October 28, 2005, Miami Florida, United States…[Libna Stevens/IAD]
The Inter-American Division Year-End Committee Meetings have been re-scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 30, in Panama City, Panama. Church leaders from throughout Inter-America will be traveling to Panama City, to meet at the Hotel El Panama until Tuesday, Nov. 1.
The Executive Committee, which was scheduled for this week, had to be postponed because of Hurricane Wilma which struck South Florida early Monday morning, leaving behind power outages and food and water shortages. Hotel rooms were also unavailable.
“We could not make accommodations for our committee members traveling here to Miami…and could not postpone the year-end meetings another week,” says Pastor Israel Leito, president for the church in Inter-America. He says that delaying the meetings yet a few more days would affect union meetings held throughout the church in the IAD territory.
According to Pastor Leito, church officers at the headquarter office chose Panama as the venue for the meetings because it offers the best destination for all committee members with foreign visas.
This year’s meetings promise to set the tone for the next five years as each department of the church presents its main activities. Executive members will also vote on evangelistic initiatives, and elect new leaders for seven Union-mission offices, among other items, according to Pastor Leito.
The Education Advisory meetings are re-scheduled for Panama as well, and will begin today through tomorrow.
The Year-End Executive Committee Meeting is one of two meetings held each year for the church in Inter-America. The other meeting is held earlier in the year.