Friday July 8. 1994. at 7: 10 pm in Toronto, Canada we began our Conference with a silent prayer. Brother Timo Martin opened the meeting in the name of the Lord and made special mention that this was a combined field and union conference.
Brother Timo then expressed that this Conference would be in the nature of a spiritual feast with the eight visiting ministers present, and each one of them prepared to share the bread of life with us. We continued in singing praises to God with the hymn “Shall We Gather At The River”. Brother Cholich led us to the throne of God in prayer. Sister Helen Martin then delighted us with a beautiful solo.
Brother Henry Andrade rose to express his gratitude to God for the opportunity to be present at this monumental Conference. He continued by reading Psalms 145:17, 19 “The Lord is righteous in all His ways…He will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him.” The Lord has fulfilled the desire of His people in helping to organize this new Canada-Caribbean Union. Br. Andrade inspired us to turn to God because He is ready to help, to hear, and to encourage everyone who is willing to do His work. He then closed with the desire that the Lord may bless these three days at the Conference and that all may be done to His honour and glory.
Following Brother Andrade’s words, Brother Timo introduced the new Union President, Raul Escobar to the congregation. Brother Escobar gave a message relating to the motto of the Conference, “Awake to Righteousness”. He referred to Revelation 7:11 which presents a marvellous picture, a picture that will make us forget the things of this world. Verse 13 asks, “What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?” The answer is given in the following verse, “These are they which came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their clothes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Our work is defined in Col.l :28, “Whom we preach. Warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:” Here we have the reason why we meet in the church Sabbath after Sabbath and in the Conferences.
In John 13:15, Christ has given us an example to do to others as He has done to us, to help us develop a perfect character and to follow His example. Christ gave us the Holy Spirit, the regenerating agency without which man cannot resist and overcome sin. Christ also gave us an example of a life of prayer. We are advised to pray without ceasing. In. prayer we find solutions to every problem. Jacob continued in prayer until he was heard and his name was changed to Israel.
Today we are called to make a decision to reconsecrate ourselves to the Lord because Jesus will surely be coming soon. In Matthew 24:44, we are told to ready, “For in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh”. We closed the meeting with one voluntary prayer, a prayer by Raul Escobar and with the hymn “In A Little While We’re Going Home.”
The late evening meeting was opened with the hymn, “0 Day of Rest and Gladness” and prayer by Brother Foster. Brother Jerry Eaton gave a short report on the missionary work in Western Canada. After this we were favoured with a heartfelt song by Brothers Joshua and Ricardito Garcia.
Brother Larry Watts then gave us a wonderful discourse on Christ our Righteousness. He began with a warning from Sister White that the churches are dying for the lack of knowledge of this message. Therefore, it is our job to be teachers of righteousness. In order to be effective teachers we must have the two characteristics of Jesus–the lion and the lamb. The lion represents courage and the lamb, humility. It is our great and personal responsibility to build a symmetrical character in ourselves and to reveal Christ to the world by our behaviour.
Brother Watts reminded us of the shortness of time and our need to be justified. God has promised to justify the sinner, but not his sins. We were also encouraged to enter into this rest that Jesus has promised or we will not be able to have peace and rest on the Sabbath day. This rest in Jesus gives power to obey all God’s requirements.
We were favoured by a beaut1ful song by Sisters Rhonda Magee and Natalie Powell. Then we all joined our voices together to sing the hymn “Abide with Me” and closed with a prayer by Brother Watts.
The next morning in Sabbath school we studied the lessons titled “True Education and its Purpose” and “The First School”.
Brother Timo Martin began the Sabbath Service by giving a warm greeting to all the members and visitors. We then sang “Not I but Christ” and Brother Steiner Myhre lead us in prayer. The Toronto Choir shared a harmonious song with us, and then we all continued our worship by singing “I Will Sing of Jesus Love”
Brother Branko Cholich spoke briefly about the creation of the Canada Caribbean Union. Brother Cholich then invited Brother Henry Andrade, President of the General Conference to share the Word of God with us.
