Jan Paulsen

he first generation of Christians approached mission with a sense of urgency. For the apostles, the command to "go into all the world" was an imperative that could not be denied. They were compelled by their life-transforming experience with Jesus, by three years of friendship and fellowship with their Savior, and by all they had witnessed personally. The early church was energized by its certainty of the Lord's soon return, "the blessed hope--the glorious appearing" (Titus 2:13).

For the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 2005, this sense of urgency is as relevant now as it was in the days of the apostles.

Since the church met for the General Conference session in Toronto five years ago, the world has changed profoundly. Global events--wars, natural disasters, political developments--have left many people wondering what tomorrow will bring. In the communities where we live, we find increasing anxiety, new tensions, fewer reasons to hope for the future.

During the past five years the church has also experienced tremendous change: we have welcomed some 5 million new members and established an Adventist presence in new areas of the world. Tremendous growth in the challenging 10/40 window has enriched our church in so many ways but has also created the challenge of nurturing our new brothers and sisters in the faith.

We are an extraordinary global family, with a specific identity, a clear mission, and an acute awareness of the lateness of the hour in which we live.

As our church grows in numbers, the communities in which we are placed are becoming increasingly aware of who we are. In many parts of the world the Seventh-day Adventist Church is gaining greater recognition for its contributions to health care, education, and the well-being of society.

What is our central purpose as a church? As we review the past five years and look toward the future, what key values define us as a people?

Our witness is not optional.

Without mission, there is no church. As Ellen White writes, "The burning, consuming love of Christ for perishing souls is the life of the whole system of Christianity."† Christ's love compels us to share with others the hope and joy that we ourselves have found. This is our mission.

Growth is more than just a list of baptismal numbers on a piece of paper. It also means doing all we can as a church to grow stronger, healthier, and more capable of doing what God wants us to do.

In many parts of the world the witnessing ministry of our church is strong and growing. In other parts, the visible results are few. And yet the Lord has a plan and a future for the people in these difficult areas. Our task is to be faithful and to be prepared. For the days will come when what now seems impossible will become a reality.

Several new initiatives--including the Office of Global Evangelism, headed by Pastor Mark Finley; Go One Million; Sow 1 Billion; and the Office of Mission Awareness--reflect the absolute priority that we must continue to give to mission.

Our witness is personal.
Laypeople are central to all the church's outreach endeavors. Nearly 600,000 young people, ages 15 to 30, have already been involved in evangelism through the Elijah Project. The Women's Ministries Department reports that in 2003 alone women conducted 100,385 evangelistic meetings around the world. The members of Adventist-Laymen's Services and Industries continue to further God's kingdom in countless ways.

In South America more than 60,000 small-group Bible studies--each run by laypeople--meet each week for outreach and fellowship. Here, seekers find not only the truth of Jesus Christ but also friendship and support that help ground them in their new faith. And Global Mission, with its force of some 30,000 lay volunteers, focuses the church's witness on unentered areas of the world.

Our witness is global.
During the Year of World Evangelism 2004, more than 30,000 pastors conducted some form of outreach, involving more than 4 million lay members. Adventist Television Network, the church's satellite network, continues to grow in programming and global reach. Many thousands have come to know Jesus for the first time via satellite from stadiums in Rwanda, Ukraine, and the United States.

Our witness extends to difficult areas.
God's Spirit is at work in areas where previously the church has struggled. We see this in Cambodia, where the church has grown from nothing in the early 1990s to more than 6,000 members. In 2003 there were still only some 200 Adventists in the capital city, Phnom Penh. But today, after the combined efforts of laypeople, pastors, and evangelists, there are more than 3,000 members in this city.

The church in Myanmar, a country in which outreach is restricted, celebrated its largest baptism ever in January 2004. The contributions of generous North American laypeople helped provide the infrastructure for outreach. More than 500 were baptized, most of whom had no background in Christianity.

Adventist World Radio continues to reach across borders to touch lives where the church can't officially operate. In many places that we cannot disclose, thousands of church members meet "underground" to worship each Sabbath--often in life-threatening circumstances. They need our constant prayers.

The challenge of urban areas--the great cities of the world--has increasingly become a part of our mission thinking and planning. How can we share Christ's love with the countless millions who live in these cities, where the impact of the church has been small? The General Conference Hope for Big Cities Offering will provide seed money for world divisions to focus on long-term plans to nurture new churches in major cities.

Our witness is creative.
In Hong Kong two young Global Mission pioneers--Sonya and Phoebe--work in the middle of a high-rise residential area. They operate a center where children from cramped apartments can come after school to study in a more comfortable environment and learn more about Jesus.

In the Trans-European Division the LIFEdevelopment.info initiative is using a multimedia approach to reach out to Europe's unchurched postmodern population. In northern Asia Korean Adventists are pioneering a special Internet church for children.

