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Marcos Paseggi

ASI Annual Convention Opens with an Unambiguous Call to Be Faithful

Event draws more than 2,300 members and advocates for inspiration and reflection.

ASi president Andi Hunsaker (right) and secretary-treasurer Philip Baptiste welcome attendees to the 2023 annual convention in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, August 2. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

More than 2,300 Adventist Laymen’s Services and Industries (ASI) members and supporters—the highest number in years—received a clear-cut call to seek faithfulness rather than success as their top priority in life on the opening night of the organization’s 2023 International Convention.


“God has not called us to be successful,” international evangelist Mark Finley told the crowd gathered at the Kansas City Convention Center in Missouri, United States, on August 2. “He called us to be faithful.”

“God hasn’t called us to be successful; He has called us to be faithful,” international evangelist Mark Finley said in his keynote address on the opening night of the 2023 ASi annual convention. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

The convention centered around the theme “Revived to Witness: United. Transformed. Sent.” ASI president Andi Hunsaker, whom members confirmed in her position for the 2023-2025 term, wrote in welcoming remarks to attendees: “Our prayer is that we will contemplate this theme and these words as we experience this convention and beyond. We are here … to hear from, cooperate with, and participate with God.… My prayer is that we will grow up into the full measure and stature of the grace of Christ so that we can be revived as witnesses for Him.”


The two-hour evening program on August 2 included moments of praise, worship, and prayer. It also featured reports from ministries and outreach initiatives from Seventh-day Adventist lay church members who are, as ASi’s motto proclaims, “sharing Christ in the marketplace.”

Volunteer Thiago Taveira (right) provides directions and information to Dosung Kim, a lay missionary to Bolivia, at the Kansas City Convention Center. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

CONVENTION IMPACT AND TESTIMONIES

“ASI’s conventions, which I have attended for many years, have impacted me and my family,” said Curtis Letniak, ASI general and membership vice president. “I was able to connect with other people eager to minister and find ideas and inspiration.”


The traditional Members in Action segment, which includes testimonies of Adventist laypeople who have found ways of sharing the Bible message through their professions and mission endeavors, featured Carlos Japas, a physician who has planted a church where many members are former clients of his private practice. Japas discusses not only physical but also spiritual health with his clients, eventually inviting them to study the Bible and attend a local Adventist congregation.

ASi members at the opening program of the 2023 annual convention in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, August 2. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

“‘I am there on Saturdays from 9:30 to 12:00, and I’ll be available to answer any more questions you may have,’” Japas tells former patients when he perceives a person is interested. “‘And if you come to church, you are invited to come to my home for lunch after the service.’ They usually accept,” he added.


The opening-night Members in Action segment also featured, among others, Dustin Pestlin, who launched a YouTube video channel with messages about Bible prophecy five years ago. His Hope Through Prophecy ministry has resulted in interests and baptisms all around the world, and the ministry’s videos currently have more than 50 million views, he reported.

Dustin Pestlin (right) shares the impact of the ministry Hope Through Prophecy, a ministry that posts videos on biblical topics that have resulted in more than 50 million views. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

FAITHFULNESS IS KEY

After a musical item by the Sola Gratia choral group, which traveled from the Adventist University of the Philippines, Finley zeroed in on the convention’s theme. In his 40-minute message, he said faithfulness is key to every aspect of personal and corporate revival.


“The Word of God does not call us to a life of popularity, power, or prestige,” Finley said. “The Word of God calls us to faithfulness: faithfulness to Christ, faithfulness to the teachings of Christ, faithfulness to the church of Christ, and faithfulness to the mission of Christ. There is a very close relationship between this theme of faithfulness, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and revival.”

Dan Houghton, ASi Missions general vice president (left), interviews Carlos Japas, a physician who has planted a church where many members are former clients of his private practice. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

Based on the Bible story of Daniel in Babylon (Daniel 1), Finley emphasized that young Daniel, while being pressured to conform to the reigning culture, made a conscious decision to stay faithful. “The challenge that Daniel faced is the challenge that we face in this generation,” he said. “The real battle just before the coming of Christ is the battle of faithfulness; it’s the battle for the mind.”


Finley added, “God’s call to faithfulness in a corrupt, immoral, godless world in the last stages of our history is a call to let His light shine in our lives. As time comes to a screeching halt, God’s call is once again to understand our identity in Christ … to be God’s men and women in this generation … not to yield to the culture around us … [but] to be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

ASi general and membership vice president Curtis Letniak shares how the organization’s annual conventions have had a positive impact on his and his family’s life. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

FAITHFULNESS TO THE WORD IS ESSENTIAL

Finley also emphasized that any potential revival must keep the Word of God and its teachings central. “Revival will not come to a church that downplays doctrinal truth—that compromises biblical teachings and lives in violation of scriptural standards,” he said. “God longs for a people totally committed to Jesus and totally committed to His Word.”


This is the key precondition to true revival, Finley emphasized. “Revival will come when the Christ of the world burns in our hearts through His Holy Spirit, making His teachings real in our lives,” he said. “Bible prophecy predicts an end-time people who love Jesus, who love His truth, and proclaims [sic] it to the ends of this earth. [Then] the light of His Word will fill the world.”


The original version of this story was posted on the Adventist Review website.

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