March 28, 2009

On Sabbath, March 21, we officially organized the Bethlehem Spanish Church in the Pennsylvania Conference. Brother Juan Tavarez has been the lay leader of this group for a number of years. Bill Peterson has worked extensively with this group and provide a coach to guide the lay leader along. After inviting the baptized members to come forward and sign as charter members, in answer to an appeal 5 others came forward to sign, who were being baptized that Sabbath afternoon. Then with a 3^rd appeal, a lady came forward to sign the book, who had joined the Lehigh Valley Church a number of years ago, but when she moved to New Jersey, had slipped away from church. Now she wanted to be an active Adventist again.

March 21, 2009

I was invited to conduct a reaping series of meetings with the Lehigh Valley Spanish church March 14-21. The opening message was on the Great Controversy theme, and my heart was once again stirred as I had the privilege of presenting this wonderful and comprehensive message of the plan of salvation and the soon return of Christ. Other topics through the week covered the gospel, signs of the second coming, the resurrection, the Sabbath, baptism, the millennium and the new earth, etc. On the last Sabbath afternoon, after 12 or more baptismal candidates from the Lehigh Valley Spanish Church and the Easton Spanish Church plant were baptized by Pastor Montalvo, he gave an appeal from the baptistery. I estimated 18 people came forward in answer to the invitation to plan on baptism in the future, including family and friends of those baptized that day. Elias Saud did a good job conducting meetings in Easton at the same time of the meetings at Lehigh Valley Spanish.