier nations to help poorer nations is to bring businesses and factories to offer work to people that otherwise would not have an income. Many times people want to send money and forget about it but this has created a huge dependency syndrome among people in developing countries. This has caused endless headaches for aid workers. People simply do not want to help themselves or work for themselves when they are “guaranteed” free access to water, food, shelter, and money.

Q: Are NGOs in general effective? Is ADRA specifically an effective organization for making the world a better place?

A: If I thought that NGOs in general were not making a difference, I would not be in this field. NGOs are in deep need of people who are committed to helping those in need.

Q: What did you do before you were sent to Yemen?

A: Before I came to Yemen, I was finishing my masters and looking for work. For the five months before coming to Yemen in February, I spent a lot of time at my parent’s house and spent time with my grandma who is in a home near where my parents live. I had been searching for a job in California, but it seemed that God had a different purpose for me. I truly believe that His timing is perfect!

Q: What and where did you study?

A: For my undergraduate degree I studied at Columbia Union College in Maryland, where I completed my bachelors of science in counseling psychology. I then went on to attend Andrews University’s off-campus degree – an MSA in international development.

Q: What are your major career goals?

A: To follow the leading of God and to help those in need. I believe I have been prepared and called to work in development.

Q: How do you use technology in your work? How does it help your work, and how does it make it easier to be far from home?

A: I use technology constantly, from email to simple word processing. For work, I often receive emails with urgent requests to visit cases.

I also keep in touch with my family using Skype and email. I can remember when we went to Sri Lanka and we had to use the regular post to send and receive mail. We used to wait what seemed like forever to receive a reply back from our family (in actuality it was one month). Now I can send a message on Skype and receive a reply immediately. Absolutely a life saver!

Beating a Retreat to the Country

Alita Byrd — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:44:22 -0700

On a remote and beautiful peninsula in the Dominican Republic, forested and mountainous, small wooden cabins are being built as part of a quiet retreat.

There is no easy way to get to the mostly virgin land of the Samana Peninsula from the sprawling capital of Santo Domingo. But already groups of 15 to 35 at a time are making their way to the retreat for prayer meetings, seminars or just some holiday time out.

So far two cabins are ready, as well as a makeshift kitchen, outside bathrooms for campers, a generator for electricity, running water from a tank placed high on poles, and a maintenance building.

Ten more cabins are on the way.

David DeCamp and his wife Nancy are the brains behind the retreat.

“The reason why we picked this spot is because we knew the church needed a facility for retreats,” De Camps says. “This place is oceanfront, yet it is on a bay, safe and protected from storms."

"Our churches need these kinds of places so badly, but there has never been a plan to pay for it and make it happen.

"City living in most third world countries, and maybe most developed countries, is not a way to raise children and not conducive to spiritual growth. In the Dominican Republic, poor families live worse in the city than in the country. In the city, they suffer more from malnutrition and poverty — though they may have better access to education."

Country living

Dominican Adventists who live in Santo Domingo have already been making use of the retreat. “From the time we cleared the land, we’ve had people coming and camping,” says DeCamp. “We do little programs, they help on the property and in the community.

“People don’t care about facilities. Many of them only earn $60 a month. They are always anxious to come – the biggest problem is finding enough money to get them there.”

DeCamp says Adventists have a strong presence in the Dominican Republic, though it is a predominantly Catholic country. In the cities there is usually a church you can walk to. DeCamp and his family keep a small apartment in downtown Santo Domingo – they can walk to three Adventist churches from their house.

But DeCamp feels strongly about living in the country.

DeCamp says he wants to follow the advice given by Ellen G White, and prepare people to move out of the cities and be self-sufficient.

The retreat has “good, rich soil, and we are able to do a lot of agriculture there, and teach gardening, farming and care of orchards.”

But the retreat isn’t just about teaching city folks how to be farmers. DeCamp says he is also trying to give neighbor farmers helpful tips.

“We have seen a real educational need for people who already live in the country. Their farming techniques are very poor, thus their quality of life is very poor.”

In this undeveloped part of the country, there are many subsistence farmers who live off the land, cook with wood and bathe in rivers. Life is simple.

A simple life is what DeCamp is after, but he says there are easy and inexpensive things local farmers can do to upgrade. “The best way is by example.” DeCamp is trying to farm in the same old traditional way – except better.

“We don’t use tractors or fancy irrigation,” he says. “We do it the same way they do it, but with better ideas – a little more knowledge about what makes plants healthy.”

For example, most people in the Dominican Republic only grow vegetable gardens in the winter, according to DeCamp. In the summer, the soil is too hot, and even the water gets too hot and damages the wilting plants roots.

So DeCamp has built a raised vegetable bed that can even withstand hurricane flooding; he mulches the plants inside so they don’t get too hot, and then plants tall leafy companion plants to provide shade for the less-hardy plants. Instead of planting all the vegetable seeds at once, he plants some every few weeks, so that vegetables produce all year round.

Instead of letting all the fruit trees and root plants grow wild on the retreat, the way they had been, DeCamp and some workers cleared all the jungle back with machetes. They found avocados, mango trees, bananas, coconuts, oranges and more. They dug around the trees, pruned them and fertilized.

“Lo and behold, we had fruit twice in one year,” DeCamp says. “That is not usual. Several neighbors said those trees had never had fruit as long as they could remember. They asked what we did. And that was our opportunity to show them some things about looking after their land. And then that became an opportunity to talk to them about medical care and simple remedies, and then about our faith.”

Plans for the land

Nancy DeCamp is Dominican – she and David, who is American, met in the Turks & Caicos, where they were both working. DeCamp worked there as a lay evangelist for about nine years, building, teaching and running a radio program.

