Adventist Pathfinders and Adventurers Club Mentors Learn to Serve in Ukraine’s Modern Conditions
Programming emphasized that the most important mission of a mentor is to develop trusting relationships with children and reveal to them the character of God.
UKRAINIA | VITALINA NEROBA
The Always There Field School for mentors of the Pathfinder (children aged 10–15) and Adventurer (6–9) clubs was held from March 31 to April 2, 2023 at the “Your Camp” grounds. A total of 163 leaders from all over Ukraine joined the training, engaged in inspirational communication, and experienced exchange.
Many of the workshops at the field school were aimed at overcoming various challenges related to the ongoing conflict. In particular, medical doctor Volodymyr Matsyo conducted a practical workshop called "Premedical Basic Life Support," where the participants learned and updated their knowledge on how to help victims before the ambulance arrives. Vitaliy Neroba spoke about camping and survival in extreme situations, how to make camping interesting for teenagers, and what to take with you.
Valeriy Glushchenko taught the basics of marching; Philip Schubert encouraged creative tasks to develop out-of-the-box thinking; Oleksandr Melnyk shared his experience in organizing a tracking club in a Christian school; Anton Chumak spoke about new and interesting specializations; Maksym Buha played the game "Shapes and Forms"; Olena Nosova presented the program "Exit," which helps teenagers overcome difficulties, especially after a trauma.
At a meeting of the Adventurers' mentors with Vitalina Neroba, they outlined plans for the clubs and developed a strategy for the group to fill with teaching materials for different levels and discussed the development of specializations. They also talked about useful literature for club members and the need for mentors to study the psychology of child development.
Speakers Alisa Dubrova and Oksana Magdych (part of the Association of Christian Camps of Ukraine) shared their experience in organizing camp ministry. Magdych, a psychologist, revealed the value of true mentoring with the topic "Geometry of Mentoring," emphasizing that the most important mission of a mentor is to develop trusting relationships with children and reveal to them the character of the Creator and Savior, and this can only be done by those who are filled with the love of God.
Magdych also shared the importance of psychological safety in the camp, and the leaders learned about the important topic of today's post-traumatic stress disorder and ways to help children and adults. In turn, Dubrova spoke about the philosophy of sports programs and games with instructive conclusions. Participants of the field school immediately took part in the practical portion—active games that will be used at camp and club meetings.
The club leaders also learned how to develop and implement club projects together with Kairat Grayson and Maksym Karpenko, students of the Theological Faculty of the Ukrainian Adventist Theological Institute. Everyone looks forward to the creation of innovative, effective projects that will encourage Ukrainian teenagers to join the worldwide clubs of Pathfinders and Adventurers.
The organizers of the field school hope the leaders will translate the valuable lessons learned into practical club ministry and the field school will facilitate the ministry of responsible, dedicated mentors, the organization of cohesive teams, and the creation of special camp programs tailored to the specifics of the time.
At the end of the field school, two leaders of the Adventurers and two leaders of the Pathfinder clubs were solemnly initiated, and four leaders were also initiated as master guides.
Since 2022, Adventists in Penza have led the “School of the Bible” for their local community, teaching many about the Bible.
RUSSIA | OLEG BAKHMUTSKOV
On March 25, 2023, the Gospel program "The Bible in the Events of Our Time" ended in Penza, Russia. The outcome of the meetings was the baptism of two people.
This week-long program, which began March 18, featured guest speaker Oleg Goncharov, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Euro-Asia Division (ESD). Every evening in the house of prayer of the local Adventist community, Bible stories sounded, taking listeners to distant times when an amazing book, the Bible, was being written. However, the real admiration is for how accurately this ancient book speaks about our days and the love God communicates to His people in order to prepare them for the second coming of Jesus Christ. That was the theme of the program.
Since the autumn of last year, the local community has been actively involved in a long-term effort organized by the ESD called the “School of the Bible.” The members of the church "sowed the seeds" of God's Word among relatives, friends, neighbors, and people around them. The result was not long in coming. Interested people appeared; teachers got involved in teaching Bible lessons; there was always someone present in the pastor's class.
