Caracas, Venezuela…[Rodolfo Escobar/Libna Stevens]
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Venezuela Antilles region is involved in training thousands of its church members and laypeople in their responsibilities as they serve and disciple new members of the church.
Over 21,300 church members were awarded certificates during recent special ceremonies held throughout the region. It’s an approach that is bringing great results, church leaders there say.
Pastor Fernando Toala, personal ministries director for the church in the Venezuela Antilles region says that the church has been working with three stages of evangelistic efforts since last summer.
“We divide the year in three segments,” Pastor Toala says. “First comes the stage of consolidation which occurs from June to September, then the sowing stage which is from October to January and then the harvest which runs from February to May.”
It is during the consolidation stage that active church members and laypeople are trained in their responsibilities as they volunteer to serve an office in church, receive courses on Christian ministries, on spiritual gifts, Christian leadership, how to witness and give Bible studies, how the church operates and its principles, how to lead small groups, among others.
It was during the consolidation stage that brought thousands of church members a renewed commitment to the church, says Toala, who traveled from church to church to witness and celebrate with the newly equipped members.
“We have noticed that the church is entering a new experience here with the consolidation stage,” says Toala. “We have turned churches into schools of prophets where the members not only hear a sermon but are trained.”
“It is very positive to see how the church is having an awakening in leadership,” he adds.
Pastor Carlyle Bayne, personal ministries director for the church in Inter-America, visited churches and gave training during certification ceremonies. He says that member training like this is vital to having a wide-ranging impact.
“When you think of the scope of our evangelism nowadays, we have thousands of members in the age group of 17-30, some of which have not grown up in the Adventist Church,” says Pastor Bayne. “They have not been walking around and giving Bible studies, or learning how to win souls. Some of them may have had that background from other churches they came from but we need to be exposed to the Adventist lifestyles so the Inter-American Division emphasizes how they can be soul winners, so we need to bring them to these type of training programs.”
Certification programs like these are having a great impact across the church in Inter-America, says Pastor Bayne, who frequently travels throughout the territory overseeing certification programs for laypeople and active church members.
“I can see that the enthusiasm created among a wide section of members who participate,” says Pastor Bayne. “You have farmers, teachers, doctors, a total cross section of the church is represented.”
It not only contributes to the working of the church but Pastor Bayne says he sees the unified program that will have lasting effects.
Those lasting effects are what church leaders in Venezuela are certain will bring about a stronger church as the sowing or planting stage has members involved in giving Bible studies, distributing literature, giving health talks throughout the communities, and more says Pastor Toala. During the harvest stage, members will be involved in organizing evangelistic campaigns throughout their communities.
“It’s not only about baptizing and baptizing, we need to consolidate the new members every year,” he says.
It’s an on-going training program that the church in Venezuela Antilles and other church regions throughout Inter-America have in place, according to Pastor Bayne.
For more on the church in the Venezuela Antilles Union, visit www.unionvenezolana.com
