Mexican Adventist Editorial Group (GEMA Editores)

Mexican Adventist Editorial Group (GEMA Editores) is a non-printing publishing house operating in Mexico City and is a part of the Inter-American Division. It currently has 46 stores in the 32 states of Mexico. It provides Christian literature for Mexico and exchanges books with other Spanish-speaking publishing houses. Since Mexican Adventist Editorial Group does not have its own press, its printing jobs are sent to printers in Mexico City and Puebla. Since 2006, it is located at Uxmal 431, Colonia Narvarte, Benito Juárez District, Mexico City, Mexico.

Development and Organization of the Publishing House

In 1891, Salvador Marchisio, a layman of Italian origin living in the United States, was a selfless, determined, and faithful Christian who was a pioneer of the Adventist Church in Mexico. He learned about the gospel at an Adventist hospital in St. Helena, California, and decided to dedicate his life to preaching the gospel. He sold all his belongings to buy copies of “The Great Controversy” books. With his heart set on the mission, he left for Mexico to preach the gospel, distributing “The Great Controversy.”

Thus, the gospel of salvation reached the Mexican Republic. Salvador Marchisio performed extraordinary work as a colporteur delivering Christian literature to homes. He held a missionary license until 1919, and in 1920, he was ordained as a pastor, holding a ministerial credential until 1923, when he returned to the United States.¹ Salvador Marchisio died in California on February 27, 1925.²

In 1896, in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, the magazine El Amigo de la Verdad (The Friend of Truth) became an efficient instrument for the preaching of the gospel. The magazine was edited by Dan T. Jones and later by George Washington Caviness. The name of the magazine was changed to El Mensajero de la Verdad (The Messenger of Truth) in 1901 and to Señales de los Tiempos (Signs of the Times) in 1911.³

Beginnings of the Publishing House

Pastor George M. Brown, director of the Mexican Mission at the time, established the first publishing house in Latin America in 1904. It became crucial for the Adventist Church in Mexico. The publishing house was based in Tacubaya, Mexico City, under the name Compañía de Publicaciones La Verdad (The Truth Publications Company). It was established with a small printing press to print missionary magazines such as El Mensajero de la Verdad (The Messenger of Truth), La Salud (Our Health) and La Esperanza del Cristiano (The Christian's Hope). It printed the Spanish-language Sabbath school pamphlet for adults; it also printed the Sabbath school pamphlet for children which was produced and paid for by Mrs. Clara E. Jones. The publishing house’s magazines reached Mexico City and the rest of the country through colporteurs. This gave rise to several groups of Sabbath-keeping believers in Mexico.⁴

In 1907, the Pacific Press Publishing Company of the United States provided the Compañía de Publicaciones La Verdad in Mexico with a printing press in good condition. As Pastor Caviness said, it “had passed through the fire.”⁵ This press helped in the printing of more magazines to assist in the spreading the gospel. In 1908, the Mexican publishing house printed the first book for colporteurs translated into Spanish, El Rey que Viene (“The Coming King”).

In 1909, Brother Ed. F. Forga translated The Great Controversy into Spanish (El conflicto de los siglos) for distribution by colporteurs. Likewise, Pastor George Washington Caviness translated into Spanish the book “Bible Readings for the Home” (Lecturas de la Biblia para el Hogar).⁶ These publications were very useful to colporteurs who spread the message in Spanish-speaking countries.

By 1910, the publishing house was printing and distributing another magazine that had been translated into Spanish. There was great interest in the news published in that magazine. This magazine, El Campo Mexicano (“The Mexican Field”), informed church members about church activities. In 1914, the name was changed to El Mensajero del Rey (“The King’s Messenger”).⁷ This was done to reach Central America and the Caribbean. In 1923, it became an official publication of the Adventist Church in the Inter-American Division.

History of the Publishing House in Mexico

The Compañía de Publicaciones La Verdad experienced problems when the Mexican Revolution began in 1910. By proclaiming the Plan of San Luis Potosí on November 20, 1910, Mexican revolutionary Francisco I. Madero encouraged Mexicans to rise up in arms against the government of José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori, who had held political power in Mexico for 35 years.⁸

During the revolution, most of the foreign colporteurs returned to their countries, and the growing church in Mexico established book depositories in different territories to provide materials to the church and to local colporteurs. Then the church in Mexico decided to relocate its Mexican publishing house to Panama to function as a branch under the Pacific Press Publishing Association. Because of this, the Compañía de Publicaciones La Verdad ceased to exist for almost 20 years.

In 1930, Lake Mission headquartered in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, established its own publishing agency for its territory calling it the Agencia de Publicaciones del Lago (Lake Mission Publications Agency). In 1931, the Tehuantepec Mission, headquartered in Puebla, Mexico, established its own called the Agencia de Publicaciones de Tehuantepec (Tehuantepec Mission Publication Agency). These two and later-established publishing agencies operated until 1935.

