Church in St. Maarten rally to celebrate banner year in evangelism

Seventh-day Adventist in the Caribbean Island of St. Maarten prepare to march through the streets to witness in their communities during annual lay rally, Aug. 1, 2015. Images courtesy of North Caribbean Conference

August 12, 2015 | Cole Bay, St. Maarten | Royston Philbert/IAD

Hundreds of Seventh-day Adventists in St. Maarten gathered for the church’s annual lay evangelism rally to celebrate the growth in baptisms this year, which more than doubled from last year.

The more than 800 laypersons, or active church members, from across the seven church congregations on the island met at Cole Bay, St. Maarten, on Aug. 1, 2015, to report on evangelistic activities, receive further training, honor outstanding laypersons and participate in a witness march across.

“This has been a real banner year in our Conference,” said Pastor Henry Peters, Sabbath school and personal ministries director for the church in the North Caribbean Conference, during the rally meeting. The North Caribbean Conference oversees the church in St. Maarten and a several other neighboring islands.

Seventh-day Adventist laypeople from the Bethel Adventist Church in St. Maarten march through the streets testifying of God’s truth in the Bible.

According to local church leaders, united efforts of laypersons and the five pastors on the island have brought close to 200 new believers into the church, compared to 85 new members brought in last year. “This is an outstanding achievement,” said Peters.

Church leaders are also attributing the increase in baptisms to the fact that the church members are being more intentional in impacting their communities.

The rally stands out from the last 10 annual rallies held on the island as local church leaders celebrate and affirm the importance of organizing the event every year.

“This a great way of motivating the laity of the church,” asserted Peters, “because this is an occasion when we meet to celebrate what the Lord has done through our united efforts.”

The event also provided an opportunity for lay evangelists to unify with pastors and church administrators to showcase their efforts in public and personal evangelism.

The Adventist Church in St. Maarten has over 2,000 church members worshipping in seven churches.

To learn more about the church in St. Maarten visit northcaribbeanconference.org