Hi, my name is Eloi. I want to greet you, teenagers across South America. Welcome to the third trimester of 2026. Hello, I'm João Miguel and I'd like to thank all the teachers and leaders for working with such wonderful people as us teenagers. Thank you very much. We're speaking to you from Teresina, which is known as the daughter of the equatorial sun. Our people are very happy and missionary, as is the case throughout the Northeast of Brazil. We love the Lord Jesus very much here. Our state is home to one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in the world, the Serra da Capivara. And this is where we'll be speaking to you from in the next few minutes. This is also where all our teenage crowd is waiting for Jesus to return. Let's begin. Could you define what adolescence is and why this peace is so important to teenagers in order to strengthen our beliefs in Jesus? We are not teenagers, and we don't need labels. We call each other that, you know? Let's talk a little about who we are. So, we invited a very special pastor to explain a little bit about what it's like to be a teenager. So grab your notebook, write down the important things, and enjoy the class, everyone. Etymologically, the term "adolecer" (to adore) comes from the Latin "ad, para, ol and crescer," meaning "to grow towards." In modern times, this term has come to be identified with the phase of human development that begins with puberty, in reference to the numerous physiological transformations that occur during this stage of life. In contemporary Western society, adolescence is recognized as a preparatory phase for adulthood, granting young people not only the autonomy and productivity necessary to navigate this stage of life. Although there are historical records indicating that adolescence existed among ancient peoples, such as the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, it was only after the publication of studies by the American psychologist Stanley Hall in 1904 that adolescence began to be recognized as a phase of human development. Psychologists Aden and Faller developed a theory that parallels adolescence with Eriksen's theory of human development . For Aden and Fuller, this phase of adolescence, in relation to religiosity, refers to the period of faith as identity, whereas Ericson sees it as a period of confusion. As Frankel points out, adolescence is a very important stage of life because it is the time when the individual searches for their own identity. In this sense, young people seek answers to existential questions and also questions about their purpose in life. It is in this aspect that religiosity then offers the necessary answers to address these questions. Religiousness offers symbols that are important both in terms of community belonging and in the integration of that identity into society. It is in this sense that religiosity occupies an important place in the life of the adolescent. For the Seventh-day Adventist Church, developing activities and projects involves teenagers not only in worship services with music and preaching, but also in community service that allows them to develop their gifts and talents and put their religiosity into practice by meeting the needs of their neighbors. All of these aspects mentioned contribute to strengthening the adolescent's identity. Therefore, the church and teachers who work with teenagers must be prepared for their development during this period of life, which will certainly mark the subsequent stages. It is important for the church to always connect teenagers with groups, as they are more drawn to these groups than to individualism. It is at this stage of life that they begin to disconnect from their parents in order to connect with friends and even use them as role models. Therefore, group activities and close contact with friends from church can lead teenagers to take better paths throughout this phase of their development. For this reason, teachers of teenagers should be prepared to dedicate quality time to them, considering not only activities held in the church, such as Sabbath School and worship services, but especially dedicating quality time to leisure activities, sports, and small group meetings. These are significant moments that can offer teenagers the necessary confidence they need , both in their friends and in their leaders, which will be helpful during important decision-making moments in their lives. By trusting the group and its leadership, these boys and girls will also be ready to listen to them during crucial moments of advice that will determine major moments in the adolescent's life . This quarter we'll have the opportunity to learn many important things, and one of them is that in August we'll be the " Breaking the Silence" project, and there's special material for us, you know? That's it . It has some really good material for us teenagers, but it also has special tips for you leaders to develop with all your teenagers. You already know the theme for the Breaking the Silence campaign in 2026 . We're going to talk about violence against the elderly. And how interesting that this year we can talk about this subject and raise awareness about caring for each of them. This is a valuable opportunity to foster a good intergenerational connection with our teenagers. How can we address this issue in the adolescent classroom? We can act through education and awareness. Education makes us aware that abuse is real and may be being experienced by the elderly in our church and neighborhood. Raising awareness makes us empathetic. We must apply the golden rule found in Matthew, chapter 7, verse 12: "Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." And let's take care of the elderly where we are. I work on the topic using the content from the educational magazine produced especially for them. Help them share it with their friends, including teenagers. Engagement is everything. Plan a drive to collect hygiene products and gifts for senior citizens in August, and schedule a visit to a senior care home. Train your teenagers to welcome the elderly and, if possible, in addition to giving gifts, hold a worship service with them. Spread joy and lots of love. A second activity is to prepare a glass jar and ask the elderly members