Merger of Publishing Agencies in Mexico

As a historic event, on February 3, 1937, the Church in Mexico agreed to merge its existing publishing agencies into a single national agency, called the Agencia Mexicana de Publicaciones (Mexican Publishing Agency), headquartered in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, headed by Pastor H. A. B. Robinson.⁹ It remained a single national publishing agency for three years. It obtained religious books, canvassing materials, and magazines from the Pacific Press Publishing Association in the United States for distribution in Mexico as it no longer had a printing press.

The Central Mexican Mission located in Tacubaya established its own local publishing agency in 1940 under the name Agencia de Publicaciones México Central (Central Mexican Publications Agency) In 1942, the Mexican “national” publishing agency was reactivated under the name Agencia de Publicaciones “México Central,” headquartered at 85 Prosperidad Street, Tacubaya, Mexico City, under the direction of Aurelio José Calderón.¹⁰ On December 15, 1944, the national publishing agency was registered with the Mexican treasury department under the name Agencia de Publicaciones México Central, A.C. located at 89 Prosperidad Street. This was done to obtain the agency’s legal status in the country; thus, this name continues to be in effect.¹¹ On April 17, 1977, the agency moved to its new address at Yácatas 398, Colonia Narvarte, Benito Juárez District, Mexico City, Mexico.

Book Shortage and Devaluation of the Mexican Currency

In 1982, there was a terrible devaluation of the Mexican currency, to the point that it was impossible to continue fulfilling the commitments to purchase books in dollars due to the additional difficulty of importing them. Therefore, that year, the order for the magazine El Centinela (Signs of the Times) was canceled, and the religious and canvassing books were returned to the Pacific Press Publishing Association because they could no longer pay for them. This is how the negatives for the Tesoros de Vida (Treasures for Life) collection, belonging to the Pacific Press, were obtained. The Agencia de Publicaciones México Central, A.C. printed 15,000 collections for colporteurs, thus, solving the problem of the book shortage. This collection has been so successful that it continues to be reprinted and sold to this day.¹²

Publication of the First Mexican Canvassing Book

Due to the shortage of books, the need to recruit or train Mexican writers arose. At a meeting of the two unions, North Mexican Union Conference and South Mexican Union Conference, held on September 30, 1985, Pastor Félix Cortés Antonio accepted the challenge to write a book, which he titled Un Sitio en la Cumbre (“A Place at the Summit”). This book has been reprinted three times and translated into English and French. Thus, in 1986, and for the first time in Mexico, the Agencia de Publicaciones México Central, A.C., published a canvassing book written by a Mexican. On June 2, at the South Mexican Union Conference mid-year meeting, a copy of the book was given to all board members. Approximately 300,000 books have been sold in the three languages spoken in the Inter-American Division territory.

Expansion of Bookstores in Mexico

The publishing work in Mexico expanded rapidly, allowing for the creation of stores throughout the country bringing Christian literature closer to the Church and better serving colporteurs. In 1983, two stores were established: one in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, and another in Minatitlán, Veracruz. The following year, the store in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, was established. As the stores in the country were of great help, two additional stores opened in 1986: one in Monterrey, Nuevo León, and the other in Mérida, Yucatán. In 1988, the store in Guadalajara, Jalisco, opened.

Publication of Mexican Missionary Magazines

In the 1980s, the Church in Mexico distributed a Pacific Press Publishing Association magazine called El Centinela. However, the devaluation of the Mexican peso was the main reason for Mexico to consider publishing local magazines.

On January 1, 1986, the publication and distribution of a Mexican missionary magazine called Enfoque de Nuestro Tiempo (Focus of Our Time) was published and directed by Pastor Daniel Sosa Reyes. Likewise, in 1994, the magazine Mundo Joven (Young World) was published for Adventist youth based on Christian values. It was directed by Pastor César Maya Montes. The magazine's name was changed to Expresión Joven (Young Expression) in 2007.

The two unions in Mexico, North Mexican Union Conference and South Mexican Union Conference, studying the situation of having two magazines circulating in the country, agreed to create an institution called Ediciones Enfoque (Focus Editions) with legal status to protect the written works now owned by the newly created institution.

Establishment of Mexican Adventist Editorial Group

In June 2003, the Inter-American Division in agreement with the two Mexican unions decided to create an entity representative of the Church with the Spanish acronym GEMA Editores, which stands for Grupo Editorial Mexicano Adventista (Mexican Adventist Editorial Group). This merge would unite the two entities Agencia de Publicaciones México Central, A. C., and Ediciones Enfoque under Mexican Adventist Editorial Group. In October 2003, the Mexican Adventist Editorial Group Board of Directors selected an official logo for the institution, and for fiscal reasons, the newly established institution will also remain known in Spanish as Agencia de Publicaciones México Central, A.C.¹³

Due to its growth, Mexican Adventist Editorial Group ranks fifth in sales among the 60 publishing houses of the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide. Mexican Adventist Editorial Group operates with 186 employees, including the central office staff, employees of the 46 stores, and associate directors for colporteurs. In December 2024, its sales amounted to MXN$248,060,906 (USD$12,304,802).¹⁴

Publications for colporteurs cover various areas such as nutrition, food, family, diet, temperance, nature, education, mental, emotional, and physical health, religion, and self-improvement.¹⁵ Mexican Adventist Editorial Group has experienced extraordinary development and growth. In 2024, it had an inventory of 600 church book titles and 65 canvassing titles, and it produces an average of 15 new church books and three new canvassing books per year.

