Adventist World : Connecting With Jesus

We are living in the most solemn period of this world’s history. The destiny of earth’s teeming multitudes is about to be decided. Our own future well-being and also the salvation of other souls depend upon the course which we now pursue. We need to be guided by the Spirit of truth…. We should now seek a deep and living experience in the things of God. We have not a moment to lose.—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 601.

It was a Sabbath afternoon in Florida, January 2003. General Conference (GC) church leaders, including White Estate board members, had been meeting together for two days, seeking the blessing and guidance of the Holy Spirit as they discussed ways to advance the mission of the Adventist Church. Three attendees—GC vice president Ted Wilson, Adventist Global Mission director Mike Ryan (now a GC vice president), and White Estate director James Nix—were brainstorming ways to answer a question raised in an earlier meeting: “How can we make available the writings of Ellen G. White to new church members worldwide in a language they can read and at a price they can afford?” The result was the launching of a project called Connecting With Jesus.

“With church membership exploding around the world it’s crucial that we make these materials available,” Nix told Adventist World. “If new members are not oriented as to why we’re Seventh-day Adventists and what motivates us as a church, if they don’t understand the great controversy theme, if they don’t see the emphasis that God has given us through the writings of Ellen White—then we’re going to have a lot of people who don’t totally understand why they’re Seventh-day Adventists and who may not be fully prepared to stand true to God in the last days.”

Statistical projections indicate that by the year 2020 only about 12 percent of the church’s membership worldwide will have been members for 20 years or more. It will be a “new church,” Wilson says. “The immediate and urgent challenge facing the church,” he notes, “is that many of these new members live in parts of the world where books are very expensive—relative to the local economy—or where Ellen White’s  books generally have not been transla-ted into the local languages.”

A recent trip to Moscow underscored the situation for Ryan. While presenting the Sabbath message to a congregation of some 6,500 Adventists, Ryan asked all those who had been baptized within the last 10 years to stand. He says, “About 6,000 people stood to their feet.”

Connecting With Jesus (CWJ) is part of the GC’s overall quinquennial evangelistic plan, “Tell the World.” The project’s objective is to print and distribute 2 million sets of 10 Spirit of Prophecy books (see sidebar) in major world languages at a price affordable to Adventists—particularly new members—in every division. Study guides and a Bible reading plan are included with each set of books.

In spite of anticipated church growth, which projects some 50 million  members within a decade, recent  surveys indicate a decline in the reading of Ellen White’s writings. They also demonstrate, however, that most church members believe the Spirit of Prophecy is “an authority for the Adventist Church today” and that there’s a relationship between a strong spiritual life/mission emphasis and members regularly reading White’s writings. Officially adopted by the 2005 General Conference Session in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), CWJ is challenging members globally to recapture both a personal and a corporate vision to fulfill their prophetic mission.

“The church urgently needs to implement creative ways to encourage members once again to read and study not only the Bible but Ellen White’s writings, as well,” Wilson says. “We must provide the next generation of members with a continued vision of our distinctive Adventist mission: pointing people to Christ’s soon return…. They must have access to [Ellen White books] in a language they can utilize and at a cost that’s commensurate with their income.”

Church leaders worldwide apparently agree with Wilson’s assessment. Twelve of the 13 regional divisions are participating in the project, although approaches—and enthusiasm—vary. One region that readily embraced the concept is South America, printing and distributing some 300,000 sets of the 10 books—plus one additional book, Colporteur Ministry—in Spanish and Portuguese.

Köhler sees a more deeply spiritual life and an intensified mission emphasis resulting from the project because the members in his region “are reading the books. They’re reading them during worship services, prayer meetings, Bible studies. Families and friends are reading them together,” he says. “We’re actively promoting these books.”

South America project coordinator Alberto R. Timm agrees that support has been high, generating “a greater enthusiasm than we could ever have imagined. It has even helped increase administrative credibility,” he notes. “Many members have said that church administrators usually are asking for money, but this time they’re giving back by providing church members with more accessible materials.”

If he could change something about the project, Timm says he would replace the current study guides with “dynamic PowerPoint presentations.” He adds, however, that he’s seeing very encouraging results.

Ryan feels church leaders are espousing this project because they believe “Ellen White played a large role in establishing much of the distinctiveness that marks Adventism, in that she unwrapped Scripture and left the Adventist Church with a certain view of the future.” He says that distinctiveness is lost if a large percentage of our members are not reading her books or if we don’t prepare these books in their languages so they can read them.

But finding the money needed to accomplish the CWJ objectives is still a concern. Although some donors have given substantial contributions, Nix says, “I wish we could find many more contributors who would give donations both large and small, because my big burden is that we haven’t supplied the books to those who need them the most—those living in areas where the church is exploding not only in the number of members but also in multiple language groups.”

GC funds earmarked for Spirit of Prophecy promotion are subsidizing much of the cost of CWJ. Donor contributions, some quite substantial, are adding to the total. The divisions are paying part of the expenses, as well. Conferences and missions are not being asked to contribute money, but are responsible for delivering the materials to the churches and training pastors and other local leaders to conduct the studies.

