Nature presents sceneries that captivate the eyes and provides an opportunity for more profound reflection on creation and the masterful ingenuity behind it. Such reflections often lead to a more precise understanding and appreciation of our place, role, and function in the universe. Therefore, to provide the opportunity for such profound reflections, the Adventist English group of Canton Vaud spent the Sabbath in nature on the August 15th 2020 in Château d’Oex.

We started with a worship, where our hosts family McCarthy led us in adoration. Brendan played the guitar and the rest of us joyfully sang uplifting gospel songs. We also had a very enriching program for children, that involved two stories and a stone coloring activity that pointed to Jesus as the cornerstone of our salvation. Then, pastor Samuel delivered a strong spiritual message about the urgency of mission in our time. After the worship, we gathered around barbecue and had lunch together. The Sabbath ended with two hike options, an easy one and an intermediate one. Our programs are always designed to take into account different needs and interests of people, and the hike was no exception.

In total, we had around 30 people of all ages participating in the Sabbath activities. Covid-19 prevented us from worshipping indoor, but it was a real blessing to worship together with such a large congregation, which maybe would never happen in normal circumstances. There was not a single person who knew everyone else, so it was a great occasion to get to know new people and build friendships that will last. Glory be to God.

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.

Two main reasons led the English-speaking group of the Adventist Church in Renens to organize once more a social event. On the one hand, it is our objective to establish contact with people from the region, no matter what their believes are, in order to set a base to eventually gain trust and shine into their lives with God’s light and love. On the other hand, we would like to create opportunities for believers to get better acquainted and to be more familiar with one another.

Nature presents sceneries that captivate the eyes and provides an opportunity for more profound reflection on creation and the masterful ingenuity behind it. Such reflections often lead to a more precise understanding and appreciation of our place, role, and function in the universe. Therefore, to provide the opportunity for such profound reflections, the Adventist English group of Canton Vaud organized an outing into nature on the June 2nd 2018 in the Vallée de L’Intyamon which is situated between Bulle and Château d’Oex.

The itinerary path we took is popularly known as the Lords of the Middle Ages, a path that allowed us the opportunity to discover several landscapes and different historic sites such as the historic bridge on the Lake of Montbovon. Discovering a variety of flowers, mountains and landscapes under the sun and the summer heat because of the southern orientation was the favorite part of many. The walk was children-friendly and took approximately 4 hours to complete. The walk afforded the opportunity to have a profound interaction between ourselves and the visitors who came onboard.

In total, we had 18 persons participating in the event. We were privileged to have a professional tour guide in the person of Denis Desvoignes, making the whole event to be one that was adventurous and a memorable one. Glory be to God.