![Baptism in Navua, Fiji, in 2020. [Photo Courtesy of Adventist Record]](https://cdn.adventistcontent.org/images/5df200974469ba078555eb4c/8de7bac13fa9f57dbac4cc16fe54b7a061f301df/1200x/4cb1634699468185.jpg)
The South Pacific Division (SPD) was the only division of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church to have more accessions (baptisms and professions of faith) in 2020 than in 2019.
Dr. David Trim, General Conference Archives, Statistics, and Research director, has shared that the SPD had 58,091 net accessions in 2020, which was 7.25 percent of the global total of accessions. By comparison, the SPD’s membership was just 2.8 percent of the global total.
The results were largely due to disciple-making activities in the Trans-Pacific Union Mission (TPUM) and Papua New Guinea Union Mission (PNGUM), which continued despite the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. Both unions saw hundreds of people baptized.
In Papua New Guinea, churches were unable to remain open due to the lockdown, but people were still able to meet together in small groups.
“Many had been trained to do Discovery Bible Reading and were able to lead in group discussions,” said Pastor Glenn Townend, SPD president. “People were able to get to know each other more closely and support each other as they grew in Jesus.”
In the Trans-Pacific, members faithfully followed the disciple-making model of preparing the soil, sowing the seeds, cultivating the plants, harvesting the crop, and multiplying the harvest—a model outlined by Jesus in Mark 4. Hundreds were brought to Jesus as a result.
This article was originally published on the website of Adventist Record