Southwestern Union Record

We praise God for the Hispanic work that is taking place throughout the Southwest Region Conference. We give honor and glory to our Creator, for being our Leader and for allowing a great revival. We realize that it is only under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that our ministers, together with their leaders, will be revived and reformed for the Second Coming.

The strategy that we have developed in our conference is to form small groups according to the counsel in God’s Word: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28), and “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. . . . And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:41-47, NKJV).

We think of the Deity as the first small group, and Adam and Eve as the second. Our small groups work as Action Units. One Action Unit is organized as follows: one leader (in charge of the unit), a sub-leader (an assistant to the leader), a secretary (keeps records of the unit activities and the addresses of the members and friends), a hospitality director (extends an invitation to friends and members of the action unit who attend the church, and helps them with their needs), and an evangelist (shares Bible lessons). When several Action Units have formed, an action unit coordinator is elected.

We believe that the small group model is the foundation for the development of the mission and completion of the work: “Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace” (Exodus 18:21-23, NKJV). The counsel for this leader is still for us today. Ellen G. White adds: “The formation of small companies as a basis of Christian effort has been presented to me by One who cannot err” (Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 21). If ever we should come close to this ideal, we should do it through the Action Units, well organized for the winning of the lost.

We believe that the church, organized in units, well prepared to battle and eager to conquer Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas for our Heavenly Commander, is a work that demands hard work and much discipline. We have prepared various small group seminars and we have shared them with all of our ministers so that they may also share it with their local leaders and prepare all our leaders to fulfill the divine mandate.  

Our vision is to form 200 Action Units in 2012. To date, we have formed 86 groups. We believe that this is God’s work and we should follow His methods. Jesus is the best example to follow in successfully reaching out to the lost. Ellen G. White explains it this way: “Christ’s method alone will give true success.” It is not necessary to design plans that give no results. Jesus’ work plan was simple and attainable. He placed His mission in the hands of a small group of twelve men. He came to the world to "save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21), yet He chose twelve disciples.

This plan was so important to Him, that He spent an entire night in prayer before forming this fundamental group (Luke 6:12-16). We are recommending that leaders spend a month in prayer before presenting the plan to the church.

As we follow God’s method, we will develop our vision of new leaders, groups, and planting new congregations. “Revive for His work; Reform for His coming.”