Each year, Mexican Adventist Editorial Group publishes: 1,668,000 Enfoque de nuestro tiempo magazines; 264,000 Expresión Joven magazines; 177,351 children’s materials; 277,581 Sabbath School lessons for adults, teachers, and university students; Ellen G. White notes; and 50 Ellen G. White book titles in Spanish. Approximately 95,500 devotionals emphasizing growth in faith are printed each year for children, youth, young adults, men, and women.

List of Administrators

Mexican Publishing House

Presidents: George M. Brown (1904-1908); W. S. Swayze (1909-1921)

Agencia Mexicana de Publicaciones (Mexican Book and Bible House)

Secretary/Treasurer: H. A. Robinson (1937-1939)

Agencia de Publicaciones México Central

Secretaries: Francisco Paredes (1940); Edmundo Quezada (1941); José Leor (1942)

Secretary/Treasurer: Aurelio José Calderón Segura (1943-1946)

Director: A. J. Calderón (1947-1948)

Book and Bible House

Department Secretaries: Melchor Covarrubias (1949-1953); José Leor (1954-1964); Enrique Gil (1965-1969); Horacio Taracena (1970-1995)

Adventist Book Center

Managers: Isaac Gómez Tenorio (1996-2001); Horacio Taracena (2002-2004)

Mexican Adventist Editorial Group (GEMA Editores)

Presidents: Tomás Torres de Dios (2004-2008); Ervin A. González (2009-2012); David Javier Pérez (2013-2021); Moisés Reyna (2022- )

Sources

Caviness, G. W. “The Work in Mexico City.” ARH, September 26, 1907.

GEMA Editores Executive Committee Meeting minutes. “Nombre y logo de la casa editora adventista de México.” Vote 16, October 1, 2003. GEMA Editores secretariat archives, Benito Juárez, Mexico City, Mexico.

GEMA Editores Year-End Board of Directors Meeting minutes. Financial report, December 2024. GEMA Editores secretariat archives, Benito Juárez, Mexico City, Mexico.

Leffler, G. E. “Elder S. Marchisio.” ARH, April 2, 1925.

“Plan of San Luis Potosí.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed August 3, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_of_San_Luis_Potosí.

Salazar Escarpulli, Velino. 100 años de adventismo en México. Montemorelos, N. L., México: Centro de producción Unión mexicana del Norte, 1997.

Sepúlveda, Ciro. Nace un movimiento. Montemorelos, N. L., México: Publicaciones Interamericanas, 1983.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Town, N. Z. “Our Spanish Literature: Brother Forga is finishing….” ARH, April 1, 1909.

Notes

1. Velino Salazar Escarpulli, 100 años de adventismo en México (Montemorelos, N. L., México: Centro de producción Unión mexicana del Norte, 1997), 74-75, 251.↩

2. G. E. Leffler, “Elder S. Marchisio,” ARH, April 2, 1925, 22.↩

3. Ciro Sepúlveda, Nace un movimiento (Montemorelos, N. L., México: Publicaciones Interamericanas, 1983), 67.↩

4. Ibid., 68-70.↩

5. G. W. Caviness, “The Work in Mexico City,” ARH, September 26, 1907, 16.↩

6. N. Z. Town, “Our Spanish Literature: Brother Forga is finishing…,” ARH, April 1, 1909, 15.↩

7. “El Mensajero del Rey,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review & Herald Publishing Association, 1914), 194.↩

8. “Plan of San Luis Potosí,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, accessed August 3, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_of_San_Luis_Potosí.↩

9. “Agencia Mexicana de Publicaciones,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Takoma Park, Washington, D.C.: Review & Herald Publishing Association, 1938), 151.↩

10. “Agencia de Publicaciones ‘Mexico Central,’” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review & Herald Publishing Association, 1943), 251.↩

11. David Javier Pérez, personal knowledge as president of Gema Editores.↩

12. Manuel Horacio Taracena, telephone interview with author, July 20, 2025.↩

13. GEMA Editores Executive Committee Meeting, “Nombre y logo de la casa editora adventista de México,” vote 16, October 1, 2003, GEMA Editores secretariat archives.↩

14. GEMA Editores Year-End Board of Directors Meeting, financial report, December 2024, GEMA Editores secretariat archives.↩

15. Several titles include: Ganas de triunfar (Desire to triumph), Nutrición para vivir más y mejor (Nutrition to live longer and better), Dulcemente saludable (Sweetly healthy), Crece feliz crece con valores (Grow happy, grow with values), Cómo enfrentar las crisis (How to face crises), Animales extraordinarios (Extraordinary animals), Colección tesoros de vida (Life Treasures Collection), Que tu alimento sea tu medicina (Let your food be your medicine), Tú también puedes llegar (You can also get there), ¿Dónde estabas tú? (Where were you?), El chico de las fiestas (The party boy), Lo que Dios aprecia de las mujeres (What God values in women), and 101 Ideas para enseñar (101 Ideas for teaching).↩