Inter-America is more than land, sea, and sun. Inter-America is its people, its culture, its happiness, its faithfulness, its dynamism. It is the living faith of all Adventists living in the geographical area, from Mexico in the north to French Guiana in the south, to all the islands of the Caribbean. We are a happy people living in 37 countries, speaking four major languages.

Of the 12 unions in which we happily serve the Lord, eight are union conferences and four are union missions. These are comprised of 69 local fields—37 conferences and 32 missions. These organizations support the ministries of 15,964 local congregations, 10 hospitals, 10 universities and colleges, where 11,939 denominational workers are faithfully changing lives for Christ.

The largest and most populous city in the world—Mexico City—is in Inter-America. We also have the sophistication of San Juan, Caracas, Bogotá, Panama City, and other metropolises. The challenges of the countryside—poverty, illiteracy, lack of medical care, and other needs—give the church in Inter-America major challenges. However, the Lord has blessed His people with the talents, the will, and the zeal to, by His grace, change the lives of hundreds of thousands in Inter-America.

In our mission statement the Lord inspired us to clarify who we are and what we want to accomplish:

The Inter-American Division embraces the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church . . . and therefore accepts as its specific mission to:

Nurture every believer, enabling each to have the assurance of salvation, a personal relationship with Christ, and to develop a Christian character.

Train every member to become an effective witness and thus a disciple maker, demonstrating the love of Christ in loving service to others.

Help every church member to be involved in proclaiming the everlasting gospel, calling every person in the territory of Inter-America to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Retain our members as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ in preparation for the soon coming of the Lord.

Evangelism and Growth
The cornerstone of evangelism in Inter-America is the faithfulness and dedication of our lay members and ministers.

Through Operation Caleb, under which millions of dollars were invested, we were able to establish Seventh-day Adventist presence in more than 2000 places where previously there was none.

Nearly 20,000 evangelistic projects were conducted in each of the past five years by the lay members working in Operation Caleb, producing hundreds of thousands of souls who accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour and have become our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Every Sabbath 2.5 million Sabbath school members meet together in more than 15,000 Sabbath schools. Every Sabbath thousands of lay Bible instructors conduct more than 26,000 branch Sabbath schools in homes, classrooms, under the trees, and other places.

We intend to train 12 percent of our members to become lay Bible instructors, so that these lay members can train other members in the art of soul winning. Statistics indicate that nearly 52 percent of the Inter-American membership is directly involved in the process of “changing lives” in our territory.

Thousands of faithful lay and ministerial workers gather once every quinquennium at the Festivals of the Laity, a spiritual festivity that brings together active lay members and ministers to praise the Lord, review evangelistic strategies, report what the Lord has done in their specific territories, and share with others the blessings they have received by being used by God to change lives.

Little did the church suspect in 1922 that the small, newly organized, 8,146-member division would one day take such giant steps in soul winning. Our quinquennial goal of 600,000 is behind us long ago. The division has reached a membership of more than 2 million. Our aim is to keep growing by 10 percent every year.

Communication
Living in an area in which we are constantly in peril with the unpredictabilities of nature in hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, volcano eruptions, etc., it becomes very important to give the public a constant familiar voice they can trust.

Hundreds of our ministers are constantly proclaiming the message that changes lives through radio and television. There are 21 church-owned and -operated radio stations, three TV stations, and five cable channels operated by the church. Thirty-four television programs are presented every week in our territory, calling people to change their lives and accept the grace of the Lord.

The message of hope goes beyond the borders of Inter-America. The division is among the leaders in creating its own Internet Web site. Seventy-five percent of the unions have created Web pages, and all local fields have access to the Internet. There is a steady increase of institutions, schools, and churches that utilize their Web page to share the good news of their programs and the message of salvation.

The proven and tried method of Bible correspondence schools is a useful tool in Inter-America. All 12 unions and most of the local fields operate successful Bible correspondence schools. Nearly 85,000 students have received the message and call to change their lives as a result.

Nurture and Disciple-Making
The youth of the division have taken the motto “To save from sin and lead into service” very seriously, and have conducted 11,136 youth evangelistic crusades, with 158,280 new members added because of their involvement. Every level of youth ministry was involved in this endeavor; the 3,500 Pathfinder Clubs with more than 200,000 Pathfinders were deeply involved. The younger ones also did their part; the 1,654 Adventurer Clubs with more than 50,000 members were also involved.

In many areas they are being organized into Youth Emergency Services in order to be prepared and equipped to spring into action in cases of natural or human-made disasters, which are so prevalent in our area.

The youth of Inter-America are also active in promoting healthful living by aggressively speaking up and participating in street marches against the use of mind-altering drugs.

Women’s Ministries
The church in Inter-America has always taken the ministry by women for women very seriously. Nearly all unions and local fields have appointed women’s ministries directors.

