Seven Little Fishers of Men

By Andrew Mcchesney, Adventist Mission

What is the power of a small group?

Image © Pacific Press

The pastor of a Seventh-day Adventist church in northeastern Mexico announced to its 60 members that they should form small groups to meet during the week. Each group should have a name, a motto, a goal, and a theme song. The idea came from the local conference.

Several adults immediately formed a small group called Joseph, saying, “Let’s be like Joseph and have a vision to save others.” Other adults established groups called Sowers of Faith, The Rock, Friends of Jesus, and United in Faith. The director of the children’s ministries department also wanted to create a group. She gathered the seven children and their parents who regularly worshiped at Nuevo Tampico Seventh-day Adventist Church in Altamira to discuss the idea, and the mother of 8-year-old Manuel offered her house for the weekly meetings. The group adopted the name Fishers of Men.

Fifteen children showed up for the first meeting, including eight children from non-Adventist homes who were invited by the children’s ministries director, Elsa Galvan. The children took turns reading a Bible story. They also sang songs and prayed. At the end of the hour long gathering, the children drank hot chocolate and ate cookies.

The Fishers of Men group began to meet every week. The children also visited a hospital once a month to pray with patients and to distribute the Adventist Church’s sharing book of the year. The children gave atole, a hot drink, to the patients and tortas, a bread filled with beans and cheese.

With a stable group of children attending week after week, the small group decided to form an Adventurers club. Later, the older children in the group created a Pathfinders club. After a while, the children started offering Bible studies to family members, friends, and neighbors. With the help of his mother, Manuel gave Bible studies to his grandfather and aunt. One day, grandfather and aunt announced that they wanted to go to the hospital with the children. Shortly afterward, they were baptized. Manuel and his mother are now giving Bible studies to an 8-year-old cousin. Many other children also are giving Bible studies, including 12-year-old Victor and his mother, who are studying with an 8-year-old friend and two cousins, ages 7 and 9.

In its first year, Fishers of Men led twelve people to baptism, more than half of the twenty people baptized in the church over that period. “This says a lot about the power of a small group,” said the church’s 34-year-old pastor, Samuel Alvarado (pictured with Manuel, left, and Victor). “Jesus started His ministry with a small group of twelve disciples and our church is doing the same for the glory of God.”

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

Print/PDF/Email