World Assembly in July 25-28, 2002

After five years we gathered together again to enjoy the spiritual feast at the General Conference. There were an estimated 500 brothers and sisters and visitors come together from over 90 different countries. The conference was held outside the city of Amsterdam, Holland in a beautiful country setting amongst trees and green fields.

For the 2002 General Conference session we were warmly welcomed by Rudi Guldemester, leader of the Dutch field.
Motto: “Time to Seek the Lord” Hos. 10:12 Thursday, July 25

Br. DiFranca formally opened the conference by welcoming us all with peace and joy. It is a very serious time to seek the Lord in holy communion. A very important motto has been chosen, “time to seek the Lord”. How important that in this time in the world’s history we unite together. Our sins have separated us from God like the prodigal son. But the Lord is calling us back. There are still many things that people allow to separate themselves from the Lord. It is time to seek the Lord, time to think seriously about eternity.

Some people are like Lot. There interests are for this world. Their choice has not helped them spiritually. John says not to love the world because these things will pass away. It is time to seek the Lord, to have a wonderful reformation in our private lives so that the church can grow spiritually. Make your decision today. God is not far away. He has never separated from us. We left Him and now He invites us to come back.

Sin has changed many things in us. We are no longer in the image God created us in.
we are tempted to think God can’t love us anymore, but God sent His Son to bring us back. How long will we resist such love? No man can save himself. Only in the sacrifice of Jesus can we find salvation. It is time to go back to the Lord. What will happen if we don’t heed the call of Jesus? We sometimes hear, many voices but need to ignore the rest and listen to the Lord. Seek holiness, righteousness and communion with God. Be a messenger of light to others while it is day. If you are hearing His voice, open your heart.

Gary Foster titled his message, ‘The time is come”. He told a story of some people who were stranded in the Arctic. They gave up hope of rescue when suddenly they saw a flurry of activity on the horizon. Rescue had come. God always is prepared for an emergency. Many people are also waiting for a spiritual rescue.

Suppose God never sent a message of rescue? What about in Noah’s time? God told Noah to prepare the people. Noah preached that the flood is coming and to repent. The majority rejected the message. God hoped that thousands would listen. What a pity that so few accepted.

In the time of Joseph and in the time of Noah, God sent unique messages, calling the people to make a change in their lives. Noah’s message was adapted to his day.
Today we have a unique message. God wants us to be established in the present truth. It needs our attention. There is a vital message for you. It is a message of life and death. The message for today is in the book of Revelation. The most vital truths were given to man in this book. It is for us today. Revelation was written to transform our thinking and to change our lives.

Revelation 14:14-20 gives a description of Christ’s second coming. Do you want to be among these who are harvested by the Lord? The time has come for us to make our decision to follow the Lord.

The three angels have been sent with a message for us today in Rev. 14:6-12. There is a specific message to preach today. Are we preaching it? Will we stand as God’s people today? The time of this message has come. Are you preaching today? The time has come to give our hearts and lives to the Lord. He is preparing a people to preach the message. Are you assisting the Lord?

Br. Gutknecht presented the officers and gave them counsel and encouragement to perform their duties well. They have been given a solemn responsibility before God and man.
Br. Henry Dering gave a slide presentation along with his subject “Countdown to Eternity”. 8,000 flyers had been distributed in the neighbourhood for this meeting. This meeting was his evangelistic meeting on the second coming of Christ. There is much speculation in the world as to how the world will end. Many people fear that the world will be destroyed by a disaster such as an act of terror or uncontrolled disease, i.e. AIDS. Then there are others who are living for pleasure who don’t think the world will ever end. Many have no hope for the future. But Jesus said it will end and the Bible tells us clearly how, so there will be no mistake. He gives us hope for the future. He wants to take us there.

Friday, July 26
Br. Kang from Korea spoke from Luke 18:1. “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”

There will be many things that trouble us and we should pray always to see us through. In 1 Tim. 1:15 we are told that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Many people wonder how they can be saved. A young ruler came to Jesus asking what he can do to inherit eternal life. Many are searching. The Bible shows us how we can receive salvation (1 Tim 1:15). Jesus came to save sinners. The righteous have no need of salvation but Christ came to save sinners.

Romans 3:10 tells us that all have sinned, so all have the qualification to be saved. Paul considered himself the chief of sinners. Let us praise God for the gospel so that we can be saved. We fkm’t go to heaven only with the qualification, though. Jesus promised to take our sins. We have to give them up. This is salvation by faith. We all can believe and use the way that God has prepared for us.