Gender discrimination in areas of social assistance, education, and work is rare in this territory; however, to make sure that most women are given equal opportunity to education, the department has distributed thousands of dollars in scholarships especially aimed at women. Many organizations have come to help us, and commendation goes to the organization Time for Equality in Ministry (TEAM) for their support, especially for the women in Cuba.

Women fill many positions of leadership in Inter-America, as division undertreasurer, associate treasurer, departmental leaders on all levels, and especially in the local congregations. Ministry that does not require ordination is completely open to women in the Inter-American Division, and their participation is a blessing to the church they love so much.

Family Ministries
A variety of programs have been conducted to foster loving relationships in the home, church, and community. More than 800 “Marriage Clubs” provide support, prayer, study, and social activities for more than 10,000 couples, premarital classes to prepare the unmarried, and radio/television programs to enlighten the community about the benefits of a Christian marriage.

Family life evangelism, in which family life concepts are merged with Bible doctrines, is a common way of changing lives in Inter-America.

Children’s Ministries
Children are welcome, and in all our congregations all kinds of efforts are being made to provide them with a diversity of programs in order to address their spiritual needs.

They are involved in missionary outreach by promoting the Child Preachers Club and the Neighborhood Clubs. Hundreds of children and adults attend the evangelistic campaigns conducted by children and thousands of souls have been baptized during this quinquennium as a result of the aggressive approach by children to affect the lives of others.

Health Ministries
Health professionals have been organized into health professional associations across the division, and this has strengthened and legitimated the health education programs in our universities, schools, and churches.

Loma Linda University has partnered with the Inter-American Division to provide formal training for most hospitals. This initiative is part of a decided effort to address the challenges faced by our health-care institutions everywhere.

Education
For years the church struggled with the need to prepare pastors to serve the church in Cuba. What a joy it was to witness the opening of the new seminary facilities that were built by Maranatha International. There was also great joy in Jamaica when years of consistent effort transformed the former West Indies College into the Northern Caribbean University. The “newborn” of Adventist tertiary education in Inter-America, the Venezuelan Adventist University College, also received national recognition by presidential decree.

Antillean Adventist University, in Puerto Rico, was visited by the National League of Nursing and received very positive remarks from the visiting team and subsequently the accreditation of its nursing program. The Medical School at Montemorelos University is gradually becoming an important and crucial element in forensic medicine within the region.

Enrollment growth at the elementary level represented an 8 percent increase; 23 percent at the secondary level. The Inter-American Division operates 601 elementary schools, 235 secondary schools, and 10 institutions of tertiary education. The combined enrollment totaled more than 137,000 students. The teaching force is made up of approximately 8,000 dedicated men and women who integrate Christianity into the teaching and learning processes.

Adventist World Radio
Twenty-one radio stations scattered throughout the Inter-American Division support the Church’s efforts to change lives, by providing Christian music, informative programs, and “on air” Bible studies that minister to the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of the listeners.

In October 1998, Adventist World Radio launched a bold, new initiative to partner with the local radio stations by using satellite technology to distribute radio programs to stations located in Central and South America. Currently, there are more than 40 radio stations accessing the programs off the satellite 24 hours a day. Stations report many listeners whose lives have been changed through these broadcasts.

Publishing Ministry
During the present quinquennium 4,324 literature evangelists delivered literature to thousands of homes with sales totaling US$72,630,192. It is common in Inter-America to hear people attest to the fact that their lives were changed because a literature evangelist knocked at their door. More than 25 million magazines and periodicals, 780,000 trade books, and more than 1.8 million subscription books were distributed.

Inter-American Health Food Company
The Health Food Company has also been actively involved in supporting the total process of the church. Because of its unique setup, with branches located on the various college campuses, the company has contributed greatly to the advancement of Christian education. This in addition to contributing directly to the evangelistic program of the church, and providing substantial means for the infrastructure of the organization by making funds available for church construction.

During this quinquennium the various branches of the company produced 33,840 tons of food. Forty-three percent of this is mainly whole-wheat bread products, with the aim of helping the consumers to be aware of the effects of the consumption of such products as they make changes in their lifestyles.

More than 1,400 students have been able to finance their study program by working and ministering through the food company.

Nearly US$3 million were contributed to the church for its evangelistic program and the development of the company.

Inter-American Division Theological Seminary
The Inter-American Division Administration, the Education Department, and the Ministerial Association joined efforts with Andrews University’s Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary and gave birth to the Inter-American Adventist Theological Seminary. Two hundred eight pastors/students are enrolled in either a Master’s of Pastoral Theology degree or the D.Min. degree. The prestigious American Theological Schools (ATS) is in the process of granting associate membership and/or candidacy for accreditation status to the institution.