Winter 2023

A quarterly journal of Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

faith: verb

FRANK & MAXINE BARTON’S EXTRAORDINARY LEGACY

FOCUS ON FLORIDA

SOUTHERN STUDENT SPREADS

THE WORD THROUGH INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT FAITH AS A VERB

The topic of faith, as illustrated many times in the Bible, has long been studied and debated, leading many to still ask what faith really means.

When I began to look for the root of the word faith, I quickly realized that “faith” in the original Bible texts is not a noun but was used as a verb. Suddenly, everything made sense. I realized that what was later translated as “believe” was the verb pisteuo. When Jesus asked the sick if they believed He could heal them, the word He used was pisteuo, which means faith in action. Every time we read “believe” in the scriptures, we are actually reading faith as a verb.

During translation to modern languages, the word for faith could not be conjugated in the active voice and became passive. In addition, the word changed from faith to belief. When we analyze the context, we realize that pisteuo is much more than believing in God. When we use the word believe, we give the idea of attaining knowledge, not of an active verb, a living faith capable of leading us to do things beyond simple knowledge.

In the New Testament, pisteuo is used for the word that moves us to confidently seek what we believe. It is also used for the action of entrusting someone with something important, or when something is entrusted to you. Sadly, over the years, faith has become passive, the mere knowledge of some fact or event. It was called intellectual faith, or belief.

Intellectual faith is not the faith Paul describes in Hebrews 11 when he writes:

• By faith (pisteuo) we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command

• By faith (pisteuo) Abel brought God a better offering

• By faith (pisteuo) Enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death

• By faith (pisteuo) Noah built the ark

• By faith (pisteuo) Abraham went out to a strange land

• By faith (pisteuo) Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice

• By faith (pisteuo) Moses passed the Red Sea on dry land

After reading these, and countless other examples in Hebrews 11, the question arises: what kind of faith do we have? What moves us to follow Jesus? What brings us to church? Is it a living faith or merely a tradition, a desire to socialize, or to seek intellectual knowledge? Is it a dead faith, trapped by rationalism and the shame of not being different?

It is not the same to say, “I have love for you” as “I love you.” In the same way, it is not the same to simply say, “I have Faith.” Faith does not lead us to act only when we understand or when it’s reasonable, but makes us act even if it is outside of human understanding. Our faith is not something that will save us when Jesus comes, but that has already saved us by the grace of God.

I pray this edition of Florida Focus inspires you to experience your faith as a verb. On these pages, you will read— and sometimes watch by scanning a QR code— many stories about those who have acted in faith. From the incredible legacy of our recently retired Prison Ministries’ volunteer directors to a young student serving across borders, these testimonies speak powerfully about what God can do when we allow Him to lead.

May the Lord bless you always,

Allan Machado, D.Min. Florida Conference President

“The

Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

Luke 4:18-19 (NLT)

FRANK & MAXINE BARTON’S EXTRAORDINARY LEGACY

by Janeth Montenegro

Florida Prison Ministries was founded in 1989 with a simple yet profound calling: to give every inmate, their families, and friends an opportunity to know Jesus and be saved.

Frank and Maxine Barton, along with Malcolm and Hazel Gordon, first introduced prison ministry to Florida Conference. Later, Obed Graham, who was Florida Conference President at the time, started an official prison ministries organization within the conference.

From the beginning, Frank and Maxine have recruited and trained volunteers, instilling in them the belief that they are ministering to individuals whom God loves greatly. “God cares for these inmates, no matter what they’ve done, and He wants to save them,” says Frank Barton.

Over these 35 years, Florida Prison Ministries team members visited inmates, provided Bible Studies, led a Spiritual Pen-Pal Program, produced a monthly printed newsletter for inmates, prepared care packages, created a program for the children of inmates called Love a Mother’s Baby (LAMB), and provided safe, stable housing for released individuals through halfway homes.

Maxine Barton was the key leader in running the Spiritual PenPal program, sending Bible Studies to prisoners, and receiving correspondence in response to our monthly newsletter. The Spiritual Pen-Pal program is a pivotal way to minister inside prisons, as inmates

often feel alone and seek ways to communicate with others. In 2023 alone, they received 800 requests for pen pals.

