❤️📖 FROM THE HEART | 08.05.2026 | Table of Tomorrow | Pastor Erton Köhler
The future of a child is shaped long before diplomas and graduation ceremonies. It begins at a table where someone listens, where a question is welcomed, and where a story is patiently told again. Around the world, that simple table is under pressure. In 2024 alone, at least 242 million students in 85 countries had their education disrupted by extreme weather. Despite decades of progress, global estimates show that more than 251 million children and youth are still out of school. These are not statistics meant to win an argument. They are a call to bring our faith to the desks and doorways where tomorrow is being shaped.
Adventist education works with quiet strength in some of the world’s great urban centers. We have more than 10,400 educational institutions reaching 2.5 million students through nearly 125,000 educators. In the Seoul metropolitan area, Sahmyook University serves one of Asia’s largest cities. In Southern California, Loma Linda University continues Christ’s healing ministry through globally respected health sciences education. In São Paulo, Brazil, our Adventist university reaches one of the largest metropolitan regions on earth. In the mountains of Nepal, Scheer Memorial Adventist School near Banepa has become a place where faith, learning, and service come together for students from many different backgrounds.
The Bible is the foundation of this vision: “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). Jesus said, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). If the kingdom of God welcomes children, then every table that welcomes a child becomes holy ground.
Mission and education are not separate paths. They share the same road. In a time when too many young people question whether their lives matter, a school that knows their names becomes a sanctuary of purpose. Find a table you can strengthen. Find a student you can encourage. Find a school you can support. When we help create such moments, we are not only solving a problem. We are joining the mission of Christ.
About the series
From the Heart is a weekly devotional series in which Pastor Köhler reflects on what it means to be grounded in the Bible and focused on the mission, collectively and individually. Each episode is grounded in the four pillars of the Seventh-day Adventist Church strategic plan: Communion with God, Identity in Christ, Unity through the Holy Spirit, and Mission for All.
The series connects biblical faith to everyday life, sharing short reflections and glimpses of how God is at work through the Adventist Church around the world.
Pastor Erton Köhler is President of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church.
