September 2024 Carolina's 10,000 P5

Embracing Carolina with the Compassionate Call of Christ

The 10,000 President’s Prayer Partners is a fast-growing group of Carolina Conference constituents who take matters such as these to their knees. We invite you to join us and make this monthly list a matter of prayer. Together we seek the Lord for His answers and provisions to every need we bring before Him.

Pentecost 2025 is the launching of a bold plan of the North American Division to experience 3000 proclamation events across the expanse of this great division of God’s remnant church. It is a plan that will only be successful through prayer and the intervention of the Holy Spirit. In Carolina, we have added a prayer-plea tag line to the Lord – “Let it Rain!”

Beginning with our July (2024) issue of P5 and continuing through 2025, we invite our President’s Prayer Partners to continue coming together in an earnest and heartfelt appeal for the power and presence of the Holy Spirit as we near the soon return of our Savior.

We cannot share what we do not have. Consider the amount of time we spend with Jesus each morning. How does that compare with the amount of time we invest in watching a movie or our favorite sports team?

The story is told of a very wealthy, but frugal lady who lived in a comfortable cottage along the seashore of Ireland. Electricity was a luxury that was not found in most homes during the 19th century. So you can imagine the surprise of the community when this lady chose to have electric lights installed in her cottage.

However, some days later, a meter reader stopped by the cottage to see if her electricity was working well. “Oh, yes indeed,” she replied. Scratching his head, the readerresponded, “I’m wondering why your meter shows scarcely any usage.” To which she quickly responded, “Every evening when the sun sets, I turn on my lights just long enough to light my candles, and then I turn them off!”

Don’t we often make the same mistake in our lives? God desires to bless us with the powerful light of the Holy Spirit. Yet in the busy “running to and fro” of our lives, we turn on the light of a message on Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, or YouTube for a moment and then we turn to other matters of priority that pre-occupy our thoughts and time. What would happen to you and me, what would happen in our homes and our churches, if we not only turned on the light, but lived in the light?

One of my favorite passages of scripture is found in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Last month I encouraged each of us to have a prayer partner. This month, pray with your prayer partner specifically about these three matters:

1. For God to strengthen both of you with His Holy Spirit and keeping you constantly aware of His presence throughout the day.

2. For God to help in preparing your heart to receive the latter rain of the Holy Spirit.

3. For each of the 5 individuals that you selected on your prayer list.

At the core of Adventist Christian educational values is a commitment to character formation, dedicated to nurturing students’ moral and ethical development by cultivating qualities like honesty, integrity, compassion, and respect for others.

Character formation is a fundamental essential for preparing students to become responsible and contributing members of society and to become citizens of God’s eternal kingdom. “The youth should begin early to cultivate correct habits of thought. We should discipline the mind to think in a healthful channel and not permit it to dwell upon things that are evil. The psalmist exclaims, ‘Let the words

of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer.’” (Psalm 19:14); (Ellen White, 2 MCP, 657.1)

I am a Seventh-day Adventist Christian today because of the nurture and influence of educators in our Adventist schools from elementary through university. Let’s thank God for our churches and church schools that opened their classrooms last month to guide and mentor the children and youth of the Carolinas. Let’s thank God and pray specifically for these educators this month in our prayers.

With each issue of our President’s Prayer Partners (P5), we continue to focus specifically on one of our goals and share some of the developments that are helping us in our journey toward accomplishing that goal.

This month, we continue to focus on our third goal of enhancing the ministry of Mount Pisgah Academy to reach and maintain a consistent, sustainable enrollment of 125-150 students.

I am so grateful for the administrative leadership of Principal Dewald Coetzer, who’s now been at the helm of our ship at MPA for one school year. Here’s what he shares with us regarding the progression of our secondary boarding campus in their consecrated efforts to develop and realize measurable initiatives toward accomplishing this goal during this quinquennial term:

“It’s hard to believe that the summer’s over and we’re at the beginning of a new school year. I’m reminded of the great students we have at Pisgah during our annual SA handshake event, where all staff and students interact and meet each other. This was followed by a handshake event in church on Sabbath for our students to meet their fellow church members. As small as these events may seem, they significantly impact the perception our students develop of their home away from home. Part of our mission at MPA is to create an experience our students will look back fondly on, and relationships have a big part to play in that process.

