By Joab Cano
The Light of the World members around the globe celebrated 96 years of the restoration of the Early Christian Church on Wednesday, April 6, 2022. It’s been nearly a century since this faith began working once again on its mission. The official website, TLOTW.org, states that the mission of The Light of the World is to “share the message of spiritual salvation with all humankind, without discrimination or exclusion based on religion, race, color, language, gender, age, health, or ethnicity.” The work of announcing the gospel of Christ has reached many people today and congregations of this faith are found in every state of the nation, every state in Mexico and 60 countries worldwide.
To begin the restoration, The Light of the World faith testifies that on April 6, 1926, God called a man once again, as he has done so in other times throughout the history of mankind. The calling of God was to a man named Eusebio Joaquin Gonzalez, to whom was given the mission of announcing the gospel of Christ. Similarly to the calling of the apostle Paul during the time of the early christian church, Eusebio was called as an apostle and given his mission. Additionally, Eusebio received a new name given by God: Aaron. Since that day, the restoration of the early christian church has been happening day after day. During the course of this first century of restoration, TLOTW has grown very quickly in membership. This has been the result of the work and dedication of the three apostles who have been the spiritual leaders of this faith.
Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist of religion and founder of the Center for Studies of New Religions, described The Light of the World back in 2018, as “the world’s fastest growing religious movement.” Although many scholars in 2019 were announcing that TLOTW would suffer a decline, Introvigne did not join these predictions. Several years have passed since those claims and this faith continues to show an impressive growth worldwide. Furthermore, Introvigne wrote in his article titled, “La Luz Del Mundo: A Short History” for The Journal of CESNUR March-April 2020 edition, that The Light of the World is “one of the fastest-growing religious movements in the world.”
So, how did The Light of World members celebrate the 96th anniversary of the beginning of the restoration? During these past few weeks, the congregations around the world have had growth in several aspects. First of all, baptisms of water and of the spirit have occurred in many of its congregations. A baptism is the beginning of the christian life for a follower of Christ. These baptisms were not only seen in the United States, but in congregations throughout Mexico, Central and South America and other parts of the world. Also, The Light of the World has had youth studies for several weekends now, where it’s evident that the youth participation is not absent in this faith. While many other organizations are suffering a sharp decline of young believers and struggling to keep the interest of them, TLOTW demonstrates that this faith is embraced by the younger generations as well. Finally, congregations around the world are expanding to new houses of prayer or beginning to build new and bigger ones that can accommodate the believers.
In conclusion, it’s quite evident for all to see that this faith is not slowing down. Many people are turning to its doorsteps to find something truly special, something that they have searched for a while. There’s no better way to celebrate the 96th anniversary than to provide hope to millions. Therefore, I would like to extend an invitation to visit a congregation of The Light of the World. There you will learn what God desires for your life and find the peace that you seek. If you live in Juneau, we invite you to join us at: 1997 Dunn St. Suite #3. We are open Monday-Saturday at 6:30pm & Sunday at 10 am and 5pm. May the peace of God dwell in your hearts and God bless you all!
• Joab Cano is a missionary for the Light of the World Church. Living & Growing” is a weekly column written by different authors and submitted by local clergy and spiritual leaders. It appears every Friday on the Juneau Empire’s Faith page.
