Adventist Church Celebrates 100 Years of Growth in the Dominican Republic
Adventist World Church’s Treasurer Pastor Juan Prestol (center) next to Dominican Union President Pastor Cesario Acevedo (left) and Mose Javier (right) finish cutting the ribbon to the newly renovated Mella Adventist Church in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Dec. 2, 2018. Image courtesy of the Dominican Union/IAD
February 8, 2018 | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic [Libna Stevens/IAD]
Seventh-day Adventists in the Dominican Republic recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of the church. Church leaders and members alike celebrated the exponential growth since the Adventist message began on the island.
“Today is a memorable day for the Seventh-day Adventist Church here as we see how the flame of our message has expanded throughout these 100 years in the country,” said Pastor Cesario Acevedo, president of the church in the Dominican Republic, while at the Mella Adventist Church in Santo Domingo, last December.
Mella Adventist Church in Santo Domingo was originally built in 1917 has undergone several renovations during the past 100 years. Image courtesy of the Dominican Union/IAD
Pastor Acevedo, along with Pastor Juan Prestol, treasurer of the Adventist World Church and native of the Dominican Republic, cut the ribbon to the newly renovated Mella Adventist Church, which was built in 1917 and the first Adventist church on the island.
“Our faith in the blessed hope of the soon coming of the Lord is the flame that should sustain us in the fulfillment of the evangelistic mission,” said Pastor Prestol. “Today more than ever, we should share that message… a message that continues to be the same: Jesus is Coming Soon.”
Church leaders also inaugurated a new church that day in the East Dominican Conference region bringing the total number of newly built churches last year to 47.
“Our church members are aggressively sharing the gospel in their communities and are also faithfully contributing to the construction of temples across the island,” said Acevedo.
During the past decade an average of 30 to 35 new churches have been built every year. These are not flimsy churches, they are concrete buildings of hope in Jesus throughout the communities, explained Acevedo. Many churches have been built with a special plan drawn with Maranatha Volunteers International, church leaders said.
Also inaugurated was a new Adventist school in Miches in the eastern part of the island, bring the number of primary and secondary schools operated by the church on the island to 60.
It’s about celebrating the Adventist message in schools which has been a real outreach to growing the church, said Alejandra Casillas, education director of the church in the Dominican Republic. About 65 percent of students attending the school system on the island are non-Adventists, explained Casillas. However, the evangelism outreach across the schools are changing that percentage and more families are joining the church.
Left to right: Alejandra Casillas, education director and Pastor Cesario Acevedo, president of the church in the Dominican Republic, cut the ribbon to the newly built school in Miches.
Image courtesy of the Dominican Union/IAD
During the last three years alone, 1,250 students and parents have been baptized, which shows an average of 416 have joined each of those years” reported Casillas.
The gospel has also expanded significantly through the radio ministry on the island. The Adventist station called Radio Amanecer has been proclaiming the message of hope and salvation for the past 35 years. The station covers 90 percent of the country through its 23 repeaters on the island.
“Radio Amanecer has turned into a tool that promotes the unity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, its growth and its interest in benefitting the community, promoting education and through its social work,” said Miqueas Fortunato, general manager of Radio Amanecer. “This has turned the radio into the most powerful evangelism media to bring people into the church through baptism,” he added.
According to Fortunato, Radio Amanecer is the only station with the most coverage on the island.
Growth on the island has also seen two more mission fields upgraded to conference status.
The church through its Adventist Hospital and Medical Center “Vista del Jardin” in Santo Domingo has connected with the community with heath care services since it was opened in 2007. The Adventist operated 51-bed hospital facility has been offering outpatient and inpatient care, as well as offering health expo and brigades to needy communities in the capital city.
The hospital recently inaugurated a new dialysis center, church leaders said.
The Adventist Church also operates the long standing Dominican Adventist University offers undergraduate and graduate programs has accreditation by the Adventist Accrediting Association.
There are more than 334,000 Seventh-day Adventists worshiping in 1,338 churches and congregations in the Dominican Republic.
To learn more about the church in the Dominican Republic, visit adventistasrd.org
Bernardo Medina contributed to this report.