We’re also excited about the keen interest in our arts program, with over 70% of our students signing up for either symphony, choir, or drama. Sports at MPA are off to a great start, with boys’ soccer and girls’ volleyball tryouts underway. Service projects kick off this Wednesday with new opportunities in our community to serve. I’m sharing all of this with you in the hope that you get a glimpse of the exciting things happening on our campus.

We’re thrilled to welcome an incredible group of diverse students to our campus this year! Our enrollment has grown to 106 students—an 18% increase from last year—reflecting our vibrant and expanding community. This year, we’re proud to have representation from nine different states and five countries, including China, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and South Korea. 77% of our students are boarding, while 23% come from our local community, with an equal balance of boys and girls. Our freshman class is the largest, with 35 students ready to make their mark. We’re excited for an amazing school year ahead, believing each student is here for a special purpose that God has planned!

I ask that you continue to pray for our students and staff and for our mission to nurture a relationship with God, pursue academic excellence, and emphasize service to others.”

​01 Protection from Satan Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8	02 Protection from Our Sinful Heart But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:14-15	​03 Deep Spiritual Encouragement For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. Romans 1:11-12
​04 Wisdom If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. James 1:5	​05 Doctrinal Faithfulness By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 2 Timothy 1:14	​06 A Healthy Body But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:27	​07 A Strong Marriage & Family He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church. 1 Timothy 3:2-6

During this September issue, we begin our third cycle of remembering these departmental leaders and their ministries. Our purpose is not intended to report all that these departments have been or are accomplishing, but rather to simply uplift all our leadership team and their faithful service in the respective ministries that they oversee in our prayer ministry of your Carolina Conference.

This month we wish to remember the team than in in charge of our annual camp meeting gatherings at Lake Junaluska.

Our theme for the coming 2025 Camp Meeting will be: Hope Beyond Tomorrow

Here are the members of the Carolina Conference Camp Meeting Committee:

Leslie Louis; Chairperson, Gary Moyer; Secretary, Rick Russell; Treasurer, Eric Bates, Darryl Bentley, Steve Bietz, Becky Carpenter, Donovan Davis, Hector Gonzalez, Beth Grissom, Courtney Herod, Deborah Hutchinson, Mark Kent, Ricardo Palacios, Art Randall, Elias Sandoval, Jr., Stan Shireman, Carole Louis, Ben Rueda, Kathy Russell, Chanelle Watson, Haskell Williams and Laura Andrews, Recording Secretary.

Laura Andrews is such a blessing to our team to pull all the parts together and keep everything on track. We are so grateful for her skilled and detailed attention to ensure that every camp meeting at Lake Junaluska is a blessing beyond measure to all who come to this annual event.

Please keep our Camp Meeting Planning Committee in your prayers as we carry the sacred responsibility in the selection of speakers, carefully plan the multitude of details for such a major event, and as our administration appropriates the needed financial resources to host this gathering of God’s people.

As a President’s Prayer Partner, we invite

you once again to be truly a people of the

Word. As Seventh-day Adventists, we adhere to

28 Fundamental Beliefs that are based solely on

the Bible. We began our third cycle of focusing on

these vital beliefs, which are centered in Christ as

both our Savior and Lord, in December of 2021.

Let’s continue to thoughtfully place His Word

in our hearts every day this month. I personally

carry a set of these passages in my car and recite

them aloud as I drive from one place to another.

My aim is to say one verse prayerfully at least

five times a day for a week, thus internalizing the

promise of God’s Word: “Thy word have I hid in

mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

(Psalm 119:11)

I encourage you to repeat these passages until they become a part of your very being. Of course, you’re always free to do more. Please consider, in a prayerful manner, how you can saturate your soul with His Word and make it a part of your heart every day.

Be part of God’s praying church across North America by uplifting these leaders of our church who guide God’s work in these territories of God’s vineyard: