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Into theCitiesnizing cries of Jesus for lost peopleliving in the cities. Ellen White wrote:“Our world is a vast lazar house, ascene of misery that we dare not alloweven our thoughts to dwell upon. Didwe realize it as it is, the burden wouldbe too terrible. Yet God feels it all”(Education, p. 264). And the Old Testamentprophet wrote: “In all theiraffliction He was afflicted” (Isa. 63:9).Jesus experiences the pain of thisworld’s sin in ways we can never imagine.Lost people are the object of Hislove. He “desires all men to be savedand to come to the knowledge of thetruth” (1 Tim. 2:4). He is “not willingthat any should perish but that allshould come to repentance” (2 Peter3:9). The one thing that matters toHim more than anything is peoplesaved in His kingdom eternally.If we have little interest in reachinglost people, are we really following theOne who came “to seek and to save thatwhich was lost” (Luke 19:10)? If theburden of His heart is not the burdenof our hearts, are we fully surrenderedto Him? If we are complacent aboutsharing His love with lost people, canwe really claim we are His disciples?The call of the cities is a call to passionateprayer. It is a call to rally tensof thousands of Adventists to set asidesignificant time each week to pray forthis world’s population centers byname. It is a call to members living inthe cities to compassionately witnessto their friends and neighbors. It is acall to young people to dedicate a yearof their lives to mission in the cities. Itis an appeal to church leaders on alllevels to plan comprehensive definitivestrategies to reach the cities of theirterritories with the three angels’ messages.It is an urgent appeal to reallocateour financial resources.Ministry in the cities is not inexpensive,but it is absolutely imperative ifthe church is going to make an impacton the cities. This urgent appeal tocity mission is an appeal to the selfsacrificingministry of Jesus.In this crisis hour, when we areliving on the knife-edge of eternity,the status quo will not do. Whateversuccess the church has had in the pastin reaching people in the cities is notsufficient for today. This is a time foraggressive action. This is a time forcreative thinking. This is a time for acommitment to action. No halfheartedefforts will reach the cities inthis final hour. God calls for our bestefforts and all our commitment. Inthe light of His incredible love and theimmense sacrifice He made for us, canwe do any less? nMark A. Finley is anassistant to the GeneralConference president.ReachingtheUnreachedWithHopeIt started as a dream . . . Everythingbegan on May 4, 2005. That’s the dayKleber Gonçalves and his family returnedto Brazil after spending nearly nine yearsstudying at Andrews University.His mission? To start a new churchplant in São Paulo, one of the largest urbancenters in the world, with a population of 20million people. New Seed (Nova Semente)would be the first Seventh-day Adventistchurch in South America designed to reachsecular/postmodern people for Jesus.Gonçalves immediately began recruitingpeople from established Adventist churchesto serve as the core group for New Seed.“The essential prerequisite for those whowanted to join our church plant,” saysGonçalves, “was passion for God, passionfor His church, and passion for lost souls.”The group started with 16 membersand met at the São Paulo Conferencefacilities. For six months they met weeklyto pray, dream, and plan their new church.During this time their group grew toabout 45 people. They decided to launchNew Seed in November of 2005.“Since our first public worship service,the work has been intense and highlyrewarding,” says Gonçalves. For thefirst two months they had between 180and 200 people worshipping with themeach Sabbath—45 to 60 of them werepostmodern people. But this number grewquickly as visitors began to bring friendsand relatives to the evangelistic services.By 2006 they had grown so large thatthey rented a nearby convention center. Itwasn’t long before 750 to 900 people wereattending one of their three services eachSabbath. It was time to move again!In 2010 New Seed rented a larger facilitythat enabled them to hold two Sabbathservices. And they’ve kept growing.“During these past few years theHoly Spirit has transformed many peoplethrough New Seed and its ministries,”says Gonçalves. More than 90 people havebeen baptized so far, and another 60 areattending the Bible study classes held fourtimes a week at New Seed.“I deeply believe that through theestablishment of postmodern-sensitivecommunities such as New Seed and otheractions supported by Global Mission, thechurch is becoming aware of the immensechallenges and the great opportunitiesthat exist in leading secular/postmodernpeople to Christ.”22 Adventist World | October 2011