July 3, 2010
At the beginning of the Divine Worship service Elder Ted Wilson invited Elder and Mrs. Jan Paulsen and Elder and Mrs. Robert Folkenberg to be especially recognized by the gathered worshippers. He would have like his parents, Elder and Mrs. Neal Wilson to also be present, but their advanced age prevented them attending. The entire stadium gave warm and enthusiastic support to Elders Paulsen and Folkenberg.
Elder Wilson, president of the General Conference gave an inspiring and stirring Sabbath morning message, challenging the World Church members to be faithful to our calling as Seventh-day Adventists. To be faithful to the word of God, the Spirit of Prophecy and the mission Jesus has raised this church up for. To remember the Great Controversy theme as the center of God's working and timing of the prophetic hour we live in. To continue to press forward in the work of inviting all nations to be seeking with joy, the second coming of Jesus. His theme and message carries a similar focus as our Pennsylvania Conference 2010 Camp Meeting theme, “Called to be Different,” drawing, as we did, from 1 Peter 2:9,10.
Memories of GC
Pathfinders from the South Atlantic and Georgia Cumberland Conferences served as ushers to take up the offering during church on Sabbath morning.
Beautiful music. Pictured below is my former college classmate Dan Pabon and his wife Milca, leading the worship hymn Sabbath morning. Also the General Conference symphony.
The “Bag People” in yellow shirts met the delegates and those entering the Georgia Dome as visitors every day we were here. Each person entering the Georgia Dome facility is subject to having their bags, purses and the official GC delegate nylon carrying cases inspected as a security measure. As you may remember, during the Olympic Games held in Atlanta there was a bomb placed in one of the public areas. So now they are security conscious in our GC facility. They also did not want us to bring food or drink into the facility.
Since there are 2,000+ delegates, and then visitors in addition to that, and since each time a person may come into the Georgia Dome they have to have their bag searched again, these security people may well have to check bags anywhere from a minimum of 6,000 times up to 12,000 times during a weekday. Then on Sabbath, the attendance hits 30-40,000 people. This second Sabbath they are prepared for up to 70,000.
The first couple of days I would tease the security people that they were looking for the M&Ms in my bag. After a few days, I realized what a job and chore it must be to check thousands of bags each day, over and over. So I started buying 1 small bag of peanut M&Ms and putting it on top of my delegate book for the “bag” security people to find. Then I would tell them that the bag of M&Ms was actually for them. Every time the person checking my bag was so delighted and grateful. Last night as I came in, the security lady checking my bag was about to get her M&Ms and the security bag check man next to her said, “Here comes the Candy Man!” So I guess word was getting around! My hope was that those who were hired to check our bags thousands of times each day, would find that we Adventists could try to bring them a little joy and appreciation.
Every day as you would walk the aisles and hallways of the World Congress Center of which the Georgia Dome is a part, you would hear a variety of languages and dialects, in addition to a colorful array of home country dress and costumes. What an opportunity to grasp in a sensory way, the world-wideness of our international Church Family.
The intrigue of selecting a table in the lunch facility each day, where we did not know anyone, but had the privilege of meeting someone unique from some other part of the world.
Jeanne and her parents took the shuttle bus back to the hotel last night, while I walked the half mile and we had a contest to see who would get back to the hotel first (I won!). Their bus got stranded in the mass of traffic and probably sat on the streets over half an hour. The Adventist passengers decided to start singing songs and hymns with a wonderful spirit. The shuttle bus driver (not an Adventist) was pleasantly surprised and I think impressed with the spirit of everyone, as he thought he would end up with 50+ very grumpy passengers at being so inconvenienced.
Pray for God’s work around the world. Pray that God can use you to share Jesus with the World and also be the missionary to the world where you and I live, work, shop, play and serve.
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