GC Session 2015 - Trans-European Division Report

(Harald Wollan) Tonight, I have the joy
of introducing Trans-European Division,

the division I come from,
and I am going back to.

(applause)

(Harald Wollan) With me on the platform
are the three officers and their spouses,

and it is a joy and privilege for me
to introduce, my friend

the division president, Raafat Kamal
and his wife Heidi.

(applause)

(Harald Wollan) To his right, is the
division executive secretary,

Audrey Andersson, and her husband Lars.

(applause)

(Harald Wollan) To Pastor Kamal's left,
we have the division treasurer,

Nenad Jepuranovic, and his wife Tania.

(applause)

(Harald Wollan) Brothers and sisters:
Trans-European Division.

(applause)

(Pr Raafat Kamal) Good evening,
sisters and brothers.

I would like to ask at this point, our TED
special guests and delegates to stand up.

(applause)

(Pr Raafat Kamal) We're here this evening
to celebrate God's goodness.

The Trans-European Division, also known as
TED, is the smallest division,

comprising of 85,000 members
and 200 million neighbors.

They're in 22 countries that offer diverse
and incredible opportunities

where God's glory is revealed.

Of course, as you know,
we have highly secular

and post modern communities,
but these communities are challenging us,

and encouraging us, under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit, to find new

and innovative ways, creative ways
of evangelism, to bring the gospel,

the good news of Jesus Christ.

Our members are committed to mission,

being Jesus' hands and feet,
in the communities.

And I want to challenge you, this evening,
to pray for the Trans-European Division.

And when you pray, give glory to God, and
thank Him for what He is already doing.

God moves, and we only second the motion.

And God is raising leaders, friends.

There's a growing movement in our division
where God's people are crying out,

"Here am I Lord, send me."

And to illustrate, this evening,
we have a non-traditional report for you,

quite an exciting one.

And I want to thank the TED media
department for the excellent production

that you will see now.

It illustrates five stories
about real people,

real conversions where God is reaching and
transforming lives from darkness to light.

We want to thank and praise God

for His blessings
over the past five years.

To God be the glory.

At this point,
please enjoy the video.

♪ music ♪

♪ music, choral singing ♪

(Male Narrator) And the darkness
came upon the earth - a thick dark void.

In this darkness, one cannot move
or breathe, one cannot exist.

There are no plans, no hopes, no dreams.

♪ crashing sound ♪

(Male Narrator) There is nothing -

only a suffocating silence.

(Choir singing)
♪ Then the darkness came upon the earth ♪

(Female Actor #1) Why was I
born a woman? Why?

So that I could spend my whole life,
imprisoned in my own flesh?

I yearn for the freedom to learn,
and explore and choose.

Instead, I'm reduced to nothing,

and I'm told that I should be happy
with the life that I have.

"Oh, how ungrateful you are!" they yell.

"Who are you to question the ways of God?"

And when I pluck up just enough courage,
I look in the mirror and I wonder,

(Choir singing) ♪ Where is the beauty,
where is the joy? ♪

(Female Actor #1) I search
for a thread of hope,

for... for a hint of joy, but in vain.

All I see is an old woman in a young body

staring back at me,
her eyes dead and cold.

♪ music ♪

(Female Actor #1) Am I... am I not
beautiful? Am I not desirable?

As a human being, am I not worthy of love?

I lost... I lost my freedom
before I ever possessed it.

And how, how am I to worship a God
who has made me less worthy?

(Choir singing)
♪ Then the darkness came upon the earth ♪

(Male Actor# 1) I'm an avid cyclist.

Always active, always on the move.
It's my life.

Whenever I get a chance, you'll find me
on my bike, going for miles at a time.

On my bicycle, the world
is a good place to be.

It's my favorite, favorite place to be -

until, until that day,

that I'm on my bike
and I'm in an accident,

and the next thing I remember, are the
doctors standing beside my bed,

in the hospital, telling me that I will
never have the use of my legs again.

I'm defeated. I'm lost.

And for days on end,
I'm just looking at the walls

of my hospital room, blankly.

(Choir singing)
♪ What am I going to do now? ♪

(Male Actor #1) I can't imagine
a life without cycling. I can't.

I know I need to find a cure,
somewhere, somehow.

(Choir singing)
♪ Then a darkness came upon the earth ♪

♪ piano music ♪

(Female Actor #2) I live in a world, in
which, everything is one big coincidence.

(Choir singing)
♪ Some say it's cynicism ♪

(Female Actor #2) I say
it's common sense.

(Choir singing)
♪ Others say it's ignorance ♪

(Female Actor #2) I say it's education.