Brother Andrade began by reading from Ephesians 5:14 “Awake thou that steepest, and arise from the dead”. He warned us that now is the time that we must awake, as the world is in a deplorable condition. Men and women are lost in the world with no hope and no way to find salvation. Therefore, we must have compassion on them and work to bring them to Jesus. He broadened this thought by the story in Luke 5:18-20 about the man with palsy that was brought by some men to Jesus. There was no way that this man could have ever come to Jesus by himself.
He shared a story with us of a man that came to Jesus, but he was not a good speaker and did not want to preach or teach from the pulpit, yet he had a strong desire to do something for Jesus. So he went out and began knocking on doors in his city and took the names of people and began bringing them to church. This man did not want to do anything elaborate for Jesus, he did not want to be a preacher or a missionary, yet in his lifetime he brought over two thousand souls to Jesus. We all can do something for Jesus once we awaken from our sleep.
Jesus Himself said that by Himself He “can do nothing”, and yet He is God. Thus, we cannot trust in our own strength to do anything for Jesus.
We were counseled by Brother Andrade to do three things: We must go to Jesus, we must surrender to Him, and we must ask for the power of God. After we do these three things our lives will be changed and we will be able to win souls to Jesus.
The disciples had spent all night fishing and caught nothing. But when Jesus came and told them to cast their net on the other side, the disciples caught a multitude of fish. Then they realized that they of themselves could do nothing. After this, Jesus told them that he would make them fishers of men. Jesus gives us the same invitation and if we hear his voice and obey, we will have a rich harvest of souls for Him.
We closed the Sabbath service by singing “Near the Cross” and a prayer by Brother Raul Escobar.
After lunch Sister Christina McTavish opened the Youth and Children’s program. We all sang “When He Cometh” and Sister Georgia Grant led us in prayer.
The children presented their program entitled, “Let’s Just Praise the Lord”. The youth raised their beautiful voices in a cantata filled with songs praising our Saviour. We finished the program by singing the hymn “The Church Has One Foundation” and a prayer by Brother John Bescec.
At this time Brother Andrade read Nehemiah 3:1, and presented the new Canada-Caribbean Union officers to the church. Brother Raul Escobar, president of the new union, spoke a few words regarding the purpose of the reorganization, which is the salvation of souls, and asked that we remember it in our prayers. We concluded the meeting with two special songs, one by Sisters Felicia Fletcher, Natalie Powell and Zulma Garcia and the other by Sister Hulda Unger and company.
Later in the afternoon, Brother Augustus Pizzaro spoke to us. He read from Genesis I :26, 27 to show us that man was created in the likeness of God, and was to have dominion over all creation. Man was perfect in every way when he came from the hand of God.
He then told us how Satan was not satisfied with deceiving one third of the angels, but desired to ensnare man as well. At the right opportunity Satan was able to tempt Eve into disobedience, who in turn caused Adam to sin. At that moment Adam and Eve . lost the righteousness of God which had covered them in their innocence. A curse was brought upon them and they were cast out . of their Eden home. The painful sacrificial system began. The innocent lamb had to be slain for the guilty sinner. This system was to be continue until the true Lamb of God was sacrificed for the sins of the world.
2 Corinthians 5:19 tells us, “that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself’. It is through the blood of Christ that our sins are forgiven. There is hope for a full restoration which is shown to us in 1 John 3:2 and 1 John 1:9. Once we repent and confess our sins we are not only forgiven, but cleansed from all unrighteousness. We must repent and confess today and be cloth!!d with Christ’s righteousness, for tomorrow it may be too late for us.
Before we closed the meeting we heard a trumpet solo by Brother Peder Myhre.
After this we had a thanks and praise meeting led by Brother Tirno Martin. He expressed the thought that we are to give thanks at all times, including those of trial and affliction. Jesus took the cup and gave thanks even though it was a symbol of the suffering and death that was to come upon Him.
