Hundreds of thousands of young people were joined by children and adults from across the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Inter-American Division (IAD) territory to share Jesus’ love and spread hope in their communities during Global Youth Day (GYD) on Sabbath, March 18, 2023.
This year’s GYD served as the launching pad for the distribution of The Great Controversy by Adventist co-founder Ellen G. White throughout the IAD. Nearly 3 million hardcopies and digital download cards were distributed, church leaders said.
“Young people jumped right into sharing The Great Controversy in city streets, parks, hospitals, homes, businesses, and through every community near them,” said Pastor Al Powell, Youth Ministries director for the IAD. “Engaging young people again this year in distributing the missionary book is crucial amid a world of chaos including wars, disasters, hopelessness, and uncertainty.”
Publishing ministries leaders worked closely with the Inter-American Division Publishing Association (IADPA) and GEMA Editorial House to prepare the book for widespread distribution.
Impact in Mexico City
Top IAD leaders traveled to dozens of churches in Mexico City to preach and take part in the GYD activities.
“God has invited us to shine His light of truth freely, steadfast and with love to everyone we come in contact with,” said Pastor Elie Henry, president of the IAD, while speaking at Central Adventist Church. “Today is your day to show the love of God, for many need it, and others want to hear about Jesus and your experience with Him.” Pastor Henry encouraged members not only to share The Great Controversy but to study it diligently as disciples of Jesus, “for [it] contains the story of the past, the present, and the future and serves as the last great shout to this perishing world.”
Soon after the worship service, Pastor Henry and hundreds of church members made their way to talk, pray, and distribute the book to dozens of people at the Monument to the Revolution Plaza. “It’s so impressive to see so many children and young people willing and excited about sharing the missionary book all around them,” Pastor Henry said.
The streets of the city were particularly busy because of a political event that was not part of GYD. “We see today as a beautiful opportunity to reach people from throughout the country with a book that offers hope for a better tomorrow,” said Pastor Jose Dzul, president of Central Mexican Union. Distribution of The Great Controversy is part of a larger strategy to attract city residents to evangelistic campaigns taking place over the next three months.
Rosaisela Rincon was one who received the book at the Monument to the Revolution Plaza. She asked for Pastor Dzul to dedicate it to her son Oswaldo, who has served eight years of a fifty-two-year prison sentence. “I’ve been getting close to God now, and my son has also been looking for God more each day,” she said. “He needs to have hope, and I thank you for sharing this with me.” Dzul and his wife, Cozvi, prayed for Rincon and her son and encouraged her to read the book.
Senator Cristobal Arias Solis, of the state of Michoacan, which neighbors Mexico City, was among the recipients of the book. Solis praised the work of the young Adventists for spreading hope throughout the city. “Young people today want to have a perspective that will allow better conditions in life and help them in their development as they look to the future, so thank you for this initiative, and I will personally take the time to read this book,” he said.
Reaching Businesses and Praying
Pastor Almir Marroni, Publishing Ministries director for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, joined church members of the Satélite Adventist Church in the metropolitan region. The group of 200 members distributed hundreds of books and special QR cards for digital downloads. “It was so wonderful to see the young people all dressed up and the enthusiasm of all members excited to witness and pass on this book,” said Marroni, who himself distributed 30 books in 30 minutes to employees in several businesses.
“We have a message, and many people are looking for more and don’t have clear guidance; they are looking for God but need present truth,” said Marroni. “The Great Controversy is a book that can be used to preach our message, in evangelism efforts, sermons, serve as family worship, as community outreach, a project that can last the whole year with Bible study follow-ups to connect and build a relationship with, and more.”
The IAD is the first territory to promote such a massive distribution of the missionary book this year, said Marroni. “It’s impressive to see how committed people in Inter-America are about taking part in distributing and witnessing through this activity.”
Across the Inter-American Division, there are reports of a distribution of nearly 4 million copies, with Mexico distributing more than 1.9 million copies alone, said Pastor Isaias Espinoza, Publishing Ministries director for the IAD.
“This was a first-level missionary activity that mobilized the church to connect with the people on the streets and wherever they are so they can read for themselves towards knowing God and His truth,” said Espinoza. It is so important to generate great momentum for the next several months that the church in the IAD is planning to distribute 6 million hardcopies and million more digital copies by the end of 2024, he said.
The Great Controversy is a very valuable book, added Espinoza. “It is the most emblematic book that the Adventist Church has where the church identifies with the unique truths it has.”
Thanks to thousands of young people and church members who embraced the distribution project, 500,000 people received the book in Mexico City, Espinoza said.
