Recent Gatherings
The Advent Homesteads network has already organized gatherings to benefit our community.
Activating the Community
We can take a lesson from the Amish who see work as a gift from God and find great joy and fulfillment in helping one another.
The environment for gatherings should provide rich opportunities to learn practical skills as well as work ethic and other vital core values. The following are the values we wish to instill at these gatherings:
Sense of Urgency
If we lookup the definition of the word "Adventist" we find that it means "Believing in the imminent second coming of Christ." If we further define the word "Imminent" we find it means "Likely to occur at any moment; about to happen". So if we truly consider ourselves "Adventists" then we should be living our daily lives as if we believe that Jesus is returning at any moment.
“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
Revelation 22:12
“May the Lord give no rest, day nor night, to those who are now careless and indolent in the cause and work of God. The end is near. This is that which Jesus would have us keep ever before us—the shortness of time.”
Lift Him Up (LHU 274.2)
“The moments now granted to us are few. We are standing upon the very borders of the eternal world. We have no time to lose. Every moment is golden and altogether too precious to be devoted merely to self-serving.”
9T 117.1
Orderly
But we should be clear that urgency does not mean panic, we should conduct ourselves in calm deliberate actions... Remembering that God is a God of order (1 Corinthians 14:33).
“Let all things be done decently and in order..”
1 Corinthians 14:40
“The Lord is not pleased with the present lack of order and accuracy among those who do business in connection with His work... Everything that bears any relation to the work of God should be as nearly perfect as human brains and hands can make it.”
Gospel Workers, 460
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.”
Psalms 37:23
Proactive
In order to take orderly steps, as we are counseled to do, requires proactivity. This means thinking ahead and planning for what is coming and taking steps now to meet it when it comes.
“So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control.”
1 Peter 1:13 (NLT)
Unselfish
This is one of the most Christlike traits we can develop is being other-centered.
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.”
1 Peter 1:22
“Obedience to the word produces fruit of the required quality—“unfeigned love of the brethren.” This love is heaven-born and leads to high motives and unselfish actions.”
Acts of the Apostles (AA 519.3)
“There are many ways in which church members may give the message to those around them. One of the most successful is by living helpful, unselfish Christian lives.”
Adventist Home (AH 485.1)
Are these traits you would like to embody more? Consider joining (or organizing) the next gathering in your area!
Next Event
October 9-16
Join us for our next event in TBD, Romania. We will be helping a new sanitarium open their doors with initiatives such as fencing, tree planting and more.
The mission of the center is to restore the divine imprint that the Creator left in our minds, bodies and souls in Eden. The hope of achieving this arises through the laws of life, through the gifts of nature and through the Grace of God. Believing that Christian values are in full harmony with the laws of nature and with the will of the Creator, following them being the noblest desire to which a human being can aspire. This is the reason to encourage the acquisition of a healthy lifestyle that ennobles the psycho-emotional faculties, restores vital functions and brings peace to the soul, and finally, the attitude and state towards which our motivation and efforts converge is the happiness of the human being.
More Information| 07:00 | Morning Worship | ||
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| 07:30 | Breakfast Buffet | ||
| 08:00 | Workbee | ||
| 08:30 | |||
| 09:00 | |||
| 09:30 | |||
| 10:00 | |||
| 10:30 | |||
| 11:00 | |||
| 11:30 | |||
| 12:00 | Personal Time | ||
| 12:30 | Lunch | ||
| 13:00 | |||
| 13:30 | Personal Time / Walk | ||
| 14:00 | Head Unconference | Heart Unconference | Hand Practical Workshop |
| 14:30 | |||
| 15:00 | Head Unconference | Heart Unconference | Hand Practical Workshop |
| 15:30 | |||
| 16:00 | Head Unconference | Heart Unconference | Hand Practical Workshop |
| 16:30 | |||
| 17:00 | Personal Time | ||
| 17:30 | Dinner | ||
| 18:00 | |||
| 18:30 | Personal Time / Evening Walk | ||
| 19:00 | |||
| 19:30 | Campfire | ||
| 20:00 | |||
| 20:30 | |||
| 21:00 | Quiet Hour | ||
Schedules are subject to change.
Expectations
What is an Unconference?
One of the mental shifts we wish to make in our Gatherings is to not see ourselves as participants but instead as organizers. We desire to empower new leaders and while we can learn valuable insights in a traditional conference setting, this format does not cultivate the spirit of doers (James 1:22 tells us to be doers, and not hearers only… that is a bit out of context, but somehow still fits).
An Unconference is a format that switches the role of the attendees to that of event organizers. At our Gatherings, there are no passive attendees as we encourage everyone to push their comfort level in order to grow.
The added benefit of this format is it encourages topics which are relevant to the participants. Anyone can suggest a topic of discussion and also the format for the session. Examples include:
I want to...Learn
Ask questions to expert panel
Teach
Give a presentation
Discuss
Facilitate a Conversation
Do
Join in a Workshop
We also encourage topics across the categories of head, hand and heart. Whatever you are passionate about and think others are also interested in suggest the topic and get added to the schedule.