3Angels Livable Communities Initiative

Boosting living standards and intellectual development to unlock eternal decision-making

VISION 2025

On February 27, 2015, 3AngelsLCI launched its VISION 2025 in commemoration of Ellen G. White's new strategy she visioned on February 27, 1910. As the 105-year anniversary of that new strategy, February 27 became the key date to launch the VISION 2025 which aims to bring that new strategy to life.

Centers of Influence

Centers of Influence are one part of the Ellen G. White's twin-model strategy of community development and humanitarian endeavors for reaching all cities, towns and villages worldwide. These pictures shows a center of influence in development in Phoenix, AZ.

Outpost Centers

Outpost Centers are the other part of Ellen G. White's twin-model strategy. The services at the Outpost Centers and Centers of Influence are to complement each other.

Community-based Agriculture

This Hub of Influence is demonstrating how home-based agriculture, a key component of Ellen G. White's strategy, can still be implemented within a city, even a desert-city like Phoenix, AZ. Home-based agriculture has various benefits to community well-being including economic empowerment, healthy exercise, access of sunlight and fresh air, environmental conservation, food security, etc.

Jun 10, 2015

Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. Handbook of qualitative research, 2(163-194).

Wednesday, June 10, 2015  ,  No comments
Article pages: 13
In this article, Guba and Lincoln outline the differences between four alternative paradigms in qualitative research. These are positivism, post-positivism, critical theory (and related paradigms, and constructivism.

The articles suggests that there are important differences between these four paradigms which impact the practical approach one conducts research. The basis of the differences boil down to three questions.

  1. Ontological question. What is the fundamental nature and form of reality/what can be known? 
  2. Epistemological question. What is the relationship between the researcher, the researched, and what of the researched can be investigated?
  3. Methodological question. How does a researcher investigate the researched?
Positivism was the dominating paradigm for about 400 years. However, the article indicates that once major challenges were presented in regards to positivism, the post-positivism in now the reining paradigm. Critical theory and constructivism are gaining legitimacy and acceptance.

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Jun 7, 2015

Last Day Events: Facing Earth's Final Crisis (2002) by Ellen G. White

Sunday, June 07, 2015  ,  No comments
Book's pages: 306

This is a compilation of excerpts from various of Ellen G. White's books. The compilation seeks to provide a "one-stop shop" to get a comprehensive quotes of Ellen G. White's views of the greatest challenges currently facing our planet. This book can serve as a reference for one who would like to identify books for further readings on Ellen G. White's views. At the end of each quotation, the compilers provide the original book from which the excerpt was taken.

Some of the key takeaways from this book include:

  1. Natural and human-made disasters will increase. While we hope to see a more peaceful planet, in Ellen G. White's view peace is unattainable. National contentions will continue. This view seems consistent with the current challenges we see even between the continued chilling relationship between the United States and Russia especially after the Ukraine encounter. Also, the World Economic Forum and other research bodies foresee future conflicts popping up from seemingly simple things like water and land resources. 
  2. Religious liberty/rights will be subverted. One would assume this would be a result of the new atheism movement. However, White indicates religious rights of minorities will be impinged by other religious groups. 
  3. Life in the cities will increasingly become unbearable that some will leave the cities for their safety. This point is sobering considering that the majority of the planet's population lives in megacities. For example, Tokyo has a population of above 35 million.

Click here to read Last Day Events: Facing Earth's Final Crisis (2002) by Ellen G. White

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Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences (2013) by Irving Seidman

Sunday, June 07, 2015    No comments
Book's pages: 194

I think this an excellent book for anyone exploring interviewing as a method for social science research. Seidman synthesized the full process of interviewing within the research process in a relatively easy read. Please note this book focuses on in-depth phenomenological interviewing. In other words, the book focuses on interviewing as a method to research the experience of individuals. Regardless of that focus, I think this is a good book to cover various issues around interviewing (even for ethnographic, case study, or grounded theory research). A key benefit of this book is that Seidman synthesizes key references for the various issues an interviewer needs to consider. These include ethical, data collection, gender, or racial considerations. In short, Seidman introduces the reader to the three interview series through which a research conducts three separate interviews of the same participant. Each interview is 90 minutes. The first interview covers the life history of the participant. The second concentrates on the current details of the participant's experience. The third interview covers the meaning of the experiences to the participants. Seidman recommends taking 2 to 3 weeks to interview each individual; the three interviews should be spaced between 3 days to a week apart.
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