7 October 2022 | Day two of the General Conference (GC) Executive Committee’s Annual Council was short and blissfully uneventful. However, with four hours of health ministries being covered in the morning LEAD (Leadership, Education, and Development) Conference, there is still plenty to report.

• “Leaders and Health Discipleship: Let your lives so shine…” was the topic of Dr. E. Albert Reece’s devotional. Reece, who serves as President for Medical Affairs at the University of Maryland, and Dean of the School of Medicine, reminded delegates that the most effective way to move the health message forward, using our existing resources, is to share the information we already have in relatable, understandable, and practical ways.

The Alphabet Soup Report

• GC President Ted Wilson unveiled the General Conference Leadership Development Program (GCLDP) which will spark collaboration, working together, and integration. The GCLDP will be focusing primarily on health projects.
• The Global Leadership Institute (GLI), an initiative created by the GC through Andrews University for the purpose of leadership development. Much time was spent discussing the Leadership Laboratory or LeadLab. LeadMentors and LEADConferences are also developed through GLI. 
• LeadLab was designed to “grow growing leaders” who, you guessed it, “grow growing leaders.” The purpose of this is to offer professional training to executive leaders of the world church.
• The four stages of GLI are: leading self, leading others, leading an organization, and leading missions. The last one is the ultimate goal.
• Because of its collaborative nature, some have used Twitter to call on Dr. Erich Baumgartner and Dr. Randy Siebold, director and associate director, respectively, of GLI to include the other GC universities, such as Loma Linda University, in LeadLab. 
• Divisions will have access to the LeadLab but it won’t be forced on them.
• Several leaders reflected on their own health journeys, reflecting that personal testimony catches the attention of those who no longer have faith in the Bible.
• Glenn Townend, President of the South Pacific Division, gave a horrifying statistic while discussing the health efforts in his division, including the 10,000 Toes Campaign to aid those in rural villages with type 2 diabetes. “Every twenty minutes,” he said, “someone in the South Pacific will lose a limb to disease.”
• Youth Alive, a youth ministry aimed at helping teens make healthy choices, especially with addictive substances and media, and Vita et Salus, a Portuguese health and wellness center, were also presented. 

Ted Wilson read from “To Be Like Jesus” and prayed for the delegates before dismissing them. The delegates returned for Friday night vespers featuring a communion service. 

Today’s meetings can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvB-H9XV5bU

The sessions are being livestreamed at: https://executivecommittee.adventist.org/live

Image: Livestream screenshot of Dr. E. Albert Reece.

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