We have been truly blessed to have Maxine and Frank Barton serve the Lord through pioneering the Florida Prison Ministries. Frank served for 33 years and retired in 2022. Maxine continued to volunteer for two more years until 2024. We celebrated her 35-year achievement and retirement on January 28, 2024, with the prison ministry leaders of churches from both Florida and Southeastern conferences.

“We have been supported by all of our wonderful family, volunteers, and conference for all of these years. What more could you ask for?” says Maxine Barton. “Our mission may change, but we will always praise the Lord for His Grace and Mercy in our lives. Who knows what the next mission will be?”

We can catch a glimpse of God’s love through the selfless ministry of Maxine and Frank.

Janeth Montenegro is an Administrative Assistant with Florida Conference. She serves the departments of Stewardship, Sabbath School, Membership Retention, Community Services & Disaster Response, Prison Ministries, Men’s Ministries, and Property Development.

por Isaac Ibarra

La Semillade Haven Escanea para ver el video

“En medio de mi dolor y angustia, pude ver una letra H en el cielo, donde Dios me mostró que mi nieto Haven murió sellado para salvación.”

Estas palabras salieron del corazón desgarrado de una abuela, quien después de haber criado a su nieto como a un hijo, ahora lo veía en un ataúd producto de un trágico accidente de motocicleta que cobró la vida de este joven de tan solo 18 años de edad. Los caminos de Dios son misteriosos.

El sábado 17 de Septiembre, 2022, el ministerio Primero Dios, de la Universidad Oakwood celebró en la ciudad de Orlando, Florida, un evento juvenil de adoración y recreación. Entre los ocho jóvenes que tomaron la decisión de bautizarse, estuvo el joven Haven Lasanta a quien, junto a otros primos y familiares, tuve el honor de bautizar en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espiritu Santo, junto al Dr. Hector Marin, quien se desempeñaba como coordinador hispano de la Conferencia del Sudeste.

Durante su niñez, Haven había asistido y pertenecía al Club de Conquistadores de la Iglesia Adventista Hispana de Apopka de la Conferencia de la Florida, tocaba su saxofón y las enseñanzas divinas penetraban en su vida. Dios no se equivoca al decir en Proverbios 22:6, “Instruye al niño en su camino, y aun cuando fuere viejo no se apartará de él.”

Transcurrió un poco más de un año y ese joven que sonreía y soñaba, ahora se encontraba sin vida esperando el tocar de la trompeta en la mañana de la Resurrección.

Los familiares me contactaron para que oficiara en el servicio fúnebre. En oración, Dios inspiró mi corazón para que contactara al pastor laico José Paradela a fin de que me acompañase en el servicio, consolando los corazones dolientes con partes especiales interpretadas con su violín. Él no solo tocó, sino que, conmovido por la situación y el recuerdo de haber perdido también un hijo, se dirigió a los familiares con una invitación a encontrarse con Jesús y a visitar a su iglesia.

Durante las palabras finales que pronuncié en esa ocasión, una de las primas de Haven, con lágrimas en los ojos, expresó su deseo de bautizarse como lo hubo hecho en vida Haven. Inmediatamente, alrededor de 16 familiares, puestos en pie, tambien expresaron su deseo de bautizarse.

El siguiente sábado, algunos familiares comenzaron a visitar el grupo naciente de Wekiwa bajo el liderazgo del pastor Noel González y el pastor laico local José Paradela.

Muy pronto les invitamos a una deliciosa paella preparada con amor y seguidamente pudieron escuchar de labios del pastor Roger Hernández, ministerial de la Unión del Sur, tres consejos para su crecimiento; el pastor Abel Morrobel, de la Conferencia del Sureste, les habló sobre el bautismo; y el pastor Paradela, junto a su esposa expresaron su compromiso de darle seguimiento a esta decisión. Esa noche terminó en un ambiente de oración y consagración.

El siguiente sábado, el último del 2023, fue la celebración, pues 16 preciosas almas entregaron sus vidas a Cristo a través del bautismo. La nota culminante del día, fue la sorpresa que todos se llevaron porque mientras este servidor hacia el llamado, el padre de Haven vino al frente y también fue sumergido en las aguas de la muerte para nueva vida en Cristo Jesús.

