Seventh-day Adventist congregations in South America are growing, thanks to small group ministries and media outreach, church leaders said during recent annual business meetings for the region.
Seventh-day Adventist congregations in South America are growing, thanks to small group ministries and media outreach, church leaders said during recent annual business meetings for the region.
In Chile, plans are underway to inaugurate a full-time television network run by the church with at least 25 percent of programming produced locally. This, in turn, will generate materials available to the Spanish-language work of the church worldwide, as well as provide a new training vehicle for Chile Adventist University’s communications school, said Guido Quinteros, president of the church in Chile.
More than 7,000 small Bible study groups in the southern area of Brazil, along with five regional radio stations, are responsible for many of the 15,000 baptisms recorded by the Adventist Church in that part of South America’s largest nation. In addition, more than 11,500 pairs of missionaries are going into urban and rural areas to communicate the church’s message; their work is augmented by 600 volunteer evangelists who hold public meetings.
Small Bible study groups are also gaining an impressive response in the northeastern part of Brazil: nearly 10,000 groups meet weekly, motivating longtime church members to reach out to neighbors and friends. The result is nearly 30,000 new Adventist members this year, with one-third of those joining in the month of September alone.
Adventists in Ecuador reported more than 5,000 new members joining the church through a variety of evangelism programs, including special seminars for youth and couples, said Manuel Egas, president of the church in that nation. In Bolivia, 10,000 new members joined the Adventist Church, during a year highlighted by the inauguration of a new communications center and a visit by world church president, Pastor Jan Paulsen.
The growth reported by the church in this area of the world indicates it will soon easily surpass the 1.9 million members and 15,500 congregations reported by Adventists there in 2001.