Br. Jose Giner’s talk was entitled “Time to Sow: And Will Be a Blessing”. When God called Abraham, He had a great plan for him. It was not only to separate him from worldly friends and associates, but also to spread the gospel. Although it was a great struggle to Abraham to go, he obeyed the call of God and went, sowing the word of God, preaching the gospel. Abraham was a great missionary in the broadest sense of the word as he also had his household worshipping God.

Wherever he went he set up an altar. When he moved, the altar remained as a testimony for others. Abraham’s work was not in vain. Heathen’s were converted.

The altar represents prayer. In our spiritual lives we also need an altar – prayer. We cannot grow spiritually or be a blessing for others without the altar. Jesus called Abraham His friend. He wants to make us His friend also. From Abraham’s life we learn many lessons and we have a great example for us. There have been many great men in the Bible through whom the Lord worked-Joseph, Moses…

In the story of Ancient Israel we see many examples of the patience and love of God. Israel received many blessings. If they had been faithful, the whole world would have heard the gospel, however they refused to share the gospel and became a closed society.

Back to Abraham, through the sacrifice of his son, we have an example of what God went through when Jesus was sent to redeem mankind. Jesus came to preach the gospel. He lived, died, and rose again for man’s redemption. He has come to bring peace to man’s troubled soul. Not outward, political peace – but internal peace.

If Christ is hiding in the heart, it is impossible to hide your light. The madman from Gadarenes was healed and went away praising the Lord and spreading the light. Although he had no theological training, he was a great missionary. We also can share the light by sharing our experiences. The best training is our experience with Jesus. When sowing is done in a receptive heart, fruits will be seen. We are all called to sow the seed, spread the word. The power of the Word can’t be kept—it must be spread. The world must be made aware of the great event of Christ’s second coming. Our message is a message of freedom – freedom from sin. We can do a great work if we wake up from our spiritual lethargy and go and preach the word

News from the Departments

Ministerial Department: Br. Gutknecht
The only kind of life that makes sense is a life for Christ. Then Christ has given us a commission to preach the gospel. This work requires sacrifice but Jesus is our example. Br. Gutknecht shared his experiences in the past, especially the training of the youth to be workers for the Lord. One soul is more important than the whole world. We need to cooperate in this great goal or saving souls.

Education Department Sis. Racquel Orce
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Prov. 15:33. She showed us a diagram of our education institutions world wide. Most of our education systems are in Africa, followed by Asia, America, Europe. None in Oceania. One of the main objectives of this department is religious education for adults and children. Also in primary and secondary schools to have religion in the curriculum. Also, doctrinal education is given to reinforce the beliefs of our church.

The Berea Correspondence Course was made for those who are unable to attend our schools. The course consists of three levels.
Idel Suarez presented a health lecture. God often allows disease so that we will turn to the Lord and so that those around us also will seek the Lord. Disease will also strengthen the family and the church, as well as to reveal His glory. (John 9:3). God is the only restorer of health. Benjamin Franklin said, “God cures and the doctor takes the fee.” God is the healer. The primary healing agents are spiritual and natural.

God gives everyone a certain amount of vital energy. It is like a bank account. It is up to you what you do with your vital energy-your internal doctors. Patience and perseverance is needed as it is a slow, long process. Today people are seeking quick answers for healing, like drugs, but God wants us to learn patience.

Evangelism Department: Gerhart Hunger
Some objectives were set. Make missionary plans, create evangelism groups, provide material for evangelism. He gave us an overview of the seminars and training plans—mostly in eastern Europe, central and South America. We’ve also had much success through the Internet. All the evangelism information is on this web site. Also radio evangelism is done. Our purpose is to preach the gospel in many different ways.

Publishing Department: Barbara Watts
Work in the publishing department has been mainly internal in the last five years: lessons, Sabbath Watchman, Week of Prayer, in four languages— English, Spanish, French, German. Also the web site of the General Conference lists all these publications and a list of church headquarters around the world.
Last year IMS Publications was formed as an arm of the General Conference to produce canvassing literature. Their products are offered for sale over the Internet in three languages.
www.imspublications.com. The idea is that IMS Publications can make books to be sold so that they can support themselves.

Canvassing Department: Br. Giner
The most important activity the department has done was to produce teaching aids, the canvassing handbook, and the correspondence course to instruct canvassers has also been produced. They produced varieties of other instructional publications for canvassing work.

On Friday evening Br. Larry Watts spoke on Unity. Why is there no more unity among various factions of Seventh Day Adventists? People are looking for unity. Why are people seeking for unity? It is important? We know that when the disciples were one that the Holy Spirit came upon them as the Early Rain. Are we united today? Being here physically does not necessarily mean unity. Today we pray for the Holy Spirit but we need to be united first. Why are we not united today? But the real question is, “Why is there division”? This is why it is time to seek the Lord. Soon there will be no time.

