Inter-America’s Lay Adventists Meet in The Bahamas to Revive their Spirit of Service

Delegates at this year’s Inter-American Division Adventist-laymen Services and Industries (ASi) Convention attend the opening ceremony in Nassau, The Bahamas, Aug. 21, 2019. Photo by Nigel Coke/IAD

Regional ASi annual convention focuses on how to serve better to support God’s mission.

August 22, 2019 | Nassau, The Bahamas | Marcos Paseggi for Inter-American Division News

Talking and living the church’s mission is never far from a Seventh-day Adventist gathering. It was certainly not the exception for the more than 300 Adventist laypeople, church leaders, and government officers who met for the opening session of the Inter-American Division’s (IAD) Adventist-laymen Services and Industries (ASi) Convention in Nassau, The Bahamas, on August 21. The annual event, taking place this year at the Atlantis Convention Center under the theme “Reviving the Spirit of Service,” gathered Adventist professionals, entrepreneurs, and others to worship, network, get training and inspiration to better share Christ in the marketplace.

This gathering is not by chance, said Pastor James F. Daniel, an IAD vice-president and ASi-IAD secretary. “You have traveled from far and wide to be here, for a purpose that is pregnant with design,” he told attendees. “In the following few days, we will listen to plenaries and workshop presentations, but we will also spend valuable time one on one so that not only everyone is heard but valued. Because without you, there would not be ASi,” Daniel emphasized.

Pastor James Daniel, IAD vice president and ASi Inter-America secretary opens the four-day session in Nassau, The Bahamas. Photo by Nigel Coke/IAD

Pastor Leonard Johnson, IAD executive secretary, concurred. “The Inter-American Division is all about mission, but to accomplish it, we need people,” he said as he welcomed every attendee. “We valued each one of you as business professionals, and as we come together, we recognize that we need you to help us reach the secular world,” he said. “May this event help us to revive our spirit of service.”

ASi-IAD president Marston Thomas reminded attendees that this Adventist laypeople convention is not an end in itself. There is an ultimate purpose in these exchanges, he said. “This is a place where we meet to share ideas that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, will enhance God’s mission,” Thomas emphasized. “It’s all about mission.”

As part of his welcoming remarks, ASi-Bahamas President Ian Greene shared that just before the event, mission-minded volunteers supported an ASi-led initiative in the Nassau community and that recently, ASi missionary activities in Guyana resulted in at least 85 baptisms. “When we join hands together, we are going to accomplish great things,” said Greene.

Marston Thomas, president of ASi Inter-America chapter speaks during the opening ceremony. Photo by Nigel Coke/IAD

Government’s presence

On behalf of the Bahamas government, Honorable K. Peter Turnquest, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, attended the opening ceremony and addressed the audience. While he transmitted the greetings of the Bahamas Prime Minister Doctor Hubert Minnis, Turnquest said that personally, it was “a tremendous pleasure” for him to be present. “My relationship with Seventh-day Adventist Church goes very far; I have always appreciated your support, prayers, and encouragement,” he said.

Turnquest added that it is something he would like to go on, as he requested Adventist church members to have him and his fellow officers in their thoughts and prayers. “Please pray for us and pray for our government,” said Turnquest. “And I hope this [convention] can be an experience for you to be renewed personally, professionally, and spiritually.”

A place for every worker

The keynote speaker for the night was Pastor Elie Henry, IAD president. Pastor Henry said he could see in ASi-IAD members people who are thankful for what the Lord has done in their lives. “You have come from different ASi chapters across the IAD, and you have come, I believe, with a lot of gratitude in your hearts. God has been very good to me, and to you too. If you can be here, it is just because you are enjoying many things the Lord has given you,” said Pastor Henry.

Pastor Elie Henry, president of the church in Inter-America delivers the keynote address during the opening of ASi Inter-America’s Annual Convention Aug. 21, 2019, in Nassau, The Bahamas. Photo by Nigel Coke/IAD

Now the challenge is, he said, how to answer to all the Lord has done on our behalf. Quoting Psalm 116:12, Pastor Henry asked, “What I shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards me?” And he explained, “Where we talk about reviving the spirit of service we must start with God. When we see how good the Lord is with us, we must decide to witness everywhere, to do mission as an answer to all the Lord has done for us.”

Quoting again Psalm 116, Henry invited ASi members to “take the cup of salvation,” “call upon the name of the Lord,” and “pay [our] vows unto the Lord…in the presence of all his people” (vv. 13, 14). He reminded, “Everything we have comes from God, and God does not need anything, but He wants to be our partner in our business, the one who will guide us through.”

Pastor Henry explained that what God has done should be our motivation to serve. Each one of us has to tell himself or herself, “I will be compassionate; I will be like Jesus, so wherever I am, everyone can see that I am serving God.”

Uniformed flag bearers march with the flags represented at this year’s ASi Inter-America’s annual convention in Nassau, The Bahamas. Photo by Nigel Coke/IAD

This is a life-changer, Pastor Henry explained, as we are living in a time for Christians to be bold and really share who they are. “Seventh-day Adventists must share that they are believers, and strong believers that Jesus is coming soon,” Pastor Henry said. “The Lord is interested in what I am doing now, in how I prosper now, how I can be the best citizen, the best person possible, so I can serve others as Jesus did.”

The 2019 Inter-America’s ASi Convention continues until August 24.

For additional stories about this year’s convention, visit us at interamerica.org