A Statement on Literacy

The Seventh-day Adventist Church values the unique role that women play in fulfilling the church's mission to spread the gospel. Part of that mission involves meeting the physical, intellectual, and social needs of those around us, just as Jesus did when He lived on earth.

Research indicates that six major challenges in the lives of all human beings—women in particular—are: literacy, poverty, abuse, health, work hours and conditions, and opportunities for training and mentoring. To better meet these needs, the Office of Women's Ministries of the Adventist Church has launched a major thrust on literacy training for 1995.

The inability to read impacts every aspect of a person's life—earning power, career opportunities, access to health care information, and even the ability to raise a child properly. Without the skill of reading, few doors of opportunity can ever be opened.

Teaching reading creates endless possibilities for people to be informed concerning such topics as careers, health, parenting, and marriage, and offers the teacher unexcelled opportunities for touching lives through ministry.

Adventists recognize a more vital reason to share the gift of reading. We believe that the ability to read God's Word—the good news of salvation—should not be reserved for the privileged few. We assert that every man, woman, and child should have access to the truths and uplifting power of the Bible.

This statement was approved and voted by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Administrative Committee (ADCOM) and was released by the Office of the President, Robert S. Folkenberg, at the General Conference session in Utrecht, the Netherlands, June 29-July 8, 1995.