¡Cuan gloriosa será la mañana cuando al resucitar Haven pueda ver a su lado a su padre, abuelos queridos, primos, y familiares quienes también han sido redimidos por la sangre del Cordero!

Haven descansa en el Señor; más sus obras con nosotros siguen.

Pr. Isaac Ibarra es asistente especial al presidente de la Universidad Oakwood para Diversidad e Inclusión.

EPISODE 2

Dear Florida Conference family,

Here at Florida Conference, we have much to be thankful for and so many reasons to praise the Lord.

We are in awe of God’s grace and goodness, as we have seen how He is blessing His people and growing His church.

Building the Kingdom through Evangelism

We were greatly blessed by our evangelistic series, Declare: Building the Kingdom of God. The series concluded in Central and South Florida, with 53 baptisms across the state.

In October, 11 Spanish churches in North Florida participated in “Jesus Wins,” an evangelistic series where 55 precious souls were baptized. In addition, 26 individuals experienced the Gospel and decided to give their lives to Christ in baptism during “Revive,” a week of evangelism in Homestead, Redland, South Orlando, and Lakeland.

In West Palm Beach, two weeks of evangelism led by Pr. Glen Samuels brought more than 900 people from the community and visitors from other states. 56 new brothers and sisters joined our Florida Conference family through baptism, and 30 others made decisions online and are being connected with local churches in other states and countries.

SCAN TO WATCH THIS EPISODE

Sharing the Gospel by Sharing a Meal

Sharing the gospel does not only happen inside our churches and schools. This fall, Spanish-language churches joined together in an initiative called “Share your Table,” where families invited a friend or neighbor to their home and shared three things, a meal, a testimony, and a prayer. During Thanksgiving, many families opened the doors of their homes to invite their friends. We have heard beautiful testimonies of new friends attending churches and even getting baptized.

Church Planting

Our churches continue to grow, and we are filled with gratefulness. The Bradenton Spanish congregation was officially organized as a church and welcomed into our sisterhood of churches.

In Crescent City, the fern capital of the world, we saw the beginnings of a new church as they celebrated their mission group organization.

Training Kingdom Builders

Effective evangelism puts an evangelism system in place. We believe in the importance of training our leaders and equipping them with everything they need to fulfill their God-given mission.

Led by the North American Division, our lay pastors attended a weekend-long VLP Bootcamp at Camp Kulaqua, just one of the several training events they attend yearly.

Our pastors and leaders also participated in ACTS, a multicultural class that focuses on church planting.

For our workers across all fields of ministry, the Flourishing Christian Leader training is a months-long intensive where participants meet twice a year as a group, and monthly with their coaches and small groups, to strengthen their skills and bear richer fruit in their ministries.

Every December, Spanish-language Ministries hosts REAL, a weekend training for pastors, lay pastors, and church leaders. This year, 675 attendees were challenged to begin creative evangelism efforts in their communities. Gerson Santos, Associate Secretary for the General Conference, led sessions focused on church growth.

Celebrations & Fellowship

We have so many opportunities to gather and fellowship with our community at Florida Conference.

In 2023, our beloved Camp Kulaqua celebrated 70 years with an unforgettable weekend of activities, worship, and reminiscing on its impact and ministry for seven decades. We praise God for how he led us since 1953, and what great blessings we have enjoyed at our beautiful camp.

Our Florida Conference couples are strengthening and reconnecting! Over two weekends in November, more than 130 couples enjoyed our Reconnecting Marriage Retreats in Spanish

and English, filled with expert speakers, dynamic seminars, and opportunities to grow together in the Lord.

This fall was our last Women’s Ministries One Day retreat in 2023, this time in South Florida. Our ladies loved spending time together in the word and meeting new friends from different churches.

Florida Conference men were Marching Forward all year long. We were so blessed by our English retreat in March and Spanish retreat in October. It is wonderful to gather in the name of the Lord and be encouraged and equipped to serve our families, communities, and churches.

