❤️📖 FROM THE HEART | 19.09.2026 | 🌋 Life Beyond the Lava | Pastor Erton Köhler
Pastor Erton Köhler is in Auckland, New Zealand, overlooking one of the most influential metropolitan areas in the South Pacific. Mount Wellington, an extinct volcano, rises above the city and overlooks a community of nearly 1.7 million people. Auckland was built on a volcanic field. The landscape itself reminds us that this city was shaped under conditions that once seemed hostile to growth. And yet Auckland grew.
The apostle Paul knew that difficulties and opportunities often go hand in hand. Many of the world’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas present enormous challenges for mission. The pace of life is rapid. People are surrounded by information, yet many remain disconnected from the Word of God.
Jesus said, “Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35). Christ’s words invite us to look beyond the obstacles that discourage us. They call us to see people through the eyes of mission. The message of Scripture belongs in the great cities of the world.
Life grew where hardly anyone would have expected it. The gospel can do the same. Never underestimate what God can do through one believer who is willing to go where the mission is needed most.
About the Series
From the Heart is a weekly devotional series in which Pastor Köhler reflects on what it means to be rooted in the Word of the Bible and focused on mission—together and personally. Each episode is built around the four pillars of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s strategic plan: Communion with God, Identity in Christ, Unity through the Holy Spirit, and Mission for All.
The series connects biblical faith with everyday life and shares brief reflections and insights into how God is working through Adventists around the world.
Pastor Erton Köhler is President of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
