An Education in Evangelism

New outreach coordinator strengthens hands-on evangelism at SETI.

“True education is missionary training. Every son and daughter of God is called to be a missionary; we are called to the service of God and our fellow men; and to fit us for this service should be the object of our education.” The Ministry of Healing, 395.

Outreach coordinator, José dos Santos Jr.

Equipping young people to win souls to the Kingdom of Heaven—this is the purpose of a missionary training school, and this is the purpose we strive to keep in the forefront at Santo’s Evangelistic Training Institute (SETI) in Brazil. Recently, we have added an outreach coordinator to our staff to strengthen our hands-on missionary training program and make sure students have an effective evangelistic program to participate in as part of their coursework. We want them all to have the chance to go out and witness with close supervision and guidance, and our outreach coordinator, José dos Santos Jr., has seen to that. Since he came and began working with the students and the communities around SETI, 68 people have begun studying the Bible with him and the students!

On March 12, José and the students put on a public health expo in the nearby community of Melgaço. Here the students practiced much of the knowledge they had been learning in the Health Evangelism Training Program. They presented the eight laws of health, checked people’s blood pressure and glucose levels, gave chair massage treatments and distributed literature. They also made several contacts for the evangelistic series which was to begin the following day. By mingling with people and taking care of their needs, they very effectively prepared the ground for the evangelistic series!

With great expectation, we waited to see who would show up for our meetings. The first night, 18 non-Adventists attended. The following nights the numbers grew until we had an average of 30 non-Adventists attending. In our next update, we will have news about how many people made a decision for Christ at the end of the evangelistic series. We hope to be able to establish a Seventh-day Adventist church in Melgaço this year!

Our school’s evangelistic efforts fulfill several purposes: winning souls for Christ, training the students and supporting the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In this sense, the educational program itself is evangelistic—not just the activities of the outreach department.

Over the years, non-Adventists have enrolled in the academic programs and as a result of their studies have joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This year, Emanuel Coutinho came to SETI to deepen his experience with God and to develop his talents for service. Emanuel had been in the Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement since birth, but had not been baptized yet. Because of SETI’s friendly Christian environment and the Bible studies he went through during the training course, Emanuel was able to identify the true church of Bible prophecy and decided to join it.

On February 19, 2017, Pastor Antonio Costa Silva baptized Emanuel into the Trincheira Seventh-day Adventist Church. Emanuel’s story is just one example of how SETI is fulfilling God’s purpose for a missionary training school, both in leading the youth to Christ and making them useful for service.

“It is to fortify the youth against the temptations of the enemy that we have established schools where they may be qualified for usefulness in this life and for the service of God throughout eternity.”

Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 495.

May SETI always fulfill this divine mission!

AUTHOR

Giancarlo Prota de Miranda

Brother Miranda is the founder of Santo’s Evangelistic Training Institute. giancarlo.de.miranda@hotmail.com

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Pray for effective missionaries to be trained at SETI and for souls to be reached through their evangelistic efforts.

Give. Last year, SETI built a multipurpose building and a new kitchen/cafeteria in order to receive more students and accommodate a lifestyle center. To pay for these projects, SETI borrowed $15,000. Your donation to Mission Projects International marked “Brazil—SETI” will help pay off this loan. “As long as our schools have debts which were incurred in their establishment, in the erection of necessary buildings, and in providing necessary facilities, it is our duty to present the case to our brethren and ask them to lessen these debts.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 207.