Regional Seventh-day Adventist leaders shared an initiative to increase mission awareness and training across their territory during the Northern Peru Union Conference’s Year-End Meeting in Chaclacayo, Lima, Peru, November 20-21. Education director Edgardo Muguerza and his team shared an annual report on the status and growth of the 28 Adventist schools in their territory and explained how those schools are planning to increase their support of mission.
The new program, coined Adventist Schools Mission Agency, seeks to educate new generations so they feel the need to prepare academically and professionally, learn other languages, and, as they grow, become volunteers who contribute to the local and global mission of preaching the gospel.
This project seeks to instill the principle of self-denial and the value of hard work and service, church leaders said. “It is based [on] three essential pillars: training for life, connection with the environment and mission, and collaboration with other levels of the Adventist Church,” leaders said. “And it is linked to four essential aspects of the Adventist Education curriculum, namely, communion with God, commitment to the church, focus on work, and mission of service to others.”
As an essential element in this innovative educational program, teachers will participate in exchanges both nationally and internationally, further enriching the training experience and promoting globalized learning, leaders said.
Seventh-day Adventist schools across the region have always included a strong spiritual component, Muguerza said. “In 2023, 624 students chose to be baptized during several events focused on their spiritual lives,” he said.
Now, the fundamental purpose of the renewed mission focus is to increase the influence of schools for mission, educational leaders said. They added that the new program aligns with the main goal of Christian education, as laid out by Adventist Church co-founder Ellen G. White. More than a century ago, White emphasized that the goal of education is to restore the image of God in human beings, returning them to their original perfection and promoting a holistic development in body, mind, and soul, which aligns with the divine purpose of creation.
White also outlined the connection between the work of education and redemption, both grounded in Christ. “It prepares the student for the joy of serving in this world, and for a higher joy of wider service in the world to come,” she wrote in her book Education (p. 13), which regional church leaders quoted during the sessions. “Consequently, service must be an integral part of any formative project that aspires to fulfill the divine purpose,” they said.
Adventist education leaders in the region said they hope the new program will be a blessing to students, teachers, and society at large. “We hope it helps to form new generations which are not only intellectually outstanding but also citizens committed to service and love of neighbor, following the example of Christ,” they said.
The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division Spanish-language news site.
