Young evangelicals headed to Svitavy this year

Participants could learn how to manage their personal finances, how the church manages them or what role money actually plays in the context of Christianity. But "hard currency" was not the only level of meaning the theme was intended to develop. The organisers also wanted to think together about the theme of different human talents, endowments and gifts. "Everyone is good at something, everyone is really talented in some way. How should we handle God's gifting, the talents entrusted to us in our daily lives, in our studies or at work?" read the header of the convention website.

The theme of money, work and career was not chosen by the organizers by random. As Mirka Sáblíková, a member of the organizing team, suggests, the young people sort of asked for it. These themes came out of the suggestions. And both in the financial sense and in terms of giving, which each of us can cultivate and use (not only) for God's work."

Participants had the opportunity to take a break from the challenging topic with sports games, singing and devotions. In addition, the organizers prepared a number of accompanying programs and performances, a guided walk through the city or concerts by the bands Sunrise Gang, Post-hudba, Cactus Show Band, Pranic or Veřejně nepřístupná vodní plocha. The programme of the documentary photographer and Czech Press Photo award winner Vojtěch Dárvík Máca about the war in Ukraine was also very popular.

The highlight of the convention program was, as every year, the Sunday service. Over 600 visitors could hardly fit into the "red" church of St. Joseph, which was kindly lent to the evangelicals by the local Roman Catholic parish. The sermon was masterfully preached by Filip Keller (senior of the Brno seniorate) and the Brno parish priest Iva Květonová, who prepared a dialogical sermon in the style of slam poetry, incorporating numerous references to the lyrics from the songbook Svítá. For example, the introduction included:

I have little, I know little, I smile little, 
while other people have a lot, they're all puffed up, and it makes me mad. 
I'm not much of a musician, and my voice is a bit bovine. 
Where, God, is there any justice, why is there inequality?

The accompaniment, as in previous years, was prepared by the participants of the big beat course under the direction of pastor Filip Boháč. The service could also be watched online via live stream. Its recording can be found on the church's YouTube channel.

Throughout the congress, it was possible to make a financial contribution to a charity collection for the organization Children Belong Home, which seeks to promote foster family care and thus reduce the number of children in institutional care. In less than three days of the congress, the fundraiser raised an impressive CZK 41,068, which the Wild Goose Foundation promised to double, bringing the total proceeds to an incredible CZK 82,136!

A big thank you to the organizers, volunteers, performers and everyone who came to the convention. Hopefully the time spent in this way was priceless for them. So again next year, this time in Teplice on October 3-5, 2025.

Kateřina Termerová, editorially modified