Gift of a New Life: Adult Mission Story for July 4, 2026

In Austria, a struggling high‑school student named Juergen found a fresh start at Bogenhofen Adventist school. Through supportive teachers, health training, and Bible study, he discovered faith, accepted Christ, and experienced a complete life transformation—impacting even his family.

Juergen had a bad attitude, and it caused him to be expelled from high school in Austria.

Only a year before his scheduled graduation, Juergen was asked to leave school after receiving a failing grade for his behavior. Austrian public high schools graded on conduct, and he flunked because he had a problem with authority and frequently skipped classes.

Juergen tried to enroll in another school, but it didn’t work out. However, the high school principal was sympathetic.

“Try Bogenhofen,” he said. “They might take you.”

Juergen and his parents went to Bogenhofen, a Seventh-day Adventist school campus. Coming from a non-religious family, Juergen was surprised to learn that this school encouraged students to develop a relationship with God. He didn’t really want to attend, but his father urged him to give it a try.

Juergen agreed to stay.

Although he could have entered the twelfth grade, he chose to repeat the eleventh grade. During his two years at the school, his life changed in many ways. Without even realizing it, he stopped eating pork and drinking alcohol. He wasn’t sure how it happened—it just did.

Though he attended Bible classes, Juergen didn’t think much about God in high school. But after graduating, he enrolled in a one-and-a-half-year health training program at Bogenhofen. As he learned the principles of good health, he began to wonder, What do these Adventists really believe?

He found a Bible and, for the first time, read it from cover to cover. The experience left him with many questions, and he accepted a classmate’s offer to study the Bible together. The two young men began with the prophecies of Daniel.

Juergen was amazed. He saw how all the dates aligned and that every prophecy—except those predicting the second coming of Jesus—had been fulfilled. Everything made sense. He thought, The Bible must be true!

It was an easy next step to accept the existence of a Creator God. Even though his family wasn’t religious, he had never fully accepted evolution. He gave his heart to God and was baptized.

Some relatives mocked Juergen when they learned he had become a Christian. They taunted him, asking whether he planned to live like a hermit or move to the countryside without electricity and electronics. But when they saw the change that Christ had brought to his life, their attitude changed.

His father never regretted sending him to Bogenhofen, calling it the best decision of Juergen’s life. Today, Juergen’s mother is part of a Seventh-day Adventist Bible study group.

Now 36 years old, Juergen is grateful he attended the Adventist school.

“When I was a student, I didn’t realize what a privilege it was,” he said. “Now I do. I’m happy that I studied at Bogenhofen. It changed my life.”

Thank you for your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering, also known as the Quarterly Mission Project Offering, which is helping lead people such as Juergen to Christ. Bogenhofen, located near Braunau, Austria, received part of a 1986 offering to open a girls’ dormitory. This quarter’s offering will help support mission work across the Inter-European Division, which includes Austria