God is glorified as we draw nearer each other in spiritual unity. But unity of Christ is unity in diversity. God has given different gifts to the church as a body has different members. These gifts are to lead to unity.
Man was created in the image of God with a well-balanced mind. Satan came along and unbalanced the mind. All who sin have an unbalanced mind.

What would you give for the Holy Spirit? How much? There is a price – not in money – we must come into unity. We must first have individual unity. We must wake up and come alive from the dead. To come alive you must die. Do you want the Holy Spirit? First we must come into unity. In unity there is power. The power of unity is to put self aside and let God work.

Br. Petkov spoke for Sabbath opening. Jesus used the wedding feast to speak about His coming. It will be a wonderful feast. But in His parable of the wedding feast they had a problem. One man had no wedding garment. He was given one but refused to wear it, thus offending the king, the king gave an order to cast the man out.

On Sabbath, to enter the house of the Lord, we also must have special Sabbath clothes. But this parable is not talking about physical clothes, but Christ’s robe of righteousness. We may have nice physical clothing but not have Christ’s robe. Are we entering Sabbath with filthy garments of hatred, envy, lust? When we enter the presence of God we need to not only have our best physical clothes but have your spiritual clothes, Christ’s righteousness, then we can keep the Sabbath day holy. Many don’t want to give up their filthy garments and would rather die than exchange their clothing for Christ’s. To have true Sabbath peace we must give all to the Lord.

Sabbath, July 27
Br. Shirima from Tanzania had morning worship and spoke about the importance of thanking God. This subject is often taken very lightly. God has given us many physical and material blessings but His greatest gift is the gift of salvation. Often when we pray we bring our grievances only, our pain, troubles and sorrows. We need to give thanks more, especially for the gift of salvation. And when we truly appreciate this gift, we will commit our lives completely to Christ, turning away from the things of this world. Someday we will have the privilege of participating with Him in the heavenly kingdom.

The divine service was brought to us by Br. Cholich. When Jesus saw Jerusalem He wept. They didn’t know the time of their visitation. Time is very important as well as your place and duty. These three are important – time, place, work. What about us? Do we know the time of our visitation? What do we have to do about our visitation?
He shared a few examples from the Bible to illustrate these principles such as Moses. He knew his duty and place, but the time was wrong. He had to wait for God’s time to do his duty.

We have to ask ourselves these questions also. Satan is not happy when we work hard, but we are called to work. When attacked by Satan, raise the standard, the word of God and work. Our work is to be fisher’s of men – preach the word. If we don’t know the time in which we live, we will be lost as was Ancient Israel. We are very near the close of time and Br. Cholich gave us some timely counsel regarding this time and what our duty is. This is a serious time and we must be praying and asking God what our personal duty is. It is not to run and hide when the Sunday Law first comes. It is to raise the standard of truth.

On Sabbath afternoon we heard many songs and a few testimonies from believers all over the world, we heard about the missionary work among the deaf people in Peru. Also from the Philippines we heard about the miracles the Lord has been doing recently in the lives of the people, it is truly a blessing to hear the reports from different parts of the world, to hear how God is touching hearts. The family of God is growing.

Br. Gutknecht

Our Inheritance-Part 1

God had done so much for Ancient Israel and they still forsook Him and served other gods. Finally God sent King Nebuchadnezzar to take them into captivity to teach them a lesson. For 70 years they were there. It was here in Babylon that God revealed the future by visions, first to King Nebuchadnezzar and later to Daniel. With the use of slides we were presented with our spiritual inheritance, touching on the major prophecies in Daniel and Revelation regarding the time in which we live.

Br. Gerhard Hunger spoke on the topic “As For Me and My House, We Will Serve the Lord”. Joshua was 110 years old when he spoke these words. He had reminded Israel of God’s leading in the past, then he asked the people to choose between the false gods of the heathen or the true God. But he chose to follow the Lord. God places before us two ways. The way of life and the way of death. We all must decide for Christ, to have a thorough reformation. We are living in the time of the sealing of the 144,000. It is time to seek the Lord.

Many households in our church have become too permissive and this has caused the children to become lazy spiritually. They lose their way. When we choose our home, we must not do as Lot and go to the cities, but go where it is the best place for your children to grow spiritually. It is best to have less worldly prosperity and save your children. God holds the parents responsible if their children stray. Unless God works a miracle your children will never go beyond you.

To serve the Lord is to serve from love and give ourselves to Him. We were slaves of sin but we were freed in Jesus Christ. We should have worn the crown of thorns. We should have been nailed to the cross. But Jesus paid for our guilt. This is the great argument that should lead us to love. So make the decision today. Start with yourself. “As for me and then, “and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Much counsels were given concerning the home and family. Our whole families should serve the Lord. Families are the cornerstone of the church.

