More than 300 members of Adventist-laymen’s Services and Industries (ASi) in Europe met in Fribourg, Switzerland, September 23-26 to recommit to the mission of sharing Jesus in the marketplace. The participants, who hailed from more than 20 countries and lead various ministries and businesses, had time to learn from each other, worship together, and discuss better ways of—as the event theme suggested—sharing Christ together.
“Before business, we live to share Jesus,” said ASi Europe president Carlos Dias in his opening remarks. “We are more than 300 evangelists here.”
Words From the World Leader
General Conference president Erton Köhler was the keynote speaker on opening night, September 23. Regional church presidents, including Barna Magyarosi from the Inter-European Division (EUD, based in Switzerland) and Daniel Duda from the Trans-European Division (TED, based in England), also welcomed participants and emphasized the need for church workers and lay members to work together for the same goal. TED field secretary Ian Sweeney and ASi North America president Danny Houghton also attended.
In his message, Köhler called Adventist lay members to recommit to the whole Bible as the rule of faith as they work every day to reach others through their businesses and ministries. Our Bible beliefs are a continuum that leads every member to seek ways to proclaim God’s message “with a loud voice” (Rev. 14:7).
“God is telling us, ‘If you want me to come back, please be bold—do something different! Move forward by faith!’” Köhler said. “This is God’s call for us today.”
Köhler also reminded European lay leaders that God is the true owner of Adventist mission. Thus, “we can trust Him to move forward,” he emphasized, because “what is impossible for us is possible for Him. . . . He can open any door, because mission is not what we can do for God but what God can do through each one of us.”
In that sense Köhler called every church leader and lay member to act courageously as they plan their support to mission initiatives, going to extents they have yet to reach.
From Theology to Practice
But if the opening night of the ASi Europe event on September 23 laid out the rationale and the theology of Adventist mission for church leaders and lay members, the concrete commitments of the organization board did more to show practical ways of implementing those ideas.
During the weeks before the 2026 event, 100 mission projects and initiatives were presented to the ASi Europe board. But because of limited funds, ASi Europe leaders voted to support only 60 of them.
Working Together
Regional church leaders celebrated the desire of church employees and lay members to join forces to expand the church’s presence in a mostly secular and post-Christian society.
“ASi and the church work together,” Sweeney reminded ASi Europe members. “When we work together and we recognize our common enemy, God’s kingdom is built up.” He added, “The Spirit of God is clearly here, and it’s wonderful to see the things that you are doing. . . . We are thankful for your service as we fight together against our common enemy and in the cause of Jesus, our soon-coming king.”
The main speaker for the event was Jan-Harry Cabungcal, an Adventist neuroscientist turned full-time missionary and assistant to the president for evangelism at Adventist World Radio. Sharing his experience as a longtime witness in a secular environment, Cabungcal celebrated the strong connection between Adventist theology and the members’ efforts to reach out.
“Erton Köhler gave us the benchmark,” Cabungcal acknowledged. It is now for every member to recommit taking those eternal truths to seekers everywhere. “Because wherever we are, that’s our mission field.”
Source: adventistreview.org
