General Conference President Encourages Members in Haiti

Below is a letter of spiritual encouragement from Ted N. C. Wilson, president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, to members of the Adventist Church in Haiti after unrest and violence in the country. Adventist leaders in Haiti have asked for prayer and God’s protection and peace in the wake of the assassination of Haiti’s president on July 7, 2021.—Editors

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Haiti,

On behalf of your world family of Seventh-day Adventists, I want you to know that our hearts go out to you in the traumatic situations you are facing. We have been praying for you. We are grateful for the support and encouragement you receive from the Inter-American Division and the world field. As you face many challenges and uncertainties for the immediate future, may you and all of us put ourselves and God’s work in His hands! Jesus is coming soon! What an opportunity to serve Him during these momentous times as you support the people of Haiti through our various services of health, education, community services, and spiritual direction.

We praise the Lord for the almost half a million Seventh-day Adventist members in Haiti. Each of you can provide the spiritual and moral encouragement to your neighbors and friends as you present Christ and His power to change our lives, giving us an eternal perspective that can help us know that He holds the future. What a comfort to know that when we put ourselves in God’s hands, He can give us life and life more abundantly, now and for eternity. This is the blessed hope that Haitians long to hear. God will use you to share that hope during these troubled times as you model the infinite value of every human being and the sanctity of life, all through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Whatever unusual situations you face in your daily lives and your service for God in Haiti, He will create miraculous openings for your testimonies to others of God’s goodness and salvation. The everlasting gospel message announced by the first angel of Revelation 14:6, 7 is to be proclaimed with Holy Spirit power to every corner of Haiti. Thank you for being a “light on a hill” as you let others know of your love for Jesus and His power in your life to remake you into someone more and more like Him. Thank you for your dedication and commitment for sharing God’s precious truth, including the powerful announcements of the three angels’ messages in Revelation 14 and the fourth angel of Revelation 18 with Christ and His righteousness at the core of the three angels’ messages. We are grateful for the religious liberty you have in Haiti to share the good news of Christ’s soon return, utilizing your role in Total Member Involvement.

As you share your faith and the full Bible truth as Seventh-day Adventists understand it, lift up Christ in all you do, and remember as Ellen White indicated that the greatest sermon that can ever be preached is the life of a loving and lovable Christian. As we see world events pointing to the soon coming of Jesus, share the Advent message with a happy heart and a good smile with those around you as you participate with the world church in strategic plans of “Reach the World—I Will Go.” God will use you in a powerful way to touch the lives of people in Haiti as you humble your hearts before the Lord every day. We will continue to pray for you as members, for our spiritual church leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Haiti, for the government leaders of the country, and for Haiti as a nation. Let us all pray for spiritual, social, political, and economic stability for the country of Haiti as we seek God’s guidance in all that is done.

What a privilege to claim the wonderful promise found in John 6:45, 47, and 48 where Jesus said: “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me…. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life…. I am the bread of life” (NKJV). What a blessing to share the Bread of Life with others in Haiti. 

In Last Day Events, a compilation from Ellen G. White’s writings, we see that we are living in the last days of earth’s history, and Jesus is soon to come as we read on page 11: “The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude. The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.”

May God encourage you during these last days of this earth’s history as we plead for the latter rain of the Holy Spirit so the three angels’ messages will be shared quickly in Haiti and around the globe. May God spiritually and physically strengthen you during this very challenging time in Haiti as you proclaim the Advent message with Holy Spirit power, lifting up Christ, His Word, His righteousness, His sanctuary service, His saving power in the great controversy, His three angels’ messages, His health message, His last-day mission to the world including the need to plead for the latter rain of the Holy Spirit, and Christ’s soon second coming. 

With kind Christian regards and sincerely yours,

Ted N. C. Wilson

President

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists