Winter Focus 2024 RTP

Table of CONTENTS 4 FILLED WITH GRATITUDE 6 WRAPPED 2024 10 PRAISE & WORSHIP FROM OUR PASTORS 4

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FLORIDA FOCUS is published quarterly by Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists® and mailed free of charge to constituent members with nonprofit standard postage paid in Orlando, Florida.

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Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists® 351 S. State Road 434, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714-3824 (407) 644-5000 • www.floridaconference.com • floridafocus@floridaconference.com President: Allan Machado floridaconference Executive Secretary: Tim Goff floridaconf Treasurer: Elisa Rahming florida.conference Editor: Raquel Levy Editorial Staff: Gladys Neigel and Pedro Pablo Osorio / Public Relations Department

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Filled with Gratitude Dear Florida Conference Family, At the beginning of 2024, we made it our mission to amplify the Gospel of Jesus Christ more than ever. From conference-wide initiatives and departmental events to every church, school, community, and home, we set out to resonate the voice of Jesus.

Looking back, I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude. Our Florida Conference family grew to more than 73,500 as we celebrated 3,387 souls welcoming Jesus into their hearts through baptism or profession of faith. Though we faced trials, including two powerful hurricanes, we saw God’s grace and guidance every step of the way. Like the vibrant hues of a stained-glass window, each moment contributed to the beautiful mosaic of our shared experience.

We have already begun 2025 in full force, energized at seeing God’s faithfulness in times of difficulties and times of rejoicing. Florida Conference is excited to take part in Pentecost 2025, a movement to hold 3,000 or more proclamation events throughout North America. Please join us in prayer for all the evangelistic efforts that will take place across our conference this year.

The following pages are a testament to His unending faithfulness and a thank you to our members, workers, churches, schools, entities, and everyone who played a part in amplifying His Gospel. In this special edition of Florida Focus, you will see just a few of the highlights from the past year.

Amplifying the Gospel: Our theme, “Amplify the Gospel,” resonated throughout the year, inspiring countless acts of service, evangelism, and outreach. From Easter baptisms to community initiatives, we witnessed the power of the Gospel to transform lives.

Responding to Needs: Within just a couple of weeks, we were hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton, and our conference rallied to provide aid to those affected. Our Disaster Response team managed a warehouse in Ocala in conjunction with Southeastern Conference and the State of Florida, managing more than one million dollars of donated goods. We were blessed with more than 34 volunteers who gave 4,680 hours of service. Many departments, from Administration to Property Development and Risk Management, worked tirelessly for 4

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our affected churches and schools. And so many of you lent a hand to a struggling neighbor or friend, exemplifying the love of Christ.

Nurturing Growth: We celebrated the organization of new mission groups, companies, and churches, welcoming them into our growing family of believers. Each new congregation represents a beacon of hope in its community.

Empowering Leaders: From the Rise Pastors Convention to lay leadership training programs like FCLIFE and FIEL, we invested in equipping our leaders for effective ministry.

Strengthening Families: Marriage retreats, men’s and women’s conventions, and family-focused events provided opportunities for fellowship, spiritual growth, and connection.

Engaging Youth: Our young people shone brightly throughout the year. I was encouraged to see young leaders at Pathfinder and Adventurer events and Youth and Young Adults initiatives like Digital Missionary Lab and Global Youth Day. They have demonstrated their passion for serving Christ and shown that they are not just the future of the church but active participants in its present.

Innovus Innovation Center: The opening of Innovus provided a unique space for young people to explore their talents and develop skills in technology, arts, and many other fields. This initiative reflects our commitment to nurturing the next generation of leaders.

In this issue, you will also read stories of praise from some of our pastors and churches. I love seeing our congregations reach out to their communities and grow as they amplify the Gospel.

It is my prayer that we continue to walk together in faith, hope, and love, as a Florida Conference united and unwavering in our commitment to building the Kingdom of God. May the Lord bless you always,

Allan Machado, D.Min. Florida Conference President

CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS AND CELEBRATIONS Our congregations grow every year. A new church begins as a mission group, grows into a company of believers, and culminates as an official Florida Conference church.

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The Net Company

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Scan to view/download more photos of churches and events:

EVANGELISM

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FCLIFE and FIEL tra

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We praise God for 3,387 baptisms and professions of faith in 2024. Florida Conference membership is now more than 73,000.

