IAD leaders look ahead to the Year of the Pastor and other initiatives
January 9, 2015 | Miami, Florida, United States | Libna Stevens/IAD
Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America, welcomes leaders and staff members at the IAD Headquarters Office in Miami, Florida, on Jan. 5, 2015, as the work week begins for the new year. Image by Libna Stevens/IAD
Top Seventh-day Adventist leaders at the Inter-American Division (IAD) began the new year this week reflecting on God’s blessings and trusting in God’s leading for the challenges ahead.
The nearly 100 ordained ministers and staff members at the IAD Headquarters in Miami, Florida, looked back at the church’s growth and finances in 2014 and looked ahead to the numerous evangelism initiatives and activities set forth to celebrate the Year of the Pastor—a year designated to celebrate the work of the pastor and strengthen their families—and continue sharing the message of the gospel across the territory.
Reflecting on Zechariah chapter 2, Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America, reminded leaders and staff not to question God’s ability to bless in their personal lives and in the mission of the church.
“God’s blessings will always be more than we expect,” said Pastor Leito. “He wants to build a character of loyalty and trust in you and wants us not to underestimate His ability to bless.”
Church leaders were encouraged by the recent membership growth.
Dr. Elie Henry, IAD executive secretary, reported that as of Sep. 30, some 147,000 new members joined the church, totaling some 3,606,519 members worshiping in 20,676 churches and companies.
With 23 unions, or church regions, and two attached fields, Dr. Henry reported that a new union is scheduled for approval in the coming months as IAD’s attached fields of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, should be organized into the Dutch Caribbean Union. That would bring up a total of 24 IAD unions.
According to Henry, while the church is growing fast, top leaders continue to oversee the auditing of church membership books throughout the territory.
One recently organized church region, the Panama Union Mission, was represented by its church president, Pastor Jose De Gracia. Pastor De Gracia spoke to the IAD leadership and staff on Jan. 5 during a special worship with a message of trust in Jesus Christ.
“Growing in Christ is aiming for perfection to train God’s people to serve, to build the name of God,” said Pastor De Gracia.
IAD Treasurer Filiberto Verduzco highlighted the visible commitment of church members to further the mission of the church throughout the last few years when it comes to tithes and offerings.
“I praise God for blessing our members,” said Verduzco. “I marvel every time seeing how church members in Inter-America give freely to further the cause of the church. It is evident that they continue to trust the leadership in managing the funds.”
The completion of the additional seven offices, a conference room and a large storage area in the IAD headquarters office will soon be ready for occupancy, said Verduzco.
Verduzco announced that expansion to the IAD Treasury team includes the appointment of Florencio Suarez as associate treasurer to deal with financial operations in the five church regions in Mexico, and the appointment of Lorenzo Verduzco as software development director.
Pastor Leito also announced that the youth ministries department will have Pastor Hiram Ruiz of Montemorelos, Mexico, and Pastor Balvin Braham of the IAD, to lead Adventist Public Campus Ministries throughout Inter-America for students that attend non-Adventist colleges and universities.
Image by Abel Marquez/IAD
A focus on strengthening the ministry of the pastor and his family will take center stage during the year, church leaders said.
“We want all of our 3,400 pastors who work hard at leading many churches and congregations to nurture their families and know that the church appreciates them and their ministry,” said Pastor hector Sanchez, IAD ministerial secretary.
Scheduled events and activities during the Year of the Pastor emphasis include:
January 17: Ordination Ceremony throughout the IAD. A live program will be held from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from 3:30p to 6:00p (Santo Domingo Time) (or 2:30p to 5:00p Miami Time)
February 7: Pastoral Family Week of Prayer- beginning online from Miami, Florida.
March 28: Ministerial Council for non-ordained pastors – live online from Medellin, Colombia.
April 2: Ministerial council for theology students – live online from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
October 27: General Pastoral Council – live online from Miami, Florida.
Ministers and active church members will continue to double their efforts in evangelism during the next three months looking ahead to celebrate IAD’s Vision One Million baptismal celebration on Apr. 4, 2015. A special satellite program will be held from Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Other upcoming IAD events include:
February 15-23: Chaplaincy and Youth Ministries Council –
March 18-19: Religious Liberty Festival – Medellin, Colombia
May 8-12: Mid-year Executive Committee – Miami, Florida
May 9: Super Bible Boom – Miami, Florida
The Inter-American Division oversees the work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mexico, Central America, The Caribbean, The French Antilles, as well as Colombia and Venezuela, with more than 3.6 million members, hundreds of schools, universities and hospitals.
To learn more about the IAD and its initiatives for 2015, visit us at interamerica.org and 2015.interamerica.org