Both Nancy and David have four children from previous marriages. The youngest three are in high school in Santo Domingo, where Nancy’s parents live. Next year they will be attending a local Dominican high school near the retreat.

DeCamp envisions all kinds of things for the retreat. While he wants to serve Dominican Adventists and help the local community, bringing in people from outside is a third mission. For instance, youth groups from the US can bring in some much-needed funds; the youth can help on the camp and in the community, and take a feeling back home that they’ve done something useful.

Right now, plans are being made for a group of college students from Tampa, Florida to visit the retreat, and run some seminars while they are in the Dominican Republic.

They will build a bathroom or kitchen (with improved smoke ventilation) for someone locally, and take trips around the island.

“My first mission trip was when I was 15,” says DeCamp. "I went to Roatan in 1969 to build a church. It changed my life. I am so sold on youth from developed countries coming to a place like this – it wakes you up to what your priorities should be.”

Former life

DeCamp has always been interested in how things work. He built treehouses as a kid, and has since accumulated skills as the needs came. He builds furniture, and knows basic plumbing, electricity skills. He learned how to lay block while living in Costa Rica.

But DeCamp’s career was as an artist and designer. His mother was an artist, and DeCamp started supporting himself through art when he was 21.

He moved into stained glass, and opened an art gallery in St. Augustine, Florida. In 12 years he had opened five stores in central Florida.

When he got very sick with lead poisoning, he sold his business and started restoring and reproducing antique toys.

He became a specialist in a kind of Victorian parlor toy. He designed his own pieces, and soon had a booming niche business. He began making antique toy displays for department stores and museums, working for big-name stores like Sachs and Neiman Marcus. He had a show at the American Folk Art Museum.

When DeCamp got tired of it, he sold the business and moved to the Caribbean.

“I have lived at least three lives,” he says.

Now DeCamp is using his experience as an artist and a designer to train Dominican artists and help them promote their work.

He sells his own Caribbean-themed art, including prints, cards, T-shirts and tote bags in resorts and tourist gift shops to help fund his work on the retreat.

He is working on finding ways to increase his sales.

DeCamp also wants to make sure people know that his retreat on the Samana Peninsula is a great vacation spot for anyone looking for a holiday away from it all. Big donors are promised the use of a cabin for life.

See www.samanamission.com for more about the retreat.

Adventists Through Academic Eyes

Alita Byrd — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 01:17:41 -0700

In 2005, Palgrave Macmillan published The Road to Clarity: Seventh-day Adventism in Madagascar. This social anthropological study, written after two years of fieldwork by Eva Keller, has been acclaimed by academics and read with interest by Adventists.

The study, which began as a PhD thesis for the London School of Economics in 2002, examines the intellectual life of Malagasy Adventists, and the reasons they remain members of the church.

Eva Keller says she did not know much about Adventists before she began her study, but her objective approach offers instructive insights into our worldwide church, particularly its growth and impact in the third world.

Spectrum asked Keller about how Malagasy Adventists interpret the Bible and what she learned while living among them.

Question: Why did you decide to study Adventism in Madagascar?

Answer: I first traveled to Madagascar in 1987 together with a Swiss friend of mine who has family there. While traveling, we met a family in Maroantsetra [a seaport town on the east of the island]. I then stayed in touch with them for 11 years before returning to Madagascar.

Close contact with local people is very important in social anthropology. So when I was preparing for fieldwork – as a PhD student at the LSE in London – I decided to go and do my research where my friends lived.

I thought that my friends in Madagascar were Jehovah's Witnesses, and so I decided to research Jehovah’s Witnesses, as there are practically no social anthropological studies of this kind of “fundamentalist'” churches in Africa, while their membership grows by the day. I only found out upon arrival that I was wrong, and my friends were actually Seventh-day Adventists! Thus I changed my study to Seventh-day Adventism.

Q: You spent two years among the Malagasy Adventist community. What was your first impression of Malagasy Adventists? How did your impression change over the time you spent there?

A: I had assumed, completely wrongly as I found out, that the Malagasy Adventists would be very strict fundamentalists. I imagined them to be sectarian and, frankly, unpleasant people to be with.

I soon realized this was not at all the case, and that they were perfectly “normal” people and extremely nice, as most Malagasy people are. I was received with warmth and openness.

I was also struck by the importance of “knowledge” for the SDAs in Madagascar. There is an entry to that effect in my field notes as early as day two. I was taken aback because this was not at all what I had expected. I had expected narrow-minded fundamentalists and instead I found open-minded, friendly people who seemed to be very concerned with studying the Bible.

Q: Can you explain the main thesis you came to through your study in Madagascar? Why is Adventism growing?

A: My study focuses not so much on why people join the church, but rather why they remain in it, and on what they find fascinating once they are in it. The reasons for joining, which are often very pragmatic, do not necessarily need to be the reasons for remaining, and the former do not explain the attraction of the church.

This is a key argument in my book and also a criticism of the available literature in the social sciences, which focuses almost exclusively on the reasons for conversion. But the story doesn't end there – in fact, that is only the beginning.

My main conclusion is (as is well summarized in the online review of my book by Rich Hannon, January 23, 2008) that the key attraction of Adventism for members in Madagascar is the intellectual activity per se which goes with being an SDA, i.e. with studying the Bible very thoroughly (this is so, too, for people with very little formal education). This is "The Road" in the title of the book.

