World Church: Gospel Advances Through Sow 1 Billion Invites; Go One Million Triples
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Over the past 24 months, an estimated 850 million brochures inviting people to study the Bible have been handed out worldwide as part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Sow 1 Billion program. |
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The Unai Chorale, from Southern Asia-Pacific Division, provided music during the Sow One Billion--Go One Million program, July 9, at the 58th Adventist church world session in St. Louis, Missouri. [photo by Gerry Chudleigh]
Over the past 24 months, an estimated 850 million brochures inviting people to study the Bible have been handed out worldwide as part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Sow 1 Billion program. At the same time, the Go One Million effort has become Go "Three" Million -- there are now that many lay people involved in spreading the Gospel. These details surfaced in a report presented to thousands of Adventist church members and business session delegates at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri July 9.
For Sow 1 Billion, "Response continues to grow as we move toward our goal of 1 billion invitations," the report stated. "Millions of Adventist lay people have discovered that church pews are not a resting place, but a starting place." So far under the plan, there have been 1 million requests for Bible studies and 80,000 baptisms.
The goal for Go One Million, established in April 2001, was to have one million lay people trained and equipped for evangelism by the church's world session in July 2005. That time is here, and the number has tripled.
"Go One Million and Sow 1 Billion are two simple plans to share the good news of Jesus. It takes no special training or skills to pass out invitations to study the Bible" as part of Sow 1 Billion, and, "All it takes is a willing spirit to be part of the Go One Million team of lay people," the report stated.
The report highlighted several areas of the world where Sow 1 Billion is heavily active. In the East-Central Africa church region, the response rate is high as the program works hand-in-hand with Go One Million. In Japan, where post-modernism makes Bible studies less attractive, church leaders are using innovative methods of sharing Christ: National ads were placed in 14 newspapers with a potential audience of 35 million, making it the first time the church has advertised like this in the country.
A Korean church provides food, clothes and basic necessities to the local community, and then "meets their ultimate need" of meeting Jesus.
The Adventist Church in Mongolia is a "young, vibrant church" that is just 10 years old. They have an "ambitious goal of placing an invitation in every home in the country." They are "meeting needs one at a time."
Reports came from Germany, the Philippines, Brazil and Uruguay, and Grenada, where one out of 10 people are Adventist church members and the "entire church is mobilized" and "actively involved."
Bible lessons have been given in 140 countries around the world, and the Internet has proved a useful tool as www.hopetalk.org provides Bible lessons.
"Sow 1 Billion was and is an extraordinary project for two reasons," said Pastor Jan Paulsen, newly re-elected president of the world church, to the crowd of 40,000. "One, we've never done anything like this before. It almost blows the mind to think we would print that many invitations for people to come to know Jesus Christ, to reach two-thirds of families and households around the world. It's extraordinary because it's so simple."
Second, he said, Sow 1 Billion is the "first major global project where the laity of the church said 'we want to work with the church.' There are a small handful of very committed servants of the Lord, laypeople, who said, 'Let us carry that... They really represent what I referred to this morning as people who have been touched by the Holy Spirit and who give and give and come back and say 'What more can we give?'"
Adventist-laymen's Services and Industries (ASI) is a partner of Sow 1 Billion, while the Voice of Prophecy, Adventist World Radio (AWR), TAGnet and other supporting ministries have aided in the worldwide project.
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