IMPACTO MIAMI 2014
by Mike Cauley, D.Min., Florida Conference President
As a part of Florida Conference’s Mission to the Cities initiative, more than 6,000 Adventists and more than 1,000 of their friends in the community gathered at Miami Airport Convention Center on February 1 for a Sabbath of preaching and celebration. The program featured Evangelist Alejandro Bullón and Christian singer Steve Green. Jay Perez, Florida Hospital Vice President for Mission and Service Excellence, presented a seminar on CREATION Health. Of the 1,050 people who responded to the appeal on Sabbath morning, the vast majority were visitors.
The following day, Sunday, February 2, Adventist churches of South Florida and Florida Hospital’s CREATION Health presented Total Health Expo 2014—a free health fair. The purpose of the health fair was to inspire, educate, and motivate families in the communities of south Florida to a better lifestyle.
Attendance at the event exceeded expectations. There were 4,000 people who received gifts and participated in services offered by 107 exhibitors from companies and organizations in the Miami area. We forged partnerships with five area hospitals, a region in which we have no Adventist health care presence, and they participated with Florida Hospital Orlando in providing oversight and thematic content. More than 1,000 people received screenings from area health care agencies.
Total Health 2014 Advocate Awards were presented to Karent Sierra, DDS, a dentist and local TV personality; Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez; and Revital Malca, Deputy General Consul for Israel to Florida and Puerto Rico.
The key events of Sunday’s activities included an Urban Strategies presentation explaining the Affordable Care Act, a cooking demonstration from Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN) Latino Cooking, and the presentation of five distinguished doctors who engaged in open conversation with the audience about various health issues affecting the community.
Southeastern Conference and Florida Conference joined forces for the weekend events. Hispanic church leaders from North American Division also attended.
Many evangelistic small groups preceded the Impact Miami endeavor across Miami/Dade County. After the weekend events, there were 30 evangelistic reaping meetings with 15 guest evangelists from places outside of Florida joining the effort. As a result of the reaping meetings, 178 were baptized!
Events planned in South Florida as part of the Mission to the Cities 2014 initiative include (subject to revision):
- May 30-31—Church Planting Training Event
- June 22-29—Impact Miami Youth Outreach
- May 25-July 30—Student Magabook Program, Plantation
- July 18-19—Magabook Youth Rally, Plantation
- Aug. 1-2—Church Transformation Event
- Aug.-Sept.—Small Group Evangelism, Hispanic Churches
- Oct.-Nov.—Evangelism in Marathon, Florida Keys
- Oct. 18-25—Reaping Evangelism in Most Churches