In Guatemala, hundreds of church members are trained in evangelism
Small group leaders study the Bible during a special lay training organized by the Adventist Church in west Guatemala, on Jan. 24, 2015. Some 950 laypeople from San Marcos, Quetzaltenango and Huehuetenango regions gathered to sharpen their leadership skills in sharing the gospel in their communities through a certification program from Central American Adventist University. Image by Melvin Batz/IAD.
February 9, 2015 | Quetzaltenango, Guatemala | Guatemala Union/IAD Staff
Mobilizing an army of leaders and active members to spread the gospel is among the top priorities of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Guatemala.
With more than 38,000 trained active members, the church in Guatemala is continuing to ensure that its leaders and active members get further certified to strengthen the church and continue sharing the gospel in their communities.
Dr. Franz Rios, director of the White Research Center at the Central American Adventist University teaches courses during the training sessions in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Image by Melvin Batz/IAD
More than 950 church elders and lay leaders from the Quetzaltenango, San Marcos, and Huehuetenango regions in west Guatemala gathered last month for a two-day certification program on church leadership in evangelism and soul-winning. The program falls under a two-year certification program overseen by their School of Lay Evangelism taught by the Adventist Central American University, based in Alajuela, Costa Rica, and Andrews University, in Michigan, United States, church leaders said.
“Discipleship is one of the main keystones of the church in Guatemala,” said Pastor Gustavo Menendez, personal ministries director for the church in Guatemala. “A revived and discipled church will be committed to fulfilling the mission.
It is the main reason for promoting the discipleship schools at the church, district and region levels where our active members can be certified as evangelists, Bible instructors, lay instructor, and lay witnesses, added Menendez.
Dr. Franz Rios, director of the White Research Center at the Central American Adventist University, taught personal evangelism and biblical hermeneutics during the weekend certification. Rios congratulated the church leadership for investing in its lay leaders and was impressed with the commitment of the nearly 1,000 active church members there.
Nearly 150 members were certified certified as lay instructors by Andrews University in the Metropolitan Conference in Guatemala City, in November 2014. Image by Gustavo Menendez/IAD.
“I hope pastors can have a multiplying effect in their churches and lay leaders to continue loving the Lord to continue serving the Lord while daily studying the Word of God,” added Rios. “We want to make sure this can impact the life of church leaders for service.”
Pastor Irving Calderon, president of the West Conference and one of the organizers of the certification program in Quetzaltenango, said the success of the program is all about “the church leaders and the members developing their abilities through the training to do a better service to God and the community.”
Almost 150 church leaders involved in ministry received continuing education as lay instructors in the metropolitan area in Guatemala City after a three-year program run by Andrews University last fall, and some 300 lay students were also trained, according to Menendez.
Additional certification programs will continue in April and August, said Menendez.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Guatemala operates one union, three conferences and four missions, oversees a church membership of more than 244,000 in 1,113 churches and congregations.
To learn more about the Seventh-day Adventist Church and its initiatives in Guatemala, visit uniondeguatemala.org
Melvin Batz contributed to this report.