January 21, 2019 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens/IAD
Seventh-day Adventists across the Inter-American Division (IAD) have been involved in evangelism outreach activities across their communities for months, and the culmination of their efforts, an annual live baptismal celebration, is set to take place on Sabbath, Feb. 9, 2019, in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Pastors, elders and active church members will witness the culmination of their united efforts in sharing the gospel in Jamaica and elsewhere in Inter-America, during what the church has coined this quinquennium, or five-year period, as the “Lord Transform Me” initiative. The initiative involves motivating church leaders and members to pursue a spiritual transformation in Jesus through a daily study of the Bible and a prayerful lifestyle for total involvement in action plans and activities in sharing the gospel within their communities.
Nearly 10,000 are expected to crowd the Montego Bay Conference Center where thousands of baptisms will take place and Adventist world church leaders will speak and minister during the online event.
Thousands more throughout the church in Inter-America will also be welcoming new members into the church through baptismal ceremonies that day as well.
“We will once again be able to see how the Lord, through this initiative, has inspired so many pastors, lay evangelists and church members to spread the gospel in Jamaica and the rest of the IAD,” said Pastor Balvin Braham, assistant to the IAD president for evangelism and main organizer of the event.
The focus this quarter is on holistic health for personal and national transformation, said Braham.
“As a church we believe that we have a strong health message that speaks to the whole concept of a healthy lifestyle and prevention and we are able to utilize this valuable resource to make a significant difference in the lives of individuals, families, and society at large,” said Braham.
Pastor Braham explained that usually the annual celebration takes place at the end of March or beginning of April every year. However, this year the celebration was moved to February, during which Adventist world leaders are scheduled to gather for a special leadership meeting in Montego Bay.
Pastor Ted N.C. Wilson, president of the Adventist world church, will be the keynote speaker during the three-hour-event. Top church leaders from around the world church will also take part in the live program.
Approximately 145 pastors and evangelists will travel from across the church in Inter-America to join efforts in Jamaica and the Atlantic Caribbean Union territory. This territory includes The Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos, as part of more than 400 evangelistic campaigns that will draw to a close prior to the online celebration event.
The live program will also highlight the hundreds of health projects taking place across Jamaica, the Atlantic Caribbean Union and the rest of the IAD territory leading up to Feb. 9.
To view Inter-America’s online baptismal ceremony from Montego Bay, Jamaica, on Sabbath, February 9, 2019, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Miami Time, go to webcast.interamerica.org