Marie Ramos (forefront) together with her van team during the outreach portion of the Three Angels’ Messages Symposium co-hosted by the Central California Conference and Streams of Light International.
Just southeast of the heart of San Jose lies Evergreen Valley and an Adventist congregation whose mission is to make a difference in their community for Christ. Working together are church members who recently led and participated in a special literature evangelism initiative: sharing the three angels’ messages through the pages of The Great Controversy.
Evergreen Valley church member Marie Ramos has a love and a growing burden on her heart for ministry, yet admits that the project she recently undertook was not something she would have seen herself initiating.
The project first came about while Ramos was attending an event she learned about from an ad on Facebook. The Three Angels’ Messages Symposium, hosted at the CCC Soquel Campground, included seminars and a leadership training summit, as well as hands-on, organized distribution of The Great Controversy led by Streams of Light International. As Ramos participated in the literature distribution, she took note of both the system used to organize the outreach and the testimonies of divine appointments and faith-building experiences that followed. The impact of just one afternoon of outreach inspired her.
“I heard testimonies of divine appointments that left me feeling an urgency to seek out those in need of God in our area,” Ramos shares. “There is joy in giving a book that I know can bring eternal salvation to a lost soul—one that has such an infinite value.”
Ramos felt led to bring the project to her church. She presented the project to her church board and prayerfully waited for their decision. The question of how many books to order took time to decide. After weeks of deliberation, a church member, hearing of the project in question, pledged $500 towards the purchase. The donation provided momentum, and the board approved a purchase of 2,000 books, setting December 9 as their first outreach date.
Ramos, with the help of Stephen Gutierrez, Associate Director for Evangelism at Streams of Light, identified the territory for the outreach. Together with her family and a few dedicated friends, Ramos spearheaded the preparatory steps, including highlighting maps and packing each book with its accompanying health magazine into the door hanger bags for distribution.
The day of their first distribution brought both challenges and answers to prayer, the first coming early that morning. On her way to church, Ramos and her daughter experienced a flat tire, yet were soon picked up by a family who were also en route to the church and were just minutes behind her.
That afternoon, Gutierrez led a short training session after the divine service and helped organize the group going out for distribution, which comprised local members and volunteers from other churches. After several hours of distribution, volunteers gathered back at the church to share testimonies about their rewarding experiences.
“A construction worker was given a book, but his buddy didn’t receive one,” Gutierrez recalls hearing one volunteer share. “When a church member approached him, he thought that only his friend was lucky to receive a gift, but was delighted to learn that he could have one too! He also requested more GLOW tracts when he learned what they were.”
Gutierrez recounts the story of another volunteer, a young man, who met a man in the community who had visited the church in the past. The young man was able to re-invite him to visit again soon.
Volunteers described the things they learned while talking with people, praying with them, and offering them a book.
“It was heartwarming to see how our efforts brought hope and light to those who needed it the most,” Ramos shares. “I believe that this project has the potential to make a significant impact on our community and beyond, and I am excited to continue working on it with my church family.”
Plans are in place for small groups from the church to continue distributing the remaining books, as well as to follow up with the two individuals from the community who expressed interest in Bible studies.
After the distribution, Ramos received the following text from a church member: “Thank you for organizing this, Marie. We need to get fired up on this. So happy to [participate] this afternoon. The Holy Spirit was with us all.”
Notwithstanding the challenges and setbacks that occurred along the way, Ramos praises God for the outcome and feels certain that she witnessed His hand at work. Her belief is more sure than ever—God uses ordinary church members to help reach people for Christ.
Want to learn more about participating in or launching a GC Distribution with your local church? Learn about the initiatives taking place across North America in 2024 and how you can get involved!