Whether big or small,
whatever happens to me,

I explain it with this pure, rational,
and reliable random activity

in this reality, in which I live.

I'm a physicist, after all;
rational and pragmatic.

What is this nonsense,
that God created the world?

How I pity those narrow-minded people
who believe in something greater.

There is nothing greater.

This is it. Deal with it.

It's because they're not educated enough,
I tell myself.

I mean, why must there be meaning
in everything?

Why must there be meaning at all?

(Choir singing)
♪ Then a darkness came upon the earth ♪

(Boy Actor) I am growing up in a home,
where God isn't part of my family.

I go to school, I do my homework,
I eat my vegetables,

and play with my brother and sister
and my friends.

I don't even realize something is missing.

(Choir singing)
♪ Then the darkness came upon the earth ♪

(Male Actor #2) I live a good
Christian life.

I live it well.

But it's divorced from my heart.

I talk religion, but not faith;
doctrine, but not ministry;

church politics, but not personal
experience.

I do it all.

That is, I did it all.

Until my whole world came crashing down.

My wife left me and took
the kids with her.

And I stood there and watched
my whole world evaporate -

my future, my hopes, my dreams.

I realized I was bare and alone.

I still go to church.

I don't know why.

Habit, I suppose.

And as I sit in the pews, I want
to scream, I want to shout.

I want to cry out like a mad man for help.

But I can't.

I just sit there and slip further
and further into quiet desperation.

(Choir singing)
♪ What's the point? What's the point? ♪

(Male Actor #2) I just want to die.

♪ music ♪

(Male Narrator) But God said,
"Let there be light," and there was light.

This light is not distant light,
untouchable and virtually unknowable.

This light is life itself.

It is potential.

It is hope.

(Choir singing)
♪ The light overcame the darkness ♪

(Female Actor #1) A friend talks to me
about God and my stomach turns as he does.

Yet, despite that heated debate,
still something draws me in.

The way he talks is engaging,
not oppressing.

It's inviting, not imposing.

And the sparks of these conversations
lead me to LIFEconnect,

an Adventist social media website.

And there I enroll in a Bible
correspondence program,

where I explore so many
of my questions about God.

Is He who they say He is?

Is He who He says He is?

(Choir singing)
♪ Am I really worthy ♪

(Female Actor #1) Does He really love me?

(Choir singing)
♪ The light overcame the darkness ♪

(Male Actor #1) A friend tells me
about bioenergetics -

a whole bunch of new age methods,

and "It can heal you," he tells me.

I'm desperate and I wonder,

what is healing? Where will I find it?

And will it be in these mystical methods,

in these crystals, in these auras
and mantras?

These hands that hover above me,

will they heal me?

Then another friend of mine,

he tells me about Jesus,
the healer from the Bible,

and I'm tossed between bioenergetics
and Jesus, back and forth.

And I know they're both spiritual.

They both promise healing,
and I know I have to choose.

So I finally decide.

(Choir singing)
♪ Let Jesus be my healer ♪

(Male Actor #1) I will see
where it takes me.

For after all, I've got
nothing left to lose.

(Choir singing)
♪ The light overcame the darkness ♪

(Female Actor #2) The first crack

in my perfectly constructed system

comes one evening, in a conversation
about God,

and it isn't so much the conversation

as much as it is the person.

I'm curious about what makes that woman,

a woman like me, believe such nonsense.

And my curiosity leads me to join her

for an afternoon relay meeting,

an informal gathering of young people

who like to socialize and discuss
very relevant issues,

to my great shock, organized by none other

than those believers.

When I first arrive, I plan to leave

after a few courteous minutes,

but I'm nailed to my chair
when I hear the topic.

(Choir singing)
♪ Coincidences ♪

(Female Actor #2) My jaw drops open,
and I sit in disbelief,

as my system comes tumbling down.

Could there be meaning and forethought,

instead of haphazardry and randomness?

Could there be a God who moves in ways

I had previously labeled as coincidences?

Slowly, the light pours into my heart

and I fight so hard to cling onto meaning,

while coincidence claws its way deeper

into my flesh, in an effort to destroy me.

(Choir singing)
♪ But it doesn't ♪

(Female Actor #2) And it didn't.

(Choir singing)
♪ The light overcame the darkness ♪

(Boy Actor) One Sabbath,

my grandma takes me to her church,
where I meet loads of friends,

like a hundred.

It's called Messy Church.

There were so many things for us to do:

color-in, cut out animal shapes,

and even sometimes, help other children

make a really big boat.

In the end, we all go to the drama room

and sing lots of songs, songs about Jesus.

I even help in the play.

