Ukraine Adventist Business Operators Meet for Networking, Inspiration

By: Margarita Grigorashchenko, Euro-Asia Division News, and Adventist Review

More than 100 Seventh-day Adventist laypeople and church leaders met for the 5th Congress of the Association of Adventist-Businessmen of Ukraine in the city of Lviv, October 17-21, 2018. This year’s event had the highest attendance in the history of the association.

Presidents of all the church conferences in Ukraine and the leadership of the Ukrainian Union participated in the meeting. “Our firm intention is to work in collaboration to complete God’s work on earth,” leaders said.

Speakers for the event included Helmut Haubeil from Germany and Vladimir Velechuk, executive secretary of the Ukrainian Union church region. For training sessions, Yevgeny Chekmarev and Oleg Nefedov shared their innovations in business and online marketing.

The meeting was also attended by Gabriel Maurer of Switzerland, who is vice president of Adventist-Laymen’s Services and Industries (ASI) Europe. Maurer shared methods of evangelistic work in Europe and church growth experiences in several European cities.

Among the projects showcased at the congress was the mission website of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ukraine, shared by Alexander Kurenchuk. The site is intended as a resource center to be constantly updated. Creators of the site, he said, continue to look for and add new resources to make searches more productive.

Kurenchuk also showed an online education system that includes courses for young people, written in easy-to-relate, lively language. The creators behind the project, he said, plan to prepare a range of courses on topics such as spirituality and theology, the history of Christianity, and everyday and social issues. “We need to learn to understand the needs of modern society more deeply and respond to them in an accessible, interactive, and appealing way,” he added.

At the congress, the organization also elected its officials for the 2018-2021 period, including a project coordinator, an IT department director, and another director of strategy.

Event participants took time during the congress to share their spiritual experiences, telling others about the ways they feel God has led them and helped them through various life events.

Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive.

“How nice it is to be brothers together!” said Oksana Dmitrik, elected secretary of the organization for the next three years, speaking to the gathering. “I hope you will bring friends with you next time, so more hearts can be inspired.”

“It was an excellent congress,” said participant Oleg Bokov. “The experiences, exchanges, camaraderie, preaching, music, and support — all of this inspired me to pursue new accomplishments for God.”

The original version of this story was posted on the news site of the Euro-Asia Division.