General Conference (GC) president Erton Köhler called Seventh-day Adventist mission leaders from across the Inter-American Division (IAD) to keep trusting in the God of miracles. “God is still alive and ready to perform miracles,” he told the crowd gathered at the main auditorium of the University of the Southern Caribbean outside Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, May 30. “He can open any door, heart, culture, and country.”
Köhler’s remarks took place during the Sabbath worship service, on the last day of the Intercultural Mission Church Planting Summit in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The May 27-30 event brought together leaders and laypeople interested in increasing the church’s footprint in reaching specific people groups across the region and beyond.
A Glocal Church
At the beginning of his message Köhler celebrated being “in a territory in which mission is a priority.” And as part of the Seventh-day Adventist worldwide family, “we need you,” Köhler told church members and leaders. “We need your presence, we need your commitment, we need your passion, we need your enthusiasm in other parts of the world.”
Köhler called Adventists from across the region to “be prepared [and] available.” He added, “Be prepared to be a glocal church—a church that is global and local at the same time; a church that is accomplishing mission here . . . but a church that is prepared” to go across the world.
Called . . . and Flexible
After inviting the audience to use their Bibles, Köhler invited them to reflect on the experience of Paul as a missionary in Ephesus, a center of paganism and superstition. “A hard place didn’t intimidate Paul,” he said pointing to Acts 19, “because he was convinced of his calling and was willing to pay the price to fulfill the mission.”
Köhler explained that Paul was ready to adapt for the sake of the gospel. In Ephesus he tried to reach others in the synagogue, but he was not successful. “He realized that sometimes the best strategies we have may not work well,” he said. But Paul was not discouraged as he moved to the school of Tyrannus, where he taught for two years.
“Paul understood that we need to be flexible in our strategies,” Köhler said. “We might think that only through this or that way the work will move forward, but the Lord is telling us, ‘Please, be open; I can show you different ways in which you can accomplish [your] mission.’ ”
Unusual Miracles
When Paul was willing to adapt, God opened doors, and lives were transformed, Köhler said. Moreover, people across Asia heard the message of Jesus.
Köhler pointed to Acts 19:11 as the core of the chapter’s message. “ ‘Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,’ ” he read, emphasizing, “The hands were Paul’s, but the miracles were God’s. Paul just made his hands available.”
In the same way, we can also use our hands, talents, ideas, initiatives, and projects, Köhler said. “God can perform unusual miracles when we give our hands to Him,” he emphasized.
Mission Is a Miracle
We need to remember, Köhler said, that “mission is a miracle,” and God is the source of that miracle. Thus, “God is telling us, ‘Please, don’t be afraid; make your hands available,’ ” he told summit participants, as “mission is not what we can do for God, but what God can do through us. Mission belongs to the Lord; we are just His agents.” On that belief, “we can move forward, trusting in the Owner of the mission.”
Against this backdrop, “mission can’t wait for better times,” Köhler said. “We can’t wait until we have enough pastors and missionaries prepared, or for a change in political [regimes], or for some countries to be open. . . . The time is now!”
Köhler shared some stories about how in an undisclosed and closed country, God opened doors during a funeral in 2022. An invitation to study the Bible led a local leader to eventually accept the Adventist message and be baptized. “Then other people followed him,” Köhler shared, “and today there are more than 6,000 members where before there were none.”
Part of God’s Miracle
In the same way, Köhler suggested, God is telling us to move forward in faith. “He is telling us, ‘Go and do the work, and I will open doors,’ ” he said.
Moreover, Köhler emphasized, God is calling us to renew our commitment to Him.
God is also telling us to become part of His miracle. “Those miracles will happen with or without us,” Köhler said, “but the call urges us today, ‘Please, be part of this miracle.’ ”
Uplifting Service
Earlier that morning, attendees at the summit were reminded of the mission challenges and opportunities across the IAD, as the region church president Abner De los Santos referenced the initiative of every local church planting another congregation within the next five years. “Pray for that,” De los Santos said. “And work, through the power of the Holy Spirit, with that goal in mind.”
Mission reports also highlighted some of the ways God is already performing miracles across the region. De los Santos shared about a 12-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic who led an evangelistic series during which 12 people were baptized. “It is the time for children and young people, and we must support them,” he said.
Throughout the service, musical ensembles, choirs, solos, and a quartet shared worship and spiritual songs, as members were called to get involved in mission.
A One-of-a-Kind Baptismal Ceremony
The May 30 service also included a baptismal ceremony, in Köhler’s words, “as a symbol that we can reach anyone” no matter their age, origin, or location. Twelve-year-old Valerie Gómez, from a Venezuelan family now living in Trinidad and Tobago, was baptized outside the auditorium by De los Santos, as the ceremony was livestreamed on large screens inside the building.
Valerie and her family have been attending the Aranguez Adventist Church, a Spanish-language congregation of about 54 people outside Port of Spain. After local church elder Emilio Cedeño ministered to the family, Valerie decided to commit to God through baptism.
During the ceremony Köhler prayed, from the podium inside, for Valerie’s commitment, as De los Santos baptized her and welcomed her into God’s family.
“This ceremony is a celebration and a symbol of what God can do beyond linguistic or geographical barriers,” Köhler said.
He called every leader and member to move forward in faith, trusting in the God of miracles in mission. “You can go across your street and reach someone,” he said, “or go to other parts of the world where nobody is going, as the Lord is calling you.” The key question, however, is, “Are you in?”
