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     From Latvia we had 20 come from a church that now keeps the Sabbath and Holy Days/Festivals. Their pastor Robert Schultz spoke to us about how they come to understand some of the Fundamental Beliefs of the United Church of God through the Internet.. The 2006 Israel Lebanon war led them to find the booklet Middle East in Prophecy. That led to the Good News and the United Church of God.   
 
    Our Festival Theme this year was "Christ-Centered Servant Leadership in the World Tomorrow." Sermons touched on the rebuilding of the earth and the rehabilitation of society that will take place in the beginning of the Millennium. We were blessed to have elders Johnnie Lambert, Randy Schreiber, Phil Sandilands, Roland Clark and others who provided a good variety and depth in speaking.  

     A highlight event was an evening gathering where some of our  brethren told their stories. Klogay and Margaret Doh, Karen refugees from Thailand who have been resettled to Finland, told about their life in refugee camps and their new life in Finland. Margaret's sister in North Carolina was featured in the Festival video as one of the refugees resettled in the United States. Other stories were told by Mandy Heathcote formerly from Zimbabwe and now in New Zealand, Artur Aleksandrov, Russian Estonian living in Tallinn, Rainer and Margit Barth formerly from East Germany, Vello Saar, UCG member in Cincinnati who was born on Saaremaa. For the second half of the Feast we travelled to the 1000 year-old city of Tartu. For more about this event go to www.kubik.org/estonia.

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     There are currently four of our fundamental beliefs ("God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit,"  "The Church," "The Word of God," and "Satan, the Devil") available in Polish.
 

     The word of the Kingdom of God begins small--as a mustard seed, but we have expectations of effective growth in Polish content and its proliferation. 
 

     You can see our Eastern European offerings on our United Church of God Website at www.ucg.org/easteuropean.

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       Life is precious to us. We don't want to die. But what really happens to us after death? Scientists, philosophers and even theologians don't agree. Where can we go for answers? Shouldn't we seek them from the Creator of life?  
     You can see a PDF, download to a mobile device, hear an audio mp3 version or actually order a conventional copy of this booklet directly from this link.

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     John Wennström is of Swedish origin and works as an engineer in Norway. Danelle Lassiter is a nurse in North Carolina. Both are members of the United Church of God. They met at the United Church of God's 2008 Fall Festival in Jekyll Island, Georgia. Their friendship now spans the Atlantic Ocean.  They have travelled to each other's homes and tell their story in this style.

John: United Church of God members in Scandinavia are spread out in four  countries with three different languages. The distances makes it hard to assemble. Once in a while I visit the Spensers in Sweden, and last summer we had a assembly of almost all of us in Scandinavia. I was baptized at one of those assemblies. Now I tune in to the sermons from the Asheboro, North Carolina congregation via the Internet.

Danelle: Even though I grew up of Christian parents, I never studied the Bible with anyone my age in the way that I have with John. We would often study on Friday night and Sabbath morning. It was an amazing feeling to study with someone even if he was on the other side of the world. This started to occur every weekend after we met in Georgia.  John told me before he left that he would come visit in the spring. I didn't believe it, until he called me one day to tell me he bought the ticket to come over.

John: Yes, everything worked out very good with my job. I got two weeks vacation in February to go visit Danelle, her family and her congregation. I had already met many of them at the Feast of Tabernacles. Everyone looked so happy together, and they really were. The people made me feel at home. So, I decided to go there for the Spring Holy Days. I invited Danelle to come and visit me in Scandinavia.

Danelle: I was worried it would not be possible for me to visit John in Norway. I was in the middle of changing jobs. After a long time of uncertainty and patience, both for me and John, I finally sat on the airplane that would take me over the Atlantic Ocean, to something different. I couldn't believe this small town country girl finally got a passport and left the country. I received a warm welcome from John at the airport in Arlanda. 

 

John: We observed the first Sabbath at my father's home.Next day we started our road trip with my brother Anders and his girlfriend Alexandra, heading to the spectacular mountains of Norway. It wasn't long before we saw the waterfalls streaming down the mountain sides. We both where happy that we where able to see all this together.

Danelle: We saw waterfalls and big green fjords cut out from the spectacular mountains--wonderful places that cannot be described by words. We went to the west coast and saw Norway's most beautiful beach. There we thought about the Atlantic ocean that keep us separate. It is good it's only the water that separates us, and not beliefs or convictions.

     When I visited John I really learned to appreciate my brethren and that my family understands the truth. We were able to observe the Sabbath together by listening to sermons that I had brought with me and we read the bible together. Even though I missed my brethren, I could relax, knowing that they remembered me in prayers. And even though I felt insecure and alone sometimes, I was here with John.

     I have to admit I was nervous about meeting John's family since they did not understand our faith. They welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like part of the family. We went on a picnic with John's family one day

     We had a wonderful time traveling in Sweden and Norway. My favorite part of the journey was our camping trip. We read about creation in the bible throughout the trip. I felt really close to God studying about creation and being surrounded by nature. The stresses of the world melted away and I focused on the big picture. I felt so fortunate to be called to be part of God's plan and the Kingdom to come.