Inter-America’s First Publishing Association

This story was taken from The Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists (ESDA) which freely accessible at encyclopedia.adventist.org.

April 22, 2022 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | By George W. Brown

Inter-American Division Publishing Association, Inc. (IADPA), is a publishing firm without printing facilities operated at Miami, Florida, United States, that provides Christian literature primarily for the 43 countries, collectivities, and municipalities that comprise the Inter-American Division (IAD). The printing is done in commercial printing houses within the territory of the IAD.

Development and Organization

During the first 60 years of the IAD, all its publishing needs were served by Pacific Press Publishing Association, Mountain View, California, U.S.A. In the 1980s many governments in the IAD territory imposed exchange restrictions on all foreign transactions. These restrictions and the fluctuations of the 28 different currencies in the IAD territory severely curtailed the import of books. The result was a critical shortage of books for literature evangelists and of trade books and magazines for the rapidly-growing church membership in the IAD territory. By 1983 it was virtually impossible to import literature from abroad. To address this crisis, IADPA was established in 1983 and legally incorporated on November 12, 1985.

The new publishing association began operations in a small office of the IAD headquarters in Coral Gables, Florida, U.S.A., with a meager staff of three employees. Its first manager was Juan de Armas, a man of extraordinary faith, courage, and vision. From 1985-1990, IADPA developed into a multimillion-dollar publishing enterprise with its own headquarters in Miami, Florida. With a staff of 23 regular employees, including its editorial staff, IADPA was serving over 2,000 literature evangelists and supplying 15 Adventist Book Centers with denominational books, magazines, and journals in Spanish, English, and French.

In 1996 Antonio Torres became president of IADPA. During his administration, in 1999, a new, spacious, $2,175,000 USD headquarters facility was purchased in Doral, Florida, U.S.A.¹ The number of titles and categories of books and magazines was significantly increased to satisfy the growing demand of the IAD. In 2004, Pablo Perla became president of IADPA. During his administration, the publishing house grew exponentially.

In 2011 a new $787,000 USD property adjacent to the existing facility was purchased, adding 28,743 square feet to the existing space.² The number of regular employees increased from 23 to 38 and included an editorial staff of seven. IADPA’s operations were significantly enhanced by the reorganization of Adventists Book Centers. IADPA had direct administration over 85 of the 103 Adventist Book Centers in the IAD territory. The publishing house now supplies over 1,800 literature evangelists and hundreds of student colporteurs with subscription books and magazines to sell to the reading public in the territory’s three primary languages, Spanish, English, and French, with a limited number of materials published in Papiamento. Average annual sales of subscription and trade books and magazines soon exceeded $12,700,000 USD.³

Publications

IADPA has published 20 subscription magazines for colporteur sales on the subjects of health, nutrition, religion, diet, temperance, Christian living, and family life. Some popular titles are Alimentación Sana, Salud Total, Corazón Sano, Juventud sin Drogas, Prioridades, and “Total Health.” In addition to these subscription periodicals, IADPA produces publications for local congregations, such as “Priorities,” “Ministry,” “Advance,” “Youth Vision,” and “Elder’s Digest.” It also produces Sabbath School supplies such as quarterlies for adults, kindergarten, primary, and junior levels, and the “Cornerstone Connection.”

IADPA publishes an annual average of 16 new titles. Some of the most popular titles are Aprenda a Pensar en Positivo, Aprenda a tener Fe y Esperanza, Novios cosa de dos, Vivre Et Réussir, “Life is Still Beautiful,” “Knowing How to Live,” Aprenda a escoger el camino del éxito, and Aprenda a Superar las Preocupaciones.

Morning and evening devotional series with new titles are published each year specifically for the following groups: adults, women, youth, and juniors. Over 77 trade book titles are available. Some of the current titles include Pregunta sobre doctrinas, Apacientas mis ovejas, Cristo es la Solución, “The Faith of Jesus,” La vérité, Creados a la imagen de Dios, Cristo su persona y su obra, “Jesus: The Only Superhero,” Soy tuyo Jesús, and Cuando Dios dijo acuérdate.

IADPA has published 68 of Ellen G. White’s titles in Spanish. Some titles are El camino a Cristo; El conflicto de los siglos; El Deseado de todas las gentes; La educación; El evangelismo; Los hechos de los apóstoles; Mensajes para los jóvenes; Mente, carácter y personalidad; Patriarcas y profetas; and the “Ellen G. White Morning Devotional” series with new titles each year. Over 120,000 devotional books are published annually.⁴

Chronology of Presidents

Juan de Armas (1983-1996); Antonio Torres (1996-2004); Pablo Perla Perla (2004-2018); Saúl Andrés Ortíz (2018- ).

For sources and notes, Click HERE