Seville is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir. The inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos (feminine form: sevillanas) or hispalenses, after the Roman name of the city, Hispalis. Seville has a municipal population of about 703,000 as of 2011, and a metropolitan population of about 1.5 million, making it the fourth-largest city in Spain and the 30th most populous municipality in the European Union.
It is an extraordinarily beautiful city with a long and difficult history. Its monuments symbolise the numerous cultural influences that the city has experienced through the centuries.
From more than 500 years under Arab influence (in the Medieval times), to being the center of the Roman Catholic Inquisition, Seville was also an important point of reference for the Protestant Reformation.
A point of inspiration for writers and artists, it was the center of some of the most important cultural and lyrical works. It was a city in which were found many kinds of people: intellectuals and artists, traders and craftsmen, and gypsies.
300 attendees participated in the first Joint Advisory of the Inter-European Region of the Seventh-day Adventists (EUD), which took place in Seville from September 4th to the 9th, 2016. Almost all the heads of the various Unions and Institutions of the EUD territory met to present their reports, improve their own skills, secure deeper and friendlier relationships, and plan future projects together.
Many were the guests who came from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (GC), among whom was the Vice President of the GC, Guillermo Biaggi. “I am very happy to be part of this EUD Joint Advisory" pastor Biaggi said, "We have the willingness as a World Church to join together, through the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. We want to be united and focus on God’s mission. We encourage all the Unions of the EUD region to join together – leaders, pastors and church members. We want everybody to be involved in God’s mission. Let us be united, because Christ is coming soon!”
Other than the various Advisories of each department, there were also group meditations led by Bill Knott, Adventist World and Adventist Review Editor.
The president of the EUD, Mario Brito, invited the Inter-European church to base its activities on pray and communion with God: “It is not about programs, not about information, not about dogmatic, it is about the life of Christ in us. Plans are important, the doctrines of the Bible are important, but the first and most important thing is to have the life of Christ in us – that brings us together. This is the purpose for which we came here. At the EUD we have a dream: The dream of being united in mission, to the Glory of the Lord.”
The entire staff of the EUD, directed by the Secretary General, Barna Magyarosi, and the Event Manager, Esther Hanselmann, worked with passion, order and skill, rendering the event special.
We thank the Lord for pouring out His blessings on all of us.
To see more pictures and video interviews, please connect on Facebook and vist the Inter-European Divisions Page.
