The South England Conference (SEC) Sabbath School and SEC Adventist Muslin Relations (AMR) departments held a joint three-day residential at the Hay's Wood Retreat Centre, Norfolk. 110 Sabbath School and AMR leaders and teachers from across the Conference addressed various topics under the theme, "Transforming our Evangelism Through Sabbath School and AMR."
Event host, SEC Sabbath School and AMR Director, Pastor Fergus Owusu-Boateng, was supported by co-hosts, Pastors M. Sameer and A. Ahmed, with guest speakers, General Conference AMR Director, Dr Petras Bahadur, and British Union Conference (BUC) Sabbath School, Personal Ministries and Church Growth Director, Dr Kirk Thomas. Presentations were also given by Pastor A. Habib and Elder John Bishop.
The sessions focusing on Sabbath School included presentations by Owusu-Boateng and Thomas, with the latter also holding a workshop on practical techniques for leading a Sabbath School discussion. Thomas also spoke about moving beyond just having lesson study and class discussions, and engaging with people outside the Church using Jesus' method of "mingling" with others "as one who desired their good". Addressing the attendees, he asserted, "to be disciples you need to challenge yourself to talk to somebody who is not of your faith or doesn't even believe in God."
Dr Bahdur gave two presentations on Sabbath. For his first topic, "The Unfolding Stroy," Bahdur went through the Bible, chronicling Adam losing the Kingdom of God and righteousness of God, and the restoration by Jesus, the returning King. "Jesus' message is all about the Kingdom – because He is the King," Bahadur affirmed, suggesting that focusing on the "Kingship of Jesus" was better for communicating the Gospel with non-Christians. In the afternoon, he spoke on "Nuggets of Truth in the Qur'an," which examined several passages in the Qur'an that refer to the Bible and Jesus.
On the final day, Bahadur was also part of a question and discussion panel that included the SEC ministers from Muslim backgrounds. The panel members gave their advice and experience on sharing God's love with and responding to family members and friends who are Muslim or have an interest in Islam.
The event concluded with a vote of thanks from Pastor Fergus Owusu-Boateng, and a commitment by attendees in working toward making Sabbath School and AMR departments effective evangelistic tools in their local churches and communities.