The community invited Goncharov to help with inspiring spiritual reflections to encourage those who have already completed Bible courses to make a covenant with God, as well as those who are interested in starting to study the Bible. On Sabbath, the final day of the program, a baptism ceremony for two people took place in the house of prayer. Praise God!
Goncharov’s visit to Penza was filled with not only sermons but also meetings of various levels. Together with the local pastor, they were at a reception at the Penza Orthodox Diocese. From the Minister of Internal Policy of the Penza Region, P.S. Maslova spoke about the activities of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Penza region, presented an album with photographs of social service, met with pastors and leaders of Protestant denominations in Penza, and discussed the creation of a platform for joint projects.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church[a] is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination[2][3] which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday,[4] the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath,[3] its emphasis on the imminent Second Coming (advent) of Jesus Christ, and its annihilationist soteriology. The denomination grew out of the Millerite movement in the United States during the mid-19th century and it was formally established in 1863.[5] Among its co-founders was Ellen G. White, whose extensive writings are still held in high regard by the church.[6]
Much of the theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church corresponds to common evangelical Christian teachings, such as the Trinity and the infallibility of Scripture. Distinctive post-tribulation teachings include the unconscious state of the dead and the doctrine of an investigative judgment. The church places an emphasis on diet and health, including adhering to Kosher food laws, advocating vegetarianism, and its holistic view of human nature—i.e. that the body, soul, and spirit form one inseparable entity.[7] The Church holds the belief that "God created the universe, and in a recent six-day creation made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day". Marriage is defined as a lifelong union between a man and a woman. The second coming of Christ, and resurrection of the dead, are among official beliefs.[8]
The world church is governed by a General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, with smaller regions administered by divisions, unions, local conferences and local missions. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is currently "one of the fastest-growing and most widespread churches worldwide",[3] with a worldwide baptized membership of over 21 million people, and 25 million adherents. As of May 2007, it was the twelfth-largest religious body in the world, and the sixth-largest highly international religious body. It is ethnically and culturally diverse, and maintains a missionary presence in over 215 countries and territories.[9][10] The church operates over 7,500 schools including over 100 post-secondary institutions, numerous hospitals, and publishing houses worldwide, a humanitarian aid organization known as the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and tax-exempt businesses such as Sanitarium[11] which fund the church's charitable and religious activities.
History
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is the largest of several Adventist groups which arose from the Millerite movement of the 1840s in upstate New York,[12] a phase of the Second Great Awakening.[13] William Miller predicted on the basis of Daniel 8:14–16[14] and the "day-year principle" that Jesus Christ would return to Earth between the spring of 1843 and the spring of 1844. In the summer of 1844, Millerites came to believe that Jesus would return on October 22, 1844, understood to be the biblical Day of Atonement for that year. Miller's failed prediction became known as the "Great Disappointment".[12][13]
Hiram Edson and other Millerites came to believe that Miller's calculations were correct, but that his interpretation of Daniel 8:14 was flawed as he assumed Christ would come to cleanse the world. These Adventists came to the conviction that Daniel 8:14 foretold Christ's entrance into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary rather than his Second Coming.[13] Over the next few decades this understanding of a sanctuary in heaven developed into the doctrine of the investigative judgment, an eschatological process that commenced in 1844, in which every person would be judged to verify their eligibility for salvation and God's justice will be confirmed before the universe. This group of Adventists continued to believe that Christ's second coming would continue to be imminent, however they resisted setting further dates for the event, citing Revelation 10:6, "that there should be time no longer."[15]
Development of Sabbatarianism
As the early Adventist movement consolidated its beliefs, the question of the biblical day of rest and worship was raised. The foremost proponent of Sabbath-keeping among early Adventists was Joseph Bates. Bates was introduced to the Sabbath doctrine through a tract written by Millerite preacher Thomas M. Preble, who in turn had been influenced by Rachel Oakes Preston, a young Seventh Day Baptist. This message was gradually accepted and formed the topic of the first edition of the church publication The Present Truth, which appeared in July 1849.[16]
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