Even before the 2020 global pandemic required most ministries to figure out a way to share online content, the Lord had already set in motion a solution for the Texas Conference.
The Communication & Public Relations department ordered video camera equipment at the end of 2019 with the goal of traveling around the conference to record and share incredible stories from our churches and schools. However, when churches shut down due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Texas Conference used that equipment to transform a worship room into a studio from which it could broadcast Zoom seminars and weekly worship services that church members could watch from home.
“It is amazing to see time-lapse footage showing the conversion of the worship room to a studio setup,” Kenn Dixon, Texas Conference vice president for Communication & Public Relations, shared. “Only with God’s help could we have done that during a pandemic. I have certainly learned a lot in the process.”
Dixon believes the Lord wants us to dream big, especially when it comes to sharing the gospel within our conference and around the world. Two years after obtaining the camera equipment, the Lord expanded the dream through the use of a new mobile media truck, which enables the Texas Conference to record and stream programs from other locations. For example, it live-streamed the Adventurer Family Camp, Pathfinder Camporee and Master Guide Camporee from Lake Whitney Ranch and recorded the Freshmen Bible Camp held at another camp. It also streamed other events held on location at area churches hotels or from a convention center.
“Digital evangelism is no longer a buzzword,” Elton DeMoraes, Texas Conference president, shared. “It is the way we need to embrace finishing God’s work. People may not enter our church doors, but they can find hope in God’s word from the programs we share online.”
“We want every church in the Texas Conference to be actively involved in digital evangelism,” DeMoraes added. “That will mean different things for different churches, but all should be intentional about reaching their local community, both in person and online.”
The best part of online programming is its huge reach. Only the Lord knows the seeds it will plant for eternity. We just need to do our part in planting those seeds.
View some of the Texas Conference programming at YouTube.com/texasadventist and YouTube.com/HispanosTXC and be a digital evangelist by sharing those programs with others.
—–
Tamara Michalenko Terry is the associate director for Communication & Public Relations for the Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
A version of this article appeared in the March/April 2022 issue of the Southwestern Union Record. You can find the online issues here.