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HURRICANE RESPONSE

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We were impacted by two powerful hurricanes, yet we never lost sight of God’s guidance. Our Disaster Response team provided aid after hurricanes Helene and Milton, in conjunction with the State of Florida. The team of 34 stored managed a warehouse and more than $1,000,000 in goods

GRAND OPENING: INNOVUS INNOVATION CENTER

A dream years in the making: Innovus Innovation Center opened its doors in 2024, becoming a hub for technology, STEM+C, coding, art, and so much more.

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WHERE WE GATHERED Just a few highlights from some events we enjoyed in 2024.

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Women’s Convention and One-D

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Men’s Convention and Rallies

Haitian Ministries

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Portuguese-language Ministries

Adventist Robotics Ch

Jumpstart and Fit Together 8

Marriage Retreats

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ampionships

Student Literature Ev angelists

Camp Kulaqua Summer Camp

RED ZONE, INTERNATIONAL CAMPOREE, PATHFINDER BIBLE EXPERIENCE AND ADVENTURER BIBLE GAME

International Camporee: 3,800 Pathfinders attended from Florida Conference and 48 were baptized. The Florida Conference All-Star Drum Corps played for the opening performance, and many clubs won first place in the drill competition.

PRISON MINISTRIES VOLUNTEERS

Our dedicated Prison Ministries volunteers reach out to our incarcerated brothers and sisters year-round. We praise God for their service. We also mourned the passing and celebrated the legacy of Frank Barton, who heeded the Lord’s calling in 1979 to set up a prison ministries program in Florida. Through this ministry, thousands of inmates accepted Jesus as their Savior.

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Praise & Worship from our pastors Felipe Antao

Palm Coast Portu guese We worked on study series throughout the year, with a notable structured a new Pa focus on stewardship thfinder Club set to be , gin early next year, an for Portuguese and d held evangelistic ev Brazilian communitie ents s. All of this has str amplify the Gospel. engthened our churc h to

Channing W. Allen

Northwest Dade each month Every third Thursday of distributes ent the Community Departm . Door of ple peo of food to hundreds . ies ser ic list Hope Evange

Steven Jencks

Umatilla the Umatilla church for Gave three messages at three people responded FCLIFE evangelism, where . ers to prepare for baptism for baptism and two oth on ke spo ir lives to Jesus. I Hundreds recommitted the living for Him. and us Jes surrendering to

Felipe Antao

n Jacksonville Brazilia nt sermon series orta imp on d rke wo We ally in the area of eci esp r, throughout the yea out a major renovation stewardship. We carried a new Pathfinder Club of the church, launched supported families in ial, ent with great growth pot to continuing to amplify need, and are committed year. the gospel in the coming

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Dr. Newton Hoilette

Lehigh Acres The highlights of our church year are multiple: youth and adult baptisms, Bible Bowl Team won first place at NAD, 100 plus attendance at VBS in person each day, education extravaganza & back to school giveaway to 400 students (community & church), enhanced worship services through ministry of praise teams and communication media, innovative adult sabbath school & kingdom kids programming.

Mark Monreal

Orlando Filipino Mission Trip to the Philippines last June resulted in baptism of 460 new members. Evangelism series last October (whole month) for four weekends. Fifteen new members baptized.

Samuel B. Pethiere

Salem, Eden, Jerusalem, Emmanuel & Tampa Haitian As a Seventh-day Adventist Church, we actively embrace the core principles of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, including a dedicated ministry of prayer, open communication, passionate gospel preaching, faithful tithe-returning, responsible church administration, and most importantly, showing deep respect for one another! Together, let’s live out these values and experience God’s abundant blessings!

Rene Sanchez

g rounding the church growin Homestead Spanish the gospel. Population sur ing ead and spr ide ins and g rch rkin chu wo on paint Homestead Spanish keeps again “baptism day.” New ay of the year, was once Florida Conference Church t firs the to k loo exponentially. Last Saturd new ny shi and ed esh refr a lot, gives of the church shows with out, including the parking “red cross” perched on top new A s. utiful Key rida Flo the rch! Praising God for a bea coming from the south in it Homestead Spanish Chu vis e Com ge. ssa me pel joy the heart of the gos rch! building and a beautiful chu

Abner Rodriguez

Jacksonville First and Argyle Fore st At Jacksonville First and Argyle Forest, we have been very busy developing outreach progr ams and Children’s Ministry this past year. We look forward to expanding and raising the bar in bringing others to the feet of Jesus.

