2 September 2014 | Split, Croatia [Paul Tompkins, tedNEWS] Forty lively participants and staff met in Split, Croatia, from 24-30 August 2014, for the latest week of Relay Youth evangelism outreach. Each morning, training sessions in Discipleship and Leadership were led by Janos Kovacs-Biro, Evangelism Director at the Trans-European Division of Seventh-day Adventists (TED), and Paul Tompkins, TED Youth Director, followed by creative outreach in the nearby city streets. This culminated with over 100 visitors coming in one night to a Relay Café held beside the Adventist church in the city.
The Relay training is part of the TED Institute of Youth Evangelism and is taken on the road to various locations throughout the Division territory. Local organisers Bobo Marceta, the Adriatic Union Conference (AUC) Youth Director, and Zlatko Musija, AUC President, have now organised four Relay programmes in Split and are looking forward to another Relay Plus programme in the coming year.
Many contacts were made through the outreach on the streets, which included video interviews, singing groups, giving water and snacks to local stall holders and balloons to children, encouraging people in acts of kindness to others and also other creative crowd drawers such as free hair styling. Practical social concern was also high on the agenda and through contact with the local authorities a free meal was given at the church to those in need. Each project was planned and operated by the Relay participants and enthusiastically performed early each evening with invites given out to each person contacted to visit the Relay cafe.
At the café not only were pancakes and drink freely distributed but at each table one of the Relay participants sat with the visitors and joined in with the conversations, answered questions and gave spiritual encouragement. As a result at least 2 people indicated that they would visit church the following Saturday.
Reflecting on the Relay week some of the participants commented, “Each of us took part in different activities and it was a great team.” Another added, “It touched me how united we all were, everyone used their talents to praise God in a unique way”. Following on from this week Relay projects will be submitted by the participants that will take place in their home church areas, during early 2015.
The Relay baton continues to be passed on from country to country and the next Relay programme will take place in Albania, in September of this year. Plans for 2015 and beyond include another international session, open to all, and following the first of these held this year at Newbold College. In addition Relay Mission trips are being planned in the near future for those who have participated in the Relay training programmes. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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