There seems to be a new stirring in parts of the world not previously open to evangelism," declared Pastor Mark Finley, director of global evangelism for the Seventh-day Adventist world church. "We see in some of the most difficult places today, the grace of God working, the hearts of people being opened."

That report was the first thing world leaders of the Adventist Church heard as the 2005 Spring Meeting of the church opened April 13 in Silver Spring, Maryland. The two-day session includes financial reports and management actions designed in part to set the agenda for the church's quinquennial business meeting, the 2005 General Conference Session that begins June 29 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.

Finley, who recently concluded a month-long satellite evangelism series in Kiev, Ukraine, told leaders that a total of 1,071,735 people were baptized as new Adventist church members worldwide in 2004, the second-highest annual total and the highest in 15 years. Nearly 14 million people in 203 countries and territories are members of the Adventist Church, and approximately 25 million attend worship services weekly around the globe.

Along with evangelistic information, delegates heard a detailed financial report from Robert Lemon, world church treasurer. The Adventist Church received U.S. $1.315 billion in tithe globally last year, up U.S. $112.5 million, or 9.4 percent, over the previous year. This came from a 4.8 percent increase in tithe from North America, and a 16.3 percent increase in world church regions where the dollar is not used. Mission offerings rose 15.2 percent to U.S. $49.7 million. North American mission giving rose 0.3 percent while other world regions' mission giving was up 29.8 percent. Overall, the increases reversed a negative giving trend in mission offerings, Lemon said.

In other financial news, the church's humanitarian arm, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), said it received more than U.S. $100 million last year.

At the same time, cumulative trust maturities in 2004 surpassed U.S. $1 billion, meaning that the money is now available for projects including education, health care, evangelism and media ministries.

Lemon said a key challenge of the coming years will be on how to allocate resources for work in unreached areas of the world, including the "10/40 Window," an area defined by an imaginary rectangle that extends between 10 degrees and 40 degrees north of the equator, stretching from Western Africa to Eastern Asia. [Editor: Mark A. Kellner for ANN/APD]