The second part of the argument, which follows from the first, is that this road of intellectual engagement leads to an emphasis on rationally understanding the workings of the cosmos. Thus Malagasy Adventists’ ideas of Paradise refer not primarily to a place of bliss and prosperity or the like, but to a place where the truth will be clear and visible, where there will be no more doubt or misunderstanding about what is going on in the world, where those living in Paradise together with God will know and understand. This is the "Clarity" of the title of the book.

Both aspects, the Road and the Clarity, reveal a strong emphasis on learning, rationality, knowledge of facts, and understanding. This conclusion is quite radical in comparison to other studies of “evangelical/fundamentalist” churches in the social sciences. These tend to argue that fundamentalists are poor or otherwise marginalized people who see membership in such a church as an escape route from their destitute situation and who are misled by their leaders who promise them easy access to wealth and health.

Q: Do you think your findings can be extrapolated into other countries and other communities?

A: I do not know. However, a key argument in my book is that not everything can be explained by cultural and historical context (as tends to be the case in the social sciences).

The fascination with intellectual activity among the Adventists in Madagascar cannot satisfactorily be explained or understood by context alone. Indeed, Adventists in Madagascar create a lot of trouble between themselves and their non-Adventist kin by becoming practicing members of the SDA church. This is because some of the most fundamental kinship activities in Madagascar – especially the communication with one's ancestors – Adventists cannot and do not participate in. For their kin who are not Adventists, which is the great majority, this is beyond comprehension and amounts to a refusal of kinship.

Q: Were the people open and honest and willing to talk about their religion? Where did you live while you were on the island? Did you travel throughout the island, or did you concentrate on a few communities?

A: As Rich Hannon writes so nicely in his review, social anthropological studies are "an inch wide and a mile deep". This means that one usually lives for a long time in the same local community sharing people's daily lives, worries and joys. In my case, I lived for the most part with the above-mentioned family in a small, almost rural, town, and I spent about five months in a village in the vicinity with another Adventist family. This was really to broaden my view and to kind of check on what I had found in the town. What I say comes from these locations, but there is no reason to think that it would be different elsewhere in Madagascar.

Apart from participant observation, I also interviewed people about specific topics such as ancestor worship.

All Adventists in these two places were extremely friendly and welcomed me with openness and warmth into their community. I shared their religious life, though I never made a secret out of the fact that I am myself not an Adventist. Though my friends sometimes wondered why I didn't convert, they never tried to pressure me into doing so – again, this was completely contrary to what I had expected.

I explained to them that I was writing a book about them and they felt honored by that fact and were more than willing to talk to me about all sorts of things and to have me there during their religious activities. (The only thing I was not allowed to actively participate in was the foot-washing ritual and communion).

Though many of the people in Madagascar probably overestimated the influence of my book (recall that most people have very little formal education and no experience of the world beyond their district), they felt pleased that it would help to make their religion known to people elsewhere.

Q: Did you find Adventists in Madagascar deeply committed to Adventism?

A: Yes indeed! To the extent that they are ready to face serious problems with their kin because of their commitment to the church.

Q: Do Malagasy Adventists interpret the Bible any differently than their Western counterparts? Overall, are they more conservative or more liberal in their interpretation of the Bible?

A: As a non-Adventist, I cannot really answer this question. I can only mention perhaps that my Adventist friends in my hometown in Switzerland, who are themselves deeply committed Adventists and who have read my book with great interest, have commented that their brothers and sisters in Madagascar seem to be much more conservative – not necessarily in a negative sense – than themselves.

Q: Did you find areas where Adventist culture and beliefs clash with local and traditional culture and beliefs? When the two cultures diverge, which direction do the Adventists go?

A: The third part of my book is dedicated to a discussion of what clashes there are and how SDAs deal with them. In a nutshell, one can say that the clashes concern fundamental aspects of Malagasy culture and that the SDAs try, as much as possible within the framework of their religion, to walk a conciliatory path. But conflict can often not be avoided.

Q: There has been a lot of discussion about "true conversion" and how to ensure baptized Adventists actually live according to Adventist morals and beliefs. Rwanda is the example people always come back to. (And of course there are plenty of "Western" Adventists who lie, steal, rape and abuse.) When push comes to shove, would Malagasy Adventists act according to their Adventist beliefs?

A: There are the problems I mentioned with non-Adventist kin. In the book I give an example of a man who insisted on not taking part at the exhumation of his own father. This is the ultimate insult towards one's kin in the eyes of the non-Adventist Malagasy. As a consequence, the man lost contact with most of his family – in a kin-based society, this is dramatic.

On the other hand, there were also people who seemed to sleep during Sabbath School or even in a few cases people who continued to engage with the ancestors secretly because they couldn't bear the conflict with their kin. But all in all, the Malagasy Adventists I know are deeply committed members of the church.

Q: Are Adventist leaders in Madagascar mostly local people, or do church leaders tend to include Western missionaries or other foreigners?

A: They are all Malagasy, including in the capital city of Antananarivo, where the headquarters of the Indian Ocean Division is located.

Q: How big is the Adventist church on the island? How does it compare to other religions in Madagascar?

A: In 2003, about 0.5% of the overall population in Madagascar were Adventists, though they are concentrated in certain areas of the island and almost absent in others. In the town where I lived, about 1% were Adventists, and in the village almost 10%. In comparison with the Catholic and the Protestant churches – to whom some 50% of the population of Madagascar belong – the Adventist church is tiny, but among the churches that have begun to grow only relatively recently (evangelical and Pentecostal), the Adventist church is among the largest and growing fast.

Q: Would you say the people of Madagascar are particularly susceptible to proselytizing religions?

