This year, Hope Impact, a project that promotes reading through the distribution of missionary books, is focusing on the book The Great Controversy. Ecuador will distribute 200,000 of these copies throughout 2023, beginning on April 1, 2023.

As a prelude to this effort, the headquarters of the Adventist Church in Ecuador carried out activities as a prelude to the great missionary movement that, for 17 years, has mobilized its members. In Guayaquil, the book was distributed in the canton of Samborondón, and the copy reached the hands of Mayor Juan José Yúnez, who congratulated the initiative. Also, in the northern region of the country, the book was distributed in the Consejo Provincial neighborhood, where a new church will be established.

For Fanny Pozo, this delivery was very special because, thanks to The Great Controversy, she learned about biblical truths. "I was visiting some friends when the cover of this book caught my attention. Before I left, I asked them to sell it to me, but they simply gave it to me as a gift. I was reading and going along with the Bible, when I discovered things I had never heard in the church I was attending, such as the importance of the law or the truth of the Sabbath. This made me look for the church that kept all the commandments of God, and I found it. Today I promote this book and invite everyone to read it," she says.

"The Hope Impact project for the church is important because it allows us to transmit to the entire community through literature a message that speaks of Jesus and that this world of pain and suffering will end soon," says Pastor Cristhian Alvarez, Evangelism director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ecuador. "God is going to use that book so that when the right time or circumstance comes, the person can go to the book, look at what is there, and make decisions in favor of Jesus."

Hope in People's Hands

Every year, a book that carries hope occupies the hands that carry these publications, always with the aim that this positive reading can transform a life. It is not only the delivery, but also the prayer and contact with people. This is what Stalin Gaumangallo, an official of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Ecuador, says. "First is to generate trust through a smile and also to be able to generate that bond with the person. Once we have this bond, the main objective is to deliver this message of hope through the book to capture an interest in prayer and in the study of biblical truths that people need so much," he says.

The Great Controversy, written by Ellen G. White, is a work published to confirm in the reader one’s deepest, most cherished desire: the hope that goodness and justice will definitely prevail in the universe. "This book contains extremely interesting questions: How did evil originate? Where is this world going? It also shows us above all when Christ will return to receive His people," says Pastor Carlos Correa, publishing director of the Ecuador Union.

"That's why it's very important that the whole church joins together to deliver the book these two years, 2023 and 2024, because this book has the ability to open understanding and demonstrate prophecies. So we are very happy to participate in this project and that it will be a blessing to the whole world," says Pastor Manuel Melo, president of the Adventist Church for the northern part of Ecuador.

Every reader will find in the pages of this work a stimulus and a benefit; it not only gives joy to the one who gave it but also to the one who received it for free and is willing to read it. This is what Isabela Torres, from the Roldós sector, in Quito, Ecuador’s capital, says. "It is an excellent campaign, that they can give free books with relevant topics; one can become more educated. I like that they also have books for children."

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The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division Spanish-language news site.