Plans have been announced for the scheduled summer 2004 launch of new Spanish-language television programming for North and Central America on the Adventist Television Network (ATN). Members of the Hispanic advisory meeting for the Adventist Church in North America learned of the development at a recent meeting in Denver, Colorado. According to Manuel Vasquez, vice president of the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, "this new programming will be a blessing not only to Hispanic church members but also to the Hispanic population" in the United States of America.

Participants in the Hispanic advisory received the news of this new venture with enthusiastic applause. They were especially pleased to learn the church will target not only immigrant but second and third generation Latinos.

"The anticipated programming will aim at reflecting the core values of the Adventist church," says Liliana Henao, an ATN producer. "The twist is that it will be done in a culturally contextualized manner meeting the social, educational and spiritual needs of the diverse Latino population."

With more than 39 million bilingual, bicultural predominately young Latinos residing in the United States alone, and 400,000 new Latino immigrants arriving every year, church officials believe it is an ethnic group that must be reached.

The Adventist Church is a mainstream Protestant church with more than 13,5 million adult baptised members in more than 200 countries. The North American Division provides leadership for Adventist church work in the U.S.A., Canada, and Bermuda.