19 November 2023|Budva, Montengro [Andreas Mazza, EUD News]
The second day of GAiN Europe 2024 began with a personal testimony by Corinna Wagner, ADRA Europe’s Fundraising Coordinator. Sharing her story of how God unexpectedly called her to use her talents and gifts for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), Wagner explained, “I didn’t expect to work for my church, but God did!” Wagner has a dream of seeing active young people who discover their calling and use their talents for God.
Then, the Trans-European Division (TED) Communication director, David Neal, introduced group discussions by inviting participants to reflect on how they experience the grace of God in their lives. “Sadly,” explained Neal, “Christians preach grace but are very often unable to love ‘others’…”
GAiN Award for Outstanding Contribution
After sharing reflections from group leaders on the topic of grace, Paulo Macedo, EUD Communications director, Neal, and Vanesa Pizzuto, TED Communications Associate director, introduced a special moment of appreciation for an outstanding Adventist journalist, Marcos Paseggi.
Paseggi, an Argentinian journalist currently living in Canada, serves as Senior Correspondent for the Seventh-day Adventist flagship magazine, Adventist Review.
Williams Costa Jr., Communication Director for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (GC), was invited to the stage to present the award to Paseggi. Costa took the opportunity to highlight Paseggi’s outstanding and self-sacrificing service to the Church.
Justin Kim, Editor of the Adventist Review, sent a message of appreciation to Paseggi, stating: “Paseggi has helped the Adventist Church understand what God is doing locally. The World Church is deeply grateful for his dedication.”
Sabbath Worship
Jonatan Tejel’s devotional was preceded by some beautiful worship songs, led, just like last year, by the Vestige Group, featuring musicians from Serbia and Poland. Pastor Tejel, who currently serves as the EUD Youth Director, shared a reflection based on John 15:1: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” He explained: “God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. If we do not stay connected to the vine, we will die spiritually. If, however, we stay connected to Jesus, our lives will be transformed; we will become Christlike and bear much fruit – the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22).”
He then elaborated: “When Jesus gave the metaphor of the vine and the branches, He was walking to Gethsemane with His disciples. He was delivering His final message to them before being crucified. On their way to the garden, they passed in front of the temple, where golden grapevine clusters adorned the columns. The gold was of great value and was the result of donations from people who wanted their names imprinted on the golden clusters. The Jews often gave all they had to adorn the temple.”
“Jesus wanted the disciples to focus on the true vine, in contrast to the artificial golden vine on the temple’s columns,” continued Tejel.
“We often focus on religious symbolism, on golden and artificial symbols,” he concluded. “Sometimes, we focus more on the rituals than on their purpose – Jesus Christ! Through rituals, we can lose sight of Jesus. Let’s abide in Him. He makes us fruitful. Broken branches die; fruits develop because of the vine (Jesus) and the gardener (God).”
“Be the branch, be transformed, abide in Jesus, have joy,” Tejel concluded.
Cross-Media Projects Keep Growing!
In the afternoon programme, Adrian Dure, a producer at Hope Media Europe, explained how, since 2014, Adventist communicators across Europe have been building a collaborative system akin to a potluck meal, where each partner contributes content to be shared across the network. This approach, which fosters resource sharing and collective creativity, has enabled more cost-efficient production of impactful multimedia projects.
Over the years, this system has produced a series of successful initiatives, including the Rest project (2016), which explored the meaning of Sabbath rest, and the award-winning Fathers documentary (2019). Each project has reflected the network’s growing synergy and adaptability, addressing timely themes such as uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic and happiness in 2021. At GAiN 2024, the latest project, My Greatest Purpose, showcased inspiring stories of individuals choosing faith over career opportunities, exemplifying the network’s ongoing mission to create meaningful, Christ-centred content.
What began as a mostly European initiative soon crossed borders, incorporating productions from countries such as Brazil, South Africa, and South Korea. By 2022, 26 countries had participated in producing spots or clips, 27 countries had collaborated on documentary films, and 21 countries had contributed authors for printed resources.
“Our goal has been to create the environment, the spirit, and the community that will think more as ‘we’ and less as ‘I’,” said Dure. “We continue building a community that is willing to work together.”
Aguska, a champion for Christ
One of the top highlights of the afternoon was the presence of Aguska Mnich, a professional football freestyler, six-time World Champion, and Guinness World Record holder. Fresh from a recent victory in Italy, Aguska is one of the protagonists of the My Greatest Purpose movie series.
“I had a difficult life. I was desperate and lonely. I used to drink alcohol and keep bad company,” Aguska shared.
“One day, I cried out to God for help, and He delivered me and saved me. He gave me a purpose in life,” she continued. “I discovered my football freestyle talent and worked with confidence to develop my gift. Now I am a world-renowned athlete, and I never miss an opportunity to testify about my faith and glorify God.”
Together with her husband, Patrick Bäurer, Aguska demonstrated her incredible skills to a captivated GAiN audience.
