The following message is addressed to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inter-America from Abner De los Santos, President of the Inter-American Division. — IAD News Staff
January 176, 2026 | Miami, Florida, United States | By Abner De los Santos, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Adventist Church in the Inter-American Division
Hello, dear Inter-American family. I invite you to open your Bible with me. Today we turn to Philippians, chapter 3, verses 13 and 14, which says:
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s supreme calling in Christ Jesus.”
As we begin this new year, and contemplate on the theme Unleashed for the Ten Days of Prayer, we are reminded that true freedom in Christ is not remaining stuck in the past, but being set free to move forward with purpose in the mission. When we embark on a goal in partnership with the Lord, our future is assured, because in Christ we are freed from guilt, fear, and the chains that hold us back from moving forward with faith and purpose in the race of life.
However, we cannot walk toward Him while constantly looking back. The achievements of the past year are reasons for gratitude, but they should not make us complacent, because God still has much more in store for us.
During these Ten Days of Prayer, the Lord has reminded us that it is not about having received everything already, but about living faithfully with what we have received. When we practice the truth we know, we grow. When we walk in the light God has already given us, we experience an ever-deepening freedom.
Let us move forward today with faith and determination, free from the weight of the past and strengthened by His grace. Let us run the race in this year 2026, grounded in the Bible, with our identity rooted in Jesus, responding together to the call and saying, “I will go, living the mission.”