Thousands are expected to get baptized on April 20th across Central America and other countries in the IAD.
April 10, 2024 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens, Inter-American Division
The Inter-American Division (IAD) will celebrate the first of three territory-wide baptismal events during a live online program on Apr. 20, 2024, from San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The celebration will welcome thousands of new believers and showcase the ongoing comprehensive evangelism initiatives and activities launched locally and across the 24 unions, or major church regions, this year.
Under the banner “All the family in Mission,” the live event will highlight the work of active church members and leaders in spreading the gospel in their communities, not only across the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Honduras but the rest of Central America, Venezuela and parts of Colombia, church leaders said.
“All the Family in Mission” seeks to involve every member in the family of God to be engaged in participating in personal and public evangelism outreach mission initiatives, preaching the everlasting gospel in preparation of Jesus’ soon coming.
The live celebration will culminate a series of ongoing evangelistic campaigns throughout the Honduras Union.
Local district pastors, church members and small group ministry leaders have been busy enlisting persons in bible studies, and discipling seasoned and new believers to focus in fulfilling the mission, said Pastor Balvin Braham, vice president of the IAD in charge of evangelism.
“The event in Honduras is intended to present the model of what a church that is growing and serving looks like,” said Braham. “It’s not just a program, it’s intended to be a dynamic catalyst that will transform the thinking of church leadership and membership to understand the dynamic way we are here, what mission we must fulfill and how we are fulfilling the mission.”
The importance for these efforts to be successful is to ensure that the church is “in-reaching to grow in Christ and reaching out horizontally, connecting people to Christ while addressing their socio economic, spiritual, mental and emotional needs,” explained Braham. Serving the community is an integral part of reaching those nearby, he added.
The leadership and membership in the region have been engaged in 40 days of fasting and prayer leading up to the final evangelistic efforts, said Evert Vasquez, president of the Northwest Honduras Conference, headquartered in San Pedro Sula. “One hundred and eighty evangelistic campaigns have begun with local evangelists and 30 theology students from Central American Adventist University [in Costa Rica].” Leaders are expecting to witness the baptism of 1,000 persons by end of their efforts next week in the conference and more than 2,500 baptisms nation-wide.
Braham, who will be joined by several IAD department directors to lead an evangelistic campaign next, is looking forward to being part of the reaping campaign efforts at Central Adventist Church in San Pedro Sula. “It is always happy for me to present the good news of the gospel, share with people how they can have victory in Christ, and call individuals to give their lives to Him,” said Braham.
The live celebration in Honduras will also feature highlights of the “All the Family in Mission” efforts in the Guatemala Union, El Salvador Union, South Central American Union, South Colombia Union, East Venezuela Union, and West Venezuela Union. In addition to the live morning program, a special symposium will be held in the afternoon.
Additional “All the Family in Mission” territory-wide baptismal celebration events will be held in Guadeloupe of the French Antilles Guiana Union on June 29, 2024, and in the Jamaica Union on September 28, 2024.
To watch Inter-America’s “All the Family in Mission” live event hosted from Universidad Tecnológica de Honduras, in San Pedro Sula, on Apr. 20, at 9:30 a.m. Honduras Time (11:30 a.m. Miami Time), and 2:00 p.m. Honduras Time (4:00 p.m. Miami Time), go to webcast.interamerica.org