“By His Spirit” Prayer Retreat Uplifts AIU Church

Reported by Dr. Maxine Newell, Health Ministries Leader, AIU Church  “By His Spirit” Prayer Retreat ran from Thursday evening at 7pm until after lunch on Sunday afternoon (October 12-15).  It was a powerful mixture of talks/workshops, united prayer and prayer...

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Reported by Tiara Skau, Science Major, AIU

“In recent years, there has been a trend to view Creation Week as nonliteral, as a metaphor, a parable, or even a myth. This has emerged in the wake of the theory of evolution, which assumes long ages of time to account for the development of life on planet Earth. (Lesson 8 (page 66) of Standard edition) creation: Genesis part 1. (n.d)). Last sabbath (October 28th, 2023), the AIU Church celebrated Creation Week, which served as a pleasant reminder that everything we see, feel, touch, smell, hear, and taste is the doing of a marvelous and magnificent creator God. We, the science department, were privileged to take the divine service during the creation sabbath. We were also blessed by a lovely program organized by the AIU church’s Children’s Ministries Department.

The Children’s Ministries Department presented during the sabbath school a number of songs, and memory verse recitations all revolving around the creation theme. Children of all races and ages participated, displaying the diversity of one of God’s most important creations, who were created in His own image. “Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts” (Psalms105:2). Singing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to glorify and praise the Lord has been observed in many instances in the bible.

Yunn Mimi Zaw with her soulful voice sang the special song. We were also blessed by the voices of our faculty of science dean, Dr. Elvin Walemba, and teachers Ratna Noah and Dr. Maxine Newell as they sang a song in Tamil titled ‘Sarva shrishtikkum’ which translates to “You, are the master of all creation” reminding us that creation was not something that happened at random, but a carefully crafted and intentional plan. “AI, anyone?” was the title of this week’s sermon and it was presented by the lovely Dr Maxine. Her sermon dealt with the uses of AI, the various predictions of what AI could hold for us in the future, and the well-known creation vs evolution debate. The sermon was overall a blend of scientific and biblical views on creation and other associated themes.

Science is one of the greatest means we humans have to understand the world around us and we have come a long way from primitive methods like superstitions and myths, but as a person of science and a firm believer of the gospel, I believe that some things are too complex for us mere mortals to understand with our limited thinking and reasoning. That’s where faith comes into play. That is why we are saved by grace through FAITH and it is important to remind ourselves that our righteous, omnipotent God is the creator of ALL things. “The greatest minds, if not guided by the word of God, become bewildered in their attempts to investigate the relations of science and revelation. The Creator and His works are beyond their comprehension; and because these cannot be explained by natural laws, Bible history is pronounced unreliable.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, p. 258.”