At home worldwide: The young generation plays a leading role

Three countries, one youth convention

More than 650 young people participated in the tri-national youth convention in South America last weekend. The youth began to arrive in Santiago del Estero in Argentina on Friday. The first group to do so was from Uruguay. The greater part of the youth came from various parts of Argentina. And the last ones to arrive were a group of 54 young people from Bolivia—after a 32-hour trip fraught with delays and obstacles.

The weekend’s programme called for workshops on a number of topics as well as plenty of games and sports, and of course the divine service with the two District Apostles Raúl Montes de Oca (Bolivia-Brazil) und Enrique Eduardo Minio.

Happy birthday in four languages

“Happy Birthday” sung by thousands of children, and that in four languages: English, French, Tshiluba, and Swahili. This is what Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider experienced last week in Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of the Congo). And the congratulations were not even directed at him but at his predecessor, the retired Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber, who celebrated his seventieth birthday yesterday.

The children asked Chief Apostle Schneider to convey their congratulations to Chief Apostle Leber and to bring him a special gift: a revolving medal, set in malachite, which a little girl handed to Chief Apostle Schneider. One side of the medal carries the portrait of Chief Apostle Leber and the other side the number 70. The gift has in the meantime arrived in Germany and is on its way to its intended recipient.

Almost 40,000 boys and girls attended a divine service which the Chief Apostle celebrated especially for them. You can read more about this service on nac.today tomorrow, Saturday.

From Europe to Central Asia

A group of 45 teachers and youth leaders from six countries in Europe and Central Asia met in St Petersburg (Russia) at the beginning of June for a workshop. They came from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Belarus, Mongolia, and from thirteen regions in Russia. Two professionals from the mother church in Germany (Berlin-Brandenburg) conducted the workshop.

The participants were divided into four groups to discuss the following topics: childchare of tomorrow, transition into the youth, how to involve parents more, and what congregations can do to reach inactive children and young people. The groups came up with 45 ideas whose implementation was discussed in the last part of the workshop.

Following a divine service on Sunday, which District Apostle Wolfgang Nadolny based on Matthew 6: 20—a Bible text the Chief Apostle recently used at a youth convention in Germany—the Bishops and Apostles of Russia met for a conference on Monday. In addition to a number of ongoing issues, the agenda also called for a discussion of our conception of ministry.