13th Sabbath Mission Offering to benefit territories in Inter-America

December 12, 2014 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens/IAD

Portions of the 13th Sabbath Mission Offering, which will be collected at thousands of Seventh-day Adventist Churches around the world on Dec. 20, 2014, will go towards expanding the work of the church in Belize and Jamaica, two of Inter-America’s regions.

Located on the eastern coast of Central America, Belize has nearly 41,000 church members worshiping in 127 churches and congregations in what the church has organized as the Belize Union of Churches. Seventy percent of its members are young people and so the church is investing resources to train young people in evangelism across the country, said Pastor Melchor Ferreyra, personal and Sabbath school ministries director.

Two of the projects to be funded from the offerings collected will go towards the construction of a multi-purpose auditorium in the city of Belmopan. The auditorium will serve as a facility to offer services to benefit the community. In addition, funds will go towards the construction of a youth camp for evangelism training and recreational activities for young people.

Nestled in the West Indies, Jamaica boasts nearly 285,000 church members worshiping in 728 churches and congregations overseen by the Jamaica Union. For years the church in Jamaica has been driven by a call to strengthen its church goers and to serve their communities, said Ferreyra.

The funds collected will be used to assist in the building of a health clinic and skills training center in Kingston, Jamaica, at the Good Samaritan Inn—a one-stop center which provides overnight shelter for people who are in need of a hot meal, a bath and change of clothes. More than six hundred meals are distributed on a weekly basis in the facility.

The new health clinic and skills training center will benefit a community of some 10,000 people in the area, many of whom are children who cannot afford the cost of basic health care, said Vermont Murray, manager of the Good Samaritan Manager.

To read more about the mission offering and stories about Belize and Jamaica, visit adventistmission.org