Guatemala City, Guatemala…[Melvin Batz/IAD Staff]
Thousands of Seventh-day Adventists marched through the streets of Guatemala City with messages against drugs, violence, immorality and for environmental preservation on Oct. 26. The march, which included over 6,000 church members who held banners and passed out tracts and magazines to the onlookers, was an activity led by the Adventist youth of Guatemala during Inter-American Division’s two-week satellite evangelism series in the city.
Themed “Dare to be Different,” the march began from the Estadio Olimpico Mateo Flores (Mateo Flores Olympic Stadium) and ended in the Guatemala City’s Central park. It was there that Mayor Enrique Godoy expressed his excitement at the sight of the large crowd.
“With that strength and energy that God has given you, Guatemala can improve if we keep praying…the Bible is the best way that we can follow,” he said as he challenged the youth to live a drug-free life.
Also speaking was the Guatemalan born and 1952 winner of the Boston Marathon Mateo Flores, 81, who motivated young people and those gathered, to live a life of dedication, discipline, and free of vices.
Pastor Bernardo Rodriguez, youth director of the church in Inter-America, also challenged the youth to be different. “It is time to lift our hands and dare to be different with Jesus,” he said.
Rodriguez said that this event for and by the youth in Guatemala, is part of a series of projects and activities of awareness and community service organized by the church,
that will follow in the months ahead.
