In Inter-America, Leaders pray to reach 1.2 million new members by 2020
Left to Right: Pastors Aldo Perez, Cuba Union president, Tomas Torrez, IAD vice president, Israel Leito, IAD president, and Leon B. Wellington pray for the thousands of new members in Cuba and five other unions during special prayer ceremony at the Jordan River, in Israel, after 10-day training Feb. 7-18. Image by Gustavo Menendez/IAD
March 29, 2016 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens/IAD
Top Seventh-day Adventist leaders from throughout the Inter-American Division (IAD) prayed recently on the shores of the Jordan River, which borders Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan, as they prepared to bring in over one million new members during the next five-year period.
The special prayer ceremony took place after 10 days of training in Israel, which gathered 75 IAD administrators and evangelists last month.
Church leaders partaking communion service by the Jordan River. Image by Gustavo Menendez/IAD
“We are pledging before the Lord as a Division, all our efforts together to reach new souls in each nation with its own culture, each group with its own needs, ready to receive what God sends us,” said Pastor Israel Leito, president of the IAD. “Bless these souls wherever they are and bless us as we continue to do our part in furthering the message.”
Church leaders committed to guiding and mobilizing its ministers and active members, or laypersons, in their respective territories to baptize 1.2 million during 2016-2020. Over 800,000 were baptized from 2011-2015.
During the 10-day training, church leaders received in-depth instruction on the IAD’s five-year evangelism initiative, which is called Lord Transform Me. The initiative seeks to empower church members to daily seek a transformation through God’s Holy Spirit, and engage them in spiritually-led activities and active service in the church and community.
“Our training trip involved classroom training merging the concept of Lord Transform Me evangelism initiative with Jesus’ ministry, where he walked, the theological implications and how that relates to what we are doing with the initiative,” said Pastor Balvin Braham, assistant to the IAD president for evangelism.
It’s about involving all members of the church in the development of a strong relationship with Christ and also to involve each member in the mission of gaining others for Christ, explained Braham. For that it was important to “help leaders develop knowledge about the program, skills for implementation and attitude in terms of how they embrace the program,” added Braham.
Church members in south Guatemala gather for baptismal ceremony in Panachel Playa, as the Lord Transform Me initiative began activities there in March 13, 2016. Image by Gustavo Menendez/IAD
Lord Transform Me is not just another program, said Braham. It’s like an umbrella where every spiritual initiative and church activity falls under the big Lord Transform Me program, he explained. “It’s bringing in every department’s programs and activities to see how each can strengthen the local church and its surrounding community,” added Braham.
In the weeks following their training session in Israel, church leaders have been training pastors and laypersons in embracing the Lord Transform Me initiative preparing for the territory-wide launch in local churches which will take place April 1st, explained Braham.
In the weeks ahead, churches throughout the IAD will engage in intense evangelism campaigns leading up to a three-hour satellite launch of the Lord Transform Me evangelism program across the territory on April 16, 2016, from Caracas, Venezuela, through the Hope Channel Network.
For more information and resources on Inter-America’s Lord Transform Me evangelism initiative, visit resources.interamerica.org
For times and transmission channels for April 16, 2016, satellite launch:
ENGLISH
Hope Church Channel 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM (Miami Time)
SPANISH
Esperanza TV 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM (Miami Time)
FRENCH
Hope Church Channel 3:30-6:30 PM (Miami Time)