“Growing together in unity and hope was evident during this conference,” said Miodrag Zivanovic, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South-East Europe, of a recent 6-day Bible conference that drew some 700 Adventists from Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Croatia to the resort town of Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia.

While Vrnjacka Banja has been know for its therapeutic natural spas since the days of the Roman empire, Bible conference participants were seeking a different sort of rejuvenation: a recommitment to spreading Christian unity, despite hailing from nations on politically less-than-friendly terms.

“We are thankful to God for having such an opportunity to experience fellowship and commitment to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ,” continued Zivanovic.  The “Adventist faith is holistic and requires practice seven days a week.”

“For the first time [we] organized a different type of Bible Conference which proved to be a real blessing,” said Bertil Wiklander, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European region and one of the conference’s speakers.

“I am grateful,” he added, “for my opportunities to invite pastors, and lay people, to become…empowered by daily Bible study and prayer.”

Wiklander, along with several other speakers, contributed to presentations on Jesus in Revelation, Christian Ethics, and the principles of Bible reading and study, among other subjects. Simultaneously a series of seminars for women and children were held and coordinated by Anne-May Wollan and Sharon Cress.