What I Learned About Puerto Rico While in Israel by Andy McDonald

Florida Hospital Church is wading into justice ministry.  We aren’t sure exactly what to do or how to do it, but we know there is much injustice in human trafficking and a whole host of injustice in spin off areas related to it.  Of course, like all Christians, we are horrified when one group of people exploit another group. When people are forced into modern day slavery of any kind it should cause us to rise up and resist and seek justice for all. 

My mind has been more focused on seeing the injustice in our world and how we can help.  So on my recent trip to Israel, touring with other Adventist pastors, I had the opportunity for conversations with some new friends.  One of these had formerly served in Puerto Rico, and what I learned from him was a story of unbelievable injustice.

Whenever we manage resources to unduly benefit some while neglecting, depriving or exploiting others, injustice has occurred, and the picture of injustice occurring in Puerto Rico in the Seventh-day Adventist Church exposes a model of resource management causing injustice across much of our denomination.

If the gospel commission is a moral imperative, then our current resource management is immoral and an egregious injustice. “This is what the LORD says: ‘Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.’” Isaiah 56:1.

The responsibility of the denomination is to manage resources for the growth of the kingdom of God, and that growth takes place at local churches.  As former North American Division President, Charles Bradford, put it so well, “There is no church but the local church.” And yet the very critical, frontline, where-the-rubber-meets-the-road, local church is being continually stripped of resources to fund a system of duplication of services and inefficiencies that are creating a system of injustice.

What I learned about Puerto Rico is that it is a tiny territory.  You could literally put 18.7 Puerto Ricos into the State of Florida! Yet in this tiny territory you will discover North Puerto Rico Conference, South Puerto Rico Conference, East Puerto Rico Conference, and West Puerto Rico Conference, and overseeing those four conferences is the Puerto Rican Union Conference!!!

When I heard this, I found it hard to believe, so just this week I researched it in the Seventh-day Adventist Year Book, and it is true! The pastor who shared this with me also shared something I haven’t been able to verify: the Puerto Rican Union Conference recently built a new office for $5million while the college in that union still goes without a church building.

To eat up these kinds of resources, to drain away from the local church funds needed to do ministry, care for widows and orphans, and to serve the people we want to know the love of God is an injustice continued by a system which has created “unjust laws” and continues to “issue oppressive decrees.”

It is not too late to stop the injustice.  Let’s heed Isaiah’s warning and write new just laws, and new decrees that free resources and enable churches to fulfill mission.

Isaiah 10:1 says, “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees.”

Andy McDonald