GC Secretary Calls Leaders to Redouble Efforts, Tackle Challenges in the Mission Field

Erton Köhler discusses windows of opportunity for committed Adventist missionaries.

October 14, 2024 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

A review of a recent mission trip set a singular tone for the Secretariat Report at the Annual Council of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (GC) in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, on October 13.

The report would be “a precious time to share with you a picture of our church and its worldwide mission,” GC secretary Erton Köhler told the more than 300 attending members of the Executive Committee (EXCOM). Köhler and his team reported church growth and other figures but went beyond statistics to review the genesis of Adventist mission to the world, discuss the current state of missionary deployment, and share some of the possibilities and challenges for the months and years ahead. Köhler began with the testimony of a departmental mission trip to Cuba.

An Unforgettable Mission Trip

Köhler described how, in a first, almost 30 leaders and workers serving in the GC Secretariat office at the Adventist Church’s headquarters participated in a mission trip to Cuba in late July and early August. The initiative combined the efforts of the GC, the Inter-American Division, and the Cuban Union Conference (CUC). Secretariat also enlisted a partnership with Maranatha Volunteers International, a supporting ministry of the Adventist Church.

Köhler shared how “Hope for Cuba” included five evangelistic reaping campaigns that resulted in 76 baptisms and 217 enrolled in Bible studies. A special project also benefited more than 300 children, he reported.

Through a combined effort of all entities and bodies involved, church leaders donated five video projectors to be used in evangelism, supported the planting of two new churches, and helped repair and paint one church in Havana, Köhler shared. GC Secretariat also donated a new van for the CUC, after the only vehicle the field owned had accumulated more than 650,000 miles (more than 1 million kilometers).

As part of the trip, the Brazil Publishing House donated much-needed paper for the church’s Cuban printing press, Köhler reported. Thanks to the local support, “our time in Havana was unforgettable,” he said.

What Member Statistics Show

Accessions to the Adventist Church have fully rebounded after the challenging circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to David Trim, director of the GC Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research. In 2023, the church welcomed more than 1,465,000 new members — more than 4,000 a day, or one every 21.5 seconds. “In fact, 2023 saw the largest number of net accessions of any year in Adventist Church history,” Trim said.

At the same time, more than 836,000 left the denomination in 2023 (excluding deaths), the third highest figure ever recorded. “The four highest losses have been in the last five years,” Trim reported. Thus, he added, “accessions alone do not count for church growth. We have to find ways to disciple [sic] more members if we want our net growth to become more explosive.” Currently, the percentage of members who leave is closer to 43 percent, he reported.

Regarding the ratio of Adventist members to world population, there is currently one Adventist per 350 people (against 519 per church member in 2000).

Trim also shared that globally, 30 church members are needed to produce one accession. It’s a statistic that, he said, shows “how effective our church is in reaching people.” He then discussed regional differences, stating, “Every division has its own mission field.… This highlights again the need for Mission Refocus, with missionaries and resources deployed within divisions but also between divisions,” he said.

A Step-by-Step Understanding

Moving on to the genesis of Adventist mission, Köhler took the podium once more to emphasize how church leaders and members in the mid 19th century went through several stages until they were ready to embrace the call to worldwide missionary endeavors. He recounted how in 1874, under then GC president G. I. Butler, leaders voted to send J. N. Andrews to Switzerland as the first official missionary.

Despite meager resources and a lack of structure, the church moved forward in faith, Köhler emphasized. “No crisis should stop the advance of world mission. God is the owner of the church and the mission. He always opens doors for His mission to advance,” he said.

Köhler called church leaders to keep the Adventist mission legacy, now 150 years old, “alive and strong, working in an integrated way to prepare this world for the second coming of Jesus.”

Moving Mission Forward 

In the last section of his report, Köhler referenced Mission Refocus, an initiative of the GC to redirect more funds and resources to the worldwide mission field. This emphasis on frontline mission service has required financial adjustments at all church levels, he acknowledged, but it’s already rendering tangible results.

This new emphasis has resulted, among many other initiatives, in the reopening of the Baghdad Seventh-day Adventist Church in Iraq, which had been close since 2003. This was achieved thanks to a family deployed to serve in that area of the world, Köhler reported. “Mission Refocus is not a dream or a project anymore; it is a reality!” he said.

Three Mission Windows

Köhler then delved into what he called “three mission windows” present in every church region around the world. They include the 10/40 Window (a region of the world where most of the world’s population lives but where Christians are a minority), the Post-Christian Window, and the Urban Window.

All three represent the most challenging areas for mission, Köhler emphasized. “Every one of your divisions has all three windows in its territory. You may not have 10/40 Window countries, but you do have large unreached or low-reached territories or people groups,” he told Adventist leaders. “Something needs to be done urgently in each one of these territories.”

He mentioned specific people groups around the world that represent a big challenge for Adventist mission, including the Hausa in Nigeria, the Bamar in Myanmar, and the Somali people in northern Somalia. He also singled out the Bengali in Bangladesh, the Mahratta in India, and the Northern Uzbek in Uzbekistan. All of them include millions in population, many of whom have never heard about Jesus and His truth.

Köhler also called church leaders’ attention to post-Christian nations affected by increasing secularism, including New Zealand, Czechia, and Greece. Among urban centers, he singled out Naples in Italy, with more than 21,000 residents per Adventist church member, Durban in South Africa; Buenos Aires in Argentina; and Guadalajara in Mexico.

“It is time to reorganize our priorities, our meetings, our agendas, our strategies, all our resources, and focus them on our mission,” Köhler said. “It is time to take on the most challenging places and people groups within our territories.”

A Spirit of Sacrifice

Mission requires investing resources in it, Köhler emphasized. However, when we tackle our mission challenges, God will send the resources we need, Köhler said. “Money must follow the mission,” and not the other way around, he added. Thus, “we can move forward with boldness, trusting in the owner of the mission.”

Twenty-first-century church leaders need to relive the spirit of sacrifice of Adventism’s early pioneers, Köhler said. He shared that even now, the Adventist Church has faithful missionaries giving and even losing their lives in the mission field. “They are keeping alive the spirit of sacrifice in our days and motivating all of us to commit our best to the worldwide mission,” he said.

As an example of that “life commitment to mission,” Köhler introduced the family of Gary Roberts. Missionary pilot Roberts and his family dedicated their lives to mission in Papua, Indonesia. But it has been at a high cost, he acknowledged.

“First, they lost their son to malaria while in the mission field when he was still young,” Köhler said. “Later, Gary’s father, also a mission pilot, was killed in a plane crash while serving in the mission field. This past summer, Gary himself was faced with an inoperable brain tumor diagnosis. And yet, even in his battle with a terminal illness, Gary’s faith stood strong.”

Köhler reported that after Gary Roberts died on July 24, his brother Eric expressed his desire to replace him as a mission pilot. “He will be the third member of the Roberts family to dedicate his life to mission,” Köhler said.

With a special prayer for the Roberts family, Köhler closed his report. EXCOM members voted overwhelmingly to record receipt of the report.