SDA marks Global Youth Day with food and water distribution |17 March 2018

The Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Youth Ministries of the Seychelles Mission yesterday observed Global Youth Day under the theme ‘Food and Water Drive’.

SDA volunteers were located in various districts around the country to distribute water and food, as well as visiting hospitals and hospices.

This year’s Global Youth Day (GYD) was officially launched by the principal secretary for Youth and Sport Fabien Palmyre during a brief ceremony held at the Orion Mall.

Mr Palmyre said the Global Youth Day is a great incentive for the youth to become more active in their communities and practice the acts of sharing and giving.

“It is an opportune moment to show the youth that we should practice what we preach. It is a lesson that inculcates good values such as kindness and compassion,” Mr Palmyre stated.

In his keynote address Pastor Ellsworth Baxen of the Adventist Church said that the Global Youth Day extends beyond our youth, but it is essentially all about our youth becoming more active and putting our money where our mouth is.

“It is about doing what we said we needed to do, what we have been taught to do and what Jesus have taught us to do in the word of God,” he said.

This year’s theme of ‘Food and Water Drive’ has been inspired by the verse from the New Testament which states, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink”.

On his part, Pastor Abel Ntep Ntep affirmed that the church is not just a building with four walls but instead is a church that responds to the needs and concerns of its community.

“This is why we have targeted four specific groups for the ‘Food and Water Drive’ and these are drug addicts, the homeless, those who are less fortunate and people in hospitals and hospices,” Pastor Abel said.

Thousands of Adventist youths worldwide participate in this initiative which has become an annual event on the Adventist mission’s calendar since 2013.

The aim is to encourage the youth to take decisive actions to help and serve others while putting the teachings of the Bible in practice instead of only preaching the sermons.

SDA church volunteers were stationed at the Anse Royale community centre, Grand Anse Mahé primary school, Plaisance community centre and the St Louis community centre as from 2.30pm yesterday. There will also be volunteer groups on Praslin and La Digue over this weekend.

Last year’s Global Youth Day theme was ‘Blood Drive’ for which many young people donated blood in a bid to save a life.