A new Adventist church was established in Athens on June 26 consisting mainly of Romanian Seventh-day Adventists working in Greece. There are more than 80 members in the congregation some of whom became Adventists as a result of the missionary activity of their Romanian country-fellows living in Athens. The first Romanian Adventists to arrive in 1997 formed a Bible School class and by 2001 they already numbered 20 members. Two evangelistic series were organized resulting in 14 persons being baptized and by 2003 their number had soared to 70 and by 2004 reached a total of 83.

The opening ceremony was conducted by Pastor Apostolos Maglis, President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Greece. The first member of the new church was the Romanian pastor Eugen Baciu, who came to Athens two years ago. Dr Bertil Wiklander, President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European region, spoke of the privilege of attending the birth of a new church and encouraged members to keep their eyes on the everlasting city of God; his presence was a great encouragement for the pastor and members of the new church.

Also present was Pastor Adrian Bocaneanu, President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Romania. At least 8,000 Romanian Adventists now populate different countries in the European regions including United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel and Spain. Bocaneanu spoke about God’s call for Jonah to go as a missionary to Nineveh as an indication of His keen interest in the large cities of the world.

Maglis expressed his joy for this significant development and challenged the new church to work energetically and plant another church by the end of 2005.

Earlier Pastors Baciu and Bocaneanu met with His Excellency Caius Traian Dragomir, Ambassador of Romania to Athens. He expressed his regret for not being able to attend the ceremony and sent a written message for the occasion. He congratulated the Romanian Adventist Church in Athens for their accomplishment and encouraged them to manifest everywhere “the pure faith they represent”. Plans are being developed for cooperation between the Romanian Embassy in Greece and the Romanian Adventist Church in the areas of prevention of drug abuse and criminality among Romanian migrants, especially at the time of the Olympics. [Editor: Adrian Bocaneanu for ANR/APD]