November 27, 2018 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens/IAD
For nearly 12 months, the Seventh-day Adventist Church throughout Inter-America has been engaged in what has been coined as the Year of the Child and Adolescent initiative which has sought to reinforce Christian values, encourage children to build a relationship with Jesus through the study of the Bible, and inspire a spirit of service and mission in others.
To celebrate the initiative, children and adolescent ministries is putting on a live online program on Dec. 8, 2018, to highlight the character traits Adventist churches and schools have been promoting through the “Talking Backpack” activity, organizers said.
“We are looking to see how the church has been able to create more awareness as to the importance of involving children in all facets of the church in mission this year,” said Dinorah Rivera, child and adolescent ministries director for the church in Inter-America.
Children and adolescents have been earning patches and pins for their backpacks for demonstrating virtues such as truthfulness, courtesy, respect, gratefulness, forgiveness, punctuality, service, responsibility, obedience, integrity, optimism and kindness, explained Rivera.
The program will feature reports on how youngsters have been working hard to witness to their peers, family members and friends in their communities, added Rivera.
“Our children and adolescents have been key in the thousands of baptisms resulting from the “Talking Backpack” initiative this year,” said Rivera. The online program will also feature several outstanding child preachers who have been sharing the gospel through a number of activities throughout Inter-America.
To watch the live online program in English, Spanish and French on Sabbath, Dec. 8, 2018, tune in at 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Miami Time, to webcast.interamerica.org.