“The messages penned by Ellen White were not manufactured by someone who simply wanted to influence people,” Wilson says. “These are messages given by the Lord to point us to Jesus and salvation; to His Word, the Bible; and to amplify many of the principles that you find in the Bible. These principles never get old.”

Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) president Jairyong Lee describes members in his region as “hungry for books, especially Ellen White books.” Lee is particularly grateful that they’re now available in Chinese.

CWJ has also been eagerly accepted in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and Mongolia, “where our people are now paying more attention to studying and reading the Spirit of Prophecy books,” Lee notes. “They’re also using these books for outreach, sharing them with their neighbors.”

“Our goal is to give these books to every newly baptized family,” ESD president Artur A. Stele says. “The books are very treasured, because in Soviet times people could not have them. They were reproduced with typewriters, and sometimes our people—especially younger people—would get only the tenth copy, which almost wasn’t readable. People copied by hand—word by word—many books of Ellen White. Now they have all of them, and it’s a great joy.”

Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (SID) president Paul S. Ratsara says his region has printed 100,000 sets and is promoting CWJ “very strongly. It is a gift from God,” he says. Ratsara sees Ellen White’s writings as very relevant today because “if someone is really reading the Spirit of Prophecy books—not just hearing about them but reading and internalizing them—you see change. That’s the strongest proof of the relevancy of the Spirit of Prophecy—a changed life.”

"As a teenager, I read the book Steps to Christ, and it was a turning point in my spiritual life. Its message was simple, yet filled with such strength and beauty. For me, it drew Christ into focus in a way that was utterly compelling.

In the ministry of Ellen White generations of Seventh-day Adventists have found a priceless gift. Her words draw us toward the Savior. They focus our attention on the values and beliefs that identify Adventists around the world as a spiritual family, united in faith and mission.

The Connecting With Jesus initiative has tremendous potential to open up this rich spiritual resource to millions of church members, especially new believers. And I pray that, like me, they will be led to see their Lord more clearly."

— Jan Paulsen,  General Conference President As coordinator of the CWJ project in the North American Division (NAD), Alvin Kibble knew the unique challenges of the Western world required a different approach.

“In North America we have about a 17 percent reader population for the Spirit of Prophecy books, and most of those readers are over the age of 65,” Kibble, an NAD vice president, explains. “That’s alarming! It’s not that we don’t have access to Ellen White books: we’re just choosing not to read them.”

“We believe there’s a special need to help young people develop an appreciation for the Spirit of Prophecy as well as the studying of the Scriptures,” Kibble says, adding that they realized they had to use a more contemporary approach. “In this generation of digital technology and extremely fast communication many people don’t want to receive information in the traditional fashion,” he notes. “So we decided to try to reach the new generation—ages 15 to 30—with a format they’ve already embraced.”

The result was downloadable audio versions, in contemporary language and narrated by professional book readers, of the first three books of the Conflict of the Ages Series. Plans are in place to complete the last two books of the series, along with Education, The Ministry of Healing, and Steps to Christ.

“Young people can either listen to the books on their computers, transfer them to their MP3 players, or even transfer them to their phones,” Kibble says. “They’re able to ‘read’ them on the way to work or school or wherever they are.” Hard copies of the books are also available.

White Estate assistant director Darryl Thompson was responsible for preparing and editing the books. Describing the CWJ program as “phenomenal,” he says, “I’m finding that when I go out and talk to young people, very few know anything at all about Ellen White. Less than 10 percent have actually read anything, but they’re spiritually hungry.”

Thompson sees the writings of Ellen White as very relevant to young adults today. Even though her writings are more than 100 years old, “they’re still contemporary,” he says. “In some cases, they’re even more relevant because many of the things she talks about are right now being fulfilled. If you read the last few chapters of The Great Controversy, it’s like reading the headlines of a major newspaper.” He adds, “We need to remember where these messages come from—they come from God.”

To market the new books, NAD and the White Estate contracted with a company in Australia for 5,000 brightly colored USB bands, which they distributed free of charge at the 2009 International Pathfinder Camporee held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States.

“They went so fast we could have given out 10 times as many,” Kibble says. “On my desk is a stack of requests for more bands. Our young people are wanting Spirit of Prophecy books—that’s what we were dreaming of!”

“Our church will be brought together in a more cohesive way as we zero in on the events that are leading up to the [culmination of the] great controversy,” says G. Ralph Thomson, coordinator of the entire CWJ project. “We’re getting ready for the challenges we’ve yet to meet. We must have these messages not just in our heads but in our hearts.”

Wilson adds, “There seems to be three categories of people who don’t have a good knowledge of Ellen White’s writings: those who simply don’t have the materials available, those not interested in reading them, and those—a much smaller category—who, for whatever reasons, are actively opposed to the Spirit of Prophecy. To them I say, ‘Just read them, and see if the messages don’t shine through in their beauty, and the Holy Spirit won’t touch your heart.’ The counsels are so practical, so balanced—a balanced presentation of truth and practical instruction. They’re from the Lord.”