Although often remarked as a 'cold' town, on Sabbath 28 January, Elder Gideon Pelser, Adventist World Radio (AWR) and Elder Michael Garkov (ASI) brought messages that warmed the hearts of the Sutton Coldfield Seventh-day Adventist church, as the first digital evangelism training for the Reflecting Hope initiative, from the British Union Conference (BUC) began to roll out.
Sutton Coldfield members were enlightened with a bright vision for their town, their city, soon to be spreading through the whole nation with hope.
Keen disciples of the Bible have for thousands of years strived to follow the great commission[1]. The mandate of the Church is to go into all the world, discipling followers of Christ. Despite this great responsibility, members have faced the increasing difficulty keenly felt in this digital age. And even with increased interconnectedness through social networks, more people have reported feeling lonely at higher rates than since before the pandemic[2].
The messages focused on using digital media in social networking sites for outreach. The call came for the participation of each lay member reaching out to their sphere of influence with a simple message inviting them to join a platform where they are offered prayer services in their city. Those who respond will be selected through an application that allows interested persons to interact live with actual church members who would send prayer text messages and encourage them on their spiritual journey.
The team expertly delivered training on the application and its use with decisive actions to complete the challenge. To fully execute this pilot scheme on digital evangelism, a group of nine volunteers within the church came forward to support by advertising the application within the city on awr.org/pray4brum.
They have committed to praying for the programme to receive the interests of those within the Birmingham area who would like to receive prayer. Those who express interest in the application and want to know more about the Bible receive helpful prerecorded voice messages that take them through studies on the Bible. After four months, the church will hold a series of studies that are personalised to the community's needs. Then all interested will enjoy being disciples alongside the community of faith in Christ.
Since this launch, responses have already come through from users on the applications with prayer requests. Dr Patrick Herbert (Area 5 Ministerial Field Secretary of North England Conference) carefully selected Sutton Coldfield church for their willingness and availability to participate in this initiative. Herbert is grateful to Pastor Obi Iheoma and the Sutton Coldfield church for their receptivity to trial digital evangelism.
Commenting on this first training, Pastor Eglan Brooks, President of the BUC, said, "Reflecting Hope is the Union's response to the Christ for Europe initiative that we are rolling out throughout the Seventh-day Adventist Church throughout Europe. We are excited that the Sutton Coldfield church is the first to come on board under the Reflecting Hope banner, and we pray that God will bless their efforts."
[1]Matthew 28:18-20
[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/articles/mappinglonelinessduringthecoronaviruspandemic/2021-04-07 (accessed 30/01/2023)