A Samoan man in full traditional garb blew a conch shell welcome to the delegates at the 58th business session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
A Samoan man in full traditional garb blew a conch shell welcome to the delegates at the 58th business session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church drawing photographers like a magnet to the front of the auditorium and introducing the July 4th evening meeting’s report from the church in the South Pacific.
This is a region with its own particular uniqueness. Stretching from islands North of the equator down to the South Pole and from Christmas Island to French Polynesia and Pitcairn, the region has more water than land, and more fish than people.
But the people are interested in fishing, following Jesus’ command to be fishers of men.
In a fast moving video news presentation delegates learned of satellite evangelism successes throughout the region including the Mark Finley series in Papua New Guinea resulting in 2,300 baptisms, a more contemporary “Rez 10” youth series in 2002 and a “Heart of Hope” series in 2004 which was more linked to small group and community evangelism.
But satellite evangelism is only one part of the strategy. Literature evangelists have been very successful selling Health books and Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories and delivering “Signs of the Times” magazines to remote outposts via Adventist Aviation ministries.
Adventist schools encourage their students to be involved in short term community service projects while increasing numbers of students and volunteers are taking advantage of Adventist Volunteer Service opportunities. More than 1,000 volunteers each year are now involved in serving God.
In the “Year of Evangelism,” 2004 was the year the South Pacific saw 14,000 people join the church. The news report gave many examples of how this was achieved including a community children’s club being run in a local school on Saturday morning, Bible seminars with the youth in locations such as Prescott Adventist College in Adelaide, Australia where half of the 100 young people who came to more traditional “prophecy” evangelism meetings were not members of the Adventist church.
Schools, colleges, universities, the Media Center, health food factories and Sydney Adventist hospital are all taking an active part in drawing new members to the church and preparing people for tomorrow.
But ultimately, evangelism is about people. Individuals. South Pacific President Laurie J. Evans challenged the delegates with the responsibility of spreading the gospel to everyone. In the video he then shared how some of his more daring members took that second mile, searching for and then living with an undiscovered tribe in Papua New Guinea, or selling their houses to buy a yacht for mission service.
As a region Evans confesses that the “work is not yet finished but,” he says, “we are a [region] with finishing on our minds.” The report concluded as he challenged the believers in his region to go and share the gospel.