of the church to write advice for the teenagers. Decorate it with the Bible verse found in Job 12:12. Wisdom is with the elderly, and understanding with length of days. Each Saturday in Sabbath School or small group, take out one of the pieces of advice and ask one of the teenagers to read it aloud, leading the group in reflection. As a leader, you can also prepare a smaller jar for each teenager, so they have a jar of wisdom at home and can read the advice whenever they want and need it. On Breaking the Silence Saturday, invite an elderly person to be interviewed in Tim's Sabbath School by the teens about how they would always like to be treated. You can also prepare a short script with questions to give to the teenage girls. Take this opportunity to develop empathy and listening skills. The promise is for everyone. Even in old age, they will still bear fruit. They will be vibrant and fluorescent. It is in Psalm 92:14. We all have something to offer at every stage of life. We are enriched when we know how to take advantage of the imagination of children, the strength of young people, and the wisdom of the elderly. With the elderly is wisdom, and in abundance of days is understanding. I repeat, Job 12:1. We gave them divine attention, a kind smile, a generous hug, and learned to value the experience they carry. If we continue to live with God's help, we too will reach that age. So, teach your teenagers to treat the elderly exactly as they would like to be treated if they were in their place. This quarter's offers are aimed at the inter-European division, where the gastronomy is rich in these countries. We have special suggestions for you, our leaders. Encourage us to deliver our 13th Sabbath offering. Hello. You know, our teenagers have hearts ready for us to sow love and empathy. The mission is born in the heart from the proper planting of these seeds. Let's start by talking about the missionary projects to which the 13th-month offerings will be sent. The inter-European division, Kindergarten in Sofia, Bulgaria, youth camp area , church camp and training center in Belgium. University Residence, Adventist University of Vila Aurora, in Florence, Italy, schools in Macel and Perit, Romania. Let's begin the missions movement with prayer, with lots of prayer. In Luke 10:2 it is written: "And he said to them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field. Organize a movement of intercessory prayer for missions around the world. Ask your teenagers to set their watches and cell phone alarms. The time is 10:02. At this time, every day we will be praying for Adventist missionaries around the world and also that God will help each teenager to be a missionary in their own world, among their family and friends. Remember, every day at 10:02. One more thing, prepare the missions space in the Tim Sabbath School room. Use earth tones. Dark red, olive green, gray, terracotta, dark blue, marble, or gold. Adding cushions, benches, hanging plants, and aromatic herbs can help create this special corner near things that remind them of the countries from which the gifts will be sent. Inspired by this theme, you too can create a missionary corner. It could be a reading space for teenagers, where they can write Bible verses in these four languages ​​along with the verse translation. You can also create a wall or panel with interesting facts about these countries: Belgium, Italy, Bulgaria, and Romania. On the 13th Saturday, you could organize an Italian lunch with your parents, for example. Share recipes with parents so they can bring them for the 13th month's salary, and as a family you can celebrate the end of the term, remembering the countries included in our Sabbath School offerings. If possible, invite a missionary to share their missionary testimony or show a video with a meaningful missionary testimony. We want to awaken in the hearts of teenagers the desire to also be missionaries in missions beyond their borders in the future. Take advantage of the opportunities. The Tinha Sabbath School is a school for training missionaries. Everything we experience needs to be organized with a single purpose. And now let's look at some suggestions for Sabbath School, Tim. So write them down. Hello, to begin I want to remind you that Sabbath School is a school for spiritual formation, for the training of missionaries. And like any school, we can step outside the confined space of a classroom for more extended activities. We will suggest some important activities for Sabbath school time, but also for extended periods outside of it . We begin our good morning, our happy Saturday, with the reception and the welcome. Throughout this quarter, we'll be talking a lot about self-care. So, this is a time when activities involving reflection on this theme can be carried out using the key verse, for example, which is in First Corinthians 12:27. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it . You can start your class by showing a part of the human body, such as the hand or the eye. Have a conversation with the teenagers about the function of that body part for human well-being . Then you reflect on the fact that each person plays a role in the church as well, and on the importance of us being able to care for one another. Enrich this moment by bringing up interesting facts about the part of the human body that will be presented for reflection in these initial minutes. Take this opportunity to talk about healthy eating, excessive screen time, teenage behavior, and always end by talking about God's care for each of us. The second moment is the moment of celebration, moments of praise. I'm sure your teenagers are just like mine, they love music. I'll do a survey with him about his favorite songs. Together with them, make a list of the songs that will be part of the worship time in Sabbath School during the quarter. Take this opportunity and suggest one or two songs that talk about God's care to include in this playlist for this time of praise. Oh, and while you're at it , learn an Italian hymn, teach them that praise is beautiful in any language and that teenagers in Italy also sing the same song they do. Can I suggest a song for you? How about teaching them to sing Maranatha in Italian? They already know the