Our Snow Weekend Conference at Les Diablerets, which took place on January 18-20th 2019, marked a very important chapter in the history of the Adventist English Group-Vaud. The event coincided with the second year of our existence with a suitable theme “Living the Life of Fullness”. The goal of this gathering was to create a community atmosphere where we can pray, worship, get to know ourselves better and share a beautiful moment together. The event in Diablerets brought in total 54 people (Adventist and visitors) from the German and French-speaking part of Switzerland.
The gathering began on January 18 in Les Bosquets, where most of the activities of the weekend took place. The program comprised of various activities including a moment of worship, seminars, games, karaoke singing, leisure time, nature walk, skiing, sledging, and pizza party. Using a holistic approach, our activities were designed to meet the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual needs of attendants.
The Sabbath was particularly special, filled with different activities. For the worship part, we were blessed with the presence of several musicians from different backgrounds performing songs with different instruments and in different languages. The children were not left out, with a special storytelling for them during the worship time.
An interview with our guest speaker for the weekend helped us to discover his purpose and passion in life. Dr. Tihomir Lazic is a lecturer at Newbold College with specialization in contemporary ecclesiology. He also serves as the Director of Public Campus Ministry at the Trans-European Division of the Seventh-Day Adventist church. He designed three messages from the weekend Theme “Living the Life of Fullness”. Drawing inspiration from Acts 2:44-47, he called us to become engaged in the building of an authentic community, where the presence of God is visible through acts of love, care, and sharing. He declared that the secret to living a life of fullness is found in community living with the Spirit as the uniting force of the community.
After the worship and a good supper, we went for a walk in the mountains. The goal was to observe the beauty of creation and reflect upon the wonders of God. The fascinating scenes of the snow-covered ground, mountains, and trees were breathtaking — bringing praise and adoration from the lips of participants. The occasion also allowed us to share personal stories which helped us to get to know
Though we are coming from different backgrounds, countries, and speaking different languages, we were united. Many of us met there for the first time, but we sensed that we belong to each other, and felt part of the community. All without exception expressed their joy for participating in such a unique and holistic gathering and also shared their willingness to repeat this Spirit-filled and community-centered meeting. Here are some of the messages we received from attendees:
– Dear Friends! 😃 It was a pleasure to be part of this beautiful event! Spiritually and socially – it was “almost” this secret life of Fullness. Wish you God’s presence and His blessings… 😃
– We are grateful to God who brought us to this beautiful place to listen to amazing testimonies and introduced us to wonderful people. Special thanks to Aleksandar, Samuel and Shannon for the organization and implementation of this blessed project! May the Lord continue to lead you in your mission!
– It was the best weekend in Switzerland for me, thank you all very much!
– Great weekend! Thanks for the very balanced program and organisation.
– It was a beautiful and spirit-filled weekend. It’s my prayer that the organizers keep this up. Nice meeting new people and friends. Stay blessed everyone.
– Thank you for this beautiful event and everyone’s kindness, very good organizers and deep spiritual moments! I am looking forward to the upcoming events!
– We are also very thankful for the nice time together with all of you. We appreciate a lot the great workshops and music of Tihomir and enjoyed the good spirit in all the activities of the whole group. Thank you all and let’s keep in touch!
– Thank you Aleksandar, Sam 🙏 and thank you all! I had better two days😅 with good people😇 and that means a lot to me❤
And by God’s grace, we hope to meet again next year for another holistic gathering.