I am a little boy who gives his lunch

to Jesus and Jesus feeds thousands
of people with it.

Wow! Jesus loves little children!

There, I also see a pastor
dedicate a baby.

I ask him,

(Child singing)
♪ Can you dedicate me too? ♪

(Boy Actor) Because I want
to belong to Jesus

more than anything else.

When I tell my family,

they think it's a load of rubbish,

but the next Sabbath,

my whole family comes to church

and sees the pastor dedicate me to God.

(Choir singing)
♪ The light overcame the darkness ♪

(Male Actor #2) The light comes.

When someone from my church asks me,

urgently, if I would drive the van

that distributes food to the homeless,

it's part of the Mission
to the Cities project,

and I don't even know why I say yes,

but I do.

On my very first trip, I meet
a homeless man with silver-gray hair

with a heart that's full of life,

a heart full of stories,

and oh, how I want my heart to be free.

Little did I know that he would feed me

much more than I would ever feed him.

The battle within me nearly breaks me,

but slowly my heart gets stronger.

My heart begins to fight back.

(Male Narrator) The light came
to live with us.

"I am the Light of the world," Jesus said.

Not only did this Light
come to live with us,

but God invites us to live

so intimately with Him, that we shine,

illuminated by His very own light.

(Female Actor# 1) I'm no longer oppressed,
but free!

Liberated as a woman,
and a human being!

I can see beauty and joy!

God, Himself, died for me,

that's how treasured and loved I am!

Today, I am one light;

one of many in a tumultuous sea.

(Choir singing)
♪ My darkness has vanished ♪

(Female Actor #1) Today,
I live in the light.

♪ music ♪

(Male Actor #1) I'm not confused anymore.

I know Jesus is real,
and I know He can heal.

And I made the right decision!

It wasn't a quick journey,

but Jesus helped me
to deal with my pain.

Today, I am one light;

one of many in a tumultuous sea.

(Choir singing)
♪ My darkness has vanished ♪

(Male Actor #1) Today,
I live in the light.

♪ music ♪

(Female Actor #2) Crazily enough,

I no longer believe in coincidences.

I've come to see that
there is so much meaning

behind what I experience.

There's so much thought

behind everything I study and research.

Through the power of my Creator,

I've changed.

Today, I am one light;

one of many in a tumultuous sea.

My darkness has vanished.

Today, I live in the light.

♪ music ♪

(Boy Actor) I belong to Jesus now.

I'm glad my grandma took me
to Messy Church,

because that's where I met Jesus.

Thank You, Jesus.

Today, I am one little light
in a big world.

(Choir singing)
♪ My darkness has vanished ♪

(Male Actor #2) Now, I know that light

is stronger than darkness,

that life is stronger than death.

I have been freed.

I now have an energy and love for life

that I never had before
I really experienced God.

Jesus pulled me from that black hole

and never let me go - not once.

Today, I am one light;

one of many in a tumultuous sea.

(Choir singing)
♪ My darkness has vanished ♪

(Male Actor #2) Today,
I live in the light.

♪ music ♪

(Choir singing)
♪ I am one light ♪

(Female Actor #1, singing)
♪ It all begins with one light ♪

♪ One candle in the darkness.♪

(Male Actor #2, singing)
♪ One hand that reaches out ♪

♪ to feed a friend in need ♪

(Female Actor #2, singing)
♪ It all begins with one light ♪

♪ One candle in the window ♪

(Boy Actor, singing)
♪ One flame to say that love and light ♪

♪ are home, tonight ♪

(Male Actor #1, singing)
♪ When the world is cold and dark ♪

♪ and hearts are full of fear ♪

(All 5 actors singing)
♪ it only takes a spark ♪

♪ to show us hope is near. ♪

♪ So if you have a spark of hope ♪

♪ then let it show ♪

♪ The more we share the light ♪

♪ the stronger it will grow ♪

(5 actors & choir) ♪ It will grow ♪

♪ It all begins with one light ♪

♪ One candle lights another ♪

♪ So let me be the first to care ♪

♪ the first to share ♪

♪ Let me be that one light ♪

♪ Let me be that one light ♪

♪ Let me be the light ♪

(applause)

♪ music ♪

(Male Narrator) It all began
with one light.

Wherever you are, whoever you are,

whatever your story right now,

you, too, can live in the light today.

Will you join the many,
in the Trans-European Division,

and be the light?

(Choir singing)
♪ It all begins with one light ♪

♪ One candle lights another ♪

♪ So let me be the first to care ♪

♪ the first to share ♪

♪ Let me be that one light ♪

♪ Let me be that one light ♪

♪ Let me be the light! ♪

(applause)