March 21, 2008 – Tuxtla Guitierrez, Chiapas, Mexico…[Raul Lozano/IAD Staff]
More than 10,000 Seventh-day Adventists representing the three regions of the church in South Mexico gathered to celebrate the culmination of evangelistic efforts as Pentecost and More, Inter-America's territory-wide satellite baptismal program, came to a close on Saturday, Mar. 15. The event, hosted live from Kingston, Jamaica, featured satellite feeds from a dozen of the major church regions in Inter-America.
Pastor David Javier, president of the church in South Mexico, greeted all viewers across the territory and pronounced a baptismal prayer for the 20 ministers who stood in the water to baptize a group of believers in Chiapas, where 420 believers joined the church during the three-and-a-half hour program.
“I feel so happy because we know that this is a special event where many people will et baptized not only here but for the people who will be baptized in other countries,” commented Jesus Aguilar Zepeda, member of the El Mirador Adventist Church in Chiapas who attended the event.
Church leaders in South Mexico said many important goals were achieved, among them unity.
“Let's remember that there is a church in every corner of the Inter-American Division,” said Pastor Mirto Presentacion, publishing ministries director for the church in Inter-America. “The entire Inter-American Division is coordinated today, regardless of circumstances or schedules. We are united celebrating this event.”
The program was also a time for praise.
“It is so beautiful to be with so may people, see the baptisms and praise God together,” said Julia Gomez, a member of the Cumbre Church in west Chiapas.
“This will generate an evangelistic awakening in the region, said Pastor David Celis, president of the western region of Chiapas, Mexico, as he commented on the spiritual messages brought by the satellite event.
Church leaders reported that 7,500 new believers joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South Mexico as a direct results of the Pentecost and More initiative carried out by hundreds of ministers and laypeople who joined the efforts.
The church in South Mexico has more than 267,000 Seventh-day Adventists, worshiping in 939 churches and congregations.
Click here to view a photo gallery of the Pentecost and More event in South Mexico.
