Seventh-day Adventist leaders in El Salvador inaugurated a new campground center in the city of Santa Ana, in the western part of the country, during a special ceremony on January 21, 2023.

The newly purchased, 48,000-square-meter campground is the fourth such property purchased by the church in El Salvador. The campground will be used to train department and ministry leaders and hold family retreats, camporees, summits, and congresses.

Elie Henry, president of the Adventist Church in the Inter-American Division (IAD), joined division and regional leaders in cutting the ribbon amid more than 1,300 church elders and small group leaders who witnessed the inauguration before commencing a whole day of training meetings.

“It’s very impressive to see your commitment to continue growing and training in such a beautiful campground like this one,” Henry said. “Thank you for your dedication to discipling others as you continue to fulfill the mission of the church.”

Named Campamento de Dios, or “God’s Campground,” the property includes a large multi-purpose auditorium that seats some 2,300 people.

“Our church leaders and members expressed how proud they feel to not have to be searching for other places to hold their training certifications during the year,” Abel Pacheco, president of the Adventist Church in El Salvador, said.

Pacheco challenged leaders to continue motivating others in their local churches and small groups to get involved in the “I Will Go” mission initiatives to reach others in their communities with the gospel.

Training leaders and members is an essential part of advancing the mission of the church in El Salvador, Pacheco said. Because a district pastor in the West El Salvador Conference of the Adventist Church can have 10 to 18 churches under his care, having campgrounds for leadership and lay training, among other events, will only continue to strengthen the mission of the church, he said.

According to church statistics, the West Salvador Conference, headquartered in Santa Ana, had 46,475 members as of June 30, 2022, worshiping in 206 churches and companies. That church region is part of the El Salvador Union Mission, which includes four other conferences and more than 190,000 baptized church members across the nation.

The original version of this story was posted on the Inter-American Division news site.