A: I don't know. However, one point that might be relevant is the fact that the written word in general is considered by Malagasy people with awe. Almost anything written has high status. This has to do with the history of Madagascar. Although this is a complicated and ambiguous issue, perhaps this specifically Malagasy perception of the written word and of books makes a church that puts emphasis on reading and studying the Bible particularly attractive?

Q: What kind of feedback have you received on your book?

A: It has been very well received among social anthropologists (there have been several very favorable reviews in important academic journals). And – what for me is in a way even more important – among members of the SDA church in Europe and the US.

The first and most important job of a social anthropologist is to try to understand the world as it looks through someone else’s spectacles. To feel that those one writes about recognize themselves in what one has written is therefore the biggest compliment for a social anthropologist.

I also brought copies back to Madagascar to the SDA headquarters in the capital, to university departments and to my friends in my fieldsites. They were all very pleased, especially Pastor Ranala Isaac (who was the pastor in Maroantsetra when I lived there) who was enthusiastic about the book's emphasis on study and learning.

Q: What new project are you working on now?

A: I am still working in the same region in Madagascar, though on an entirely different research project. However, I continue to live with my Adventist friends when I am there. I presently study representations of nature and nature conservation in Madagascar as well as in Switzerland.

Eva Keller is a Research Fellow at the University of Zurich. She received her PhD in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2002. She is currently carrying out research on representations of nature and nature conservation in Madagascar and Switzerland.

Look for this interview with Eva Keller to be highlighted in the next issue of Spectrum. If you are a subscriber, you should receive your copy shortly.

You can buy The road to Clarity from Amazon here and support Spectrum at the same time.

Read Adventist reviews of The Road to Clarity by Stefan Höschele in the Andrews University Seminary Studies 44, autumn 2006, and by Rich Hannon in Spectrum here.

A Young Conductor Makes Waves

Alita Byrd — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:20:17 -0700

Last year, Shi-Yeon Sung became the first woman to be named assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Working under the renowned James Levine, the 32-year-old South Korean is making the most of her two-year opportunity to work with some of the world’s best musicians and conductors.

In 2006, Sung won the prestigious Sir Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition in Frankfurt, Germany – the first woman to ever take home the top prize. She was given €15,000 in prize money and concerts with the Frankfurt Museum Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony.

In February 2007, she took second prize at the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Bamberg, Germany – another top honor. (None of the 12 competitors earned first prize.) A (London) Times reviewer said Sung “conducted with impressive discipline but coolness.” English conductor Jonathan Nott, who conducts the world-class symphony orchestra in Bamberg and is one of the judges in the conducting competition, said: “I hope Shi-Yeon can go on to prove that we should have given her first prize.”

Shi-Yeon Sung is certainly a rising star in the classical music world, and she has packed in an impressive array of performances and accolades since her conducting debut in 2002, when she conducted Mozart’s Magic Flute in Berlin.

Shi-Yeon Sung is also an Adventist, and since she moved to Boston for her new job this season, she has been attending the Boston Korean Church. Sung gives God the credit for her success. “I believe that God has led me to where I am today,” she says.

“I do not know why [I was chosen for the Boston Symphony orchestra position]. But I think God has a plan for me here in Boston and I am waiting to find out what it is.”

Sung was born in an Adventist hospital in Pusan, South Korea. When Sung was five years old, her mother became an Adventist and began taking her daughter with her to church every week. Later, while living in Germany, Sung was baptized.

Sung says it can be difficult to balance her work in the professional music world with her religion, “but I decided to conduct music to praise God,” she says, so she believes the two do not conflict.

The beginning

Sung started taking piano lessons when she was four years old, living with her parents and older brother in Seoul, South Korea. “One day I came home after playing with some friends,” Sung says. “I asked my mother to get me piano lessons. I don’t remember why. I just wanted to be a professional musician.”

Sung’s earliest memory of music is of Beethoven’s Symphony No 6 playing at home. “I felt really comfortable and at ease when the music surrounded the entire room,” she says.

Sung practiced her piano diligently, but she also liked to go out and spend time with her friends. For a while, she tried her hand at the violin, but decided it was not for her.

She enjoyed going to hear orchestras play, and watching the conductors made a deep and lasting impression.

When she was 18, Sung left home to study piano and music in Switzerland, and then Germany. She studied under well-known teachers in Zurich and Berlin, and in 2001 earned a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of Arts Berlin.

Then Sung decided to take up conducting. “I wanted to try something new besides piano,” she says. “I remembered watching orchestras as a little kid and I wanted to switch to conducting.”

After her conducting debut in 2002, Sung worked with various German orchestras, and eventually orchestras around the world, including the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony, Heidelberg Philharmonic, Royal Opera Orchestra Stockholm, Helsinborg Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, and many others.

Sung also won various conducting competitions, including the Solingen Conducting Competition for women.

Questions & Answers

Spectrum asked Shi-Yeon Sung some questions about her work and her inspiration.

Spectrum: What music do you most enjoy conducting?

Shi-Yeon Sung: Gustav Mahler and other German classical and romantic music.

Q: What preparation do you do before conducting a piece of music?

A: First I study the background of the music, and how it came to be composed. Then I read through the score once. Then I try to play it on the piano. While I play it, I imagine what it would sound like with an orchestra performing it. Then I rehearse with an orchestra. And I pray.

Q: How do you feel is the most effective way to communicate with an
orchestra?

A: Just be yourself on the podium and be honest all the time. Instead of requesting musicians to create sound in a certain way, I try to incorporate the unique sound each member makes and react to create a harmony.

Q: What do you find to be the most difficult thing about being a conductor?

A: To be a great conductor, not only do you need good knowledge and techniques, but you also need to create a good working relationship with musicians. One of the most important assets of a good conductor is his or her unique personality. But you are born with it and it is difficult to change who you are.

