August 6–16, 2012
Approximately 70 young people from 18 different countries gathered together in the town of Giulianova, the headquarters of the Italian Field, for a youth conference. The church building in Giulianova is quite a large and spacious building and the dormitory style sleeping accommodations easily lodged the young people who attended. On Sabbath there were over one hundred people who attended, as there were quite a number of believers from different parts of Italy who chose to only come to the conference for Sabbath.
Giulianova is located 3 km from the beautiful beaches of the Adriatic coast, a short distance from the mountains of Gran Sasso and 2–3 hours from the capital city of Rome. The theme of the conference was, “Remember the former things of old.” Isaiah 46:9
This was a wonderful opportunity for the youth to get to know each other as they spent time in spiritual pursuits as well as in social activities. At this conference there was time to work as each person was assigned to kitchen duty for an entire day. Usually there were four to five people on kitchen duty at the same time and this helped to foster a spirit of teamwork and unity.
There was also a time to study because there was at least one, hour-long spiritual meeting each day on the theme of “Remembering the former things of old.” Lessons were drawn from the lives of prominent Bible characters and these lessons were seen as being very valuable and relevant to our spiritual lives because we can learn from their mistakes and from the things they did right. This will assist us in our own spiritual walk.
On one day we also had several workshops running at the same time, with several different topics to choose from such as marriage and dating and a topic on music. Not surprisingly the vast majority of young people chose to attend the topic on marriage and dating, as this is a topic of interest to most young people.
Every day the morning and evening worship was presented by one of the young people. They were free to research and present any spiritual topic of interest to them.
On a daily basis also, there was time for recreational activities out in the parks and mountains. Mental and spiritual activity needs to be balanced with physical activity.
There was plenty of time to prepare special songs that were presented mostly on Sabbath. On Sabbath there was a beautiful rendition of the song entitled, “Who is this king?” performed by an international youth choir. In addition, Brother Richard and Brother Eric from Canada, two young people from Germany, and one from Holland performed, “Great is thy Faithfulness.”
At this conference there was also a time to eat and the Italian Field showed their hospitality wonderfully by providing excellent meals with plentiful food.
Several excursions were taken, the first being a trip to Gran Sasso National Park. It was wonderful to see the majestic mountains and valleys. It is refreshing to see that there is still some beauty in nature that exists in this world corrupted by sin.
The second excursion was to the city of Rome, the seat of the beast. In Rome, we travelled to view some historical sites such as the Coliseum, where many faithful Christians lost their lives, and the Catacombs, where many Christians hid from the wrath of the beast. The Vatican was seen in all its earthly wealth and glory—quite a contrast from the simple life that Jesus lived. Truly, it was seen how this city has been a battle ground for good and evil, between Christ and Satan. And, in the not too distant future, the beast will once again attempt to rule the world.
There was also time for missionary work. Two public meetings were held outdoors in the city of Giulianova, right in the city centre, on Tuesday and Thursday (August 7 and 9). The subjects of these public meetings were from the book of Daniel. On Tuesday as well as Thursday we went out into the city of Giulianova a few hours before the meetings began, to do some missionary work in the form of handing out pamphlets, which gave details on the public meetings. The young people presented special songs during the public meetings and the song, “Shout to the Lord” was presented at both meetings as the theme song. Several visitors came to listen to the Word of God being spoken. Brother Franco Caputo and Brother Stefano Salemi were the ones responsible for bringing the message from God.
Sabbath is always a special day; a day when we can come apart and rest from our daily activities and focus on our spiritual connection with the Lord. On Sabbath, after the morning services, we had a spiritual youth program in the afternoon which was dedicated solely to special songs and powerful testimonies from the young people themselves.
All too soon it was the time that we came to depart. At this conference we can truly say that it was an all-round educational and spiritual experience. A true spirit of unity was seen amongst the young people and we are grateful to the Italian Field for making it happen. The youth are the future of the church—the ones who will carry the work of the Lord to its completion. Let us continue to pray that the youth will be strong and prepared for the spiritual battles they will face in the future.