Our Adventurer kids had a Super Fun Day in November! More than 1,000 Adventurers gathered at Space Coast Daily Park to celebrate and share with the community what Adventurer Ministry can do for our kids and families.

During Thanksgiving weekend, our Portuguese-speaking churches celebrated their 2023 Camp Meeting titled “The Hour has Come,” where 700 people enjoyed and celebrated together as one big church. Eight precious souls were baptized in the Camp Kulaqua spring.

We are so uplifted by the miracles we have seen, the new members of our conference, and how has led us in 2023. We ask—this is our prayer— that He continue to lead in 2024, every day from now until He returns.

VOLUNTEERS SERVE

by Sidney Needles

In early January, a 62-member volunteer group from Maranatha Volunteers International, a supporting ministry of the Seventhday Adventist Church, completed maintenance projects at Camp Kulaqua in High Springs, Florida. The summer camp and retreat center is one of the largest Adventist summer camps in the world, hosting roughly 50,000 visitors each year. This was the sixth service trip Maranatha volunteers have made to Camp Kulaqua over the years, and it addressed many projects camp staff couldn’t squeeze into their busy schedules.

“It would have taken [camp staff] months to accomplish what they did in about a week,” remarked Ben Rivera, Camp Kulaqua’s Coordinator for Volunteer Services.

Volunteers tackled each item on their to-do list with a positive attitude and impressive work ethic. They completed typical construction and maintenance projects like installing roofs, mending and painting fences, remodeling a garage, reorganizing the camp’s nature center, and raking leaves. Some volunteers also experienced the unique task of building a hawk enclosure for Camp Kulaqua’s zoo. “It was awesome!” said Rivera. “In such a short time, they accomplished so much!”

The team was blessed with 14 volunteers under the age of 16, who played hard and worked hard, too. “The kids did a lot of raking. Some of them worked along with their father or mother,” recalled project leader Betty Beattie-Chrispell. The youngsters’ energy also helped contribute to a positive group dynamic. “Everybody worked so well together,” remarked Beattie-Chrispell. “I truly believe that, each project I go on, the Lord knows which person to send us. He always sends us exactly who we need, and because of that, everything just meshes so well.”

Maranatha service projects foster uplifting community and lifelong connections. Beattie-Chrispell has found this to be true on the nearly 50 Maranatha service trips she has joined over the years. “This is, I guess, what you would say is my calling,” she said. “I enjoy it so much; my family keeps getting bigger!” Beattie-Chrispell has served on all six Maranatha projects at Camp Kulaqua, enjoying the chance to reconnect with staff members she used to work beside. “We used to go there every winter and spend the winter months there,” she recalled. “[This trip] just gives me a chance to go back and see all the people who work at the camp who I used to work with. It gives me the chance to see old friends again.”

Maranatha mobilizes volunteers to build churches, schools, water wells, and other urgently needed structures around the world. They also work with organizations in the United States and Canada to provide volunteer labor for various construction or renovation projects at summer camps and retreat centers, schools, and churches. Work ranges from renovations of existing buildings to new construction, saving thousands of dollars in labor costs.

2024 Sharing Book of the Year

A great way to share your faith! “The Great Controversy” is subsidized by the Southern Union to keep costs low so each member can afford to share it. To learn more about the Great Controversy sharing initiative, visit, sharegreatcontroversy.com

¡Una excelente manera de compartir tu fe! “El Conflicto de los Siglos”está subsidiado por la Union del Sur para mantener los costos bajos y que cada miembro pueda compartirlo. Para obtener más información sobre la iniciativa para compartir El Conflicto de los Siglos, visite sharegreatcontroversy.com

Missionary Book of the Year for Women

Encourage others to not give up and have hope in Jesus. “Holding On to Hope” is subsidized to keep costs low, making it perfect for sharing.

Southern Student Spreads the Word Through International Missions

by Angela Baerg

Although Emmanuel Marte had been an Adventist his whole life and had been plugged into Carol City Seventh-day Adventist Church in Florida, he had never had the opportunity to be a part of Adventist education.

“When it came time to choose a college, my mom and I had a conversation, and we decided that the best plan to help me continue to grow spiritually was to enroll in Southern Adventist University,” Marte says.

