Panama City, Panama…[Libna Stevens/IAD]
More than 4,500 people joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a result of a massive evangelism crusade held in Panama City. The crusade, which ended Nov. 18, was part of a large plan which organized hundreds of local pastors and lay evangelists. They were joined by nearly 100 top evangelists from throughout the 15 regions of Inter-America.
“Pastors and lay evangelists took the country of Panama in a blitz during the eight days of public evangelism held as if it were the effects of a rapid tornado,” says Pastor Braham.
The evangelism efforts were coupled with a two-week evangelism field school for nearly 100 pastors and lay evangelists hoping to enhance their skills in preaching God’s Word, says Pastor Balvin Braham, associate Ministerial Secretary for the church in Inter-America.
Evangelist Mark Finley, vice president for the Adventist World Church, led the Evangelism Field School which began Nov. 7. Topic covered in the school were preaching for decisions, the art of persuasion, planning and executing large evangelistic campaigns, conserving new believers, preaching to upper class to the use of technology in evangelism, and others. Pastor Finley also held a two-week evangelism crusade themed “Discoveries in Prophecy: Hope for Today, Tomorrow and Forever.”
Pastor Finley drew more than 5,500 people on the first night of his series in the 4,500 capacity Vasco N. De Balboa Convention Center in Panama City, which prompted organizers to arrange for two sessions each evening to accommodate the larger-than-expected crowd.
Radio, Television stations and print media covered the event.
Pastor Finley’s evangelism series was the culmination of some 88 evangelistic crusades held throughout Panama which began in September. Some 1,900 were held at the end of October as a result of the pre-crusades, says Pastor Braham. At the end of the training and public campaign, 2,600 new members also joined the church.
This is more than the result organizers were expecting to reach, but it’s not surprising, says Pastor Braham. The field school and public crusade efforts were planned more than a year ago and nearly a dozen objectives were accomplished in the two weeks alone, he adds.
According to Pastor Braham, one of the first objectives was to strengthen the image of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the country.
“We demonstrated the global nature of the Seventh-day Adventist church to the members and people of Panama,” Pastor Braham expressed. “We successfully trained pastors and lay evangelists from across the Inter-American Division for greater soul-training effectiveness.”
Not only were pastors and lay evangelists trained, but local Bible workers in Panama were trained for greater effectiveness in executing their duties.
As a result, Braham says that this massive evangelistic effort “brought a sense of renewal to the churches in Panama, increasing their membership, and establishing the groundwork for a Division-wide evangelistic impact which strengthened the concept of the school of evangelism as an evangelistic approach in the IAD.”
Pastor Braham says another benefit of the evangelistic effort brought a “new spirit of evangelistic networking among pastors and lay member from across the Division territory.”
“Truly, more exciting times are on the horizon for church in Panama and the entire Division territory,” says Pastor Braham. “We expect that the empowered evangelist of this School of Evangelism will return to their place of origin to ignite evangelistic flames and convert souls as part of the fulfilment of the gospel commission, in anticipation of the second Advent of Christ.”
According to Pastor Braham, more school of evangelism training will be held throughout the Division’s local regions next year.
For more information on IAD’s Ministerial Association and its evangelistic programs, visit www.interamerica.org
