October 17, 2024 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
The carefully laid plans were years in the making; fervent prayers had ascended, training in church planting had taken place—and now Seventh-day Adventists across the country were excited to see what the Lord would do.
The year was 2020 and more than 2,000 simultaneous evangelistic programs were to take place in Papua New Guinea, an island country in the South Pacific, often referred to as “PNG.”
Then COVID hit, and the world shut down. Flights were cancelled and PNG closed its doors to countries with the coronavirus. However, people were still allowed to gather in homes—and gather they did! Undeterred by the cancellation of the public evangelism meetings, Seventh-day Adventists across the country invited friends and neighbors into their homes for fellowship, Bible study, and prayer. More than 10,000 of these small groups met across the country, often starting with just a few curious souls, but growing rapidly and spawning yet more small groups!
This went on for years as the Adventists faithfully nurtured these small groups, leading them through carefully through Bible studies covering the full range of Seventh-day Adventist beliefs.
After COVID restrictions were lifted, plans were again put in place for thousands of public meetings forming the “PNG for Christ” campaign.
“PNG for Christ,” held in April and May of 2024, was truly a harvest event in the disciple making process. Thousands attended the meetings nightly, with site attendance varying from 300 to 13,000. Each site had baptisms of those who studied and were prepared ahead of time. Many more came forward, answering the call to give their hearts to the Lord, and were told they would be part of Bible study groups and would be baptized at a later time.
It was an incredible thing to see God pouring out His Spirit, and we praise Him for the hundreds of thousands of precious people who gave their hearts to the Lord through baptism. We certainly saw the fulfillment of God’s promise given in Isaiah 55:11: “. . . so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (NKJV).
Friends, the people of PNG did not let anything, not even a worldwide pandemic, hold them back from participating in Total Member Involvement. They opened their hearts and their homes, and the results were amazing!
What about you? How can you become involved in reaching those around you—perhaps in your home, your neighborhood, or your workplace—for Christ? What an amazing day it will be when we get to heaven and see those who, by the grace of God, are there because we said, “Yes, Lord, I am willing. Use me to be part of Global Total Member Involvement!” Now is the time—Jesus is coming soon! Maranatha!