What mission could God give to someone who simply loves sharing Christ?

What about sitting around a table in Brazil with Catholic and Evangelical young people, opening the Bible together, asking difficult questions, sharing struggles, and discovering the transforming power of God’s Word?

That is exactly the mission that a team from Hartland College had the privilege of experiencing this August in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Two weeks ago my wife, Ivonne, Christian de Los Santos, Matheus Binns, Jayson Hutchison, and recent Hartland graduate Laura Z. Castrillon traveled to A Promessa Lifestyle Center to serve the AXIS community—a growing group of young Christians who are searching for a deeper relationship with God and a meaningful Christian community.

Twenty-two young people, ages 18–28, gathered in person for a special time of Bible study and fellowship, while at least 40 additional members of the AXIS community participated online.

Together, they explored biblical principles related to physical health, emotional health, identity, and spiritual growth. But something even more important was happening. They were building relationships.

The AXIS community has been meeting faithfully every week since March. Francisco Z. Castrillon, the group’s leader and its only Seventh-day Adventist member, spends at least two hours every Friday studying the Bible with the group and another three hours on Saturday evening for their book club.

Five hours every week.

And the result is beautiful.

These gatherings are not simply Bible studies or book discussions. They are places where young people have time to reflect, share, listen, and connect in meaningful ways. They are discovering brothers and sisters in Christ. They feel valued. They feel heard. They have found a community where they can talk about their fears, struggles, questions, and hopes.

As Ivonne reflected on the experience, one question stood out:

Could one of the keys to successful evangelism be spending more time with the person than we spend preparing the event?

We rightly invest hours preparing sermons, programs, presentations, music, and activities. But what happens when the event is beautifully organized, yet people leave without ever feeling personally known?

Young people need more than information. They need friendship. They need guidance. They need someone willing to listen to their questions and walk with them through their struggles. They need a safe place to open their hearts.

Evangelism is not only communicating truth; it is building relationships through which truth can be experienced.

Jesus demonstrated this beautifully. He did not merely preach to His disciples and send them home. He lived with them, walked with them, ate with them, listened to them, connected with them, encouraged them, and invested His life in them.

Time and presence were part of His method.

Are we willing to invest the same?

Could we dedicate seven hours over two days every week simply to studying, listening, sharing, praying, and developing a genuine love for souls?

The AXIS community recently celebrated its first baptism into the Seventh-day Adventist faith. The joy was not just experienced by one person—it was shared by the entire community. And their hunger for God continues to grow.

The Brazil experience gave Hartland students and staff a beautiful glimpse of Christ’s method of evangelism: meet people where they are, open the Word of God, listen to their hearts, build genuine friendships, and walk with them toward Christ.

Perhaps the question is not simply, “How can we organize a better evangelistic event?”

Perhaps the deeper question is:

“Whose life is God asking me to invest in?”

Because sometimes the greatest evangelistic gift we can give someone is not another program.

It is our time. Our presence. And our love.

In His service