Some 600,000 Seventh-day Adventist families in South America are expected to share their church's message of hope when they invite their family, friends, coworkers and community members into their homes May 30 for a meal, launching a months-long personal ministry initiative in the region.

Homes of Hope, sponsored by the church's South American region, is expected to prep community members for an October regional satellite evangelism series led Mark Finley, a world church general vice president.

Participating families receive a DVD featuring a message from Finley and copies of Signs of Hope, a book by Alejandro Bullon, to pass out to their guests. In his message, Finley speaks on the universal human need for a "future with hope" and encourages viewers to accept their friends' invitation to meet weekly to study the Bible.

The initiative is designed for families to continue to eat together and study the church's values and beliefs leading up to the outreach series, says Williams Costa Jr., world church associate director for communication.

"This personal ministry effort is extremely inexpensive and will create positive publicity for the church in South America," Costa says, adding that relationship building is a far more effective means of witness than posting flyers advertising an event.

A largely Catholic country, Brazil is also home to nearly 1.3 million Adventists -- the most members in any single country worldwide. Last year, membership growth led to church administration expansion in North Brazil, where it's estimated some 45,000 members join the church every year.

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