Across Mexico
In Chiapas, young and old members distributed 500,000 hardcopies of the missionary book while taking part in marches, providing medical brigades, sharing vegetarian meals in parks, distributing food baskets in needy communities, praying for drivers at stop lights, organizing concerts in different parks throughout the state, and more. Young people also gifted the missionary books to business owners and prayed for them.
Similarly, throughout Southeastern Mexico, more than 52,000 church members distributed 286,000 books through marches and decorative caravans, as well as food and goods in needy communities.
In Escárcega, Campeche, a group of young people played music on loud speakers for onlookers and placed a free book dispenser where they could key in a few numbers and get a free gift. “We would tell the persons who came close to us to punch in two numbers, and once they received the book from the dispenser, we would say, ‘Jesus loves you, there is still hope,’” said Argelia Cordero, Youth Ministries leader of the Carmen Adventist Church in Campeche.
The North Mexican Union distributed more than 275,000 books throughout the territory. Hundreds of Adventurer-age children, Pathfinders, and young people marched through the streets in Sinaloa as they carried their books and distributed them to onlookers.
A group of young people from the San Nicolas Adventist Church in Nuevo Leon joined lettering specialist Heidi Cartagena, from Chiapas, to paint a mural with a message of hope on a street wall of a high school.
Across Other IAD Territories
Two-hundred thousand copies of The Great Controversy were distributed throughout Guatemala through marches, in hospitals, nursing homes, fire departments, police stations, and schools; further community outreach activities included sharing food baskets in several communities.
In El Salvador, young people distributed more than 63,000 copies of the book while visiting the sick in hospitals, as well in police department offices, homes for the elderly, orphanages, malls, needy communities, neighborhoods, and municipal offices, while others offered medical services during public medical brigades or cleaned streets, among other activities.
Hundreds of young people shared breakfast with the homeless early on Sabbath morning in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. They also visited police departments, distributed food baskets, and shared hundreds of missionary books on the streets as well as in businesses and nursing homes.
In one particular café, which had a small library of donated books, young people form the Bella Vista Academy, in Mayaguez, placed several copies of The Great Controversy on its shelves. Students also prayed for those in the central plaza and shared messages of hope with onlookers.
Hundreds of church members in Venezuela distributed thousands of missionary books while they marched through the main streets and plazas.
In the state of Bolivar, Venezuela, more than 1,000 sandwiches and oatmeal cups were distributed during the early morning of March 18. Young people also marched and sang in the streets of San Felix to share messages of hope and distribute books. In addition, young people visited the sick in the hospitals and nursing homes and put on a special program with music, drama performances, and social activities.
“The launching of The Great Controversy book that the church has been preparing from the General Conference and now is reaching the global church is so motivating to me,” said Solardo Rivero Guatire, from Miranda, Venezuela. “This is a solemn work, a work of enormous magnitude.”
In western Venezuela, young people distributed hundreds of books and offered a medical clinic to hundreds of people in Maracaibo, Zulia.
In the Dominican Republic, thousands of young people took part in marches and distributed more than 80,000 missionary books. In the eastern part of the island, thousands of young people met to share hope, music, and drama performances, as well as distribute food, books, and magazines. Young people also donated blood and prayed for people.
In Jamaica, thousands of missionary books were distributed throughout cities and communities. In the East Jamaica Conference, teachers from nearby schools were invited to worship and be recognized for their contribution to society and presented with certificates and gifts of appreciation. Also, young people invited onlookers at parks for health fairs, and community children were given school supplies and snacks. Other participants visited shut-in members and retired teachers as part of Global Youth Day activities.
In northern Colombia, more than 90,000 missionary books were distributed across city streets, parks, businesses,and homes.
In southern Colombia, young people distributed 10,000 copies of the book, visited drug rehabilitation homes and nursing homes, cleaned parks, fed the homeless, and marched through city streets across the region.
“Our young people are a powerful movement, an army that when it moves together, it impacts many who need it so much,” said Leonel Preciado, Youth Ministries director for the South Colombia Union.
A group from the Hope Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nassau, Bahamas, shared a hot breakfast with members of the community near Adventist churches.
Elsewhere in the IAD, young people and church members spent the day witnessing as part of the massive distribution of the missionary book while sharing the love of Jesus through various community outreach activities.
“Young people understood that the missionary book was important to share as part of their Global Youth Day activities of the day, and they gladly embraced it and made an incredible difference in the lives of others,” Powell said.
Uriel Castellanos, Victor Martinez, Gustavo Menéndez, Fabricio Rivera, Daniela Arrieta, Nemuel Artiles, Steven’s Rosado, Nigel Coke, Laura Acosta, Cesar Medina, and Yoel Lizardo contributed to this report.
The original version of this story was posted on the Inter-American Division website.