Thirteenth Sabbath Program

If your division will present the Thirteenth Sabbath program for the adults, the following suggestions can help you plan.

• Practice two or three songs from your Sabbath School program that the children are comfortable singing for their parents.
• Practice with the children at least two to three weeks ahead of the program.
• A week or two before Thirteenth Sabbath, send a note home with the children reminding them to bring their Thirteenth Sabbath Offering.

If your division will not join the adults for a special program, use the suggestions that follow to make Thirteenth Sabbath special:

• Remind the children to bring their Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. If they have special banks for their offering, encourage them to finish filling them and bring them on Thirteenth Sabbath.
• Invite a special guest to speak to the children about one of the countries featured this quarter. 

Revisiting the Trans-European Division

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Participants: Two readers.

Props: Flags (or pictures of flags), from Croatia, Ireland, Norway, and Poland; Large map of Europe or the world, with the countries of Croatia, Ireland, Norway, and Poland highlighted.

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Reader 1: This quarter we’ve heard wonderful stories of how God is working in the lives of people across the Trans-European Division.

Reader 2: This world division includes the territories of the Aland Islands, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, the Faeroe Islands, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands, Sweden, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the southern portion of Cyprus.

Reader 1: This quarter we’ve heard stories from people living in the four countries that will be receiving the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering: Ireland, Poland, Norway, and Croatia.

Reader 2: Let’s take a few minutes to review the stories and the opportunities that we have to make a difference in these four countries of the Trans-European Division.

Reader 1: In Dublin, Ireland, we met Iustina and Thea, two Adventist girls who share their faith with classmates at school during the week. Then they come to school again on Sabbath to worship! They come to the school to worship because their Adventist group doesn’t have a church building of their own, so they rent a space from the public school. Our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help to build a new Adventist church in Dublin, Ireland.

Reader 2: While in Ireland, we heard about the children’s choir made of of eight young children who are sharing their love of Jesus through music and memory verses in hospitals and nursing homes all around the city of Dublin. The people say that they sing like angels!

Reader 1: A portion of today’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will be used to help build a new church in the capital city of Dublin, giving these new members a permanent church home.

Reader 2: We heard the story of Dorota—a girl from Poland who longed to hear God speaking to her personally. Her grandfather taught her how to pray. Later when she grew up she moved to Northern Ireland. One day when she was walking in a park she met another lady who was speaking Polish. That lady was a Seventh-day Adventist. She invited Dorota to study the Bible and to visit the Adventist church. Dorota was so happy! After studying the Bible she decided to be baptized.

Reader 1: We also heard the story of Marian, a little boy who became blind by the age of one. Marian spent his early years with his grandmother, who read the Bible to him and taught him the Ten Commandments. Later, when he went to school, Marian stayed true to what he had learned from God’s Word—the Bible. He later became a Seventh-day Adventist.

Reader 2: You may remember the story about Martyna, the girl in Poland who loved Jesus and prayed for her classmate, Natalya. Natalya was surprised but happy the Martyna was praying for her.

Reader 1: Part of our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering today will go to help a media ministry in Poland. Hope Channel Poland has been working in a very small area at the Polish Union in Warsaw. They are in real need of a proper studio where they can produce and broadcast local programs to reach their large audience not only in Poland, but of many Polish-speaking people around the world.

Reader 2: In the beautiful capital city of Oslo, Norway, we visited the historic Bethel Seventh-day Adventist Church. Located in the city center, this historic building once housed a sanitarium, school, printing house, and church.

Reader 1: Today, the largest Adventist congregation in Norway still meets in this building and is reaching out to the Norwegian community, as well as to a diverse community of immigrants.

Reader 2: In one of our stories, we met Caleb and Haset, two boys who go to Sabbath school at the Bethel Adventist Church. These boys were not afraid to share about their church during a presentation in their schools.

Reader 1: Part of our Thirteenth Sabbath Offering today will help the Bethel Seventh-day Adventist Church to renovate their historic basement, where the Adventist press began operating in 1879. As membership has grown, more space is needed for Sabbath School and seminar rooms, a fellowship hall, and place for young people.

Reader 2: In the former country of Yugoslavia, all children were required to attend school on Saturdays, but not all complied. As a first-grader, Naum told the communist officials that “God is first” in his life and that he would not be attending school on the Sabbath.

Reader 1: Later, he was among the first group of students at the newly opened Adventist school in the town of Maruševec.

Reader 2: After completing university studies, Naum returned to Maruševec where he mentored many students. Today, in the country now known as Croatia, most of the student body comes from non-Adventist and even atheistic backgrounds. Naum sees Maruševec as even more of a mission field than before.

Reader 1: He says that, “The exceptional possibility to witness for the truth is here. How could you ever, anywhere in the world, put together 200 non-Adventists who are learning about God every evening, every Sabbath, every day?”

Reader 2: In another story from Croatia, we met Joshua—an 11-year-old boy who has two great loves: 1) God, and 2) his violin. Joshua uses his violin to serve God in many ways, including concerts to bless others.

Reader 1: When Joshua heard about another boy who was very sick and needed special medical treatment, he organized a special musical concert to benefit the boy so that he would have the necessary funds for the needed treatment. Now Joshua is planning more concerts to help other children in need.

Reader 2: Currently, the school at Maruševec is in desperate need of classroom and dormitory space. Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help to build a boys’ dormitory, which will not only provide more housing, but will free up classroom space currently being used to house male students.

Reader 1: Thank you for your generous gift today through the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. Your will help with urgent needs in Croatia, Norway, Poland and Ireland, and may well make an eternal difference in the lives of many.

[Offering]