Talking and living the church’s mission is never far from a Seventh-day Adventist gathering. It was certainly not the exception for the more than 300 hundred Adventist laypeople, church leaders, and government officers who met for the opening session of the Inter-American Division’s (IAD) Adventist-laymen Services and Industries (ASi) Convention in Nassau, The Bahamas, on August 21. The annual event, taking place this year at the Atlantis Convention Center under the theme “Reviving the Spirit of Service,” gathered Adventist professionals, entrepreneurs, and others to worship, network, get training and inspiration to better share Christ in the marketplace.
This gathering is not by chance, said Pastor James F. Daniel, an IAD vice-president and ASi-IAD secretary. “You have traveled from far and wide to be here, for a purpose that is pregnant with design,” he told attendees. “In the following few days, we will listen to plenaries and workshop presentations, but we will also spend valuable time one on one so that not only everyone is heard but valued. Because without you, there would not be ASi,” Daniel emphasized.
Pastor James Daniel, IAD vice president and ASi Inter-America secretary opens the four-day session in Nassau, The Bahamas. Photo by Nigel Coke/IAD
Pastor Leonard Johnson, IAD executive secretary, concurred. “The Inter-American Division is all about mission, but to accomplish it, we need people,” he said as he welcomed every attendee. “We valued each one of you as business professionals, and as we come together, we recognize that we need you to help us reach the secular world,” he said. “May this event help us to revive our spirit of service.”
ASi-IAD president Marston Thomas reminded attendees that this Adventist laypeople convention is not an end in itself. There is an ultimate purpose in these exchanges, he said. “This is a place where we meet to share ideas that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, will enhance God’s mission,” Thomas emphasized. “It’s all about mission.”
