Inter-America: Adventist schools and universities observe special day of prayer and bible study

March 9, 2012 – Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago…Libna Stevens/IAD

For the second consecutive year, thousands of students attending Seventh-day Adventist schools and universities throughout Inter-America put away their books to spend a day focused on prayer and bible study. The special day follows Inter-America’s Constant in Prayer initiative launched last year and one that falls under the Adventist world church’s spiritual revival and reformation initiative for a renewed, committed life to Jesus.

Last Wednesday, some 500 students, teachers and leaders gathered for a special program at the University of Southern Caribbean in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, the hub of the event, and one of hundreds of campuses where top church leaders journeyed through throughout the vast territory.

“This day of prayer was meant to be a call to all our students and teachers for a closer communion with God through prayer and the study of the Bible,” said Dr. Gamaliel Florez, education director for the church in Inter-America. “Christian Adventist education,” he added “has its foundation in the bible which affects the entire design of the curriculum.”

Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America, encouraged students to pursue a prayerful life every day.

“Being constant in prayer means whatever we do, we keep a prayer on our lips,” said Pastor Leito. “Constant in Prayer means nothing can drive prayer out of your life, because you believe in prayer and God answers prayer.”

“It is important to continue trusting and praying. We must not lose faith in prayer, nor lose confidence in prayer,” said Pastor Leito as he spoke to hundreds of university students during the special program streamed live over the internet.

It is that appeal for a daily prayerful life that church leaders are promoting throughout schools and campuses for the second straight year so a wider impact could be seen among students, teachers, families and the community at large.

Students sang and prayed together throughout the two-hour program at USC.

Dr. Clinton Valley, USC president, engaged in prayer sessions with students and shared that the experience was meaningful and refreshing. He thanked the Inter-American Division (IAD) for the annual initiative and vowed to continue providing the kind of environment “powering education through prayer.”

The 52 schools in the multi-island region involved in prayer and other activities are all geared towards “refining the [spiritual] values so that you can impact the wider community,” said Dr. Hillary Bowman, education director for the church in the Caribbean Union.

In San Juan, Puerto Rico, students participated in a series of dramas and special music. They prayed with young people struggling with addictions from a nearby center. Elementary and secondary students also paused to pray for parents who dropped their children off to school and joined in prayer sessions.

In Guatemala City, students and teachers at El Progreso Adventist School participated in spiritual activities throughout its campus with drama performaces, prayer sessions, Bible trivia games and more. Others schools throughout Guatemala marched through main cities and held prayer-focused programs in public parks and distributed The Great Controversy Book by Ellen G. White.

In Mandeville, Jamaica, more than 2,000 pieces of literature, including bibles, were distributed during a community prayer and praise service in the main park by Northern Caribbean students and faculty staff. Time was spent on prayer, special drama performances and bible readings.

In Nassau, The Bahamas, more than 900 students and teachers gathered at Bahamas Academy to learn that they can pray about their needs. Students shared testimonies of answered prayers and were given the opportunity to have church leaders pray for them.

In Willestad, Curacao, nearly 400 elementary students at the Advent School Noord Roozendaal wrote down their prayer requests, prayed together, sang and learned about the importance of prayer.

In Medellin, Colombia, students and faculty began praying at 5:00 a.m. for the special day of prayer on campus and throughout the country. Special stations were set out throughout the campus where students could write their prayer requests, pray together and study the bible together.

In Puebla, Mexico, church leaders and students prayed with the region’s education supervisor. In Cuautla, Morelos, hundreds of students from three schools gathered with bible in hand to take part of the prayer activities with their parents and community leaders.

“We are delighted that this day of prayer throughout our schools and universities has been instituted permanently in our Inter-American Division educational system,” said Dr. Florez.

Leaders are already planning for next year’s day of prayer throughout schools with a focus on prayer, the Bible and community outreach.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Inter-America operates 1,002 schools including 14 universities and more than 173,000 students.

To view a photo gallery of the day of prayer in schools and universities throughout Inter-America, visit

http://www.flickr.com/photos/interamerica/6965882779/in/photostream

For more on Inter-America’s prayer revival initiative and other spiritual activities visit the following links:

Resources:
Revival and Reformation webpage: http://praying4revival.org
In Spanish: http://estamosorando.org
French: http://praying4revival.org
Vision One Million: http://visiononemillion.org/

Facebook
English: http://www.facebook.com/praying4revival
Spanish: http://www.facebook.com/estamosorando