This is the DAILY NEWSLETTER for GC session delegates. It is being distributed to the Internet community as a service of the Communication Department of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Please address correspondence concerning Internet access of this information to Dan Hamstra at the following address: hamstra@andrews.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Session Delegate The delegate's quick glance at the 56th General Conference Session activities in Utrecht, Holland. Friday . June 30, 1995 A Taste of Heaven A Preview of the 56th GC Session Nearly 10,000 people, including delegates, family members, visitors, performers, speakers, workers, exhibitors, reporters, and special guests descended upon the university city of Utrecht, Holland, this past week. They came to participate in the 56th General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The meetings, being held at The Royal Dutch Fairs complex, also known as Jaarbeurs (pronounced yar-burs), is said to be the largest international conference ever staged in the Netherlands. On Sabbath, more than 30,000 people are expected to attend. Why Come to Utrecht? People have come to this quinquennial session for a variety of reasons. They have come to meet and greet, vote and be voted, buy and sell. Still others are here for a taste of heaven. "I think heaven will be like this," says Olive Cayenne of Trinidad. "There are all types of people-different classes, different countries, different colors." Cayenne and her daughter Angela have been planning this mother/ daughter venture for a year. They've come to see friends, meet new people, and receive a spiritual blessing. Edgar Limachi came from Lapaz City, Bolivia, as a delegate. For him, making decisions that affect the future of the world church is a most important reason to be here. Facing Issues A number of issues will be addressed by the 2,659 delegates at this Session. Three major issues could change the church during the next five years-women's ordination (Wednesday), church structure, and delegate size (Friday). There are also amendments to the constitution and bylaws, and the Church Manual and six breakout discussion groups that will consider selected topics and bring recommendations to the delegates. Will these issues affect the world church? "I think the issues we're facing should unite us," says Maurice Battle, associate secretary for the General Conference. GC President R.S. Folkenberg drove this point home in his address "Our Life in Christ." This opening service included an effective video, a live satellite interview with Australia, and plenty music. What To Expect In the midst of business sessions, worships, press conferences, workshops, singing, and networking, there is much more to a GC Session. There is a bigger picture, something of larger importance, a goal to work toward. "Hopefully this session will be the last quinquennial so that the work of God will be finished," says Battle. For that reason and for a "taste of heaven," everyone at this Session should be United in Christ. Question: What issue do you feel will have the most effect at this GC Session and why? "I think it's women's ordination. Regardless of the decision, not everyone will be happy." -Eugene Hsu, president, EAA "Church organization because it seems to limit the power into the hands of a few." -Willie Lewis, conf. president, NAD "I don't know. I came to go to some of the meetings so I will have an idea of what is going on." -Tonya Fields, student, NAD Problems, Problems What it Takes to Make a GC Session Organizing this Session hasn't been easy. There are so many pieces of the puzzle that need to fit together. When asked what it took to make this session happen, Karl Bahr, session manager replied "Do you have two or three hours?" Registration packets, visas for workers (some of whom were still traveling last night), parking permits, lodging, lack of air conditioning, shipping, breakdowns, work area setups, scheduling practice times, cultural and language barriers, clearing customs, and missing equipment are just a few of the problems that Bahr and the management team have experienced while preparing for the Session. Ironically, the Session opened only 15 minutes late while many people registered, purchased meal tickets, settled in the dormitory, and milled in the halls. Meanwhile, clad with music, prayer, remarks by the mayor of Utrecht and Benjamin Reaves, president of Oakwood College, and business, the 56th GC Session began. Session Fast Facts . A quarter of a million meals served . 12 km of exhibits . 150 booths . Dormitories housing 4,000 people . Nearly 300 tons of equipment . Nightly satellite coverage to more than 1,000 downlink sites . 65 tons of books, videos, and music at the ABC . Live English and Dutch presentations translated into 18 languages . 35 broadcast hours on AWR . 205 countries represented National Press Coverage Favorable Twenty news organizations attended a press conference Wednesday where the beginning of the 56th GC Session was announced. G. Ralph Thompson, secretary of the General Conference, and Ralph Watts, Jr., president of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), addressed the attendants and answered questions on homosexuality, women's ordination, church membership in world church organizations, and the Session agenda. As a result, a number of newspapers, television, and radio stations carried a story about the meetings yesterday. Twenty members of the media also attended the opening session program yesterday afternoon. "Attendance and coverage by the press has been overwhelming," say Ray Dabrowski," communication director for the General Conference. "We are amazed and delighted by their interest." Global Village Opens Adventist Development and Relief Agency's (ADRA) Global Village opened yesterday morning. The exhibit has six teaching stops and nine full-sized reproductions of habitats from the developing world. "It's a walk-through village of cultural diversity," says Jeannette Johnson, director of news and information. Global Village was officially opened by Jan Pronk, minister of development in the Netherlands, who was guided through the village by a group of youth. Johnson expects more than 18,000 children from the Utrecht area and thousands of adult visitors to explore the exhibit over the next 11 days. One hundred Dutch volunteers will guide visitors through the various habitats including a Somalian refugee camp, a Southeast Asian bamboo stilt house, and a ghetto. The tour ends with an activity called "Pack-a-Box," where children take part in the relief process. "Each kid will pack a box of relief food for a needy child," says Johnson. Global Village is located just outside the main entrance to the Jaarbeurs Convention Center entrance and can be visited from 3 to 9 p.m. for the remainder of the Session. Published by Adventist News Network . Celeste Ryan & Jeff Scoggins, editors . Jason Wells, assistant editor