On the second day of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD) Annual Council, Pastor Paul Douglas, treasurer of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, delivered a devotional message that stirred hearts and minds toward compassion and united mission. Drawing from John 9, Douglas highlighted the life-changing encounter between Jesus and the man born blind to remind the church of Christ’s enduring call to serve with love and urgency.
“Jesus was not only present but preexistent,” he began, referencing John 1:1: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.’ He reminded delegates that the Savior who walked among humanity was the same eternal God who spoke light into existence. “The Jesus who came after was also before,” he added, emphasizing the divine constancy of Christ’s mission from creation to redemption.
Compassion Over Criticism
Douglas urged church leaders to hinder themselves from labeling and categorizing people based on their struggles or past mistakes. “We’ve got to stop putting labels on people,” he said. “We need to stop characterizing others because of what they have been through. All of us are suffering from something.”
He appealed for a spirit of compassion that uplifts rather than condemns. “Let us seek to have compassion rather than talk about others,” he said. “Let us lift one another rather than leave anyone behind.”
Quoting Testimonies for the Church, Volume 7, page 33, Douglas reads: “Why has the history of the work of the disciples, as they labored with holy zeal, animated and vitalized by the Holy Spirit, been recorded, if it is not that the Lord’s people today are to gain inspiration to work earnestly for Him?”
He added that God’s work continues to be hindered when His people doubt His ability to use ordinary men and women. “The work of God is retarded by criminal unbelief in His power to use common people to carry forward His work successfully,” he quoted from the Review and Herald.
Integrated for Mission
Douglas underscored the importance of unity and collective effort in the church’s mission, quoting Testimonies for the Church, Volume 9, page 221: “If Christians were to act in concert, moving forward as one, under the direction of one power, for the accomplishment of one purpose, they would move the world.”
He summarized his message in three key points:
We have a work to do. “The work will not be done everywhere if it is not done by everyone,” he said, calling every believer to take part in the gospel mission.
We have the light to do this work. “Jesus called us the light of the world. If Jesus is in you and if Jesus is in me, then we have the light to do the work — the light that will guide us in this Christian journey.”
We do not have much time to do this work. Citing John 9:4, “I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work,” Douglas reminded the congregation of the urgency of mission. “There is work to be done. There is light to make the work done. But there is a time coming when there is no more work to be done.”
Sent to People Like Us
Closing his message, Douglas affirmed that mission is not reserved for the educated or the privileged. “God has sent everyone — with or without degrees — those who want to work under the banner of God’s mission,” he said. “We have been sent to people like us. We have been sent to sinners like us.”
As the SSD Annual Council continues, Douglas’s devotional served as a solemn reminder that the church’s strength lies not in its structures but in its compassion, unity, and willingness to work together under Christ’s light.