Q: Aren't you very young for a conductor?

A: In the past, I would have been a young conductor. But today, there are lots of young conductors who have great careers in music.

Q: Where do you think classical music is going? How has the classical
music world changed in the time you have been a part of it?

A: Compared to classical music performance in the past, today music has become more technical. Instead of deep interpretation, music these days tends to provide instant excitement and gratification.

Q: How does Adventism influence your career? Does your career impact
your Adventism?

A: I try to represent Adventists in the music world.

Q: Where do you see your career going in the future?

A: I do not know for sure at this moment. No matter how I plan it, I believe it is God who has led me till now. So I will wait and see where He will take me next.

Q: What do you do when you are not making music?

A: I exercise whenever I have free time because it is important to have a good stamina. Conducting is a very demanding job. I also watch movies, read books and spend time with my friends.

Q: How often do you see your family? What do they think of your success?

A: My family is still in South Korea. I see them once every year. They are really happy about my success. My parents pray a lot for me. They know God is the reason behind my success.

Q: What advice would you have for young Adventists who are hoping to
become professional musicians?

A: Without effort, God will not grant your wish. Therefore, do your best and never give up. Continue to pray as you pursue your dream.

Bridging Borders: A Maryland Businesswoman Gets Involved

Alita Byrd — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:18:35 -0800

In almost exactly six months, Baker Park in Frederick, Maryland will be filled with colorful Brazilian costumes, exotic Brazilian food, traditional Brazilian dancers and crowds of people who want to find out more about life in their South American sister city.

At least 15,000 people are expected at the party.

Frederick, Maryland has adopted Aquiraz, Brazil as a sister city, and Brazil Day on September 7, 2008 is the biggest benefit event on the sister city calendar.

Dirci Marquart, a Brazilian Adventist who has been living in the US for more than 14 years, is the force behind Brazil Day and the sister city association.

“Brazil Day in Frederick happened after a challenge from the Frederick mayor’s office,” Marquart says. The mayor said that if Marquart could get at least 12 people to attend a public meeting showing they were interested in Brazil, the mayor’s office would consider a “sisterhood” with a Brazilian city.

When the meeting was announced, well over 200 people showed up - and the mayor agreed to adopt Aquiraz.

The first Brazil Day in Frederick, held last September, attracted a crowd of more than 5,000.

This year the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, DC is getting involved.

Marquart chose Aquiraz, a historic city on Brazil’s coast, as Frederick’s sister city because of the volunteer work she had been doing there for many years.

Dirci Marquart seems to be the force behind a lot of things.

She was born in Brazil to a German/Italian family. In the early 1970s, she went to the US to study, and in 1984 she moved to the US permanently.

But she hasn’t forgotten about where she came from, and she travels to Brazil several times a year on mission trips or for business.

Since moving to the US, Marquart has started a successful family company, Son’Art Galleria by GranTops, which imports and designs exotic granite for countertops in homes and businesses. (GranTops is the major sponsor of Brazil Day.)

In January, she took members of Frederick’s business and political community to visit Aquiraz. “Aquiraz is located by the sea in a wonderful setting,” Marquart says. “However, the needs of the community are overwhelming. We visited the vacation spots as well as the local hospital, schools, and community centers to bring back a report and to make plans how we can better make a difference in that community.”

Marquart says the most exciting thing about the sister city program is “the opportunity to mobilize communities to make a difference in the world for the better.”

The sister city program benefits Frederick by showing its citizens how they can contribute to society, and where they can go on vacation. And Aquiraz gains through its association with Frederick in many ways – the most recent gift is an ambulance donated to its municipal hospital.

Marquart also works to help Brazilians in ways beyond the sister city program.

Marquart spends a lot of time with a foundation she started, called MissionServ International. Through MissionServ, she has been organizing trips to Brazil for many years, and specifically to Aquiraz for volunteer work. She has helped to organize more than 90 volunteer mission trips to Brazil, doing everything from medical to construction work.

She takes lots of people, mainly Americans, to Brazil with her.

“We have done projects with some [Adventist] academies, churches and self-supporting groups,” says Marquart. “However, most of our projects are done by volunteers that come to us from all walks of life, not necessarily church groups or members.”

MissionServ has ten dental missions planned for 2008, and two surgical missions. This month, professionals from Flying Doctors of America are traveling to Brazil.

Marquart’s foundation is also in the middle of a church building project in Euzebio, Brazil. A group – supported financially by a church in Pennsylvania – is going to complete the building this month.

In September, ten evangelistic series are going to take place in Brazil. The volunteers are being organized by MissionServ, together with The Quiet Hour.

Marquart’s newest program is called Youth Ambassadors for Peace, where young people will compete to become the representative of Frederick overseas. Marquart organized a huge benefit Chocolate Gala to launch the new program, as well as raise funds to send the donated ambulance to Brazil.

It’s obvious that Marquart does not compartmentalize – all of her programs and businesses and foundations complement and help each other. And when she sees something that needs to be done, she doesn’t wait for someone to step in – she goes out there and creates something or organizes something to make it happen.

But she makes it look simple to juggle all these interlinking projects and trips and programs. “There was nothing really difficult about starting the sister city program,” she says. “It was an exciting challenge.”

Dirci Marquart has worked for the US Steel Corporation, Rio Tinto in London, the United Nations (Economic Commission), the World Bank, ADRA International, and her own consulting companies.