In the evening we were blessed by listening to songs and testimonies by the young people. The youth are the future of our church and need our prayers so that they will remain on the strait and narrow way and give their hearts to the Lord.

Sunday, July 28

Department News

Youth Department: Larry Watts
The youth are the future of our church. Let’s take more time and energy in training and educating them. Br. Watts gave a brief review of activities by the youth department.

Foreign Missions Program: Larry Watts
This program is officially finished now from the General Conference level and has been transferred to local regional representatives. This program is still alive so pray that it will continue to be a success.

Good Samaritan: Santina Macera
Many poorer countries have benefited from this department which has been up and running for ten years. And our next goal is to be self-supporting. Our objective is: we’ve been able to respond to 90% of requests we receive. We not only help the poor and needy with clothes and food. We also help on a monthly basis for example: medicines and financial aid to widows and orphans. Also we try to help some to find sources of income so that they can help themselves. In Brazil we bought land and six families live and work it to provide food for themselves. In Africa we’ve also bought a few small pieces of land, seeds and tools. We’ve also bought sewing machines. Our newest program is to help those where natural disasters occur. We started with Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua.

All this help we’ve provided has put us in a deficit. It is impossible to postpone some of these requests, so the Lord provides. Rather than travel the leader prefers to send the money to those places we need. So let us help support this very worthwhile department.

Br. Gutknecht

Our Inheritance-Part 2

1861- The history of God’s people proving faithful in their first test of war was shown in a tasteful multimedia display. 1863-The major health vision and its great blessing influencing God’s people to have better health. 1888-Br. Gutknecht showed the importance of not only hearing but experiencing the Christ Our Righteousness message and the sad history of leaders in the SDA church rejecting the message – -The Kellogg crisis was discussed and how God intervened in the destruction of the Sanatorium and the Publishing House. Kellogg’s pantheism was a subtle error not discerned by many. 1905-The way God’s people got through the crisis because of Sis.White’s guidance. 1914-5-God’s prophet was being laid to rest, and in the terrible crisis of war only a tiny remnant of 2% proved faithful. But from the spiritual ruins rose a reform people. May God help us to be truly the Reform people that have been prophesied in this movement of destiny.

Br. Gustavo Castellanos, Austria
“Who Will Go For Us?” When this question was asked to Isaiah, he readily answered, “Here am I, send me.” There were many problems in Ancient Israel that needed correcting and Isaiah willingly went as God’s spokesman. We must be just as willing to sacrifice our own ease in order to fulfill the Word of the Lord. There are five things that will kill our church: Religion that consists only of forms, strife in church, wrong worship, threats from outside, pride. God’s solution is Isaiah’s response. God forgives our sins. Then sends us on a mission, but we must be willing.

Closing thoughts were given by the new president, Br. Cholich, the new treasurer, Br. Giner, and the new secretary, Br. Petkov. An appeal was made for prayer and support and unity in our work. We face our enemy. Our enemy will war against us and we must be strong. As in the days of Gideon, those that are weak will be sent home. We need to be brave.
Our goal for the future is to move headquarters from Germany to U.S.A. Initially it looked difficult, but if it is God’s will, He will make sure it is easy. The second goal is to pay debts (the Sabbath School offerings owing). Also to strengthen the fields for the preaching of the gospel, help them financially.

The army sends out soldiers without equipping them for battle. Also we need to strengthen our clinic in Elim. Our missionary school will open by Elim, so students can help out there. We need new mission schools in Africa and Asia, as well as a publishing house on these continents.

We’ve opened a new era in Reform Movement. We need to Reform. Forget the past and go forward to fulfill these plans.
May God help us to work in unity to fulfill some of these goals. We need prayer and financial support.
The spiritual blessings and fellowship were tremendous. It has been good to be here. We look forward to a new General Conference session, not in 2007, but in heaven. In order for this to happen, we all need to be working together in earnest. May God help us to fulfill our commission.

Newly Elected Officers for the General Conference

President – Branko Cholich
Secretary – T.Petkov
Treasurer (temporary) – Ben Takens
Vice President – A. Di Franca
Vice President – T. Petkov
Missionary Department Leader – Henry Dering
Publication Department Leader – Raquel Orce-Petkov
Canvassing Department Leader – Joel Barnado
Youth Department Leader – Pablo Hunger
Health Department Leader – Idel Suarez (junior)
Good Samaritan Dept. Leader – S. Mascera
Education Department Leader – S. Samdoya
Ministerial Sabbath School Department Leader – A. Di Franca