
Under the theme “Celebrating His Providence and Affirming Our Values,” the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists (IAD), headquartered in Miami, Florida, will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2022, having been officially organized as an Adventist World Division in 1922. This milestone will be commemorated by several activities, the first of which was the launching ceremony that was held on October 30, 2021. The culminating grand celebration will take place on October 29, 2022. For information on the other events, click here.
One of the events planned is the Centennial Gospel Caravan. Planned for July 3 – 30, 2022, under the theme “Many Hands One Mission,” this event will involve members impacting at least 100 new areas within the territory of Inter-America with the gospel. At the end of this commemorative outreach, lay members will gather in Panama during August 4 – 6, 2022, for the Festival of the Laity which is a festival held to celebrate the activities and involvement of lay members in evangelism and mission and to give recognition to lay members who have given outstanding service in the fulfillment of the mission in the territory of the IAD. This year’s Festival of the Laity will also reflect on the historical impact of Panama in the development of the IAD as well as receive reports on the Centennial Gospel Caravan effort.
The Atlantic Caribbean Union of Seventh-day Adventists (ATCU) is organizing its Gospel Caravan outreach efforts as it continues to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the organization of the administrative office of the IAD. The union also is looking forward to affirming its dedicated laypersons and presenting praise reports from the Gospel Caravan at the Festival of the Laity.
President of ATCU, Pastor Peter Kerr, noted the significance of the Festival of the Laity.
“Some of us remember the difference Festival of the Laity played in our lives. Lay people look forward to going to them and celebrating what the Lord has done through them in the lives of others. It was an inspiration to many persons, and many went out motivated to raise up churches and lead others to Christ.”
This year, the festival will be conducted in a hybrid format with one part of the delegation present in Panama and the other part gathered in various locations across the regional administrative units (unions) and local fields of the division. ATCU, through its four local fields, will be sending 10 lay members to Panama. These lay members will include outstanding lay preachers, Bible workers, small group leaders, church planters, and the most impactful lay member in the area of Community Services in the union. The persons selected would have been successful in leading a number of persons to make the decision to be baptized within the past ten years. For the offsite participation in the festival, other sites will be established around the territory of the union to celebrate the work of outstanding lay members.
With a membership of 33,130, ATCU, which is headquartered in Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas, comprises four fields, namely, the Cayman Islands Conference, the North Bahamas Conference, the South Bahamas Conference, and the Turks and Caicos Islands Conference. In addition, Northern Caribbean University, which is located in Mandeville, Jamaica, is jointly owned and operated by ATCU and the Jamaica Union.