song, and you'll easily find a video with the lyrics on YouTube so you can learn it together and sing it in Italian. The challenge is yours, teacher. A third moment is the moment of prayer. It is very significant and I will suggest a dynamic activity. The name of the activity is "Cardinal Points of Prayer and Care." Take a look at this image that we're going to show you. You will put up posters in the room and spread them out across the north, south, east, and west sides of the room. Each of these cardinal points relates to a reason for prayer. For example, in the north, we will pray for those who care for you. I pray for those who need care. Hey, East, pray for people who need to be healed. The West is a place for giving thanks, and you will guide your teenagers so that they pass through the four cardinal points during prayer time. This is an activity for intercessory prayer. We've reached the moment of the Tim challenge. Every challenge is an opportunity to grow and see how God is glorified in our lives. You can organize the challenges for the teenagers, taking into account your annual lesson plan for your class. Planning the challenges will ensure that the extensive activities can engage teenagers, organizing urban missions, such as the one presented in the "Breaking the Silence" idea, for example. Teenagers like to do everything in groups. So, under the leadership of a teacher, a female teacher, or the leader of the church's youth ministry , organize a missions agency for teenagers. In this agency, month after month, teenagers will be able to carry out missionary activities with the community, within their families, always in groups, as a team, creating bonds between them, but with a purpose. We will attach materials that will be made available, and these materials will also include the project for the missionary agency that you can set up in your church for the second semester, starting with the youth class. We will also add a gifts test so that they can discover where they best fit into missionary activities. Read this material, do it with them, it will be a blessing for your class. And don't forget to keep this information somewhere visible in the room, on a bulletin board, along with the activities that are carried out each month. Use a few minutes before the lesson to invite some of them to share testimonies about the missionary work done by their church's missions agency for teenagers. And these challenges, in how they have motivated their students, will greatly help to motivate them in missionary work. For teaching purposes, we need to work with critical thinking. And critical thinking, from the verb "to think," meaning "to think" in Latin, and "critical," meaning " critical" in Greek, refers to the ability to judge, evaluate, or discern information through objective analysis in order to make a decision or solve a problem. We need to motivate our teenagers to think and decide alongside God, for God. The title of this quarter's lessons, "Tested by Fire," refers to the lives of Christians who faced difficulties in defending their faith grounded in the Bible. Many were unjustly accused. Some were deprived of their freedom, others died as heretics before the world. They were tested by fire, and from the trials they emerged like refined gold. In their stories, we see that they were instruments used in extraordinary ways by God to reveal and uphold the truth of the Bible at decisive moments in history. Our challenge today is no different from theirs. We must show the truth of the Bible and our faith in God to everyone around us. Enrich your lesson study time by doing different activities to deepen your understanding of what was studied during the week. For example, in lesson four, Martin Luther is the main character. How about creating a timeline of the most important moments in his life? You can create this timeline with your students using the chapter in the book The Great Controversy that discusses Martin Luther. In addition to the information already presented in the lesson. You will cut out excerpts from the Spirit of Prophecy. Ask the students to read these short excerpts to assemble the timeline, and don't forget to encourage fellowship among your teenagers during the lesson study period as well. Our church provides many resources to help make this time of fellowship they have at home both enjoyable and profound . The Bible, the Sabbath School lesson , the Tim devotional, and the book from the Great Controversy series, which are the ambassadors for this year 2026, are the fellowship material for our teenagers. Encourage reading and study so that they can deepen their spiritual knowledge and learn even more about God through studying the lesson. And finally, we have the quiz. After delving deeper into the lesson, the goal here is to recap its teachings and applications to our lives. You can hold a short quiz with questions related to what was studied in class. Use Carut, which is a digital learning platform based on question-and-answer games. It's very easy to use, but if you don't have internet access at your church, and your teenagers do n't either, just use good old-fashioned paper. Ask the questions over there and have the boys answer. Cards with questions, quizzes. Hold a contest at the end of each lesson to reinforce the most important points of the week. Conclude your Sabbath school by leading a group greeting. Invite your teenagers to pray for one another, to be punctual the following week at Sabbath school, at church, on Saturday, wherever their place is. My wish is that you, teacher, you leader, be a positive influence on your teenagers and that God uses you to plant many seeds of love, kindness, faith, and hope in the minds and wonderful hearts of the boys and girls we work with. May God help us to develop in them a Christian character and a missionary identity. Ah, we've reached the end of our quarterly assessment, but remember that we are capable, and that's why we are challenged. Yes, we are capable, and we need a firm, loving, and educational generation as well. Our brain is a cerebri soil. Remember that we will be praying for you throughout South America, so dedicate yourselves and always have God by your side. May we always pray for one another. Big hug. Goodbye.