Much praise in words and music were given, especially by the young people. Brother Andrade shared some experiences of his youth and sang a special song. The meeting closed with the song “Praise Him! Praise Him!” and a prayer by Brother Timo Martin.
In the evening meeting, brother Branko Cholich spoke of his visit to Jerusalem where he saw the statue of Rachel weeping for her children. He then read the prophesy of Rachel weeping in Jeremiah 31:15-17, where a promise is given to her: “Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded”. He spoke of the double reward that was to be given- to Rachel’s sons Joseph and Manasscs among the 144,000.
He also spoke how Joseph’s brothers tried to take away his portion completely. But God overruled and gave him a double portion in the end. We closed the meeting with the hymn “0 Zion Haste” and a prayer by Brother Cholich.
We began the Sabbath closing meeting with the hymn “Look Upon Jesus”, and. a prayer by Brother Jerry Eaton. The Toronto Choir then sang another melodious gospel hymn, after which we heard a wondrous solo by Sister Kathy Garcia. Brother Ian Grant then spoke to us for Sabbath closing. He asked us what we would answer if someone asked us what they must do to be lost. Would we tell them they just need to keep on doing what they are doing? Is anyone really ignorant of how to be lost? None of us need to be lost. By looking to Jesus, a desire awakens in us to be like Him and we want to run the Christian race.
On Sunday morning we began with the song “Lord of our Life” and a prayer by Brother Lambert Hazelhoff. We also had a special song by Sister Hulda Unger and Brother Ed Unger.
Brother Clemente Guerrero spoke on the topic “The Decision for God”. He began by showing how we all make decisions every day. Some decisions are for good and some for evil. There are two great invisible powers fighting in the world. Neither of these powers can force a person their way. Therefore, we are the architects of our own destiny. God has planned salvation for all of us, but it is up to us to make the decision to accept or reject it.
In John 5:39 we are asked to search the scriptures. Superficial reading does not reveal the truth to us, but deep earnest searching will. After learning the truth we must believe it and also practice it. Then, there is one more thing to happen which is the conversion of the believer. It takes continuous effort to live the truth for which our own strength is not sufficient. We need the power of God to produce Christian fruit.
We know how to awake to righteousness? To this the Bible gives an answer–by looking to Jesus as we find in Hebrews 12:1,2. Also, in Moses time when the spies gave their report of Canaan they only saw the hardships. Often this happens to us that we see only the difficulties in life. Peter did this when he was walking on the water. When he looked away from Jesus he started to sink. We can do this also by dwelling on every offense and insult directed towards us and lose sight of the Saviour and start sinking.
As the children of God, we should remember that whatever happens to us in this life is the will of the Lord. Even offenses and insults have their purpose in the plan of God for us.
Then Brother Guerrero made an appeal to each one of us to decide for God at this very moment. After various special songs and musicals, the meeting was closed.
After the meeting we proceeded to the baptismal place where Brothers Daniel Garcia and Xavior Chelliah and Sisters Felesha Fletcher, Fatima Bettencourt, made a covenant with the Lord in baptism. Once we returned to the church they were received into membership with another Sister, Marcia Lowe. Brother Steiner Myhre, who conducted the baptismal service spoke of the joy in heaven and on earth when even one soul makes a covenant with the Lord.
We closed the Conference with a farewell meeting. Brother Escobar read Exodus 14:13-15. The Lord has promised to fight for us. We are to go forward. As we leave this Conference, we each one have a work to do. As we go forward the waters will depart before us the same way they departed for ancient Israel. We need to have faith in God so that we can go forward.
We all should ask the Lord to grant us that we may win at least one soul for Jesus in the coming year and at the next conference our numbers will have doubled.
Brother Henry Andrade expressed his desire that this new Union would be a terror to the powers of darkness until Jesus returns to save his people.
We then closed our meeting with our traditional hymn, “”God Be With You Till We Meet Again”, followed by the benediction by Brother Escobar. This concluded our most momentous Conference.
By John Bescec