Indiana—Hope for Our Day was expressed in many ways as Indiana members took the Union-wide call to evangelism seriously. It all began with a number of our pastors and lay members attending the Union-sponsored training event in Merrillville earlier in the year. Many left those meetings and immediately went back to their churches to implement what they had learned.

A survey of the various evangelism efforts in Indiana shows a great deal of enthusiasm, creativity, and commitment. Excellent health ministry programs were sponsored by a number of our churches, including Anderson, Muncie, and Wolcottville.

Revival meetings were conducted in La Porte and at several other locations, where members and visitors came together to study, pray, and worship.

New personal evangelism efforts began in churches like Irvington and New Albany, where members received training to become Lay Bible Ministers. In other places, including Rochester, Plymouth, and Indianapolis Hispanic, homes were opened for the Net 2004 series and other small group evangelism. Friends and neighbors were exposed to Jesus as Savior for the first time.

A number of public meetings were also held by laypeople and pastors alike. The three angels' messages were preached to hearts open to the Word of God in communities such as Hammond, Huntingburg, Warsaw, Evansville, and Westside, as well as in many of our Hispanic congregations.

One of the highlights of our year in evangelism took place in South Bend. As the South Bend church board prayed and wrestled over what God would have them do with Hope for Our Day, they felt impressed to invite Hiram Rester, an evangelist from the Texico Conference and a seminary student, to conduct a series of meetings in South Bend. The church worked diligently with the evangelist and carefully laid plans for this outreach project.

The Lord blessed all their efforts and answered many prayers; nearly 500 guests from the surrounding community came opening night. To date, 94 of those visitors have been baptized and many more are studying for baptism. Larry Teeter, a Cicero (Indiana) Church member, received a call from one of those individuals. The son of Larry's life-long friend remembered Larry was a Seventh-day Adventist. He wanted to know more about what Adventists believe as he considered the truths he was learning at the South Bend meetings. Larry and his wife Tootie have had the privilege to explain how God has blessed their own lives as they look for Bible answers to their questions. They are praying he will take the step of baptism.

To say the least, the church is excited, humbled, but a bit overwhelmed. As a result, they are diligently working to form small groups, as well as other ministries, to provide a growing, stimulating environment for their new family members.

Hope for Our Day continues to be a wonderful catalyst to help Indiana fulfill the great commission God has given us to accomplish.

Gary Thurber, Indiana Conference president