Adventist Church in Mexico Unveils Monument to Commemorate the Bible at a Public Park

Seventh-day Adventist leaders in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico unveil a special Monument to the Bible at Los Cerritos Park, during a inaugural ceremony, on June 24, 2019. The project was part of an initiative throughout the eight local church fields began in 2018 to promote and uphold the Holy Scriptures. Photo: Medios Soconusco.

September 4, 2019 | Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico | Uriel Castellanos and IAD News Staff

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tapachula, in Chiapas, Mexico, recently unveiled a large monument to commemorate The Bible at Los Cerritos Park, in the center of the city.  The event drew dozens of local government officials, religious leaders, and church members to witness the special ceremony.

“This is a historic moment that marks the greatest of all liberties–religious freedom,” said Pastor Jaime Medrano, president of the church in Soconusco.

Goverment representative  Javier Antonio Morales congratulated the Adventist Church for the project initiative. “This Project is representative of what love, faith and hope means,” said Morales. “It is a message of unity that the municipal government and the churches are sending not only to Chiapas, and Mexico, but the world.”

Local, state, federal and religious leaders pose behind the monument after its unveiling with Seventh-day Adventist leaders in Tapachula, Soconusco, in Chiapas, Mexico. Photo: Medios Soconusco

Elvira Avalos López, a representative of the mayor’s office, referred to the monument as a community achievement. “It is part of the culture and an evidence of the freedom of creed that we have in our country.”

Representing the evangelical community of Tapachula, Pastor Walas Peña, joined in during the ceremony in support of the focus on the Scriptures. “There is no more extraordinary book than the Bible, none equals it,” said Peña.

Catholic Priest Jorge Valente applauded the efforts of the Adventist Church to bring more awareness to society in returning to the Scriptures. Valente referred to the Holy Scriptures as “the one that we share with the most vehemently, that’s why we are glad to be here.”

The monument has an open Bible on top that reads “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20. The sides of the monument’s base includes the municipal logo of Tapachula with the inscription: “Faithful to His Word. The Seventh-day Adventist Church recognizes the Bible as the Word of God. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalms 119:105. 2018, Year of the Bible)

One of four musical bands from the Adventist education system in the state of Soconusco played during the unveiling ceremony. Photo: Medios Soconusco

The Monument to the Bible is an initiative of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Chiapas with the intent to recognize the Bible as the guide of the individual and society, and aims to bring awareness to the public in the reading of such Scriptures.

The monument to the Bible represents the last of eight such memorials built by the Seventh-day Adventist Church throughout its eight local church regions, or local fields, in Chiapas as part of an initiative began in 2018 designated as the Year of the Bible.  Monuments were also recently unveiled in the cities of Palenque, Hiuxtla, Malpaso, Pichucalco, Cintalapa and Usumacinta.

Evangelical organizations as well as the Catholic Church supported the petition to build the monument, according to local Adventist leaders, who submitted the petition last year.

As the ceremony concluded, Pastor Ignacio Navarro, president of the church in Chiapas, pointed to the world’s destiny. “The world movess at a tremendous speed towards its own destruction. The only One who can save us is God and the only way to know Him is through His Word,” said Navarro.

Pastor Navarro challenged government leaders “to govern placing the Holy Scriptures in high regard as God has required.”

To learn more about the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Chiapas, Mexico, and its initiatives, visit umch.org.mx