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Volunteers change
Adventist Church

Volunteers are changing the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They have given it an incredibly fast growth rate, and given laity renewed responsibility for church growth. Jackie Smith, the coordinator of Global Mission volunteers, writes for adventist.fm:

The Gospel is going forward around the world by frontline workers called Global Mission pioneers.

Global Mission pioneers are volunteers who serve for at least one year in an unentered area within their own culture to start a new congregation or building up a dying congregation.

Being indigenous, pioneers can move into an area and already be familiar with the food, language, and customs. They know the sensitivities and commonalities among their own people, and can immediately begin forming friendships for the Kingdom.

8000 new congregations

Currently there are nearly 19,000 such pioneers serving in places like India, Russia, Asia, Africa, North America, and a host of other locations in South America, Central America, and the South Pacific. In the past five years, Global Mission pioneers have established more than 8,000 new companies and congregations in spite of the sometimes difficult circumstances in which they work.

Below is a letter from Martin Tako Abea, a Global Mission pioneer serving in Sudan. In it he shares a few of the personal challenges and victories that he's encountered thus far:

Work with displaced people

"In 1994 most of the Southern Sudanese moved Southward to the Uganda boarder because of war led by the Northern Islamic army. Many of these displaced tribes were ignorant about God's plan of salvation.

"In 1995 I was sent to that area to preach the gospel as a Global Mission Pioneer. My companion was Joseph Said. My target place for work is a camp with displaced people along the Uganda boarder.

"God led us safely to the camp. We found these displaced people drinking, dancing traditional dances, and practicing sexual immorality. The churches, near where we built our hut, were mostly occupied by women who have no husbands.

"The first problems we faced was communication. We were unable to speak the local Arabic which is used in the camp. We fasted for a day, asking God to help us learn the language. So God did a miracle, and within a week we were able to speak the local Arabic fluently. On the following Sabbath, Joseph preached. People wondered how we learned the local Arabic within a week. They said, "You speak Arabic better than us."

"We started our first Sabbath with two people under a mango tree. The number of people is increasing every Sabbath because we visit them house to house.

Another miracle

"God has done another miracle which greatly surprised people. The man who gave us a place for building our hut brought a witch doctor to drive away the evil spirits from his daughter. A team of people were beating some drums in order to get this girl who was possessed by the evil spirit to dance. However, the girl would not dance. The witch doctor and the team tried several times, but they failed. The girl would not dance. So they decided to move away from our home half a mile. The witch doctor started to perform her witchcraft, and the girl started to dance. People said, "What kind of church is this, that can prevent the witch doctor from performing her witchcraft? This could be people of the Most High God."

Satan's plan

"We were allowed to operate freely. People came to listen to our preaching, but Satan made plans to tempt us and stop our work. The first temptation came from our neighbors who were women without husbands. We overcame this temptation by the word of God. God did a miracle, and after three months most of these women got married and some decided to leave the cluster. Now this place is called in Acheli dialect, "Odoko Mit" meaning, it has become good.

"After the first temptation, Satan brought sickness on us. I was suffering from appendicitis and had to be operated on. Joseph was also operated on later. Our work came to a stand still. Pastor Okayo followed us and conducted an effort. During the effort, Satan made plans to hinder the work. The first plan was that we were not allowed to do visitation. The second plan was that the pastor was not allowed to use a microphone. We prayed to God earnestly. At first we were allowed to use a microphone only for calling people to come for the meetings. At the end of the effort, there were 13 souls baptized. Three of these people were Lokoro. They were the first Lokoro to join the Adventist church.

"Our church is growing rapidly, with nearly 60 members including children. We are planning to start an adult education for our old women in the church who want to read the Bible by themselves. I am requesting you to join us in prayer so that their unsatisfying souls are satisfied in God's spirit."

Your Global Mission Pioneer,
Martin Tako Abea
South Sudan

Become a volunteer

Please pray for the thousands of other pioneers like Martin, who are serving on the frontlines to share the Gospel of Christ.

If you would like to become a Global Mission pioneer, or want more information about how you can be involved with the work in your area, please contact your division Global Mission coordinator.

Otherwise contact the Global Mission office at: gminfo@Adventist.org or write 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904, phone: (301) 680-6628.

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Author: Jackie Ordelheide Smith, Coordinator, Global Mission Pioneers, JackieOSmith@compuserve.com.

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