Regional Rise UP 2024 Youth Congress Meets in Croatia

400 young people retreat to an idyllic setting of mountains, meadows and streams.

August 15, 2024 | Croatia | David Neal and Vanesa Pizzuto, Trans-European Division News

Nestled 56 miles (90 kilometers) northwest of Zagreb, Croatia, Maruševec is a picturesque rural village in Varaždin County. This serene location is surrounded by mountains, forests, meadows, streams, and fertile farmland. Those searching for the ideal venue to retreat and reflect on life’s deeper meanings, to worship, grow, and learn, would be hard-pressed to find a more idyllic setting.

From Tuesday to Saturday, August 6-10, that’s exactly what happened when 400 young people and 100 leaders gathered on the campus of Maruševec Secondary School (Srednja škola u Maruševcu s pravom javnosti) and Adriatic Union College (Adventističko Teološko Visoko Učilište) for the 2024 Youth Congress, with the theme, “Withstand.”

The event marked the second Trans-European Division (TED) Regional Youth Congress, the first taking place in the Netherlands a few weeks earlier. Youth at this congress represented five TED Unions (Adriatic, Baltic, Hungarian, Polish, South-East European), the Greek Mission, and the Cyprus Region. Special guests from Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United States of America also attended.

The Maruševec campus has historic significance not only for the church in Croatia but also for all the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The first ministerial training school (Adventist Teoloska Skola) operated in Belgrade’s suburbs from 1931 to 1974. Due to ‘the cutting of a motorway’ through the property, the seminary then transferred to Maruševec, widening the educational reach to children in the local community — at that time a new missional step for Adventism and one that continues to this day.

Neven Klačmer, communication director for the Adriatic Union Conference, reports that during the conflict resulting from the breakdown of the former Yugoslavia, the Maruševec Secondary School transitioned to serve refugee children fleeing the theater of war. As an 11-year-old child, Klačmer and his family were forced to move from the place where he was born and settle in the safer environment of Maruševec in the northwest of Croatia, which was free from armed conflict. At the time, Klačmer had no idea that he would later study at the theological seminary.

Today, Maruševec Secondary School has 200 students enrolled, “mostly from the community with some Adventists,” according to Elizabeta Skobe Barbir, headteacher, who regards this as “a special mission opportunity.” As she welcomes the energetic and inspiring Adventist young adults visiting from across Europe, Barbir continues, “When students come to Maruševec, they make new friends and enjoy the surrounding environment, and as boarders, they begin to regard us as their second family.”

With the theological seminary also on campus, Barbir describes the relationship between the school and seminary as a ‘sisterhood,’ including the local church community meeting on campus.

As the congress has guests and participants from many parts of the TED territory, it’s worth taking a few moments to remember those who serve here daily.

The original version of this story was posted on the Trans-European Division news site.