4,000 to Be Baptized in Venezuela’s Capital

By Libna Stevens, Inter-American Division

More than 4,000 people will be baptized Sabbath at a major evangelistic meeting that kicks off an ambitious initiative to baptize 1.2 million people across the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Inter-American Division over the next five years.

The April 16 baptisms in the Caracas University Stadium in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, mark the Adventist Church’s largest mass baptism in the South American country.

The evangelistic meeting will be attended by 18,000 church members and broadcast live via satellite to viewers around the world. Leaders and church members will also pray for Venezuela and reiterate their commitment to caring for and spreading hope in Caracas.

“Nothing has ever been organized this big in Caracas or in Venezuela for that matter,” said Josney Rodriguez, president of the Adventist Church in east Venezuela. “Our ministers and lay members have doubled their efforts to share the gospel to those around them.”

The baptisms are the result of an outreach initiative that began with 900 small groups studying the Bible in the city and culminated with about 200 weeklong evangelistic meetings that end on Sabbath, said Balvin Braham, assistant to the president of the Inter-American Division, a region that includes Venezuela, and the main organizer of the event.

Ted N.C. Wilson, president of the Adventist world church, will be the special keynote speaker during the three-hour satellite broadcast titled “Lord, Transform Me.”

It will air on the Hope Church Channel from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. local time (noon to 3 p.m. Eastern Time).

The event serves as the official launch of a five-year evangelistic effort, also called “Lord, Transform Me,” that aims to baptize 1.2 million people across the Inter-American Division by 2020.

Read also: Inter-American Leaders Pray at Jordan River for 1.2 Million Baptisms

For more information and resources on the Inter-American Division’s “Lord, Transform Me” evangelism initiative, visit resources.interamerica.org

For times and channels for the April 16 program:

English: Hope Church Channel noon – 3 p.m. (ET)

Spanish: Esperanza TV noon – 3 p.m. (ET)

French: Hope Church Channel 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. (ET)