Hundreds of Hispanic Adventists From Across Europe Meet in Belgium

Spanish-speaking members are an important part of the church in Europe, leaders say.

September 23, 2025 | Belgium | Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

Hundreds of Seventh-day Adventist church leaders, members, and special guests from across Europe traveled to northern Belgium for the 2025 Association of Hispanic Seventh-day Adventist Churches in Europe (AIALE) Convention. The September 12-14 event, which took place at the Vormingscentrum in Malle, Antwerp, brought Adventist members living in several European countries for three days of worship, fellowship, and training under the theme “Mission Possible.”

An Important Part of the Regional Church

At the beginning of the September 12 event, David Carballo, a pastor in Belgium who was youth coordinator of AIALE and now has been elected the organization’s president, reminded participants that the growing organization is a supporting ministry of the Inter-European Division. “We want to also become an official entity in the Trans-European Division in the near future,” he said, referencing the other major Adventist church region on the continent.

After Carballo, Yves Pierre, president of the Belgian-Luxembourg Conference of the Adventist Church, welcomed the 330 members who registered and the scores of guests at the event with a message in Spanish. “Spanish-speaking Adventists are a very important part of the church in this region,” he reminded them. “I hope this convention may be a time to deepen your commitment to God, exchange experiences, and return with renewed momentum on behalf of the gospel message.”

Pierre also called every Hispanic church member “to reflect God’s love and grace” wherever they live and work. “May you be able to live out God’s love at every step, and may His Spirit lead you to increasingly stronger unity and an increasingly alive mission,” he said.

AIALE’s Ultimate Goal

Eliasib Sánchez Jiménez, outgoing president of AIALE, celebrated the effort of those who traveled by air, train, bus, or cars to attend the convention. “Some of you have spent 17 hours on a bus to arrive here,” Sánchez Jiménez, a Mexican native who has served as a pastor and a leader in Spain for decades, acknowledged. “May God reward all your efforts to make AIALE stronger and more effective.”

He also reminded convention attendees about AIALE’s ultimate goal, which is “fulfilling God’s mission of preaching the gospel to those Hispanics that left their countries in search of a better life,” Sánchez Jiménez said. “That they may not only find a better house, a better car, and more money, but that they may also find Jesus and live together with all of us for eternity.”

A Living Testimony

The September 12 opening program included moments of prayer and worship. The EMAD choral group traveled from Monterrey, Mexico, to share their worship songs and lead in congregational singing during the convention. Participants enjoyed singing together before listening to the opening devotional by Henry Barrios, an associate for Spanish-language Ministries in the Florida Conference in the United States.

In his message, Barrios called attendees to the 2025 AIALE convention to be part of “chain links of faith” to impact their families, churches, and communities. “It’s all about being living testimonies and witnesses for God,” he said. “It’s not about words, but about people who live out their faith.” He explained, “If we just talk, we’ll lack power, and people follow only when they see that there is power, the power of the gospel.”

Based on the example of the young maidservant captive in Syria written about in 2 Kings 5, Barrios called every Hispanic Adventist in Europe to actively engage in mission. “It’s not our mission; it’s God’s mission,” he emphasized. “And God wants to use us because His mission is to save everyone.”