IAD President Urges Adventist Leaders to Seek the Holy Spirit for End-Time Mission

De los Santos calls for personal consecration, prayer, and spiritual readiness during worship service in Miami.

February 27, 2026 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens, Inter-American Division News

“The church does not need more strategies; it needs more people filled with the Holy Spirit,” said Pastor Abner De los Santos, president of the Inter-American Division (IAD), during a devotional message to IAD and IADPA employees gathered for worship on Feb. 26 at the division headquarters in Miami, Florida.

Drawing from 2 Kings chapter 2, De los Santos reflected on the biblical account of Elijah and Elisha, using the imagery of a relay race to emphasize mission continuity and spiritual responsibility.

Pastor Abner De los Santos, president of the Inter-American Division, speaks on the importance of seeking the Holy Spirit during a worship service at IAD headquarters in Miami, Florida, on Feb. 26, 2026. [Photo: Libna Stevens/IAD]

He reminded employees that the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as a prophetic movement proclaiming the everlasting gospel of Revelation 14, must continue its mission not through human strength, but through divine empowerment.

“We cannot proclaim the three angels’ messages with human power,” De los Santos said. “We cannot face the final crisis with merely organizational resources. We need power from heaven.”

A Call to Personal Consecration

Focusing on Elisha’s request for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, De los Santos challenged listeners to examine what they are truly seeking in their spiritual lives.

“Elisha did not ask for position or recognition, he asked for the Spirit,” he said. “What are we asking for?”

He stressed that the promised outpouring of the latter rain requires preparation and intentional consecration.

“Before the latter rain descends, there must be daily preparation,” he said. “God requires from each of us personal consecration.”

Quoting from Testimonies to Ministers, he warned that those who do not advance spiritually may fail to recognize the movement of the Holy Spirit even if it is being poured out around them.

“I do not want to be among those who fail to perceive it,” he said. “I want to receive it.”

Inter-American Division Publishing Association employees listen during worship service on Feb. 26, 2026, at the Inter-American Division headquarters in Miami, Florida, United States. [Photo: Libna Stevens/IAD]

De los Santos urged employees to seek the Holy Spirit not only in public ministry, but in everyday tasks.

“What are you asking for while you move boxes in the warehouse? What are you asking for while you prepare reports, write strategic plans, or travel for mission?” he asked. “Are we asking for the Holy Spirit?”

He then shared a personal experience from his years in ministry to illustrate the power of persistent prayer.

Recalling a visit to a congregation experiencing serious internal conflict, he said he spent the entire drive to the church praying and asking God to intervene.

“I did not know what to do,” he said. “So I prayed the whole way.”

As he preached that Sabbath, something unexpected happened.

“Before I could even make the appeal, people began coming forward one after another,” he said. “By the time I was ready to invite them, more than half of the church was already at the front.

The experience reaffirmed his conviction that spiritual transformation is the work of God, not human persuasion.

“The power was never in the preacher,” he said. “The power has always been in God.”

He also recounted a moment during his return trip when a border officer repeatedly addressed him in the plural, as if someone else were present in the vehicle, an experience that left him reflecting on the reality of divine presence.

“God is real,” he said. “And He wants to baptize us with His Holy Spirit, but we must ask.”

Pastor Abner De los Santos shares a testimony about a church transformed through prayer as he calls for renewed dependence on the Holy Spirit. [Photo: Libna Stevens/IAD]

De los Santos cautioned against confusing institutional strength with spiritual vitality.

“We may have correct doctrine, solid organization, established institutions, and a clear prophetic history,” he said. “But if we lack the Spirit, we lack the fire.”

Using the metaphor of a fully equipped fire station that never responds to emergencies, he underscored the urgency of spiritual activation.

“What good is an end-time church without end-time power?” he asked.

He reminded employees that authority in the Adventist movement does not reside in human leaders, but in the Lord of the mission.

“When a generation confuses the instrument with the source, spiritual decline begins,” he said.

An Urgent Decision

Referencing Acts 1:8, De los Santos reiterated Christ’s promise of power through the Holy Spirit and framed the moment as one requiring intentional decision.

“The question is not whether God wants to pour out the latter rain,” he said. “The question is whether we are willing to humble ourselves, confess our sins, consecrate our lives fully, and ask for it.”

He concluded with a solemn appeal for personal commitment, inviting each employee to make a heartfelt decision.

“The mantle has fallen,” he said. “We must pick it up. Only a people filled with the Spirit will give the loud cry and prepare the way for Christ’s soon return.”