Run and Not Be Weary

Alita Byrd — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:34:43 -0800

The Two Oceans Ultra Marathon is called “ the world’s most beautiful marathon”, and it’s doubtful anyone would disagree. Runners race along the perimeter of South Africa’s Cape Peninsula, a long finger of land at the tip of Africa pointing down into the Atlantic Ocean. They pass long white sand beaches, waves breaking in the blue sea, and houses perched on oceanside cliffs as they wind along 56 kilometres (34.8 miles) of road.

Yes, that’s right, 34.8 miles. Even some of the world’s most beautiful scenery goes unnoticed by runners struggling up some of the famously long hills.

In a few weeks, Eric Webster, an 80-year-old Adventist pastor, will compete in the Two Oceans half marathon (21 kilometers) for the eighth time. (He has run the full 56 kilometer ultra marathon five times.)

But instead of running with 18,000 other runners from South Africa and around the world in a Saturday race that nearly shuts down the city of Cape Town, Webster and about 50 other runners will run the race on Friday, the day before. This will be the 19th year that Webster has organized a Friday Two Oceans race, in full cooperation with the official Two Oceans organizers.

The Friday race is the same as the Saturday race, fully recognized, with officials to start and end the race for the Adventists, Jews, and club members who are helping to officiate the following day.

The roads are not closed, and there are no official water stops or massive cheering crowds (each runner is permitted a “second” to follow in a car or bicycle and carry water and energy drinks), but the same route is followed and runners can feel the same sense of achievement at the end.

“I have never raced on Sabbath,” says Webster. And “not running on Sabbath has not hampered my running career.”

A racing history

Webster first laced up his running shoes and headed out the door for a jog when he was 40 years old. It was 1967, and jogging was gaining in popularity around the world. He was soon running about three kilometers three or four times a week.

“Then when I turned 60 I suddenly had a desire for longer distances,” Webster says. “I worked up to my first marathon of 42 kilometers [26.2 miles].”

For the next 17 years, Webster ran four or five full marathons every year, as well as numerous ten and 21 kilometer races.

While in his 60s, Webster successfully completed the Comrades Ultra Marathon – one of the world’s most difficult races – three times. The Comrades is an 89 kilometer (55.9 miles) race run between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, on South Africa’s Indian Ocean coast. There is a time limit of eleven hours – many don’t make it. Runners lose their toenails after the famed race; there is crying and ultimate exhaustion.

Webster calls completing his first Comrades, at the age of 61, the ultimate moment of his running career. He describes it like this:

“At one stage of the race I joined a man who was running his 10th Comrades. I felt he knew what he was doing and so practically entrusted myself to him. He realized in the last 10 kilometers of the race that we were pressed for time and would have to keep going in order to complete on time. I clearly remember coming into Durban and eventually into the sports arena amidst applause only to make the finish line with 30 seconds to spare. We completed the race in 10 hours 59 minutes and 30 seconds. It was a dramatic physical and emotional high.”

After he turned 77, Webster thought he should slow down, so he took the marathons out of his schedule, though he continued to run shorter races, including half marathons.

“However, as I approached the age of 80 I suddenly felt a desire to run a full one,” Webster says. So last year, he ran five half marathons and one full marathon a week after he turned 80 on August 26.

During his running career, Webster has run about 160 official races, including about 30 marathons, and 13 ultra marathons (between 52 kilometers and 89 kilometers).

Now he runs 15 to 20 kilometers every week, usually in a long Sunday morning training run and a shorter weekday run.

He often runs from his retirement cottage outside Cape Town down to the sea, 10 kilometers away on the public highway. His wife of 57 years, Ruth, drives down to meet him and bring him back home.

Webster enjoys the training runs on his own. “It gives me a great time to think constructively,” he says.

But he also keeps piling up the race medals. On February 17, he ran a half marathon in Cape Town, finishing six minutes before the cut-off time of three hours. He was recognized as the oldest runner in the race, among a thousand runners.

“I enjoy the invigorating exercise,” Webster says. “Running a race with crowds can be very exhilarating. The companionship with others means a lot.”

“I will keep on and see how long I can still run a half marathon in three hours,” he says. “I anticipate if all goes well I could carry on this year and next year when I turn 82. I might then even decide to carry on a few more years by cutting down to 10 kilometers. Of course I will let the Lord lead and direct me. I give God all the honor for my good health.”

In ministry

It’s not as though Webster doesn’t have anything else to keep him busy. He started publishing a South African version of The Signs of the Times on a self-supporting basis in 1991, and still works six days a week as the magazine’s editor and manager. The magazine comes out seven times a year, in both an English and an Afrikaans edition – about 15,000 copies total. Aside from an Afrikaans translator and a graphic artist, Webster and his wife do everything, including the finance and mailing the copies out.

Webster is the head elder at the Claremont, Cape Town church. He also preaches often, teaches the Sabbath School lesson, conducts funerals and spends at least an hour a day in devotions.

Webster retired from ministry in 1992, after 44 years of service. During his career, he worked as a pastor, a teacher, a conference president, director of Voice of Prophecy Cape Town and head of the theology department at Helderberg College outside Cape Town.

He studied theology at Helderberg College (undergrad, graduated 1948), received a master’s from Potomac University in Washington DC (merged into Andrews University in 1959), earned a Master of Divinity from Andrews University (1972), and completed a Doctorate in Theology at Stellenbosch University, South Africa (1982).

In his long church career, Webster says he had the privilege of leading many to Christ and to baptism. He conducted Bible studies and held numerous evening evangelistic campaigns.

“I enjoyed pastoral work very much,” Webster says. “I loved preaching, and still do. I greatly enjoy visiting people and praying with them. It has been a pleasure to conduct many weddings, and to visit the sick. I have always found conducting funerals a great spiritual opportunity to be a blessing to the family and to friends.”

