Bern. Switzerland. July 14, 2011. Over the last few weeks, Pastor Ted Wilson, President of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, visited some of the countries in the Euro-Africa Region, such as France, Switzerland, and Germany. Pastor Wilson started his journey in France, attending a Spiritual Congress in the North France Conference with the title “Un people d’Esperance” – “A people of hope.” During the Congress the President empowered the attendees once again, proclaiming the urgency of announcing the second coming of Jesus. He claimed attention with the topic of the “latter rain”, inviting the participants to take into serious consideration the Revival and Reformation concept, launched last year for the entire worldwide Adventist church. “Preach the word of God,” said Ted Wilson “preach the uniqueness of the three angels’ message.” The Conference was attended by 4000 church members and was held at the “Parc Des Espositions” in Dreux.
Germany. The second main stop on Pastor Wilson’s journey was in Constance, on the border with Switzerland, to attend the European ASI Convention (Adventist Laymen's Services and Industries). This convention is organized “to motivate and equip our laity for the mission with the right tools” said Angel Duo, former president of ASI Europe. The participants “were very much inspired to commit their lives to Jesus and spreading the three angels’ message in a more dedicated way.”
President Ted Wilson’s support for the ASI movement around the world “is well known and helps us to develop our mission in full partnership with the church which is one of our main goals,” emphasized Angel Duo. The President’s messages were focused on the distinctive and unique message of the Adventist church for this world’s last moments. “There are a number of issues that affect our church in Europe that are not usually presented from the pulpits and Pastor Wilson dealt with them in a clear and loving way,” concluded Angel Duo.
ASI is a supporting ministry in Europe with almost 900 members living in about 16 countries. The third venue of this European journey was Augsburg, Germany, where, for the first time, the members of the new Bavarian Conference, in the Bavarian region, experienced a spiritual congress together. More than 3500 members attended the Sabbath program, designed mainly to give a deeply spiritual worship experience. The participants were led in song by a chorus of about 80 members, a brass orchestra of 30 players, a music band of 15 singers and players and, finally, by a string orchestra. Thanks to them, the worship was very intense and deeply spiritual. In fact it was the best way to deal with the morning Bible study topic which focused precisely on worship. The messages presented by President Ted Wilson and special guests Michael Ryan and Mark Finley, respectively vice-president of the General Conference and television evangelist, enriched the program without a doubt. "We are touched by God, by his love and grace,” affirmed Pastor Wilson in his message. “Be motivated by his mission, changed by his love. Let us humble our hearts,” urged the President, emphasizing the results of the touch of God: Revival and Reformation. "When you are touched by God something happens in your life! We are set free by the priceless blood of Christ - a free but costly treatment." With this statement, Pastor Wilson invited the au
dience to think carefully about the saving action of Jesus. Calling for unity, he affirmed, “We are part of God's family. We focus on Jesus: Christ is the centre of everything. We have to lift up Christ,” and continued, “God has placed a special message in the Adventist church. We have to proclaim righteousness by faith. We have to balance justice and grace.” His words fell on keen ears in the Schwaben Halle, the exposition centre in Augsburg, calling all participants to claim the privilege of knowing a wonderful loving God and saviour. “Jesus is coming soon!” he concluded. “God has the future in his hand - don't be afraid! Unite together as God's people.” In the afternoon Pastor Wilson agreed to be interviewed on the stage, in front of the audience. When he was presented as an important person, he reacted, “I'm not important - the word of God is important!” One question was on his method of quoting the writings of Ellen G. White (1827-1915), co-founder of the worldwide Adventist Church: "You can write a wonderful sermon, without using a quote from Ellen White,” he said. “Her writings should never take the place of the Bible. But I find her statements very helpful, so I like to quote them.” He answered all the questions spontaneously, highlighting the purpose of the Adventist Church, “The Message shapes people and not people the message. The Adventist Church was raised up for a special purpose: to spread the message of salvation.” “This message unites us,” he said. “There are differences between cultures, languages, races, etc. in our church. The message unites us! I'm not worried about the unity of the church, because I know that the Holy Spirit is in charge.”
Unity was one of the main topics that Pastor Wilson tried to emphasize. The whole church needs to think seriously accordingly. This was also the conclusion of Pastor Bruno Vertallier, President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Euro-Africa Region, (Bern). He declared that “as the leadership of the church, we have to give a strong signal of unity.” Darmstadt. In Darmstadt Ted Wilson spoke to Adventist pastors from all over Germany on the redemption of mankind through Jesus Christ alone: “Seventh-day Adventists should speak more than all the others about salvation through Jesus, and only through him… One could talk a lot about Christ, but what is definitely important is a Christian lifestyle example,” he concluded.
Ted Wilson also took some time to answer questions from the pastors. On contacts with other churches, he said, “We should seek friendly relations with other Christians and work with any religious organization that promotes religious freedom. But we should be careful about those organizations which neutralize the word of God and hinder the mission. We should not support anything that prevents us from announcing our specific teachings.”
Part of Pastor Wilson’s visit was to the Marienhöhe Adventist school centre, Darmstadt, composed of elementary school, high school and college, as well as the “The voice of hope” (Stimme der Hoffnung) Adventist media centre, in Alsbach-Hähnlein near Darmstadt. The media centre includes radio and television studios, the International Bible Studies Institute, the Library for the Blind and the photo agency “churchphoto.de”. Some shows were also recorded for the German Hope Channel TV with the General Conference president.
On the last day of his visit Pastor Wilson praised Martin Luther in front of 1800 visitors during a worship service in Friedensau, near Magdeburg. The reformer handed over a great legacy to the Germans by translating the Bible in their native language. “He led this people to the Bible as the word of God,” Wilson declared. The call of Luther to recognize the Bible as the only standard of faith is still true, even today. Ted Wilson concluded his long European journey by visiting the Theological University of the Adventist Church in Friedensau, near Magdeburg, under the guidance of the rector, Professor Friedbert Ninow. He had also a meeting with students, teachers and with the staff of the university. He was also interested by the Friedensau nursing home.
During his visit to Europe, Ted Wilson was accompanied by his w
ife Nancy, Pastor Michael Ryan and Pastor Mark Finley, Pastor Williams Costa, the communications director of the General Conference, and Pastor Bruno Vertallier (Bern). The guests also retraced the footsteps of the reformer Martin Luther, by visiting the Lutheran historical sites of Eisenach, Wittenberg and Mansfeld under the guidance of church historian and the dean of the Friedensau Theological College, Dr. John Hartlapp.
