In Mexico, Adventists youth flood city of Oaxaca with prayer and hope
Adventist youth kneel along the main street of a large market place in the city of Oaxaca, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, during a youth evangelism initiative in July, 2016. Some 136 young people from across the church in Mexico’s Inter-Oceanic region to take part of a two-week evangelism and missionary impact initiative. Images by Inter-Oceanic Mexican Union.
August 3, 2016 | Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico | Libna Stevens/IAD
Adventist youth during a morning evangelism training session.
Dozens of Seventh-day Adventist youth flooded the city and communities in Oaxaca, Mexico with a message of peace, hope and good will during recent weeks. Most traveled from surrounding states in Mexico’s Inter-Oceanic region to be part of a two-to-four-week evangelism movement modeled after the world church’s One Year in Mission initiative established in recent years.
“We are grateful to God for the 136 youth who came to reach every corner of the city, leaving their mark while sharing a message of love, providing goods to those in need, and pointing to the soon coming of Christ,” said Pastor Tonny Gil, youth ministries director for the church in the Inter-Oceanic region and organizer of the evangelism initiative.
Youth delegates took time off from their jobs and studies to pray for the city.
Young people also took part in helping communities build family gardens, sing praise songs in buses, distribute meals and food baskets and worked with local church leaders to share the gospel in communities where’s there is no Adventist presence.
A couple is prayed for during the youth city impact.
The two-week city impact, coined as “Generation Hands in Action – Hands for Oaxaca,” which began the week of July 10, was coupled with daily evangelism training sessions for the visiting delegates, said Pastor Gil. The missionary training included preaching, strategic planning, how to give Bible studies, youth leadership, a review of Adventist doctrine, and more.
“We wanted to provide additional training to our young people who have already spent months back home assisting their local congregations in sharing the gospel through this evangelism strategy we have developed in our union territory,” explained Gil.
The church across the Inter-Oceanic region designated Oaxaca as an evangelism target city for youth impact and evangelism training, added Gil. Oaxaca has a population of approximately 600,000.
A young person gives out a meal during the city impact.
Youth are trained during the morning sessions and go out to impact the community in the afternoon.
Days after the young people began their projects in the city, a truckload of food with hundreds of empanadas, tamales, bread and apples delivered to the morning sessions. A restaurant owner heard about the work of the young missionary group and wanted to support it.
“The young people had enough food that day and hundreds more lunches were given to people in waiting rooms in local hospitals,” said Gil.
At the end of the two-week project, nearly 100 youth stayed to be part of the two-week second phase to assist in a public campaign led by Adventist Evangelist Jose Vicente Rojas. The nightly campaign is being held at a facility that holds 4,500 people. It concludes Aug. 6.
This week’s community activities include reforestation in the city, small-group evangelistic campaigns, seeking former church members, giving Bible studies and assisting in the large evangelism campaign, explained Gil.
“Our trained youth have the task of involving more young people in local missionary projects,” said Gil. Each young person will present a strategic plan to their local mission or conference office leadership, he added.
“We hope to have a well-prepared army of young people, fully involved in bringing in other young people to proclaim the message of the crucified, resurrecting and soon coming Christ,” said Gil.
A group of young people help clean up a family’s backyard garden.
Gil sees how happy, daring, confident, willing and committed the youth in the church are and encourages church leaders to invest more in the youth when it comes to evangelism impact during these complicated times.
“Our young people here were challenged to dedicate a full year to God’s service in a place away from their hometowns,” said Gil. There are so many inspiring stories to share, said Gil.
“One young delegate told me he got behind with his studies but is ready to fulfill the mission of Christ,” said Gil. Also, Erick, a public accountant in the city of Cuautla, Morelos, resigned from his job as a manager of a company to dedicate one year in Chilpancingo, in the State of Guerrero. “The owners of the company told him to do his preaching there, telling him ‘there are many who could use your preaching here so don’t leave your job’” added. “My decision is firm, Jesus wants me to be in Chilpancingo and I will go there,” explained Erick.
Seeing their commitment, Pastor Gil said he’s sure that Christ is coming soon. “We need to support our young people. God used young people to start the Christian Church and used young people to start the Adventist Church and for sure God will finish His work with the youth.”
Group photo of the youth who traveled to Oaxaca.
The Inter-Oceanic Mexican Union with nearly 201,000 Seventh-day Adventists is one of five major church regions in Mexico. The church region oversees the work in the states of Guerrero, Hidalgo, Morelos, Oaxaca, Tlaxcala, Tabasco and Veracruz.
For more information and initiatives from the Adventist Church in the Inter-Oceanic Mexican Union, visit iasd-umi.org