"Live to a 10+, Part 2

“We want to make the world a better place, and to share the values that we think are important.”

Teachers: Please briefly review last week’s story before presenting part 2.

Camp Challenge

Pastor Daniel tells of one principal who came to camp because her daughter was attending. This school principal was against having any spiritual activities and had a special dislike for Seventh-day Adventists.

“During the first few days of the camp, she was so against spiritual activities that we couldn’t even pray with the children before meals,” recalled Pastor Daniel. Rather than presenting their regular devotionals, staff were forced to present spiritual lessons in a less direct way by using objects.

During one of these periods, Pastor Daniel asked the children to compare an ink printer cartridge with their parents. The daughter of the challenging school principal stood up and gave a beautiful, heartfelt response about her mother. As she spoke, the daughter mentioned that she had learned from an Adventist girl at the camp how to pray and that she prays for her mother every night.

Surprised and touched, the mother began to cry. “Do you really pray for me?” she asked. The girl assured her mother that she did indeed pray for her every night.

The mother’s heart was softened. Prayer and devotions and other spiritual activities at the camp were no longer a problem for this woman; in fact, she encouraged them!

For the next five years, this school principal continued coming to the camp and recommended to the county school board that the Adventists be allowed to provide classes and seminars to all of the schools in her area. God works in wonderful ways!

Pastor Daniel Chirileanu is now serving as the youth director for the Romanian Union, where he works with the conference directors in coordinating the healthy lifestyle program across the country.

Growing Partnerships

Teofil Brasov is the project manager for the Muntenia Conference in Romania. Currently, his conference has 50 partnerships with middle and high schools to offer the “Live to a 10+ Level” classes. These partnerships cover the schools in eight of the ten counties in the Muntenia Conference. Additionally, the conference has partnerships with six school board administrations.

Last year, approximately 2,400 students in Pastor Brasov’s area participated in the classes organized by the Adventists, and the number is growing. In addition to offering the extra-curricular classes for the students and the optional camp, the youth department organizes teacher conventions held over a weekend shortly before the school year begins.

“During the convention, we present the ‘Live to a 10+’ project to them,” says Pastor Teofil. “We also cover areas of personal development for teachers by offering several seminars of interest. At the same time, we use these conventions to encourage teachers from the same area to get to know each other and form a nucleus. At last year’s convention, which was held at our conference youth center, we had 90 non-Adventist teachers present.

Making the World a Better Place

“We want to make the world a better place, and to share the values that we think are important,” Pastor Teofil continues. “One of our greatest needs is to expand the number of our trainers—all of whom are volunteers—and of course, to have the means of instructing them.”

Part of the money from the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will be used to expand the materials used in these programs. Some of the funds will be used to pay for the teachers’ conventions, which are offered free to the teachers, and another portion will be used to cover costs at the summer camps.

“As a pastor, I see this as a way to take the mission further,” says Pastor Teofil. “I preach and have contact with the members on Sabbath, but this is a way of making things practical during the week. It helps us to do something for the community—and especially for the young people.”

Thank you for giving generously to the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering this quarter, a portion of which will help this special outreach in Romania.