Rene Sanchez

Redland Spanish our we were able to pay off Gratitude fills our hearts: is nity mu com the Lord in our mortgage! Joy of serving ves ser ay rsd Thu ry Bank eve greater every day. Food get come to the church and ls Sou ... ple peo near 300 the kingdom... baptized and discipled for

Willie Iwankiw

Apopka Intentional friend building across the Apopka Church family encouraged by our new pastoral team has led to deeper and more meaningful relationships plus 25% attendance growth.

Dan Schiffbauer

Cocoa Evangelistic meetings with Amazing Facts res ulting in 10 baptisms and 14 baptisms overall.

Philips Mompremier

Apopka Franco Haitian Acquired a building and met all the criteria to become an organized church.

Dan Schiffbauer

Titusville church including a young adult praise team, Increased involvement with youth and young adults in the nts in VBS (others helped too), young adult assista and r directo two young adult elders elected, young adult ing. leadership and assistance with the church A/V and stream

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Pedro Alberteris

ticipation with more enturers saw record par Westchester Spanish Adv and s der hfin Pat s! g succes ders and welcomed many This year was a resoundin program fostered new lea up Gro Life d to have ize ital rev A ed. sion, and we are thrilled than 100 children involv gation supported our mis gre con the from ing giv new people. Generous ers. welcomed 40 new memb

Delroy Hamilton

South Brevard The year began with officer training sessions for both churches. South Brevard adopted a new mission statement: “To present Christ Jesus to our family, community, country, and the world.” Key initiatives included international Bible studies, outreach programs, and Bible School training for Bible Workers. The year culminated in a powerful three-weekend revival, resulting in 11 baptisms.

Fritznel Bruno

Hope Springs and Marion Oaks This year has been a remarkable blessing for our district.

Following our evangelistic series, we witnessed 39 baptisms, including 13 at Hope Springs and 26 at Marion Oaks, where an additional three individuals made professions of faith. This significant growth at Marion Oaks has necessitated the recent purchase of 1.65 acres of land to build a new facility that can accommodate the expanding congregation. Furthermore, we have seen a considerable increase in tithes, reflecting the growing generosity and spiritual vitality of our district. We are truly grateful to God for His abundant blessings and the evident movement of His Spirit among us.

Delroy Hamilton

Victory We launched a two-week series in July with a Student Pastor from Andrews University. It was a big change in the Church, we closed with 10 baptisms. We are still working on prospects for baptisms in both churches.

Hubert Wilkie

Maranatha 2024 was a year of ascending to new heights together in faith, service, and impact. Our theme “Elevate” truly defined our journey.

Mark Swaisgood

Lakeland Our ministry to kids this year included a week-long evenin g VBS, a baptismal preparation class, our Pathfinders went to Gillette, Wyoming, and we had a well attended one day VBS Sabbath. For the adults we had a Sabbath afternoon Bible study series on the Three Angels’ Messages of Rev 14, we began our Wednesday night prayer meeting again (not having an on site one since COVID), we had an international week of prayer in November, and saw significant growth in numbers of those coming to our weekly Wednesday food pantry.

Mark Swaisgood

Plant City We ministered to children through weekly Sabbath school classes and our annual VBS, wrapping up the year with a baptismal preparation class; whereas, the adults in this bilingual congregation focused on bringing people to our English and Spanish worship services, resulting in an end of year baptism class.

Jonathan Pasto

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Miami Spanish 2024: A year to witness God’s goodness as He works through us to bring ho pe and joy to our com munity.

William Earnhardt

William Earnhardt

Homosassa We had a series on the Three Angels’ Messages in Light of the Cross which attracted a few people from our community as well as some non active members.

Inverness l an Easter weekend reviva A community health fair and l era sev ed act attr ich ss, wh centered around the cro on ies ll as a fall revival ser from the community as we in light of the cross which ges ssa Me the Three Angels’ the community. also attracted several from

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William Earnhardt

Bushnell In 2024 the Bushnell church did a mass maili ng resulting in several Bible study requests, and also went door-to-door in the comm unity praying with people as well as sharing litera ture, resulting in a family in the neighborhood visitin g our church.

George P. Williams

Vanessa Hairston

Miami Temple Miami Temple had highlights in three areas: spiritual, physical, and relational. In 2024, we saw growth in the church spiritually both with active members and new additions. Physically we saw God’s faithfulness as our Sanctuary renovation was completed. And relationally we saw individuals grow deeper as they overcame challenges throughout the year including the Pathfinder camporee.