A local game of soccer has become a form of outreach in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where each church member who joins the game also brings four unchurched friends and invites them to stay on for Bible study.

Our witness is long-term.
When it comes to mission, discipleship and nurture are not optional extras. When a person accepts Christ and enters into fellowship with His family, this marks the beginning--not the end--of their Christian growth. A new life lies ahead, and a new believer must be prepared and equipped for that life.

It is encouraging to see outreach initiatives that embrace the need for proper care of new believers. The Euro-Asia Division's 300 Churches Project not only established hundreds of new congregations throughout the former Soviet Union but also provided a house church for each new group, along with pastoral support.

In the past few years the church has emphasized the need to incorporate discipleship and nurture into witnessing projects. It has also issued guidelines calling for better provision for these vital needs in all evangelism planning.

Looking ahead.
How can we find committed, qualified pastors and administrators to lead a church that is growing exponentially? How do we anticipate challenges and plan for them? Two new offices, Leadership Training and Strategic Planning, have been established at the General Conference, and these will become increasingly important for positioning our church in its mission.

A shared identity.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in 2005 is truly a worldwide community. Adventist work is now established in 204 of the 230 countries and areas recognized by the United Nations, and our message today is communicated in 882 languages and dialects.

We rejoice in the bountiful range of gifts and talents the Lord has given our church members. We thank Him for the rich tapestry of cultures that make up our international family, the vast array of ways we worship the same God.

But we also have a common identity that we must continue to nurture, a heritage that must be shared with new believers. We are a prophetic movement, with a God-given purpose.

It is vital to find ways to more effectively pass on this spiritual inheritance--through our schools, our churches, our literature; within our family circles; and through new initiatives such as "Connecting With Jesus." This program, already under way, will make available 2 million sets of Ellen White books at an affordable price for church members around the world.

An inclusive church.
In the body of Christ all members are valuable; all have a contribution to make. Are we doing all we can to ensure that each person is active in church life? Are we utilizing the talents of the women of our church? Are we listening to what our young people are saying to us?

During the past two years I've been delighted to participate in "Let's Talk"--a dialogue between Adventist young people and their church leaders that has taken place through a Web site and a series of satellite broadcasts.

But this is a conversation that should be expanded to embrace more people and different groups within our world family. We must do much more to harness the gifts of all our members.

Staying close.
It is God's plan that we are one around the world--bound together by a shared faith and a common hope in the soon return of our Lord. We need to talk with one another, defer to one another, support one another, and consistently look beyond our own four church walls.

But as our church grows in size and diversity, effective communication becomes more difficult, and more important. The recent launch and continuing expansion of the Hope Channel--broadcasting globally, 24 hours a day, with an increasing in-home viewership--reflects this priority.

The world church has also asked the Adventist Review--a journal that has played such a formative role throughout the years--to extend its reach. Adventist World, a new magazine introduced at this session, will initially be distributed once a month to more than 1.1 million Adventist families around the world.

The "abundant life" Jesus promised has many different facets. Our lives become full, spiritually, as we experience the forgiveness of sin and the assurance of salvation. Our priorities and values begin to change.

But this quality of life has a broader, physical dimension. Christ's healing ministry and His concern for society's most vulnerable members call us, His followers, to a life of service.

Poverty, injustice, ignorance, and sickness: we are called to proclaim to the world Christ's victory over the evil one and his handiwork. Today, in almost every country of the world, Seventh-day Adventist schools, hospitals, institutions, churches, and individual members are visible symbols of this victory:

Whether it's Maluti Hospital in Lesotho, recognized nationally for its care of AIDS orphans and for its gardens that provide food for the community.

Or Adventist women in India who teach other women how to read and write.

Or groups of young people in Australia and Romania who visit different towns and ask, "How can we help? What can we paint, clean, or build that will contribute to the life of this community?"

Or church members in Kenya who have set up a shelter for young Masai girls--some as young as age 6--who have been forced into early marriage.

Or the Adventist Development and Relief Agency developing long-term water and food security in hundreds of regions, providing HIV/AIDS education, or responding to a disaster.

These are reflections of Christ's compassion for humanity. This too is our mission.

As we fellowship together for these few days, as we celebrate as an international family and make decisions for the future, let us remember that we are a church driven by mission and called to service.

May we never forget what it means to be an Adventist--living in joyful anticipation of the soon return of our Savior. And I pray that each of us may ever be a willing instrument in the hand of God.

"May the God of peace . . . equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (Heb. 13:20, 21).

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*Scripture references are from the New International Version.
†Ellen G. White, Lift Him Up, p. 134.

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Jan Paulsen, president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. The president's report, given in multimedia format on June 30, 2005, is here adapted for print use.