David Emmanuel (left) a member of the Amitai Pathfinder club in Comitán, Chiapas, Mexico, set up a book stand to hand out free samples of the missionary book of the year by Adventist Evangelist Mark Finley entitled “Hope for Troubled Times” by the entrance of a supermarket. More than 1 million copies of the book were distributed across the state on Apr. 17, 2021. [Photo: Chiapas Mexican Union]
May 6, 2021 | Chiapas, Mexico | Uriel Castellanos and Inter-American Division News

More than 1.1 million samples of the missionary book of the year were distributed across Chiapas, Mexico, on Apr. 17. The state-wide initiative led thousands of Seventh-day Adventists to share the book with everyone in their communities amid the ongoing pandemic. The book, “Hope for Troubled Times” by Seventh-day Adventist evangelist Mark Finley, included a bookmark with telephone numbers of Adventist churches throughout the state and a special invitation to a national evangelistic campaign scheduled for June.

From very early in the morning and most of the afternoon, church members organized by churches, youth clubs and other ministries took to the streets, visited homes, hospitals, mountainous regions and public spaces to share copies of book.

A caravan of vehicles and motorcycles ride through the streets in Tuxtla Gutierrez distributing the missionary books to onlookers and business along the way. [Photo: Chiapas Mexican Union]
Many found creative ways of sharing the books in the cities and towns where they were.

In the city of Comitán, in the east central part of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala, David Emmanuel, a member of the Amitai Pathfinder Club, decided to place a book stand by a supermarket entrance to offer the free copy of the book to customers going in and out of the grocery store.  As Delfino Ruiz, assistant manager of the supermarket, noticed church members giving away books, he was overcome with emotion because just the week before he wanted to find a Christian church to attend and in came a group of Seventh-day Adventists with a book. “This is just what I was looking for and it came to my workplace,” Ruiz said.  Leaders later said that Ruiz expressed his interest in enlisting in bible studies.

In the mountainous region, Adventist women gifted the book along with a traditional refreshing drink made of cocoa to drivers.

Tzotziles women pose for a photo holding the missionary books before distributing these in their indigenous community. [Photo: Chiapas Mexican Union]
In Juan de Grijalva, a rural community in the western part of Chiapas, where most of the population is Adventist, young people and children spent the entire morning sharing food, water and handing the missionary book to drivers who had been detoured after an accident blocked the main highway that connects Chiapas to Mexico City.

Dozens of motorists caravanned through Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the state’s capital, with balloons and messages of hope as they distributed the book to onlookers through the streets.

Abdiel Velázquez, a three-year-old boy undergoing chemotherapy at Pediatric Specialty Hospital in Tuxtla, Gutierrez, shared the book with medical staff. Abdiel’s father, who is an Adventist pastor in north Chiapas, began sharing photos of his son wearing a smile as he gave out books.

Church members pray for a patient at a local hospital before sharing the missionary book. [Photo: Chiapas Mexican Union]
“This was a wonderful day to see the entire church, children, young people, women and adults involved in taking all necessary precautions to take the message of hope to all the corners in Chiapas, touching the lives of so many persons,” said Pastor Ignacio Navarro, president of the church in Chiapas. “We are happy that more than one million persons were touched by the message of hope today.”

At the later hours of the afternoon, leaders at the Chiapas Mexican Union office transmitted a live program where testimonies were shared on the day´s experiences via Facebook and YouTube.

Adventist World Church Publishing Ministries Director Almir Marroni spoke during the online program to congratulate church members in Chiapas for their dedication and commitment to sharing hope in their communities. “The church in Chiapas is one of the unions that distributes the most literature around the world,” Marroni said.  Inter-American Division leaders and GEMA Editores publishing house leaders also praised the witnessing efforts in Chiapas as they shared the missionary book everywhere.

Children and young people hand out snacks, water, and the missionary book to vehicles slowing down during a traffic delay from a recent accident on a highway that connects Chiapas to Mexico City. [Photo: Chiapas Mexican Union]
During the online program, eight of the local conferences and missions within the union territory connected to share additional testimonies and missionary experiences of the day.

Months before the massive distribution day, the church promoted segments of the book through different social media platforms, as well as radio spots, and LED screens in public spaces, said Pastor Rogelio Morales, publishing ministries director for the church in Chiapas, who oversaw the event. Morales said that the rest of the unions, or church regions in Mexico, were also distributing the missionary book on that day, but that “the a total of 40 percent of the books distributed in the country correspond to the missionary effort of the church membership in the State of Chiapas.”

There are more than 272,600 Seventh-day Adventists organized in 3,242 churches and congregations in the Chiapas Mexican Union.

Church members show off the missionary book shared with villagers in the mountainous region in Chiapas on Apr. 17. [Photo: Chiapas Mexican Union]
To learn more about the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Chiapas, Mexico, visit umch.org.mx