The Center for Secular and Post-Christian Mission (CSPM) is an Adventist Mission Global Mission Center at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. It exists to help the Seventh-day Adventist Church better understand secular and post-modern people, and to help them live a real experience with God.
(To learn more about CSPM: https://cspm.globalmissioncenters.org )
The Adventist Mission department of the Inter-European Division organised the last of three trainings on mission and church planting in the European context in Vimeiro, Portugal, from 15 to 18 April. This training followed two previous ones, in Spain and Romania, all with the aim of discussing tools for understanding the diversity and mentality trends in Europe and methodologies for accelerating missionary action on the continent, with a focus on opportunities for planting new churches in territories without an Adventist presence.
Florian Ristea, director of the Adventist Mission, Sabbath School, and Personal Ministry departments, emphasised the importance of understanding the context of each community for a true missionary plan, giving examples of how it is necessary to adapt the evangelistic effort to the group you want to reach. He also explained the importance of training leaders and their vocation for this fundamental work in advancing the Adventist message, as well as the necessary integration of all the means and tools available, including the media.
In addition to Florian Ristea and a number of speakers on specific topics, the associate director of the CSPM, Jonatan Contero, and the president of the Inter-European Division, Mário Brito, were also present. Brito stated the importance of adapting and tailoring the Adventist message to the interlocutors, so that it becomes understandable and meaningful to them. This is why this type of training is so important.
“When we try to help others, we, ourselves, grow. People know when we are concerned with their wellbeing. Secularized people are aware of their needs, and many feel a void. There is an opportunity in that void,” commented Brito.
Around seventy participants from the twenty countries that make up the Inter-European Division shared their experiences of the impact of their projects. Gabriel Monet, from the Campus Adventiste du Saléve, and Marvin Brand, from the German-Suisse Federation, were some of the speakers.
Mariarosa Cavalieri, director of the Adventist Mission, Sabbath School, and Personal Ministries departments in Italy, helped us understand the Adventist mission in that country, which has a Catholic tradition and is undergoing an advanced process of secularisation.
Switzerland, which Florian Ristea pointed to as an example of diversity in Europe and where Jonatan Contero will be a missionary sent by the General Conference very soon, is a small country of eight million inhabitants, divided into twenty-six cantons and with four official languages. It is a concrete example of European diversity. Here, five thousand Adventists, from fifty-eight churches divided between two conferences, keep the flame of the message burning brightly and spreading.
Stefan Dilly, pastor and missionary in the Aarau region, tells us about his experience in his region and in this training programme.
The Inter-European Division, from its headquarters in Bern, Switzerland, provides inspiration to six conference unions and five unions of churches. Its publishing houses, schools, media center, hospitals, health center, etc., provide resources for 20 countries and in 18 languages.
