Hundreds of Lay Preachers Are Trained for Evangelism Impact in Mexico City

March 16, 2023 | Mexico City, Mexico | Libna Stevens, Inter-American Division News

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Central Mexican Union recently assembled 1,300 lay preachers from its five local fields to be equipped to share the message of salvation in the Houses of Hope (or small groups) they lead.

The special school of evangelism training, held at the Central Adventist Church in Mexico City, Mar. 10-13, 2023, saw local leaders and evangelists from the General Conference and the Inter-American Division (IAD) encourage the lay preachers to reach out to the hundreds needing hope in their communities.

“This is the first time that something of this magnitude has ever been attempted here in this way where we are bringing lay preachers and pastors together to impact the city,” said Pastor José Dzul, president of the church in the Central Mexican Union. The event was part of a larger comprehensive strategy the church has been preparing for months to impact a city with more than 28 million people, he said.

That strategy included dozens of evangelistic series held in Mexico City in collaboration with Adventist World Radio last September. It also included a half-hour television program for the family entitled “Know How to Live” (Saber Vivir), produced in collaboration with Montemorelos University. The program has been broadcast on TV Azteca, a national television station, every Sunday from September 2022 to February 2023, church leaders said.

Evangelism impact will be felt throughout its five fields, but it is mostly targeted in Mexico City, said Pastor Edgar Benitez, evangelist of the Central Mexican Union. Evangelistic efforts by lay preachers will run from March 15 to April 1^st, and from April 15-22, 87 district pastors and 126 preachers from throughout the IAD will take part in harvest evangelistic campaigns, according to Benitez.

In preparation for the impact evangelism this month, 50 theology students have been holding bible studies, four evangelists have been involved in city sidewalk evangelism efforts, 200 medical brigades, and the distribution of 200,000 missionary books will be distributed on Mar. 18, 2023.

“These coordinated efforts to equip lay preachers and pastors are all leading up to the church’s national evangelism campaign which is scheduled to take place June 17-24,” said Benitez.

“Preparing lay preachers and equip them with tools while reaffirming them in this school is the best gift that we can give willing church members to participate in this impact,” said Pastor Job Alcázar, personal ministries director of the Central Mexican Union, who is the main leader of the evangelism school.

Evangelist and Associate Director of Evangelism from the General Conference Pastor Roberto Costa taught practical biblical essential elements to lead successful public evangelism and how to make altar calls. “Do not stop making direct [altar] calls that come from the heart that end with a decision for the kingdom of heaven,” Costa exclaimed.

Pastor Melchor Ferreyra, personal ministries director of the IAD, taught lay preachers on the practical ways they can prepare an evangelistic message or sermon.

“Each sermon has a specific purpose and we have to search for that purpose through a key word that can guide both the preacher and the listeners to make a decision for Jesus,” said Ferreyra. The bottom line is that successful preaching must have a specific purpose, which is the salvation of people, he explained.

Ferreyra also encouraged lay preachers to use the AULA7 platform where they can find complementary tools and a series of resources to strengthen their lay ministry.

“Mexico is a huge city that does not sleep,” said Pastor Dzul.  “No matter what time it is, there are always people moving around the city.” Like all big cities, people are only focused on their career of getting money to live or survive, he said. “This makes it a tremendous challenge for the preaching of the gospel, but we can give identity to these people who come to the city looking for improvement and find in our houses of hope a solution for their personal lives by presenting Jesus as the only hope.”

Among the resources lay preachers received during the school of evangelism included a book of sermons for the three weeks of evangelism campaigns on the Book of Daniel.

Melchor Ferreyra contributed to this report.