Davao Mission Focuses Adventist Communication Training for Digital Missionaries
Offering its impressive venue in the sturdy headquarters of the Davao Mission, the Communication department hosted the Adventist Communication Training on September 20-21, with the full blast of support and organizing capabilities of Hope Channel Davao and Adventist World Radio 104.3 Hope Radio Davao.
There were 152 participants from the seven clusters of the territories from the provinces of Davao del Sur and Davao Occidental and the urban cities of Davao, Digos, and Island Garden City of Samal, with a media team from Mountain View College of Valencia City attending.
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. Among these, “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.
Sir Rhoen Shane P. Catolico, Communication/PARL/Media Director of SePUM, 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!”
Meanwhile, narrating some exciting parts of his conversion to faith and his unique digital ministries, Pr. 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, we are taking advantage of new technologies; we can reach far more people with their message of hope, love, and Salvation.
Sir Edward Rodriguez, Communication Associate Director of SSD, talked about “shaping the voice behind the church’s social media content” with a specific topic on “Church SocMed 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.
Pr. Sherman Fiedacan, President of HopeChannel 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 the Sabbath, Bro. Elmer Lagan, a PWD social media influencer whose life as an Adventist soldier hit by a bullet in his organs and spinal cord, gave inspiring stories to his followers and personal engagement. Leading people to depend upon God more than on our strength, he also helps other persons with disability (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.
Pr. Heshbon Buscato, serving as Media and Communication Director of the 11-country territory of Southern Asia-Pacific headquarters of the Adventist church, gave a beautiful sermon 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 Davao Mission, 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 Director 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.
God has been using unique talents these last days, including the provision of songs by Asidors Singers, whose music multiplied our enthusiasm and fire of devotion. Also, the Hope Channel and AWR Hope Radio Davao crew, under the leadership of its production manager, Sir Bjezreel Labajo, did intensive preparations by refining edges and meeting every need.
As fast as the flight of an angel, we need to make haste in spreading the everlasting Gospel. As Mrs. Ellen G. White reminded us, “He has given us great things to do. Let us do it with accuracy and determination. Let us show in our lives what the truth has done for us.” Testimonies vol 6, p. 418