Committed to expanding its digital evangelism efforts, the Communication Department of the Adventist Church in Davao (DM) hosted the Adventist Communication Training on September 20-21. The event received strong support and organizational backing from Hope Channel Davao and Adventist World Radio 104.3 Hope Radio Davao, as media enthusiasts gathered to learn how to share the love of Jesus through digital platforms.
A total of 152 participants from the seven clusters representing the provinces of Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, and the cities of Davao, Digos, and Island Garden City of Samal attended the event, along with a media team from Mountain View College in Valencia City. The group is composed of individuals passionate about writing stories, producing videos and graphics, and generally creating content across platforms, which grow organic traffic every second of the day. The communication event provides the most comprehensive opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus in many creative ways to impact the digital mission.
Pastor Danielo Palomares, president of Southeastern Philippine Union Mission (SePUM), reminded all digital missionaries that God qualifies those He called and must possess godly mental culture and characteristics like Christian dignity and politeness, aggressiveness to push the triumphs of the cross of Christ, determination, patience, sympathy, sociability, faith, wholeheartedness, honesty, faithfulness, and industry. “God’s servants should be minutemen, ready to move fast as His providence opens the way. Any delay on their part gives time for Satan to work to defeat them.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 423.
Rhoen Shane P. Catolico, Communication/PARL/Media director of the Adventist church in the Southeastern Philippines, reminded everyone of the importance of Adventist identity. He reiterated, “The identity of the Adventist Church is shaped not only by our beliefs and mission but also by how they are perceived through the visual and graphic elements that represent them. These elements are to be consistent across all platforms and give people a clear and unified perception of who Adventists are!”
On the other hand, narrating some exciting parts of his conversion to faith and his unique digital ministries, Pastor Jan Elexis Mercado, director for Adventist World Radio (AWR) Center for Digital Evangelism (CDE) in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD), enumerated the characteristics of successful digital missionaries and other factors to increase engagement between church members and potential believers. Since the digital ministry aims to meet the needs of others and share the gospel with those online, the Adventist Church is taking advantage of new technologies to reach far more people with its message of hope, love, and salvation.
Edward Rodriguez, Communication assistant director in SSD, talked about “shaping the voice behind the church’s social media content” with a specific topic on “Church Social Media Captioning.” He emphasized that in captioning, personality, purpose, and engagement are essential, and by eliminating unnecessary details or digressions, deleting redundancies, and modifying weak noun and verb pairings.
Pastor Sherman Fiedacan, president of Hope Channel Philippines, is on the podium to expound on the Hope Channel’s mission. He reminded each attendee that more people are turning to the internet each day than ever before; this means that digital evangelism is one of the most effective ways to reach people worldwide. Digital evangelism does not discriminate against any age group, language, ethnic background, or economic status.
On Sabbath, Elmer Lagan, a social media influencer and Adventist soldier who was left with a disability after being struck by a bullet in his organ and spinal cord, shared inspiring stories and engaged personally with his followers. Leading people to depend upon God more than on our strength, he also helps other persons with disabilities (PWD) through financial and spiritual support from his resources. He believes our churches can create engaging content that entices viewers and encourages them to discover more about Christianity and Jesus’ teachings.
Pastor Heshbon Buscato, serving as Media and Communication director of the 11-country territory of Southern Asia-Pacific headquarters (SSD), gave a beautiful message for the hour of worship. Using the world’s significant digital change, we no longer rely on pamphlets and tracts. Now, we can use digital tools like blogs, podcasts, videos, and more to get our message of salvation across borders in a more interactive and personal way. To effectively share our faith through digital evangelism, we must be ourselves—whether shy or bold—and use these digital tools daily.
Pastor Reynaldo Merin, president of DM, engaged the Digital Evangelists to commit themselves to reaching the “unchurched” and making it easier for non-believers who may have questions about faith or Christianity.
The communication coordinators in the seven clustered districts paved the way for the success of the unique and beneficial training. Ma’am Cheryl Hodge, DM Media, and Communication sirector, was heaping with joy and gratefulness for the prayer warriors and digital missionaries who gave their precious time to this life-enriching and continuous education.
Rhoen Shane, Catolico, Communication Director of SePUM
The original article was published in the Southeastern Philippine Union Mission website.