Hollywood conjunction with the Hospitality Department, We revived the Community Services Department and, in the community, a gesture which continues to carried out food and clothing distribution every Thursday to be overwhelmingly successful.

David Pires

Brazilian Temple West Palm Beac h We celebrated the first anniversary in our own building with a treme ndous increase in att endance, tithes, offerings, and ba ptisms.

Paul Campoli

Midport In 2024, the Midport Church was very active in community service/outreach, specifically through our Food Pantry and our Fall Festival which had over 500 attendees from the community. We also had successful evangelism as part of a joint initiative of five Adventist churches in Treasure Coast, including both Florida Conference and Southeastern Conference churches.

s

George P. William

Cooper City h, ember, we prayed wit Two Tuesdays in Nov to s bag gift and ted plaques commended, and presen per Coo of s cer Offi ice Pol the Fire Fighters and the ich with catered lunch, for wh m the d plie sup and ; City l. they were extremely gratefu

Alex Harter

Spring Meadows This year, RISEN children’s ministry thrived.

VBS was a huge success with 350+ children and nearl y 200 volunteers. MOMCo & KIDCo served families, and the new Garden of Learning COOP engaged over 25 kids.

The Adventurer Club boasted over 100 mem bers, and the Kid’s Choir had 40+ participants. We also enjoyed a significant increase in outreach opportunit ies for all ages, with events occurring almost monthly.

Kevin Messina

Rolando Morgado

s, ng adult Sabbath School Clearwater luding both youth and you (inc ies ed istr cat min allo we new of rd); ber sion boa We have launched a num ministry, and even a mis al ministries, a visitation e in rebuilding their lives alik ers mb me nity mu women’s ministries, person com and rch chu ist ass resources to act is the implementation thousands of dollars and s the most significant imp hap per 16 and ; nes rica hur ack class that has produced after being hit by back-to-b ludes a permanent baptism inc t tha hip les cip dis of of an intentional pathway baptisms for Jesus!

Lake Worth Spanish This year, our church experienced significant growth and outreach through active small groups and conducted a successful tent evangelism week, resulting in several baptisms. Our commitment to serving the community extended beyond our walls, as we provided weekly meals, showers, laundry services, and haircuts to the homeless. Additionally, our soccer academy for children aged 4-12, created opportunities for both spiritual and physical development.

Dolphy Cross

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Amado Luz

Windermere & Emmanuel We have embraced a new approach in soul winning and retention. It is called the Paradigm Shift in Evangelism and Church Growth. It was imple mented in the Emmanuel church and we baptized 33 souls in two weeks in the month of August. We follow ed up with another two weeks in Windermere and baptized 10 souls. The district has baptized 49 souls with one more baptism to close out the year. To God be the glory!

in the rapid growth Kissimmee KSDA was seeing . At at ol ar ho ye Sc r n ou tia of ris The highlight ola Adventist Ch gation and Osce bbath programs both our congre students. Our Sa 4 12 to d lt, our se ea cr in n hold. As a resu our school, we’ve an our facility ca th tuary s nc ee sa nd a te at as e w space, such often have mor rro bo or nt ity re ve to needs enjoy the di rs school frequently cilities. We also fa r d he de ot ad m e th fro d ll, ounds an and fellowship ha y different backgr d an Go m of so m m do fro ng ce ions for the ki in our attendan cis de g in ak m g people number of youn of faith. s and professions ism pt ba h throug FLORIDA FOCUS | SPECIAL EDITION

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Timothy Jemly

Coastal Christian Fellowship Mission Group - Jacksonville We are a small group that is dedicated to making a difference in our community and showing God’s love. This year God blessed our efforts with seven baptisms and professions of faith.

Shane Davis Benjamin Shurtliff

Port Charlotte The Port Charlotte Church has continued to grow this past year.

We completed renovations on our community service center and it is up and running beautifully. We have four congregations meeting on our campus each Sabbath. Two are our Spanish and Slavic language groups that have grown exponentially.

The fourth is our sister church from Punta Gorda, FL that was displaced due to flooding this past Hurricane season. Our school is growing, and to top it off AdventHealth is buying of the local hospitals in the first quarter of this year. We look forward to a lot of growth and potential in 2025.