Marte arrived on campus in 2020, determined to find new ways to connect with Christ. He started doing daily personal devotionals, going to campus morning meditations, attending programs, and taking part in Sunday night dorm worship. He also tried to sign up for a mission trip with Southern’s Evangelistic Resource Center (ERC), but COVID-19 threw obstacles in his path, and all of that year’s mission trips were canceled. He tried again in 2021, but the pandemic blocked his way again. Then, in the summer of 2022, he received a phone call

from the ERC saying they were rescheduling the mission trips and asking if he was still interested.

“I had never been on a mission trip or preached before, and I was really nervous about that. However, my mom and I prayed about it, and I decided to go for it,” Marte says.

Overseas at Last

Marte was alarmed when he learned he would be the solitary health science major going to Kenya with a group of theology majors. He wasn’t sure he would be able to share the message as well as the rest of the group since they had more biblical knowledge and preaching experience. Then religion professor Eliezer Graterol, DMin, gave him some advice that encouraged him.

“He told me, ‘The most important thing is that you have to believe what you are saying and just be yourself,’” Marte says. “I realized that to achieve that I needed to dig into Scripture deeper than ever before.”

As Marte mapped out his sermons, he dove into the Bible to ensure he fully understood every passage he was preaching. When he didn’t understand concepts that he encountered, he asked fellow students and his professors to share their knowledge. When they finally arrived in Kenya, Marte was grateful that he had prepared so thoroughly.

“I got to preach 15 times in Kenya, and every time, I was astonished at how naturally it all came out,” Marte reflects. “During an hour of preaching, I didn’t even have to look at my slides. I especially enjoyed preaching about what happens after we die and sharing a message of hope.”

Every day, the students read one chapter of Mark, praying and journaling their thoughts on the passage and how it touched their hearts. Marte loved how every chapter resonated with his personal life, particularly Mark 5. That story told how Jesus cast out the legion of demons when He spoke with such authority that even the demons had to obey. Marte felt convicted that he could also preach with authority and spread God’s word. He was very moved when he saw people respond to his call to be baptized, and knew he was in the right place. The day those baptisms took place was a surreal experience for him.

“I recognized all of the people,” Marte says. “They had attended every single night when I was preaching. I was excited to see that the message had touched them.”

To Paraguay and Beyond

In 2023, Marte went on another trip with the ERC, this time to Paraguay. His outreach in Paraguay held an additional complication – they asked him to preach in Spanish. Although Spanish is his native language, he didn’t speak it very often and was out of practice. Again, he summoned his courage to overcome this new challenge.

Almost immediately upon arrival, Marte felt convicted that he had made the right decision to preach in Spanish. He loved that speaking

the local language made him approachable and easy to talk to. It deepened his bond with the people around him, and soon they felt less like new acquaintances and more like lifelong friends. They were extremely welcoming and hospitable, bringing him fruits from their gardens and offering to buy him dinner. One family invited him to fellowship in their home; another took him to a local park to share their culture. Any remaining nervousness he had felt disintegrated when he saw the passionate responses to his call to baptism, just as he had seen in Kenya.

“My favorite memory was watching a young man surprise his mother when he entered the baptismal waters,” Marte recalls. “Her eyes filled with tears of joy. She had been praying for that day for a long time. I felt very happy because it showed me that God’s word had reached him.”

Looking Forward

At Southern, Marte continues working towards his health science degree and is projected to graduate in December 2024. When Marte was 10 years old, he broke two of his fingers playing basketball and had to use finger splints to recover. Since then, he has been fascinated with orthotics and prosthetics and their potential for helping people heal. After Southern, he plans to attend graduate school. In the future, he hopes to go on additional mission trips where he will be able to use his professional skills to help people who would not otherwise have access to medical equipment such as prosthetic legs and knee braces. In the meantime, he will cherish the memories he acquired from his mission experiences.

“If you are thinking of going on a mission trip, my advice is listen to the little voice inside of you that says to go,” Marte says. “On these trips I learned that God works through anyone, and even a regular person can still touch someone’s heart. Always know that God is next to you. You’re never alone.”