Year-Long ‘Life and Health’ Magazine Celebrations Continue in Croatia

How long should a centenary celebration for the Croatian Život i Zdravlje (Life and Health) magazine last? For the health ministries team in the Croatian Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, it is a year-long celebration to give the magazine and its message maximum profile.

The celebrations began in November 2023 at the 45th International Book Fair in Zagreb and continued on Sunday, May 12, at Zagreb’s Bundek Sports and Recreation Centre in a day of wholistic health activities for all ages.

Petar Krzmanić was one of the many participants and reported he was impressed. “I came across this by chance because I was going for a walk with a friend,” Krzmanić said. “Having gone through all the stalls with their health checks and advice, I think I’m fairly healthy, but I’m still waiting to hear what the doctor says. I’ve heard about Life and Health magazine before, but I haven’t read it.”

Most visitors were attracted to the conference’s Health Department stands, where they could check their health and talk with a doctor, while children enjoyed the puppet show prepared by the team from the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Croatia.

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A 68-page special jubilee issue of the Croatian Život I Zdravlje (Life and Health) magazine has been published to celebrate the magazine’s 100-year anniversary. [Photo: Croatian Conference]

Volunteers supporting the health check at each stand included students from Maruševec Adventist High School. [Photo: Croatian Conference]

Children enjoying some refreshing smoothies, provided by the ADRA Croatia team, along with an attention-catching puppet show. [Photo: Croatian Conference]

“I’ve been here since nine in the morning,” volunteer Noemi Šainčić, who works for the bookstore BookStop and the publisher Znaci vremena, said. “A lot of people came, and most of them were parents with children. While they were attracted by our offer of free magazines, I think the draw might have also been the excellent puppet show for the children.”

In cooperation with the Health Department, the students of Maruševec Adventist High School generously offered their services to support the event.

Gabriela Lukačević, currently studying nursing, commented, “The school invited us to join this interesting project. We had many visibly interested people visit our stand. My role was to check sugar and oxygen saturation levels (measured at rest, three minutes of exercise and then after five minutes of rest).” With normal blood sugar levels ranging from 3.2 to 6.4, Lukačević added that “we didn’t find anyone with serious health problems.”

In addition to measuring sugar, volunteers at health stands checked heart rate, lung strength, blood pressure, weight and body mass, offered therapeutic massages, and engaged in dialogue with visitors about their health. A physician gave the final diagnosis of the condition of the participating individual.

As a result of the day’s activity, retired pastor Ivan Đidara reported that around two hundred contacts were made with people who stopped by the stands. “We are grateful to God and everyone who volunteered to support this project,” church leaders said.

The original version of this story was posted on the Trans-European Division news site.