By Henry R. Moncur III | ATCU Communication
On November 24, 2024, members from across the Atlantic Caribbean Union (ATCU) territory assembled in person at the Hillview Seventh-day Adventist church and online for the Discipleship and Soul-winning rally that commenced the annual year-end meetings of the union.
“This rally gives us an opportunity to introduce two mega programs that will be taking place in our union,” noted Pastor Peter Kerr, president of ATCU.
The first initiative, Holy Convocation, will take place during February 1-8, 2025, and will involve guest preachers from various unions within the Inter-American Division (IAD) coming to ATCU to hold special meetings that will inspire members and attendees to renewed faithfulness to God. “Holy convocation is a call of revival to members of our church,” noted Terry Tanis, ATCU Stewardship Ministries director. “The focus is about covenant renewal, and it is time to renew our covenant with Jesus in time, talent, treasure, and our relationship with Jesus.”
The second initiative, which was the featured focus of the rally, is the Discipleship and Soul-winning Institute to take place February 8-22, 2025. A collaboration between the IAD and the ATCU, the institute will welcome speakers from unions within the IAD territory such as the Caribbean, Belize, Jamaica, and Haiti. There will be 30 simultaneous preaching sites, and members are encouraged to be engaged in this soul-winning endeavor.
According to Kerr, the goals of the Institute are to (1) reinforce the biblical foundation for soul- winning and discipleship; (2) provide relevant coaching skills for effective soul-wining and discipleship; (3) provide appropriate training for pastors and Bible workers; and (4) win souls for Christ. “Many of you want to be effective in soul-winning, and this program will coach us in how to be more effective in winning souls for Christ,” Kerr noted.
It is expected that training will be provided in four main areas: Growing in the faith of Christ; community outreach; sharing the gospel; reaping God’s harvest; and growing as faithful stewards.
“Instructors will train our members in all the conferences of the union. We have been called not only to preach, but to train and mentor our members as well. To train them in the church and then send them out to reach others,” stated Dr. Kent Price, ATCU coordinator for the institute and assistant to the president for evangelism.
During the rally, the president of each of the four organizational units of ATCU and the president of Northern Caribbean University shared their readiness for the upcoming Discipleship and Soul-winning Institute as they pledged their commitment to the program.
“Evangelism is our passion in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and we have embraced this program as a means to equip our pastors and laypersons and share best practices in soul winning,” said Steve Cornwall, president for the Turks and Caicos Islands Conference. “Our members are registering for this institute, and we are excited to do something more for the Lord.”
Dr. Josney Rodríguez, IAD Ministerial Association secretary and the main speaker, urged attendees to ready themselves for this evangelism initiative by being receptive to the Holy Spirit. “To see what God wants to give us, something needs to happen,” said Rodríguez. “To do the work, we need the Holy Spirit. It is the only thing necessary to accomplish the work of God. We don’t recognize how important it is to have the Holy Spirit to change the sad conditions of the church. Our titles and positions will not empower us to do what only the Holy Spirit can do.”
Members across ATCU left the rally motivated and excited to be engaged in making an impact in soul-winning that has never been accomplished before. They also committed to involving the next generation of the church in this explosive program.
With a membership of 27,694, 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 in Mandeville, Jamaica, is jointly owned and operated by ATCU and the Jamaica Union.