In the two years he has lived in the retirement village, Webster has conducted three funerals for non-Adventist residents.

But though he has always kept very busy, Webster feels that running has always helped him in his work, by giving him energy, and time to think creatively.

“It has been a great blessing for my physical, mental and spiritual health,” Webster says. “I couldn’t have done what I have for the Signs if it were not for my running. The running has been a great blessing in my editorial work. They have fitted like hand and glove.”

But despite his love of running, and the blessing he feels it has brought, Webster has maintained his stance against running on Sabbath. “Not because I am a legalist,” he says, “but our Adventist running community in South Africa have felt it best not to run races Sabbath – even when that decision has limited the runners.”

Webster says no official decision has been made, but the Adventist runners just feel an official race is not a good atmosphere for keeping the Sabbath. He explains it like this:

“If I felt it was in order for me to run races on Sabbath, I would be honor-bound to open up all Sabbath sport to our young people. That means cricket matches, soccer matches, baseball, basketball, swimming galas, etc. . . Of course, if we can argue that perhaps we have been too strict on the question of Sabbath races and should ease up we must insist this is the way to go for all young people in all sports (perhaps with the exception of boxing as it might be hard to argue for Sabbath-keeping while knocking your opponent down).”

“Of course, this view does not preclude, in my thinking, the personal Sabbath walk up the mountain or even a personal jog. That is up to each individual. Exercise is good on Sabbath – we have just taken this position in regard to races. . . [But] a certain amount of leeway needs to be granted to personal conscience. . . I sense that it is quite a sacrifice for a young person to give up a career in sport because of the Sabbath. But if as a church we are right in this stand we realize that many of our members also make a sacrifice in their careers because of the Sabbath. I think it all goes together.”

Throughout his 40 years of running, Webster has appreciated the support he gets from his family, particularly his wife Ruth, who drives him to races and training runs, and brings food for afterward.

His children and grandchildren are very proud of his accomplishments, and Webster is thrilled that some of them are following in his running footsteps.

Eric Webster has three married children and eight grandchildren. His son John is Dean of the School of Religion at La Sierra University. His daughter Jennifer and her husband Rodger lecture at Pacific Adventist University in Papua New Guinea. His daughter Gillian lives near Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and teaches special students in the public school system. One of his grandchildren, Raewyn Hankins, recently completed her MDiv at Andrews University and is going into pastoral work in the South Eastern California Conference.

A Platform of Compassion

Julius Nam — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:41:07 -0800

Marianne Thieme is a Dutch politician, animal activist and publicist. She is the chair and political leader of the first animal rights party in history that is represented in a national parliament. She is also a Seventh-day Adventist. Since last November, her Party for the Animals has won two seats in the Dutch National Parliament, nine seats in the Dutch Provincial Governments and one seat in the Dutch Senate.

Thieme has been voted Political Talent of the Year 2006 by the Dutch parliamentary press, Most Spicy Politician by women’s magazine Viva and Most Influential Woman for Farmer’s Incomes by the leading Dutch magazine on agriculture. Marianne has published a book on animal rights (The Animal’s Century) and dozens of articles in Dutch national and regional newspapers on factory farming, hunting, animal testing, bird flu, ritual slaughtering, fur, fisheries and vegetarianism.

Marianne Thieme spoke to Spectrum about the philosophy behind her political party and what she hopes to accomplish.

Q: Have you always been interested in the welfare of animals? What led you to take an interest in this cause?

 A: My parents were very animal-friendly and I was raised with a respect for nature. I was  born in a village in the part of Holland where factory farming is very big, and as a child I wondered where all the animals I had seen in my children’s books were going. When I saw a documentary on Dutch television about the lives of our cows, I decided not to eat animals anymore.

 Q: How did the Party for the Animals get started? What contributed to the formation of the party?

A: On November 22 2006 a historical breakthrough was achieved in the struggle for animal rights. For the first time ever, 180,000 voters elected members of a Party for the Animals to a national parliament. With two seats, we achieved a victory, which has been received with great acclaim by champions for animal rights across the globe. Similar animal parties have already been launched or are being set up in other countries.

We are on the threshold of an unstoppable march towards giving animals a voice and a place in our legal system. This march is the result of a like-mindedness, which transcends status, political preference and religious belief, and allows everyone to contribute to the ending of this moral blind spot that has dominated our society for decades.

In the Netherlands, animal suffering is often hidden from view, or we simply do not want to acknowledge it. Each year in this country, millions of factory farmed animals are sent to slaughter after living short and miserable lives, and millions of minks are killed for their fur. More than a hundred thousand dogs and cats are dumped in shelters, and €500 million is spent on animal experimentation every year.

Leaving aside these images of horror, let us look towards a more positive future: in 50 years we will not even be able to conceive of the fact that animals did not have rights at the start of the millennium. The next generation will look back in shame at how their ancestors treated animals with such a lack of respect, just as we now look back with shame at the role that the Netherlands played in the slave trade.

Q: What were your immediate goals and expectations as you formed the party?

A: During the mid-1990s, a favorable political climate for animals emerged. For the first time in history, there was a more or less animal-friendly majority in parliament. This came about by accident as more progressive parties won power from the conservatives.

Nonetheless, animal welfare remained a side issue for many parties, but together the Socialist Party, Green Left, the Labour Party D66 and the Christian Union formed an animal-friendly parliamentary majority.

But the so-called animal friendly parties made it clear that one could not do the impossible, and that not too much should be expected of them. The protection of animal rights featured in their party manifestos, but clearly was not a priority.

