Over 200 Individuals are Baptized in a City without Adventist presence

This year, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Paraguay has joined forces to bring the Word of God to Santa Rosa del Aguaray, a northern city where there is no Adventist church.

To achieve this goal, they have worked with Bible instructors in the area and placed a team of Adventist volunteers from One Year in Mission (OYIM). In addition, during this winter break, Caleb Mission participants joined this challenge to preach about a love that can transform lives and entire communities.

Preaching center in Santa Rosa del Aguaray. (Photo: Patricia Barreto)

This was a joint work between the team of volunteers from the missionary district of Pedro Juan Caballero and 17 young participants from Caleb International, who arrived from São Luís, Maranhão, Brazil, after traveling 3,397 kilometers to reach Paraguay.

"We are very happy to be able to come from so far away and talk about God's love [with] other people," expressed Willian Stephânio dos Santosasi, a pastor who takes care of the team. "Jesus reached the heart of each one of us, and in the same way, we want other people to know about Him."

In total, there were 117 volunteers from Caleb Mission who were divided among 6 preaching points. During three weeks, they carried out activities to testify about God's love and leave a mark in the area.

Goals Achieved

People who decided to give their lives to Christ, as a result of the work of the Calebs. (Photo: Patricia Barreto)

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They reached more than 1,000 people in the community through solidarity actions, recreational spaces, clothing donations, visitations to Bible students, and public evangelism. Every night, they saw the work of the Holy Spirit, as was the case in the San Isidro area.

"One of the evangelism points had space for a maximum of 120 people. We have seen, as the days have gone by, how the Holy Spirit has been working. Right now, there is no more room. Every night, more than 200 people gather. Our hearts are filled with gratitude to see the miracles of our Heavenly Father," said Patricia Barreto, national coordinator of Youth Ministries.

A youth that surrenders into God's hands can overcome the greatest challenges, says Pastor Heberson Licar, Youth Ministries director for the Paraguay Union, the administrative headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the country. He adds, "We dreamed of having a church in this area. We finished the Caleb Mission project in Santa Rosa del Aguaray with 203 people who decided to be baptized, 3 congregations formed, and a Pathfinder club. One of the people who has been baptized has even donated a piece of land for the construction of the church. Undoubtedly, God's plans are wonderful and much better than ours."

Pastor Licar concluded, "We thank God for these conquests, the pastors who worked on time and off time, putting all their strength in preaching the Gospel. We also thank our young people who, instead of resting on their vacations, decided to get out of their comfort zone and do crazy things for Christ."

See more photos of the campaign below:

[Credits: Patricia Barreto and Iglesia joven de São Luís, Maranhão]