e stand at the door of great opportunity," said Harold Baptiste, a General Conference vice-president, "Something big is about to take place in the [Seventh-day Adventist] church worldwide. Excitement is already building and is gaining momentum."

Baptiste, who chairs the "Sow 1 Billion" Taskforce, was referring to the church's new outreach plan to distribute 1,000 million Bible study invitations around the world. The initiative is capturing the imagination of church members , Baptiste told members of the GC Executive Committee at their annual Spring Meeting on April 16.

Bettina Krause, coordinator of "Sow 1 Billion" at the General Conference, said that there will be challenges as the 13 world church divisions work together both to distribute the invitations, and follow up on the potential flood of requests for Bible studies that could flow in. "One billion of these small brochures, placed end-to-end, would cover a distance of around 75,000 miles," she said. "We're talking about many, many Bible study invitations."

Divisions have begun setting goals for "Sow 1 Billion". The church in Inter-America has already printed 130 million brochures in five languages and is shipping these to churches for distribution. The church in South America has set a goal of 123 million brochures; the Southern Asia-Pacific Division wants to distribute 103 million; East Central Africa Division has a target of 103 million; and the Northern Asia-Pacific Division will distribute 42 million.

Other Adventist entities have announced plans to become involved in "Sow 1 Billion." The GC Office of Global Mission voted to play a major role in the distribution of the Sow 1 Billion brochures. It will enlist thousands of Global Mission pioneers-or trained lay volunteers-around the world to distribute 40 million brochures.

Ben Schoun, president of Adventist World Radio (AWR), said AWR will produce an audio version of the brochure, dealing with the same theme of "finding hope in an uncertain world." The short radio program will be translated into the languages in which AWR broadcasts, and will offer listeners an opportunity to get in touch with a Bible correspondence school.

Krause said it's important to remember that the focus of "Sow 1 Billion" is not numbers. "It's about putting Bible study invitations into the hands of people who desperately need to be connected to God's word," she said. "It's about encouraging every church member to start seeing witness and outreach in terms of personal responsibility, rather than just the work of 'evangelism experts.'"

Baptiste emphasized that "Sow 1 Billion" will work closely with the church's other global evangelism initiatives: "Go Three Million," a plan to train and equip 3 million lay people for evangelism, and Year of World Evangelism 2004, a time of special focus on outreach and mission for the world church.

"Sow 1 Billion", a GC presidential initiative, was approved by the General Conference executive committee in October 2002. Adventist Laymen Services and Industries is a major partner in the project, providing funds for printing the 1 billion brochures, and working to develop a Web site that will offer online Bible studies in up to 100 languages. The theme of the small "Sow 1 Billion" brochure is "Don't be afraid," a thought expressed more than 300 times in Scripture.