Adventists across the Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD) turned their mobile devices into tools for mission on Sept. 5 as churches throughout the region joined the global launch of OneVoice27, an initiative designed to mobilize members to share personal stories of faith and the hope found in Jesus through digital platforms.
The launch brought together congregations across SSD’s 11-country territory for a coordinated Sabbath focused on the theme “All Things New.” Churches contextualized the initiative through local programs, community outreach and other activities while participating in several common elements: an “All Things New” Sabbath message, commitment card signing, commitment prayer and a coordinated social media posting initiative.
With more than 1.8 million Adventist members across the division, organizers envisioned the launch as an opportunity to demonstrate what could happen when individual members see their personal digital spaces as places for mission.
Pastor Carlito Quidet, communication director for the Southern Asia-Pacific Division, said OneVoice27 is intended to help church members recognize that digital platforms can become meaningful spaces for mission. “We want every member to understand that they do not need to be professional content creators to share Jesus online,” Quidet said. “A personal testimony, a simple post or a shared message can open a conversation and create an opportunity for someone to discover hope in Christ.”
Preliminary social media data released following the launch recorded 50,800 mentions of #AllThingsNew, an estimated reach of 23.8 million, 542,600 interactions and more than 14,000 shares. The report also identified more than 6,500 images and 350 videos connected with the campaign.
Instagram accounted for 49.8% of recorded activity, followed by Facebook at 36.2%, video platforms at 11% and TikTok at 2.9%, according to the report.
Among countries represented in the available data, the Philippines generated 54% of recorded activity, followed by Indonesia at 36.6%, Malaysia at 5%, Myanmar at 2.8%, Thailand at 0.9%, Laos and Timor-Leste at 0.3% each, and Singapore at 0.1%.
SSD Media Team cautioned that the figures represent raw data compiled from multiple sources and do not capture the campaign's full digital activity. Privacy settings, country data regulations and platform scraping limitations can affect available information. The report also excluded livestreams and long-form video content.
A Strategy Designed for Every Member
In preparation for the launch, communication departments across SSD worked with Hope Channel, Adventist World Radio and communication teams from unions and other church organizations to develop a coordinated digital strategy.
Because levels of digital literacy vary widely across SSD's culturally and linguistically diverse territory, communication leaders sought to make participation possible regardless of a member's experience with social media.
The resulting strategy centered on three approaches: create, customize and share.
Members comfortable producing digital content were encouraged to create user-generated posts, photographs, videos and testimonies describing how Jesus had brought renewal, hope or transformation into their lives.
Church organizations also developed digital templates that members could customize according to local languages, cultures and contexts. Rather than simply reposting institutional material, participants were encouraged to accompany the templates with personal captions that reflected their own experiences with Jesus.
The third approach encouraged members with limited experience using digital platforms — including older members — to share existing content with assistance from younger members or others in their congregations who were more familiar with mobile technology.
The approach sought to remove technical ability as a barrier to participation and reinforce the idea that digital mission does not belong only to communication professionals or content creators.
Participants were also encouraged to use #AllThingsNew and identify or tag their local church or its location when appropriate, creating a potential connection between an online testimony and a local Adventist congregation.
From Digital Reach to Personal Connection
While the September 5 activity produced millions of potential digital impressions, SSD leaders have emphasized that reach alone is not the goal of OneVoice27.
The broader strategy seeks to move people through a journey from digital contact to personal engagement and, ultimately, connection with a local church community.
Instead of viewing social media primarily as a broadcasting platform, OneVoice27 encourages Adventists to use their existing online relationships to begin conversations about faith. A testimony shared with friends, relatives, colleagues or followers can become an invitation to ask questions, pray together, study the Bible or connect with an Adventist congregation.
That emphasis also shaped the content shared during the launch. Social media feeds across the region featured personal testimonies, short videos, photographs and messages describing experiences of forgiveness, restoration, answered prayer, renewed purpose and hope in Christ.
Pastor Arnel Gabin, NDR-IEL director for the Southern Asia-Pacific Division, emphasized that the initiative is designed to move beyond digital visibility toward personal connection and discipleship. “The goal is not simply to reach people online, but to engage them, build relationships and eventually connect them with a local church where they can continue their journey with Jesus,” Gabin said. “Digital mission becomes most meaningful when an online encounter leads to genuine spiritual growth and community.”
Sept. 5 Was the Beginning
For OneVoice27 organizers, the simultaneous posting initiative was not designed as a one-day social media campaign.
It is a challenge to participants to continue sharing authentic stories of how Christ is making “all things new.”
That continuing participation represents a shift in how the church views digital evangelism. Rather than relying primarily on institutional accounts, media organizations or professionally produced campaigns, OneVoice27 seeks to equip individual members to recognize that the people already connected to them online represent a mission field within reach.
The Sept. 5 launch therefore provided an initial picture of what that approach could look like across Southern Asia-Pacific: thousands of individual voices, languages, cultures and personal experiences carrying a shared message of hope.
For the more than 1.8 million Adventists across Southern Asia-Pacific, the launch carried a simple idea into the year ahead: digital mission begins with the story each member already has to share.