Meanwhile, other parties managed to even reverse and dismantle animal welfare policies in parliament.

Animals became objects once again, which were only intended to quell the appetite and serve the economic purposes of people.

This is why the plan to set up a Party for the Animals was hatched in late 2002. It was set up initially as a reminder to the parliamentary parties about the many good intentions set down in their manifestos. And, naturally, to speed up the implementation of such plans.

We hoped that breathing down the necks of the existing parties would finally lead to justice being done for animals. This was essential at a time when the political and social agenda was dominated by issues such as security and integration, and standing up for animal rights was contemptuously regarded as a subversive activity that showed weakness rather than strength.

That the strategy worked became immediately evident when the plans for the party were launched and we were able to participate in the elections.

Overnight, Green Left set out its new top ten election priorities, which suddenly included animal welfare, while previously animal welfare did not even make it into the top 50 of the party's main concerns.

Other parties – albeit to a lesser extent – also jumped on the bandwagon after we established the Party for the Animals. They realized that animal welfare was becoming an increasingly important issue for the electorate.

One party even wrote words into its election song letting people know that animals were more than just a piece of meat!

In the months following November 2002, when a number of people hit on the idea of  setting up a political party for the interests of animal welfare, we had a lot to accomplish. In two months, €11,250 had to be raised to pay for the election deposit and a good candidate list and adequate party manifesto had to be put together. We did not want to be just a one-issue party, yet the manifesto should also not get bogged down in the broad spectrum of viewpoints and issues that had little to do with animal welfare.

We tried to make it clear in press releases and opinion articles that we at the very least should be seen as a light-hearted initiative without prospects.

It was only on the election night itself that people suddenly stopped contemptuously laughing off our attempt to make a stand for animals. During the broadcast of the election results, to everyone's surprise it became clear that Party for the Animals had scored high!

Our ambition to put animals on the agenda was achieved, but we had to go further. We knew that if the animal protectionists in the existing parliamentary parties could transform themselves into a group that was even half as fanatical and tenacious as the politicians that the factory farmers bring into play to defend the interests of intensive farming, then it would not take long for the advantage to be decided in the favor of the animals.

We still have to push hard for this in our new role as parliamentarians. The Party for the Animal's role will be to continually stir things up in an intelligent and determined way.

I do not exclude the possibility that we may still need to continue as a social movement for decades both in and outside of parliament, but it is our aim to make ourselves redundant as soon as possible. But until the time that animals are widely respected, we must continue to do everything in our power to ensure that we keep animal welfare at the top of the political agenda.  

Q: Could you briefly describe the philosophical underpinnings of your movement?

A: The party is often wrongly portrayed as just a one-issue party. People often say to me: "I'd like to speak up for the animals, but what do you do for people, healthcare, the economy and housing?"

I can assure you that standing up for animals does not mean that we are blind to other issues. In our manifesto we made 220 proposals for achieving a better society. Compassion plays a dominant role in these proposals; money is less important. We want to work towards a society where not only animals get a better life, but also farmers, townsfolk and countrymen.

Q: How do you respond to the charge that the jump from advocacy of  human rights to animal rights is too great and unreasonable?

A: It is not about comparing animals, on the one hand, with people with a darker skin color, slaves, women or Jews, on the other. It is about the similarities in the way in which oppression, discrimination and, in some cases, even destruction has taken place. It is not about comparing the victims with each other, but instead the way in which they were treated and abused, and the way in which they were denied their rights or had them taken from them.   

Q: Do you see your party growing to become a multi-cause, multi-platform party in the future?

A: Yes, we are a new political movement based on compassion, durability and respect to man, animals, nature and environment  

Q: Since your party was formed in 2002, you've grown tremendously to a place where you have two seats in parliament. To what do you attribute this growth?

A: The Party for the Animal's common point of departure is that people unite in their joint quest to afford animals a better life, to make the existing abuses visible and discussible, and to find alternatives to stop such abuses in the future.

It is fantastic to see how people from so many different backgrounds chose to support the ideals that the Party for the Animals stands for. The concern for the weak – in this case the animal – is the bond that leads to a much greater degree of unity than any other initiative that derives from the protection of one’s own interests (that is, the interests of one's own species). 

It is a fantastic experience to be part of a new movement that is not hindered by the existing impossibilities and political priorities, but instead consciously breaks through the framework. It is a movement that places key emphasis on compassion and durability, personal freedom and responsibility.

Q: It's not easy for some to take animal rights activism seriously. What has your experience in the parliament been so far? Do you find yourself fighting for legitimacy?

A: In the last debate on agriculture, 80% of the time was spent on animal welfare and animal rights for the first time in history. Does that answer your question?

Q: As a member of the parliament, what kind of legislation have you been able to pass? 

A: We're just few months in parliament, but we’re on the move: animal rights will be part of the constitution, there will be a debate on factory farming, there will be a ban on mink farming, the Queen has promised not to serve foie gras anymore, and so on.  

Q: How have religious individuals and organizations responded to your cause? Have you found Christians churches, in particular, more or less friendly?

A: People from all backgrounds, including Christianity, are supporting the party. We are the fastest-growing political party of the Netherlands. However, we are a secular party, so there is no special religious approach in our message.  

Q: How has your Seventh-day Adventist background – with its emphasis on vegetarianism, wholistic living, care for creation, and so on – had an impact on your founding and leadership of the Party for the Animals? 

 A: In fact, first I was an animal activist and founder of the Party for the Animals. After that (in 2006) I became a Seventh-day Adventist, because it’s a church with compassion and care for our planet.

This interview was conducted in September 2007.

Read Marianne Thieme's Wikipedia profile here.   