A cynical colleague felt the need to warn me that the Exhibit Hall at the 58th General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church resembled a bazaar or a village market place.
A cynical colleague felt the need to warn me that the Exhibit Hall at the 58th General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church resembled a bazaar or a village market place.
I expected the worst; crowds pushing and jostling, stall holders resembling fairground barkers or English costermongers and harassment and haggling from every quarter.
And what did I find? A gentle flow, enthusiastic enquiry and explanation, good humor and God’s grace. There are some 430 stands peddling everything from T-shirts to trucks, pottery to prison ministries. There are the elaborate, sophisticated and high-cost stands alongside homely presentations mounted on a couple of trestle tables.
Show manager, Dean Rogers, assured me that the pre-Session approval process filtered out stands that might appear inappropriate and left an acceptable mix of commercial and promotional exhibitors. He likened it to a ‘flea market’ and explained that, by and large, the exhibition hall was functioning well.
I moved on to discover Adventist publishers, broadcasters representing radio and television, handicrafts and artwork, clothing, education institutions, ministries and evangelism at every turn. The visual impact is enhanced by the sounds of Seventh-day Adventism—a stage providing a constant conveyor of musical talent, along with music stories and messages provided on every format by many of the stands.
And there’s light and shade—the fun of the faith aptly illustrated by Mr. Noah who stands in front of an inflatable ark wearing a beard that doubles as a heath rug, together with the more serious side of church activity, which includes legal services and risk management.
And, in one avenue of Dean Rogers ‘flea market,’ a number of Adventist medical ministries provide a range of health checks; blood pressure, dental and eye tests and body mass assessments. The hypochondriac in me screamed out for attention, but, such is the waiting list for this service, that they couldn’t see me for two days. The resultant frustration raised my stress level to dizzy heights and Paul Kim from Wildwood Lifestyle Center provided a massage that, he claims, has brought many to baptism and certainly quickly unknotted my nerve endings.
There was no evidence of power selling or aggression, simply warmth and charm, particularly on the stand where a sweet lady from Indonesia encouraged me to buy an exquisite and brightly decorated shirt. It would have felt so overdressed in my wardrobe that is principally bland and black and very homesick on a rainy day in London. Naturally, I declined.
The ‘Upper View’ award for the most colorful stand in the exhibition hall goes to the North Mexican Union whose dazzling display of sombreros, national costumes, flags and Latin American music stops you in your tracks.
And the fairground barker award goes to the genial giants of the Health Food Company who bellow about free breakfasts and pelt any passer-by who shows half an interest with cartons of cereal and fruit juice.
So dear cynical colleague, there’s nothing of the bazaar about this exhibit hall, although one or two stands do verge on the bizarre.
Editor’s Note: John Smith was a BBC producer and broadcaster for 14 years and part of the team that won a Sony Gold award for the radio coverage of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. He is serving as operations manager for the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s communication team at the St. Louis meeting.