A SOULS West student engages with other students during a recent online class as they plan how to reach the Los Angeles area with literature. Photo provided by Bill Krick/Pacific Union Conference
UPDATED May 13, 2020, 5:46 p.m. EDT
Students at SOULS West, Pacific Union Conference’s evangelism training school located in Prescott, Arizona, are partnering with the Pacific Press Publishing Association to help deliver hope.
Due to necessary quarantines, the school is holding all classes by videoconference during their spring quarter. A SOULS West representative reports that “teachers and students are continuing to experience a sense of community via cyberspace. But they also wanted to do something to send hope to people in areas particularly hard hit by COVID-19.”
With help from Pacific Press, SOULS West students started raising funds to send thousands of copies of The Great Hope, an abridged, modern-language version of Ellen G. White’s classic book The Great Controversy, to COVID-19-ravaged Los Angeles, California. The detached mailing program that Pacific Press operates with the U.S. Postal Service also includes a postcard-sized flyer accompanying any bulk book mailing. Local churches can customize the content of this card.
SOULS West evangelism school students during an online class session
On April 15, 2020, McRoy shared that the SOULS West students reported that they reached their goal of getting sponsorship for more than 33,000 copies of The Great Hope to be mailed to people in Los Angeles.
“This is a great way to reach people in this current situation,” says Westney White, director of SOULS West. “People are looking for hope and certainty. Students are able to do something for people, and also raise funds for their tuition at the same time.”
Dan Wegh, Pacific Press Marketing & Special Projects director, reflects, “Now, in these unsettling times, people are looking for answers. Our mission at Pacific Press is to provide books that bring hope and stability by pointing people to Jesus.”
— Bill Krick is Literature Ministries director of the Pacific Union Conference.