The Dead Are Really Dead

Guide magazine has produced Death’s Doom,a 16-page outreach magazine for readers ages 10-14 that uses Guide’s famous storytelling technique along with related sidebars to help kids understand the biblical view of death and the hope we have in a future resurrection.

This interactive issue includes an issue-wide puzzle and access to a website (that will go live on October 31, 2020) with additional resources that reach young and old alike. In other upcoming special issues, Guide will focus on Adventism’s distinctive beliefs.

A Timely Message for an Unchurched Audience

According to Barna Research, 30 percent of the world’s population is under the age of 15, and 70 percent of children are born into non-Christian homes. Forty million children in North America haven’t heard the gospel, and 85 percent of all Christians accept Christ before the age of 14. 

“The challenges and opportunities represented by these numbers give us a clear mandate to invest in children’s evangelism,” Carl McRoy, Literature Ministries director of the North American Division said of the new publication’s possibilities. “Helping children deal with painful and confusing situations through compelling, Bible-based storytelling has been more effective in building up the kingdom than apologetics directed at adults.”

Guide editor Lori Futcher said, “We planned Death’s Doom before the pandemic and feel this message is desperately needed. Children aren’t confronted with the reality of death as often as adults, but the pandemic and recent catastrophes have brought death closer to home. Because it will be ready in time for Halloween, it provides a perfect witnessing opportunity.”

In upcoming special issues, Guide will focus on Adventist distinctive beliefs, Futcher said.

A Spiritual Battle

“The devil made sure we knew that he doesn’t want us to share Death’s Doom,” Guide managing editor Laura Sámano said. “His attempts to discourage us didn’t surprise us, because Death’s Doom tells readers that Jesus killed death at the cross.”

Despite the spiritual battle that was waged to produce this magazine, Pacific Press received preorders for 60,000 of the 100,000 printed copies.

Adventist Church Involvement

Chris Evenson, who serves as pastor of the Nampa, Idaho, Seventh-day Adventist church, a congregation that has already bought magazines for the church, said, “The stories in this edition are right on point! Topics covered are those at the forefront of the minds of people today. They are handled in a biblically based fashion and bring hope for humanity! This is a great magazine to share with friends and neighbors.”

Churches, schools, Pathfinder clubs, and families may order Death’s Doom for ZIP code mailings, to include in care packages, distribute at Halloween, or share one-on-one with kids and adults. Death’s Doom is now available in all Adventist Book Centers across the North America Division.

The original version of this story was posted on the North American Division news site.