A spiritual youth convention was conducted over four days, from the 24th to the 28th of April 2019, at the church grounds in Toongabbie, Sydney, Australia.

The church members prayed for weeks for this youth convention to be a special, deep heart-searching, spiritual convention due to the lateness of the hour and the time of trouble lying ahead, just around the corner, for God’s people

Much prayer had been offered for wisdom in choosing the appropriate theme. With the help of the Lord, the following theme was selected: “Back to the old paths, hearing the voice of God speaking to you,” with the theme song “In times like these, we need a Saviour “.

The youth convention was opened Wednesday evening, with the tender invitation, “Back to the old paths.” God is calling man to return to Him. Then followed the touching words of the theme song.

On Thursday day morning the call went out fresh again, “Return back to the old paths, respect the Word of God “ An appeal was made to return back to hear the voice of God speaking to us through His Sacred word, to listen and obey all that the Lord asks us to do.  Yes, in times like these we need the Bible.

This was followed by several workshops, and a cooking demonstration; at lunch we enjoyed the freshly prepared dishes from this workshop.

A PowerPoint presentation workshop on health was presented, encouraging men, children, as well as young women, to learn the art of cooking.  It was stated, ill-prepared food preparation is a sin due to its damaging effect on the human body.

During the afternoon meeting, a new call went out again, “Return back to the old paths, respecting our bodies.”

This educational day of learning new things, hearing God’s voice speaking to us, ended with the final call for the day “Return to the old paths, respect for the House of God.” Once again we were reminded via a PowerPoint presentation of the sacredness of God’s temple, “Reverence My sanctuary, hallow My Sabbaths; come back to the way how it was before the fall of man into sin.”

Friday morning was heralded in with fresh manna, “Back to the old paths, believe, obey and teach others to do the same (Respecting God’s Word, Respecting our bodies, respecting God’s House).

Once more the previous calls of the day before were wrapped up in one great reminder, “Come back, God is speaking, hear His voice speaking to you.”

This was followed up by two workshops:

  • “Back to the old paths, Christian behaviour on the Sabbath Day.” The Sabbath is the day when God comes down to man, and abides with us until the setting of the sun. Respect His presence, His holy angels, His Holy Spirit, spend the holy hours with Jesus; be careful what you do on this day.
  • “Back to the old paths, Advice on preparation duties for the Sabbath Day.” To prepare for the Sabbath Day, start on Sunday, keeping Sabbath in mind, with Sabbath preparations; do not leave everything until Friday.

The Sabbath was welcomed in with the last call for the day: “Back to the old paths, return to purity in worship.”   Gladly we sang together the theme song, “In times like these we need a Saviour.”  God is calling upon mankind to come back to purity in worship.

Sabbath morning was welcomed in with our theme song and the strong call, “Back to the old paths using the Bible as our only source of authority.” The writings of E.G. White are under attack, the Bible is under attack; God is calling us back to the Bible and the Bible only. The Spirit of Prophecy was given to us to build upon godly, heavenly and Biblical principles. Hold on to the original editions of the same, and be careful in how we look at and understand the compilations. We are living in fearful times when so many things of the past are being manipulated to say what they did not originally say.

God is calling, “Come back, please hear My voice, I am speaking to you,” was the call at the Divine service.  “Back to the old paths, return back to doctrinal accuracy.”  Jesus is still in the Most Holy Place. The bells and the pomegranates on the hem of the High Priest’s garment are still making a sound, assuring us Jesus is still there on our behalf. For how long we do not know, so remove sin from your life, live for that which is eternal.  The most important question is not the Sunday law, but when Jesus shall leave the sanctuary, when the bells and pomegranates on the hem of the High Priest’s garment shall stop making a sound, then probation will close. This is more important than anything else. Depart from sin, do not compromise, and live for Jesus.

The last call of the day, closing the Sabbath was “Back to the old paths, Return to pure morals and holy living.”

Keep your worship clean, come back to respecting God’s word, respect your body, reverence My sanctuary, come back to health reform, prepare for the Sabbath day, be careful how you behave on God’s holy day. Keep your worship clean with the help of the Lord. Return to pure morals and holy living.  When we are in the holy hours be careful what you say, think, and do upon the sacredness of the Sabbath day. Pay reverence as you enter and exit His sanctuary. God is here to bless His people; strive to receive this special weekly Sabbath blessing.

A campfire was lit out in the church yard and the evening was spent in socialising and relaxation. The cool late autumn/early winter Australian night was warmed up to the glowing fire coals and the happy sounds of voices. Two sisters from Peru were present and much information was shared between them and the rest of the youth about the church in their country and the work of God here in Australia.

Sunday was a great day. The call came fresh and early in the morning; once more God is calling His people “back to the old paths, in modest clothing.” The fashions of the world have taken its toll on God’s people. “Come back,” the call came, cover up, the International Missionary Society has godly principles of health, expressed through modest dress.   Rearrange your wardrobe, men and women, you are God’s Ambassadors.  Ladies, do not wear that which pertains to a man, that is an abomination before the Lord; the same applies to men.  “In times like these we need a Saviour, In times like these we need the Bible, be very sure, your anchor holds and grips the solid rock.   That Rock is Jesus, yes He’s the One, that Rock is Jesus the only One, be very sure, your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.”

A bus trip was made to the South Coast town of Kiama, where we would see the“Blow Hole” (forceful wave action causing the water to come high into the air from a hole in the rock at the sea shore). Joyful was the bus ride; happy songs were sung, outside the nature was cool and fresh, and we were happy to be out in God’s creation, together. The lunch was tasty and spiritually we were in tune for the next event.  A drop-off point was arranged, and we went out two by two, with well-stocked shoulder bags full of evangelistic materials; we ventured into town doing missionary work.

We are looking forward to the day when the redeemed from all ages shall gather before our Heavenly Father’s throne. Great will be the surprises  in heaven, when among the redeemed will be residents  from Kiama, praising together with us our Heavenly Father and His Son, and the sweet influence that the Holy Spirit had upon these precious souls.

We thank the Lord for speaking to us at this youth convention, calling upon us to come back to the old paths, to hear His voice speaking to us and to say, “Speak Lord, for Thy servant heareth.”

From the Australian Youth Department