The year 2024 marked 150 years since the beginning of Adventism in Europe, when John Nevins Andrews came as a missionary to Switzerland with his children in tow and set up the foundation of what is now the Inter-European Division (EUD).
“In honor of this anniversary, we’re focusing this year on two primary pillars of our division,” says Paulo Macedo, Communication director for the EUD. “The first is history, as we reflect on the blessings we have received in Europe throughout the past 150 years. The second is mission, to show what we are currently doing in our territory, across various languages, cultures, and geography.”
The EUD covers 20 countries with almost as many languages, and is comprised of 200,000 Adventist church members.
“Compare this to South America, where they have only two primary languages for all 13 countries,” Macedo commented. “Europe is incredibly diverse, with not just a plethora of languages but also a large variety of cultures, mentalities, and worldviews.”
With all of this in mind, the leaders of the EUD began to think how they would represent their territory at their exhibits during the sixty-second General Conference Session (GC) in St. Louis, Missouri. The vision that emerged highlighted unity and collaboration.
“We may be diverse in our experiences, but we have a shared history, and our mission remains the same,” Macedo said. And thus was born the EUD “neighborhood” for the GC exhibition hall. Conference and union ministries were partnered to build their own presence for the neighborhood: publishing, education, unions, health, and media ministries collaborating on combined spaces to highlight their work, with a central “lobby” area for the division headquarters.
We may be diverse in our experiences, but we have a shared history, and our mission remains the same. We worked together, relied on each other, and made something happen.
“Bugs Are Not Stronger Than God”
“From the very beginning we were operating under the concept of unity,” Macedo said. Together the ministries planned panels, displays, and products. “The willingness to collaborate was great.”
Safeliz, a publishing house in Spain, even offered to ship everything for the division to save the division money. Each group sent their materials to Spain to be packed in two containers and shipped to the United States. “It was a huge undertaking to get every gift, every rollout, every TV, every activity, every giveaway from across 20 countries in one place by our shipping deadline,” Macedo admits. “But we did it.”
Paulo Macedo, Communication director for the Inter-European Division, shares how a devastating setback in their GC plans brought the division together to further the mission.
Everything was coming together—literally—very well. And then disaster struck.
“When our containers got to customs and they opened one for inspection, they found a bug,” Macedo said sadly. “It was, unfortunately, a bug that could be dangerous to the crops here, so we were told we would be unable to use anything from either of our containers here in St. Louis. We could either ship them back to Spain or destroy everything. This was a huge blow to us.”
Disappointed and empty-handed, the booth coordinators had two choices: give up, or give it another try. They opted for the latter. After praying together, they jumped into action, each ministry group coordinating their spaces together, heading to IKEA to find replacement furniture and decor and working with local printers to get a few flyers and postcards printed.
“In the end, it’s nothing like what it would have been had we been able to use our original materials,” Macedo pointed out. “But we worked together, relied on each other, and made something happen. We’re here.”
Safeliz was, unfortunately, hit the hardest by the loss, as 80 percent of their resale stock was in the two containers, and they will take a significant financial hit as a result. “Honestly, this has been an important spiritual and life lesson,” Macedo said. “Sometimes even when you pray and have a good plan, and feel as though you’re following God’s guidance, life throws a bug at you. Then you’re lost, and you don’t know what to do. But let’s keep on going—together. Bugs cannot stop our mission, because bugs are not stronger than God.”
Becky St. Clair is a freelance writer from California.
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