In a simple, yet elegant, report, the Southern Asia region of the Seventh-day Adventist Church noted not only 600,000 baptisms in the past five years, but also how God's power is working daily in their part of the world.
In a simple, yet elegant, report, the Southern Asia region of the Seventh-day Adventist Church noted not only 600,000 baptisms in the past five years, but also how God’s power is working daily in their part of the world.
“If you want to see Jesus, come to India, for we see His face every day,” declared Pastor D. Ronald Watts, regional president of the Adventist Church. “If you want to know the power of God’s Spirit, come to India.”
The report, delivered on the evening of July 6 at the 58th General Conference Session in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, highlighted the deep spiritual needs of a region where the one million Adventist Christians make up only one-tenth of the population. Each of the 100 Southern Asia delegates on the stage represented 5,000 villages where the Gospel has yet to be preached and 50 people groups yet to be reached, Watts said.
Church official Dr. M.C. John reported on the importance of having church buildings in newly entered areas.
Noting that many in India don’t feel worthy to enter traditional temples, the presence of a church building offers an instant sense of community, he said: “In cases where a church is built before public meetings are held, congregations are growing more quickly. Churches become a village center.”
“A church building is more than just a church building, it is a symbol of God’s presence,” Dr. John added.
As important as church buildings are in India - during the report, Maranatha Volunteers International president Don Noble said the group had completed its 1,000th new church building - so, too, are the stories of lives in cities and villages touched by the power of Jesus’ love.
In Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, a woman’s breaking of family idols led her husband to question their worth: “Is there a God that wouldn’t break,” he asked? Working with an Adventist, they became believers and were baptized.
In a rural area, a husband and wife, Moses and India, were robbed of their money and Bible while en route to a meeting. They continued unharmed, and when they returned the following week, they found the robber had been converted and was apologetic, returning what he had taken.
These and other stories, presented with slides and animations, were but a sample of what God is doing, Watts said. He credited volunteers and donors for helping, and praised his team of regional leaders, workers and pastors as “truly the hands and heart of Jesus in our midst.”
There remains a challenge to reach the Southern Asia population, he added, saying “we want to know if you in the world church will stand with us in finishing God’s work.”