South American Church leader expresses condolences over air tragedy in Colombia

Image from Adobe Stock Photo/Adventist Review

November 30, 2016 | Brasilia, Brazil | Marcos Paseggi/Adventist Review

The leader of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South American region expressed his condolences after a plane carrying a Brazilian soccer team and a considerable number of reporters crashed in a rugged area south of the Colombian city of Medellín Monday night.

Pastor Erton Köhler, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South America, expressed regret over the tragic accident which, according to various media reports, claimed the lives of at least 76 people. Most of the passengers of the charter flight were players and managers of the Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense, on their way to play the first final of the South American Cup against a Colombian team.

Adventist Review file photo

“The Seventh-day Adventist family in South America is praying for the families affected by this horrendous tragedy,” said Köhler. “We sincerely pray that the peace and the hope that only God can give may strengthen the families of the players, reporters, and others travelling in the plane that crashed in Colombia.”

The South American Division of the church, based in Brasilia, Brazil, comprises the eight southernmost nations in South America, including Brazil, which, with almost 1.7 million Seventh-day Adventist baptized members, is the country with the largest number of Adventist members in the world.