Inter-European Division Year-End Meeting 2022

This year's division fall meeting took place from November 3 - 8, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. It was good to see each other in person again, the first time since 2019, in this constellation. The meeting agenda consisted mainly of administrative tasks, reports, approval of finances, and planning of community activities.
One goal, among others, is to enhance the use of digital media even more creatively and effectively as successful tools for mission in our secular environment.
The report of the Women's Ministries Department especially emphasized the aid to refugees. Mostly, the energetic and practical aid is provided by women who are active in helping the refugees with their integration into their communities. Another point that the report presented was the question of how we measure our success. Is it measured only in the number of baptisms? The activities and mission of the Women’s Ministries Department are designed to help people progress one step at a time. If we think of the religious attitudes of people on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being a person who is not at all interested in religion and 10 as being a baptized church member, our work is already successful if we help a person proceed from “1” to some place higher on the scale in accordance with what the Apostle Paul wrote, “ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow” (1Cor 3:6+7 NIV). The work done by women within Women’s Ministries reflects this thinking, providing encounters with each other within the church and outside, following Christ’s method of taking care of the needs of the people.
A special moment on Friday evening during Vespers was the Commissioning ceremony of four department directors and two heads of institutions of the Division and General Conference, asking God to bless their work.
The Sabbath was spent together with the local church members in the Plovdiv Congress Center, where GC Vice President Artur Stele preached the sermon. In the afternoon a Q&A session provided the possibility for people to present their questions to the visiting General Conference representatives. The program was organized by the Bulgarian Union.
Even though the region of the EUD has a high percentage of secular people, we are grateful for the opportunities we have to serve and continue Jesus’ ministry to those around us.
According to a report by Dagmar Dorn, EUD Women's Ministries Director