The Seventh Day Keeping Church

What happens once an AWR listener is introduced to Jesus?

Maybe you've wondered that yourself. You may have thought, well it’s great that AWR’s broadcasts reach into uncharted territories, but what happens once these listeners accept our message? Who nurtures and disciples them?

The answer is AWR!

Often, AWR is the only link our listeners have to our faith community – at least for a time. But, through regularly listening to AWR’s programs and Bible studies provided by our studios, the listeners who become new converts are nurtured in their new found faith.


It’s not long before these listeners reach out to their own community. And though unknown to the "official church", many of these listeners lead their family and friends to Jesus by sharing the hope and new life they have found in Christ.

I have talked with listeners across the world and the story is the same...they become so excited that they must tell everyone. And one of the first things they do is to invite others to join them in listening to AWR’s broadcasts and to study the Bible together. It’s not long before these listener/study groups come together as a church family.

Recently I received a remarkable report from Pastor Ramanantsalama Berjoséclin, a district pastor in Madagascar about AWR listeners in the small, quiet village of Andravinambo, which describes just such an occurrence. Andravinambo is in a forest on the northeast coast where the vanilla bean is grown. He writes:

“A small group of Seventh-day Adventist brethren in Madagascar travel the countryside to sell cooking pots. One day they arrived in Andravinambo to sell their pots. Anticipating the upcoming Sabbath, and wanting to rest and worship with other Adventists, they asked the villagers if there was a Seventh-day Adventist church where they could worship. The villagers answered them that there were no Seventh-day Adventist members in the village.

“Unsatisfied with the answer, the pot sellers decided to ask another question: ‘Is there a group of people who worship on Saturday?’ The villagers told them that there was one group that worshiped every Saturday in a house but not a church. Our pot sellers were interested to check if this was a small Seventh-day Adventist church group, so they asked some people to guide them up to this house.

When they arrived at the house, they saw this inscription hanging on the top front of the house:
“Seventh day keeping church”

“Our pot sellers hesitated, but then they decided at last to go into the meeting as they received a kind invitation from one member of the congregation. They soon discovered that there were approximately 50 people who were worshipping God in this house. As the pot sellers listened to the teachings, and followed along with their Bibles, they thought that this group looked like they were Seventh-day Adventists. After the church meeting ended, they remained to get more information about this strange congregation and asked one of its leaders, who was known as a protestant church member in Andravinambo village, about their beliefs and how their church was formed.

“The leader told them they listened to AWR everyday and, convinced by the truth, they decided to follow God’s will because they want to be ready for Jesus second coming. Their village is far from the big town. Knowing that they should keep the Saturday as holy they decided to worship God every Sabbath and this is the reason why they chose the name “Seventh day keeping church”. They knew that AWR is the Seventh-day Adventist-owned station, but they did not dare to use the name Adventist until they could meet a Seventh-day Adventist pastor who would let them know what to do to become part of the Adventist church. Meanwhile, they were following whatever teachings they received from listening to AWR’s daily programs. Every Sabbath they discussed Bible truth according to what they had learned through AWR.”

Excited by what they had discovered, our pot sellers brought this report to the nearest district pastor. Immediately the district pastor planned a youth evangelistic crusade in Andravinambo and after the crusade an elder was designated to go there regularly every weekend to look after the new AWR congregation. One woman of this group of new believers donated a piece of land to build a Seventh-day Adventist church in the village.

God used AWR to sow the gospel seed, participate in nurturing it, and allowed us to witness with joy, its first harvest.

This is not unlike many stories I receive from pastors and lay members convincing me that there are many more listener groups in Madagascar and around the world who are now Seventh-day Adventists…we simply haven’t found them yet! I affectionately refer to them as our “AWR churches”.

Please join me in praying for these new AWR converts around the world. They need to be lifted up in our prayers for courage and strength, to continue in their new found faith until Jesus comes to take us home. Your financial support allows us to reach precious new believers like these, all around the world.