International Leadership Conference in Budapest

Leaders from all over the world gathered in Budapest from May 10-13, 2017 for an International Leadership Conference in Budapest, Hungary, on issues impacting children, women and families. The keynote address was given by Dr. Ella Simmons, Ed.D., vice-president of the General Conference. Plenary session presentations were given by George Barna of the Barna Research Group on the topic of Guiding Children to a Christian Life and Mapping a Child's Journey to Spiritual Maturity.
Kiti Freier Randall is a pediatric neurodevelopmental psychologist and professor who currently works as director of Psychological Services, Department of Pediatrics, Loma Linda Health Care. Kiti Randall spoke about raising resilient children today and understanding risk. It takes a village to raise a child is a proverb which means that it takes an entire community to raise a child: A child has the best ability to become a healthy adult if the entire community takes an active role in contributing to the rearing of the child. The church must become the village that raises a child.
The delegates of the three departments also met separately in breakout sessions to address special topics. Wonderful music was provided by the Hungarian Union. The conference was intended to help the leaders of the three departments find areas where they can work together, networking for the benefit of the family, women and children within the church as well as reach out to others.
The presentations are available on the website: https://budapest2017.adventist.org/media/