Seventh-day Adventist young people in northern Peru rallied to bring hope in Christ through actions on Global Youth Day (GYD) on March 16. They shared food, prayers, and friendship with people in need.
Young people also participated in mission initiatives and visited friends, Bible students, and neighbors to share God’s Word. In addition, as part of the Life for Lives blood drive, hundreds of young people donated more than 200 units of blood in the towns of Chimbote, Nuevo Chimbote, Huacho, Lima, and Tarapoto.
On March 16, young people helped distribute copies of the book The Great Controversy by Adventist Church co-founder Ellen G. White, and promoted Nuevo Tiempo Radio in their cities. In addition, they distributed radio souvenirs to taxi drivers, so they can remember to listen to the Adventist radio station.
In every local church across the region, one young church member preached about the soon coming of Christ and the need to proclaim the good news in the big cities. Outside their church buildings, young people offered free haircuts and participated in parades across their cities and towns.
In the northern Peruvian city of Piura, more than 700 young people gathered in the main park to participate in a special program celebrating Adventist youth. During the event, they offered personal testimonies, and a baptismal ceremony took place.
Alan Cosavalente, youth ministries director in the North Peru Union Mission of the Adventist Church, participated in a series of visits to local churches that began in Rioja, in northeastern Peru, where he saw leadership clubs inaugurated and distributed resources to be used at local Adventist Youth events.
During the day, Adventist young people took to social media to post about their acts of kindness and calling others to join them in doing good deeds.
According to regional church leaders, these acts of kindness showed the sound commitment of Adventist young people to follow the example of Jesus. Just like Jesus, Adventist young people in northern Peru sought to meet people’s needs and help them by getting involved, rekindling their own spiritual lives and inspiring others.
About Global Youth Day
Global Youth Day was launched on March 13, 2013. According to the General Conference Youth Department, the vision of GYD is to recapture the reality of Adventist youth as a global movement mobilized for service, contributing to the proclamation of the everlasting gospel, and ushering in the second coming of Jesus Christ.
“There is a lot more to religious faith than simply going to church and listening to sermons,” its website says. “The true practice of religion involves the revelation of God’s love in living out Jesus’s gospel commission as He bade us before He ascended to heaven: through all manner of selfless acts that point a desperately needy world to the ultimate hope of the better world He has made possible for us.” It adds, “Grounded in the concluding words of Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan, ‘Go and do likewise’ (Luke 10:25-37), the theme of the Global Youth Day is ‘Be the Sermon.’ ”
The 2024 theme and focus was, “Show Up in the Cities,” as it emphasized urban ministry around the world.
The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division Spanish-language news site.
