Reviving and reactivating literature evangelism across most of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Inter-American Division (IAD) is quickly becoming a top priority, church administrators said.

“We are marking a very significant moment as we start a new page in the Inter-American Division coming out of our centennial anniversary, not forgetting that it was as a result of [Adventist] publications that the Word of God spread the message in the territory,” said Pastor Elie Henry, president of the church in Inter-America.

Pastor Henry was speaking on January 23, 2023, to dozens of union presidents and publishing ministries directors from 19 unions who fall under the Inter-American Division Publishing Association (IADPA), one of two publishing houses in the IAD. GEMA Editors is the second publishing house in the IAD that provides publishing leadership in the five unions in Mexico.

Reaffirming Literature Evangelism

“Today, we are coming together to reaffirm once again the important part that publications play in finishing the mission of sharing the gospel in these end times, much like our pioneers did,” said Pastor Henry. “We recognize that we need to do something more to strengthen literature evangelists throughout the territory—relaunching this ministry so that more can swarm our streets and knock on every door until the very last one.”

It’s going to take tight collaboration to keep advancing together, Henry said.

Recruiting more literature evangelists (LEs), providing them with more tools and resources, and helping them and other potential LEs understand they are an integral part of evangelizing others as missionaries of the gospel is the strategy going forward, explained Pastor Isaias Espinoza, Publishing Ministries director of the IAD and main organizer of the advisory meetings.

Background on Literature Evangelism

“In its beginning, Adventist missionaries invested their time in leaving publications wherever, but when the church saw that more could be done for those who faithfully shared literature and books, the church in the IAD created a fund in the 1980s,” explained Espinoza. With time, many LEs lost the vision of a mission-driven ministry of sharing the gospel and looked at it as a business.

At some point more than 30 years ago, the IAD had around 5,000 literature evangelists, church leaders said. The numbers dwindled to less than 3,000 across most of the territory, excluding Mexico. During the same period, GEMA Editors in Mexico not only maintained but grew its LE ministry.

In 2013, the IAD and union church administrators met to establish specific policies to provide certain benefits to its full-time LEs, maintain lower prices on the books they sell, and provide retirement benefits, as well as evaluate how the policies could be contextualized within the legal framework of each particular country. In 2014, the IAD gathered hundreds of its champion LEs during a special congress and unveiled its plan to them.

Doubling the Numbers 

Today, there are approximately 4,200 LEs in the IAD, including about 1,000 student LEs who are paying for their schooling by selling publications, said Espinoza. The goal is to double the number of student LEs, which is going to take intentional, ongoing strategies to accomplish, he said.

The two-day advisory meetings held at the IAD Headquarters in Miami, Florida, United States, were meant to inspire and motivate top union administrators and publishing ministries directors to plan and rediscover new and best practices to engage the church in the fulfillment of the mission through the printed page, said Espinoza.

Pastor Almir Marroni, General Conference Publishing Ministries director, spoke to leaders on their responsibility of defining the reality and challenges they face in publishing ministries to confirm and strengthen the vision and mission. That would lead administrators to then establish plans and goals for the next few years.

“Literature evangelists are important and relevant because they do a work that no one else can do,” said Marroni. The goal is to have church members involved in sharing publications, strengthen full-time and student LEs, and provide tools and ongoing training for them regularly, he said. “There’s enormous potential in fulfilling the mission; think if every member was involved in sharing publications.”

Church leaders also discussed revamping student LEs programs at Adventist universities throughout the territory.

IADPA leaders showcased the catalog of publications available for LEs and church members throughout the 19 union territories, as well as information on the millions of copies of Ellen G. White’s The Great Controversy, which is scheduled to be distributed across the IAD next month and throughout 2024.

Literature Evangelism Growth in Guatemala

Union administrators in Guatemala reported on the status and progress of growing the LEs in their territory.

Among them was Pastor Guenther Garcia, president of the Guatemala Union, who found his eight conferences and missions comprising the union with 15 literature evangelists. “It concerned us that there were just 15 literature evangelists, when at some point, we had more than 200,” said Garcia. Leaders moved to accept the assistance of IADPA to pay for a publishing associate director overseeing literature evangelism in each field for three months. In addition, the IAD paid the salary of the associates, and each field committed to paying their salaries for an additional six months.

The union organized a school of literature evangelism early in 2022, and by this January’s second training, the church in Guatemala has 75 regular LEs, reported Garcia. By the end of the year, the goal is to double that amount to at least 150.

There’s no turning back, Garcia said. “Literature evangelists are essential and fundamental in reaching many communities that have been impenetrable because of culture, religiosity, and idiosyncrasies. Our pastors cannot access these communities a lot of times, but a book delivered by an LE can open the doors.”

Garcia said he knows well what being a colporteur or literature evangelist means because he worked his way through school as a student LE. “Being a literature evangelist helps you gain an unforgettable experience for life and I’m thankful to join together in reviving this important ministry of sharing the gospel to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus,” he said.

Reviving LE Ministry in the Dominican Republic

Similarly, in the Dominican Republic, the church recently began to revamp its literature evangelism ministry. At some point years ago, there were about 300 literature evangelists, but at the start of 2022, there were only 15, reported Pastor Paulino Puello, president of the Dominican Union. “We moved quickly to establish associate publishing directors in each of the six conferences and [the] mission thanks to the assistance of IADPA and the IAD to pay for their salaries,” said Puello. Church leaders began encouraging the constituency with the importance of literature evangelism and how each conference associate director needs to oversee a group of 25 literature evangelists every month.

During a recent school of literature evangelism training held on January 20, 2023, the church reached 75 LEs across the union territory. The plan is to double that amount. “If each conference reaches an additional 25 LEs, then a second associate director will be assigned, and the work of literature evangelism will continue to grow and impact so many people,” said Puello.

“The work of going door to door as a colporteur is essential to spreading the gospel before Jesus returns to save us,” said Puello. “It’s something that I will never forget because, thanks to colporting, I felt called to study for the ministry as a student.” 

Being a literature evangelist is life changing, not only for the people with whom they connect in homes and businesses, but for their own spiritual growth, said Puello. “We have to continue moving forward, engaging more members to be partners in spreading the gospel everywhere they are.”

Other union administrators reported on their plans to grow literature evangelism and expressed their commitment to nurturing the spiritual growth of the membership in the coming months.

“I know that at the turn of three or four years, publishing ministries will show a different turn in a stronger and larger literature evangelist group,” said Espinoza. “Let’s continue together advancing because we know that God will help us reach the whole world through the work of publications.”

Church leaders throughout the 24 IAD unions are preparing to do a massive distribution of The Great Controversy on March 18, 2023.

Leaders also discussed a special live online program to celebrate Literature Evangelist Day on April 15, 2023, from Puebla, Mexico. 

The original article was published on the Inter-American Division news site.