[UPDATE. We now know that Sasa Gunjevic resigned in April of this year after his moral failure involving a 17-year old boy became known in Germany. His resignation was not caused by GC or Division pressure.]
This is a story of Theo Tofterup, a 17 year old in Germany last year. He and his counselor have asked that this story be shared widely.
Theo's Voice
A Report of Saša Gunjeviç’s sexualized abuse of his
pastoral power and influence
“I am an 18-year-old student who attends a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school. In 2023 I attended the European Kinship Meeting (EKM) in Friedensau, Germany with my family.
On one of the first days of EKM, Saša asked me to go for a cup of coffee at the little shop on the college campus. While there, he asked me if we could exchange Instagrams. I agreed because Saša acted like he was in his early 20s and for some reason, I thought he was. Saša acted very friendly with me at the coffee shop. He told me that I looked good in my profile picture. I didn’t think much of it at the time.
On Saturday afternoon I was at a meeting where he was talking. When he stopped talking, I went to the back of the room to get coffee. He came back there to talk to me. When I went back to my seat, he texted me saying “I would like to get to know you better”. He texted, even though he was almost sitting right next to me. I put away my phone and thought “What is this?” When the meeting was over I was in a group of people when Saša said “Why haven’t you responded to my text on Instagram?” I laughed it off.
Later that evening, while a group of us were playing games, Saša began to talk about pornography with me and someone else. I remember thinking, “What is going on here?” I remember him talking about a bar that was nearby and asking if we wanted to go. I was 17 at the time but he said we could just pretend I was 18. I was very confused at why a pastor was saying things like this. He then left to talk with Floyd Poenitz. I continued to play games with the other people.
When my brother and I went back to our room to go to sleep, I couldn’t quit thinking. I don’t remember who initiated the conversation on Instagram, but I asked Saša if we could meet outside to say good night. At the time I did feel attracted to him. He asked me to meet up at a playground. It took me a few minutes to find him, and we began to talk. Without warning Saša pulled me into him and started kissing me a lot on the mouth. And then he grabbed my crotch area. I was kind of scared and panicked; scared at what was going to happen and scared not to go through with it. Somewhere along the line he had me - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (inappropriate reference).
Right before this happened, he laughed and said, “Oh, your first time will be with a pastor.” I felt nothing at that moment. I felt empty. I felt discouraged. I felt gross. As I look back on it now, when Saša said, Oh, your first time is with a pastor, and laughed...it indicates to me that he didn’t acknowledge to me that what he did was wrong.”
This report is being shared for three reasons.
Theo wants anyone who has been abused and feels isolated to know their voice and their story is important.
Theo would like to use his story and information to help prevent the abuse of others.
Theo has seen and approved every word that is included in this report (warning, some graphic language).
Observations
When Saša Gunjeviç announced that he was ‘bisexual’ to his congregation last year, the progressive SDA Left rushed to his defense. Among his rainbow allies were the Hanseatic Conference, The North German Union, SDA Kinship, Spectrum, Atoday, the official church paper in Germany, Johannes Naether, Werner Dullinger, Andreas Bochman, Arndt Buessing, and the enemy of all souls (1 Peter 5:8).
LGBQ people report higher rates of sexual abuse experiences than straight people, and worse mental health as adults.
Adventists who advocate for LGBTQ are knowingly or unknowingly enabling higher rates of sexual abuse and trauma into the church. While sexual abuse also happens among normal people; it is inexcusable in both straight and deviant situations.
Homosexuality IS end of life, the end of the road. If God intended for humans to be gay, He would have enabled them to procreate. Homosexuality is a self destructive curse that infects society and spreads like cancer. It is the essence of death in the human community, the exportation of self-extinction.
For decades, religious Americans lived "out, loud, and proud," while gays and lesbians felt pressure to keep their sexual preferences private. Now the roles are completely reversed. Men engage in puppy play in front of children at Pride parades, while pastors argue for practicing “pronoun hospitality.” Drag Queen story hour abominations abuse children with the benevolent smile of political liberals leering over their shoulder.
A biblically faithful church will be honest about God’s judgment of sin as well as the salvation that is found in repentance and faith in Christ. A theologically compromised church will affirm people in their sin in order to look compassionate to the culture. One church is willing to endure ridicule for people to have eternal life. The other wants to maintain its reputation even if it keeps people on the path to eternal damnation.
Someone who identifies as LGBT needs to hear the same message from the church as any other person: We are all sinners in desperate need of a savior, and forgiveness and eternal life can be attained by turning from our sin and trusting in Jesus Christ. This is the good news of the Gospel, and it is available to all sinners, regardless of whether they are murderers, thieves, idol worshippers, adulterers, or homosexuals.
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6). The very nature of perverted passion is what is addressed here, not just sodomy. It is the vile love for licentiousness, a great distortion of Gods true love reflected in a biological male & female married relationship (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:31).
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“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).