Communicators Stirred for More Purposeful Use of the Media
An advisory took place in Abidjan, the capital city of Cote d’Ivoire from August 10 to 13, 2016. Elder Williams Costa, Adventist world Church Communication director as a guest speaker shared the General Conference Communication Strategic Plan for the next five years.
The West-Central Africa region of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is “eager to see all the communicators become elements of transformation”. Pastor Elie Weick-Dido, president of the Church in West-Central Africa (WAD), expressed that expectation which is in line with the world vision. Pastor Williams Costa has been touring the world regions for that purpose : “we have a message of hope and peace. The bible encourages us to show mercy, forgiveness and love. Since we are rooted in the bible we have a message to Africa that will make a difference. Let’s use communication to share and show Jesus, His love, His Plan of Salvation and the Eternal Life. This is powerful. This is our mission”.
For these past years, the news sharing was scarce. “We emphasize on the training of the communication leaders and thus expect the increase of the number of international stories shared on the Adventist Network News (ANN).” When that topic came out, Pastor Irineo Koch, the WAD Communication director, passionately and unswervingly made an appeal to his fellow workers in the various countries of the West-Central Africa region. “We are ready as usual to support you and if there is any concern, communicate with us!”
For elder Costa, “no family stands without communication. If there is no dialogue between father, mother and children the family simply falls apart. The Seventh-day Adventist world family needs to hear from the various regions and particularly from WAD. This is urgent and imperative. In participating on division communication advisories I have emphasized on the urgent need for each division to produce written and video stories that we will share on ANN”. A practical demonstration of how video stories can be produced from a smartphone gave a big impetus and dropped the fears. Pastor Fred Agyei-baah from Northern Ghana, with an optimistic smile said “I will start to produce videos from my smartphone.”
Among other key goals, the participants to the advisory have decided to train the leaders of the Church as well as the members so as to achieve the ACT (Adventist Communication Training) goal that is part of the General Conference Communication Strategic Plan. This includes “the intentional use of the social media to daily reach the 7.4 billion people in the world with the message of hope” said Williams Costa. The outstanding goal that caught everyone’s attention is the use of Music to bring back home former Adventists.
He continues: “Among others our basic needs are: training, outreach, exchange of stories, use of technology and of the new tools on the social network, dealing with crisis.” The African continent and the whole world are facing serious challenges in politics, in society and in economy. Some of the communicators in WAD mentioned in their reports the muddy blows on the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s image. The special guest suggested a very wise attitude when dealing with rumors and defamation by consulting the crisis committee.
During the opening of the advisory, Elder Emmanuel Manu, WAD Treasurer urged the participants to make the Church known. He later recalled the five core values of WAD: Godliness, Unity of Purpose, Professionnalism, Church Growth and financial sustainability. At the end of the meeting, on Friday August 12, 2016 Pastor Koch organized a visit of the Hope Channel television studio at the WAD headquarters.
Then the group fellowshipped around a table for a special meal offered by Elder Costa. Pastor Uzoma Nwosi from Nigeria could not hide his satisfaction: “we are blessed with the teachings and thank our leaders for their commitment in helping us do better.” Sister Solace Asafo from Southern Ghana said : “I am strengthened to face the challenges with a bigger motivation. The powerful sharing of stories from Vanuatu, Australia and the watching of the movies gave us a new impulse.”
The advisory participants were invited to a camp-meeting worship in Bouake, a locality situated at the Center of Cote d’Ivoire, around 400 kilometers from Abidjan. More than 5 000 thousand people attended the worship service and listened to Elder Williams Costa message of hope.
Abraham BAKARI