Spring Meadows de significant strides. We This year, our church ma ed Chapter of SALT, launch established the Sanford r ate Gre t and hosted the firs an official Men’s Ministry, ws ado Me ing Spr ference at Orlando Men’s Ministry Con the tradition of spreading ed tinu con o als We Church. l caroling at AdventHealth pita holiday cheer through hos Altamonte.

Robert St Fort

Sarepta French Boca Raton The Holy Spirit is keeping the church in the Boca Raton community. Please pray for us!

Marcus Bates

Palm Coast Our church had a busy evangelistic and event calendar for 2024.

We held five Bible pro phecy weekend series ’ (in February, May, two in September, an d in November), and had several baptisms that resulted from the se meetings. We also had several other special events, includ ing a Senior Apprecia tion Banquet, an AdventHealth Hospital Sabbath, a three-day Winter VBS program, two Youth/Young Adult weekend emphases, and a “Seven Last Sayings of Jesus” Easte r weekend series. We have an extremely active church in terms of both social and eva ngelistic outreach programs. We’re loo king forward to an exciting calendar of evangelism and events in the coming year of 2025.

Roosevelt Marsden

Deltona The Deltona Seventh-day Adventist Church has made lasting impact on the community of Deltona through our Food Pantry ministry and various bridging events.

Robert St Fort

Maranatha French Lauderhill Maranatha is a church where young people are involved and create a lot of activities

Daniel Catangay

Orlando Filipino last June. ines for a mission trip We went to the Philipp conducted o wh from the church There were six teams baptisms.

460 in d ulte and res nightly evangelistic series ober and nds of evangelism last Oct We also held four weeke and the ers mb d in revival of me November which resulte baptism of 16 souls.

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Timothy Jemly

Palatka The Pakatka church has been reaching out to our community through our community services center, healthy cooking schools and public evangelistic series on Daniel and Revelation and five precious souls joined us through baptism and profession of faith.

Christian Castellanos

Margate Spanish This year, the church experienced continued growth through a renewed focus on community service within its congregation.

Rodny Aquino

Carol City Spanish An inclusive church, a missionary church, engagement from leaders.

Alexandre Vaz

Omar Palmer

Palm Springs In its 24 year history, Palm Springs has seen the greatest numerical success and community impact culminating with a two-week revival, yielding 34 precious souls and increasing our membership to over 450, a 12.5% increase.

South Orlando This year saw several significant advancements within our church. The TMI- Total Members Involvement project was successfully implemented, fostering greate r participation and engagement among our members. Our Pathfinders achieved a remarkable milestone by attending the international Camporee, and the Adventurers Club continued to flourish, expanding its reach within the community.

Ray Pichette

East Pasco The Lord has blesse d us this year with over 20 baptisms. This is the mo st in the history of our church.

Jonathan Peinado

New Port Richey This year, we embarked on a journey to become an emotionally healthy church.

Alexandre Vaz

Clermont . significant spiritual growth This year was marked by the to ent tam tes a s, tism We witnessed 12 bap we y Spirit. Furthermore, powerful work of the Hol s, der lea our from mitment observed a renewed com y, abl Not . tion ica ded and ent inspiring greater involvem ly ive act y, l role in our ministr young adults played a vita . ves iati init ch n and outrea participating in both missio

Theophilus Roberts

Royal Palm We had a Thanksgiving service where we thanked members of our church and community. We also had Women’s Ministries weekend that attracted women from many countries. This was very special.

Fritznel Bruno

Hope Springs and Marion Oaks This year, Indigo Christian Junior Academy celebrated a significant achievement. The school’s Lego Robotics team secured an impressive fifth place in overall achievement, earning them a well-deserved spot at the NAD Robotics Competition in May. We are incredibly proud of this dedicated and enthusiastic team, and extend our sincere gratitude to Coach Kyle for his exceptional guidance and to all the families who provided unwavering support.

Furthermore, the church hosted a successful Education Sabbath, honoring the invaluable contributions of the ICJA staff, students, volunteers, and friends. The event was a resounding success, featuring captivating music, inspiring words from Principal Sandra Maddox, and moving testimonies from former ICJA students.

Finally, we celebrated National Teacher Appreciation Week, recognizing the tireless dedication and selfless service of our esteemed educators, Cecy, Sarah, and Kyle. Their unwavering commitment to nurturing our young people, fostering a love of learning, and instilling strong faith values within our students is truly commendable. We are deeply grateful for their tireless efforts in shaping the lives of our children and inspiring hope within our community.

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