More than 3,000 Seventh-day Adventists across southern Guatemala recently gathered in Retalhuleu for a discipleship training congress. Participants were laypeople involved in small group ministries who have been designated as missionary couples in neighborhoods without an Adventist presence.

The 1,500 “missionary couples” met at the Adventist auditorium in Retalhuleu and were challenged on September 23, 2023, to share the Gospel with at least 2,000 people by the end of December as part of an aggressive discipleship plan.

“Our most urgent need is to be anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit,” said Pastor Homero Salazar, Evangelism coordinator for the Florida (United States) Conference and guest speaker of the congress. “Without anointing, there is no mission. Without anointing, everything that we do will be hollow and empty. We as human beings are fallen beings; we are not super men; we are desperately needing justification, sanctification, and salvation because without Christ, our lives have no meaning and are empty, and we will not have power to fulfill the mission.”

Attendees answered the pressing call by leaders to intensify their efforts in sharing the Bible and the saving power of Jesus and His soon return.

Evangelism as a Process

Pastor Melchor Ferreyra, Personal Ministries director for the Inter-American Division, encouraged small group leaders on the global evangelism plan in discipling others. “Evangelism is a process and not an event,” said Ferreyra, adding that it’s something that requires preparation, planting, cultivating, harvesting, and conservation and discipleship. Identifying gifts and talents each person has is important in learning and advancing together in the mission. “Discipleship is sharing what I can do well [in evangelism] as well as my experience and expertise with someone who does not know.” It doesn’t matter which area of expertise in evangelism, whether teaching Bible studies or how to preach to new believers.

Ferreyra congratulated the small group leaders and missionary couples representing the more than 900 small groups across the South Guatemala Mission for their dedication and commitment to being instruments of hope in their communities. “Seeing thousands of church members with such incomparable fervor committed to the great task of sharing the Gospel with their friends, relatives, and neighbors was so impressive,” he said.

During the day’s program, four new believers were baptized into the church after completing a Bible study program.

Missionary Couple in Action

Jose Reyes and Brenda Sandoval were among the hundreds of missionary couples who chose to dedicate more time to sharing the Gospel. They own a bookstore and decided to dedicate their business to the Lord. They were recently inspired to visit a community about 50 kilometers (approx. 31 miles) away in Puerto de Ocos, San Marcos. They traveled each day and gave Bible studies to two people. Among them was Guillermina, wife of an evangelical pastor who is a friend of Jose. In hopes of helping Guillermina and her husband’s struggling marriage, Jose and Brenda began giving Bible studies to her. They tried to help the couple reconcile, but it did not work out. Guillermina soon decided to get baptized. “This is the way,” said Guillermina. “Jesus is my refuge, and this is the true church.” She added, “In the 20 years that I was married [to] an evangelical pastor, I hadn’t [learned] so much about the Bible thanks to this couple.”

Similarly, Miguelina had been attending another evangelical church but felt abandoned by her church when she fell ill. Jose and Brenda visited her in her home, helped take care of her, and after three months of Bible studies, Miguelina decided to get baptized. “The Lord healed me and saved me,” said Miguelina. She was baptized during the congress.

Getting Involved in Discipling Others

For Maria Elena Goyás, from the Mango 1 Adventist Church in the Xab Village of Retalhuleu, sharing Jesus is not very natural for her. “When I saw my son in ways of perdition, that woke me up in my desire to help others who were going through the same experience as my son,” said Maria. “I prayed to overcome my fears and shyness, and I began to give Bible studies.” After one person in her group was baptized, her faith was strengthened. Maria is now doing Bible studies with three other families. “It’s God through His Spirit who trains us to talk and study the Bible with them,” she said.

For Henry López, of the Tocache North Adventist Church in San Marcos, being at the congress meant an opportunity to share experiences with others and reaffirm his commitment to the mission of the church. López’s passion for Jesus is something he learned ever since he joined the church. “It’s been 43 years since I met Jesus, and the first thing I did was share the Gospel with my entire family, my parents, and my sisters, but it was not easy because they belonged to a traditional church,” he said. “Thanks to patience and perseverance, they accepted the Adventist faith, and today, there is an organized church there with almost 60 members.” Now Henry wants to double his efforts in reaching more in his community.

Armando López, from Pajapita, San Marcos, was eager to be part of the congress. “I started very excited in the church more than 28 years ago, but soon I got comfortable being just a member of the church,” he said. Recently, he was challenged to get involved and strive to be a blessing to others. “I began to mature spiritually and felt the need to work for the lost,” he added. What began as a group of 15 turned into 60 members. “I feel useful to God. I made a pact with Him to become an evangelist and have been able to win 20 persons for Jesus each year.”

Embracing Discipleship Evangelism Plan

The regional congress is the first among the eight regional conferences and missions embracing the discipleship evangelism plan across the Central American Union, according to Pastor Gustavo Menéndez, Personal Ministries director for the Guatemala Union.

“We have well-defined objectives that we are aiming to reach, starting with returning the sense of mission and commitment to God among church members,” said Menéndez. “The plan includes establishing a discipleship school in each church to help members develop their skills and train them to fulfill the mission, [as well as] strengthen and equip laypersons for the active ministry as small group leaders, Bible instructors, missionary couples, lay evangelists, [and] digital evangelists in efforts to plant churches in new territories.”

It boils down to strengthening the structure of small groups where active church members like new believers can be easily integrated into the church in an inclusive, friendly environment that gets them involved in mission, said Menéndez. “This is just the beginning of a new discipleship drive in Guatemala.”

There are more than 3,700 small groups in Guatemala, and the church expects to engage at least 30,000 men, women, youth, and children in the discipleship program across the nation, added Menéndez.

The Guatemala Union has more than 195,900 Seventh-day Adventists worshiping in 1,370 churches and congregations nationwide. The church operates 5 conferences and 3 missions, 30 primary and secondary schools, as well as 2 radio stations that cover 80 percent of the country.

Gustavo Menendez and Melchor Ferreyra contributed to this report.

The original version of this story was posted on the Inter-American Division website.