Some 28 months after it was organized as a new division, or trans-national region, of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the East-Central Africa Division's new headquarters complex in Mbagathi, a suburb of Nairobi, were officially opened on May 9 by Pastor Jan Paulsen, world church president, along with the Hon. Dr. A.A. Moody Awori, vice president and minister for Home Affairs of the Republic of Kenya.

In Kenya "we may look poor but are actually sitting on plenty! May you find our country and its people welcoming and ready to join hands in service for God and humanity," Dr. Awori said as he congratulated the Seventh-day Adventist Church on behalf of the Kenyan Government. He lauded the church for its support of the nation in education and health, as well as publishing facilities. These functions, he said, are usually the responsibilities of government, "but you assist government by providing [these] services" in Kenya.

Noting the hillside location of the new headquarters, next to Maxwell Adventist Academy, Paulsen said "It is appropriate that these facilities are set on a hill to be a welcoming beam of light for all."

"The Adventist church is also to be a good partner with government in education, health and in development and relief programs," he added, saying the church should help wean people from what he called "dependencies," a legacy of colonialism.

"Africa should rapidly move towards self-reliance and move towards a better future for our children," he said.

Those attending the ceremony included members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of other faith communities and presidents of three neighbouring Adventist Church trans-national regions: Pastors Pardon Mwansa from Southern Africa-Indian Ocean region; Luka T. Daniel from West Africa; and Bertil Wiklander from Trans-European region, which includes parts of North Africa.

The realignment of Adventist Church work in Africa was a result of a rapid growth in members. By the end of 1999, more than one-third of worldwide Adventist membership was in Africa. In order to meet local needs, church congregations in 10 nations, as well as four major institutions, were organized into the East-Central Africa Division on Jan. 1, 2003, with groundbreaking for the new headquarters taking place in September of that year.

Constructed in rich African architectural themes the total project includes, 11 office blocks, 20 houses, 16 staff and three guest apartments. N.K. Brothers Ltd of Nairobi were the lead contractors on the project.

Hosted by Pastor Geoffrey Mbwana, Adventist Church president in East-Central Africa, the ceremony included music from the Adventist-owned University of Eastern Africa choir, the Maxwell Academy Band and the Makongeni church choir from the Masai region in whose territory the new headquarters is located.

The Adventist Church is a mainstream Protestant denomination with more than 13,5 million adult baptised members in more than 200 countries. The Church's East-Central Africa region includes Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda. More than 2 million Adventist Christians worship weekly in 8,800 local Adventist congregations in the region. [Editor: John T.J. Banks for ANN/APD]