The Seventh-day Adventist(SDA) Church in the Caribbean Union is three weeks away from the single, largest, homegrown evangelistic activity in the life of the Union. From March 9-17, 2018, fifty preachers from the ten fields around the Caribbean Union will meet in Guyana for what is dubbed, Impact Guyana 2018.
The initiative is orchestrated by top Caribbean Union leaders to give support to the Inter American Division’s program of evangelism, through total membership involvement. This will mobilize and heighten the involvement of local church leaders, district pastors and members in sharing the gospel in their communities.
According to Pastor Claudius Morgan, Assistant to the President for Evangelism in the Caribbean Union and Coordinator of Impact Guyana 2018, “There will be 50 preachers from 50 sites around the Guyana Conference seeking to baptize over 1,000 persons in one week.”
The Guyana Conference is the largest in the Caribbean Union with 223 congregations and more than 60,000 members. Pastor Morgan is of the opinion that, “With a population like that they are not only concerned about impacting the country, but also in preachers gaining the necessary experience to take back to their territories for continued evangelism.”
The fifty preachers from the Union territory includes administrators, departmental directors, pastors and lay evangelists. They will be partnering with local church pastors by holding evangelistic efforts in churches, auditoriums and tents.
Pastor Morgan explained, “ was already set in motion by pastors and lay leaders in Guyana in preparation for the campaign. Preachers are assigned and we are praying for another Pentecost experience.”
The President of the Guyana Conference, Pastor Richard James, indicated, “[We] are delighted that so many preachers are coming into the Conference. We expect total membership involvement and community impact that is unheard of.”
Over the years, church growth has been consistent and impressive in the 28 pastoral districts of the Guyana Conference and membership increased by 1,847 in 2017. It is hoped that the inspiration gleaned through this program will ignite a wave of evangelism throughout the country.
Since the beginning of the year, pastors and districts have been meeting, coordinating and strategizing on how to achieve maximum benefit from the initiative. They have also been conducting cell meetings, bible studies, conventions and community impact series in preparation for the pastoral campaigns.
“The lay men and women are energized for the program,” Morgan reiterated. “Over the years, they have had great results in evangelism and many of the Caribbean Union evangelists, like Pastor Sherwyn White, can trace their evangelistic nurturing [to the days when they were active laymen].”
The territory of Guyana has hosted successful festivals of the laity through the Personal Ministries Department of the Conference, all in an effort to enlist the potential of the laity, thus embracing the concept of total membership involvement. The Personal Ministries Director of the Guyana Conference shared, “All across the territory, our churches have been working hard to reach people with the message of salvation. The Impact Guyana 2018 initiative will see the participation of 18 pastoral districts, over 70 churches and 24 pastors.”
Beginning March 6, 2018, pastors and lay evangelists will begin arriving in Guyana. Coordinators have planned for one baptism at each site, during the week. The final baptism will be held at the National Exhibition Centre where over 5,000 people are expected to convene for a grand finale convention with Pastor Steve Riley of the South Caribbean Conference as keynote speaker. The live-streamed program will feature the President, Kern Tobias, and other leaders from the Caribbean Union Conference.
Impact Guyana 2018 is an initiative led by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Caribbean Union to promote and bring over 1,000 new members into fellowship with the church. Leaders have agreed that the initiative will continue yearly around the Union and Suriname has been identified as the venue in 2019.