Publishing work in the Seventh-day Adventist Church began with a vision. Ellen White, Church co-founder, was shown the early Adventist pioneers should print a “little paper” and circulate it among the people. From this seemingly insignificant beginning, “streams of light” would flow, flooding every corner of the darkened globe. And, while today’s advanced technology allows us to spread the gospel with the click of a mouse, personal literature ministry is still as important as it was 170 years ago. 

At Spring Meeting, one of two annual gatherings for World Church leadership, Ted N.C. Wilson, president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, shared that for more than 10 years, the Adventist church has been involved in the Missionary Book of the Year project. “We’re coming close to distributing half a billion books! Many men, women and children have been reached through these silent preachers and we praise God for the lives that have been transformed,” he said. The Publishing Department of the World Church has facilitated the promotion of yearly sharing materials such as tracts, magazines and books. 

Almir Marroni, publishing director, recently unveiled the Missionary Book of the Year, “Hope for Today’s Families,” authored by Willie and Elaine Oliver, Family Ministries co-directors for the Seventh-day Adventist World Church. It is important to note in 2019, the Adventist Church celebrates the 100th anniversary of Family Ministries, a department dedicated to family life enrichment. Marroni said if every church member gave away one book per week, 1 billion books would be distributed in one year. “This has tremendous potential!” he said.

Why a missionary book on families? Elaine says both she and her husband think this is the best type of book to share. “Everyone is in a relationship,” she says. “And all of us, regardless of if whether we had great families or not so great families, are in families. We, as a Church, give hope to people and…now we have an opportunity to say to people, ‘We have hope for your family.’ Everyone can relate to that.”

Willie says, “Everyone wants to have a good family relationship. If you’re married, you want to have a better marriage. If you’re a parent, you want to have a better relationship with your kids. If you’re a son or daughter, you want to have a better relationship with your parents. It doesn’t matter what your relationship is, this is something that every person can get something from.” 

“Hope for Today’s Families” is available from the Adventist Book Center with special bulk discount pricing. You may read the first chapter and see an overview of topics by visiting the Adventist Book Center.