Portuguese Camp Meeting kicked off Southern New England Conference (SNEC) camp meeting season on Sabbath, June 8. With over 1500 attendees—more than double last year--including about 250 young adults who attended the first-time separate young adult meetings, this was an amazing beginning to camp meeting season.
Based on the success and growth of this year’s Portuguese Camp Meeting, Alex Palmeira, SNEC’s vice president for Mission Development, predicts that the full-length United Camp Meeting “will be amazing!”
Highglights include the praise team from Seekonk Portuguese SDA church in Massachusetts who provided music for the adult morning worship service. Brazilian musician and minister of praise, Matheus Rizzo, led praise time with a concert-like atmosphere. Pastor Victor Bejota, currently serving as a missionary with an emphasis in digital evangelism in a country in the 10/40 window, shared his mission stories in the adult meeting and with the young adults. About 15 young adults responded to his call to commit their lives to becoming a pastor or missionary, and about five made a decision for baptism.
“President Robert Folkenberg also talked about the evangelism goal of reaching $150,000 in offering for this year, for evangelism only,” said Emmanual Alberto, a young adult from the Leominster All Nations church. “He said over 1000 people were baptized last year. That was great news!”
In a wonderful demonstration of unity, all 1000-plus camp meeting attendees enjoyed a group potluck for lunch.
Maria Valente, bi-vocational pastor of the recent church plant, Hope Community group, baptized an individual whose non-Adventist family came to support. “She has four kids,” reported Palmeira. “It was amazing because the whole family was together in this moment—yes, very emotional.”
This day was also the culmination of conference-wide, week-long Portuguese evangelism, with churches celebrating the baptisms that had taken place in their local churches.
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