Leaders Called to Stay Rooted in Scripture and Live the Mission Every Day
Devotional blends personal testimony and a powerful appeal for consistent discipleship at the IAD’s Annual Council.
November 24, 2025 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens, Inter-American Division News
The morning devotional during the third day of Inter-American Division’s Annual Council saw Sabrina DeSouza, associate treasurer of the General Conference, inviting leaders to return to the deep spiritual grounding that sustains both ministry and personal resilience.
Speaking to administrators, departmental directors, and union leaders gathered at IAD Headquarters in Miami, Florida, DeSouza reflected on the business meeting’s theme, Grounded in the Bible. Living the Mission, and shared how Scripture, consistency, and gratitude have shaped her walk with God through seasons of joy and profound loss.
Associate Treasurer Sabrina DeSouza speaks during the IAD’s Annual Council devotional on Nov. 13, 2025, illustrating how Scripture and gratitude shaped her faith through seasons of personal loss and renewal. [Photo: Libna Stevens/IAD]
“Being Grounded Means you Cannot be Shaken”
DeSouza opened with the image of a tree planted by rivers of water in Psalm 1.
“Being grounded in the Word is not just about reading Scripture,” she said. “It’s about letting that grounding take root so deeply that when the storms of life come, you cannot be shaken.”
She described childhood mornings filled with songs, Scripture readings, prayer, and the familiar blue volumes of Uncle Arthur’s Bible Stories, moments she now understands were God’s way of establishing spiritual roots long before she needed them.
A Foundation Tested by Storms
Though her early years were filled with spiritual nurture, DeSouza shared that it was tragedy, layered over many years, that revealed the true strength of those roots.
Her brother-in-law died unexpectedly in 2007. Her mother succumbed to cancer in 2009. Her father died the following year. And in time, she also lost her first husband.
Leaders listen as Sabrina DeSouza encourages them to stay spiritually rooted, noting that “storms don’t create your foundation—they reveal it.” [Photo: Libna Stevens/IAD]
“The storms kept coming,” she said. “Each loss felt like it could sweep away everything we had built as a family.”
Yet in each valley, Scripture became her anchor. “Storms don’t create your foundation, they reveal it,” she said. “If your life is built on Christ, you may bend, but you will not break.”
DeSouza explained that gratitude has become a spiritual discipline that keeps her centered on God’s presence, whether in celebration or in grief. “Gratitude is not an emotion; it is an act of remembrance,” she said. “It reminds me who sustained me when sorrow should have crushed me.”
Her daily prayers include calling family members by name—her husband, children, sisters, nieces—entrusting their paths to God with thanksgiving. “These prayers,” she said, “are my offering of gratitude, my way of saying: Lord, thank You for every life You’ve entrusted me to love.”
During her heartfelt devotional, Sabrina DeSouza recounts how early family worship and Scripture memorization built the foundation that sustained her through life’s greatest challenges. [Photo: Libna Stevens/IAD]
Mission Begins at Home
DeSouza reminded leaders that mission is not confined to pulpits or distant countries.
“For years, I thought living the mission meant traveling, preaching, crossing borders,” she said. “But I’ve learned the mission field is often across the hall, how you speak under pressure, how you treat a colleague, how you love the people closest to you.”
Leadership, she emphasized, is discipleship in action—every decision, meeting, and interaction becomes an opportunity to reflect Christ.
One of her guiding principles, often shared with her daughter, is, “How you do anything is how you do everything.”
“Faith is shaped in the unseen moments,” she said. “God multiplies what we manage with integrity.”
Executive committee members listen during the devotional message on Nov. 13, 2025. [Photo: Libna Stevens/IAD]
Faithfulness, she explained, is not defined by perfection but by consistency, showing up with the same spirit of integrity whether the task is large or small.
Abiding in Christ for Fruit That Lasts
As she closed, DeSouza returned to Jesus’ words in John 15.
“To abide means to remain, to stay rooted in Christ when everything feels uncertain,” she said. “The same God who planted us is the One who sustains us. Through joy and grief, abundance and uncertainty, He has been faithful.”
Her message—delivered on Nov. 13, 2025, during day three of Annual Council, left leaders with a renewed sense of spiritual grounding and a deeper appreciation for the daily, relational nature of mission.
“When we stay grounded in Him,” she said, “our roots hold firm, our fruit endures, and our lives bring glory to His name.”