{"id":11173,"date":"2022-07-12T15:04:48","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T15:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/?p=11173"},"modified":"2022-07-12T15:04:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T15:04:48","slug":"sweden-youth-reconnect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/sweden-youth-reconnect\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweden Youth Reconnect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>12 July 2022 | V\u00e4ster\u00e4ng, Sweden [Linda Schwartz\u00a0with <em>ted<\/em>NEWS]<\/p>\n<p>After waiting for three years, due to Covid19 restrictions, young adults in Sweden were finally able to meet again and spend a weekend at V\u00e4ster\u00e4ng Camp. The long-awaited reunion took place from 25 to 29 May 2022. The dates were planned to coincide with Ascension Day, a public holiday in Sweden that commemorates Jesus Christ&#8217;s ascension into heaven.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_20500\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"  data-origwidth=\"800\" data-origheight=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/m0nXMlQyO-A?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/ted.adventist.org&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&rel=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAs the result of the Covid19 pandemic and churches being closed, young adults started \u2018disappearing\u2019 from the church scene,\u201d reflected one of the event organisers, Linda Schwartz.\u00a0 During the lockdown, \u201cChurch was slowly replaced by other activities. And when churches reopened, as restrictions were lifted, some people did not feel the need to attend.\u201d The V\u00e4ster\u00e4ng Young Adult Camp was organised to revitalise the faith of young adults and to remind them of \u201ctheir value and worth given by God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Guest speaker, Dejan Stojkovi\u0107, Youth Ministry director for the Trans-European Division (TED) shared inspirational messages \u201cfull of energy and humour\u201d challenging participants to \u201cbe a follower of Jesus and not only a fan,\u201d Schwartz reported.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sweden-Camp-2022-games-630.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11176 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sweden-Camp-2022-games-630.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sweden-Camp-2022-games-630.jpg 630w, https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sweden-Camp-2022-games-630-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sweden-Camp-2022-games-630-350x197.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a>How much God loves and values every person was the thread weaved through Stojkovi\u0107\u2019s messages. \u201cI am worthy, and the church needs everyone,\u201d said one of the participants reflecting on Stojkovi\u0107\u2019s words. \u201cGod helps us in all situations, and we can trust that He is there for us,\u201d said another. \u201cI am worthy just as I am,\u201d said another young adult. \u201cThere is a real need to feel loved and accepted by God.\u00a0 We hope this message will continue to inspire young people,\u201d Schwartz remarked.<\/p>\n<p>The V\u00e4ster\u00e4ng Young Adult Camp was planned by young adults for young adults. \u201cThe weekend atmosphere was filled with laughter, conversation and fellowship,\u201d Schwartz commented. Activities such as a mystery night, campfire games and relaxing sauna times made an enjoyable weekend for everyone. And there was even something for those on a tight budget! By joining the clean-up team and making sure the camp was ready for the next group, campers received a fee reduction. \u201cYoung people came not just from Sweden, but from the USA, England, and New Zealand too. We are already looking forward to our next event and hope many more will join,\u201d said Schwartz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Be a follower of Jesus, not just a fan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1568,7,1593],"tags":[958,1146,1145,178,1144,111],"class_list":["post-11173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-children-teens-young-adults","category-news","category-sweden","tag-adventist-youth-ministries","tag-dejan-stojkovic","tag-linda-schwartz","tag-sweden","tag-vasterang-camp","tag-youth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11173"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11177,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11173\/revisions\/11177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}