Adventist Church in Guatemala invests in communication technology
More than 500 Adventist communication directors from hundreds of churches in Guatemala met for a training on communication technology and initiatives in El Progreso Adventist School auditorium in Guatemala City, Guatemala, on September 24, 2016. Image by Melvin Batz/IAD
September 30, 2016 | Guatemala City, Guatemala | IAD Staff
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Guatemala is investing in hundreds of communicators to reach the entire country with the message of hope and salvation.
Pastor Gustavo Menendez, communication director for the church in Guatemala, instructs on the role and responsibilities of the church communication director on Sep. 24, 2016, in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Image by Melvin Batz
More than 500 Adventist communicators from across local churches, radio stations met on September 24, 2016, to learn about the church’s communication initiatives, its corporate image, media productions, generating and sharing content, and becoming the kind of creative disciples who invest their time and talents to move toward reaching millions of people with the gospel.
With three Adventist radio stations reaching 70 percent of the country with 24-hour programming and 100 television satellite dishes, or antennas, transmitting Hope Channel’s Esperanza TV across most of the country, leaders need to ensure its communicators team up together to face the growing challenges ahead.
“We understand that one of the main challenges is to change the concept of the importance of internal and external communication and the careful care of the organization’s image,” said Gustavo Menendez, communication director for the church in Guatemala and organizer of the communication workshop. “Our goal is to strongly establish communication teams across all levels of the church.”
Many have the wrong idea that the function of the communication director at the church level is to merely read announcements during church services or place announcements for the weekly bulletin, said Menedez. “We want every church to have a presence on the web and on social media, where Jesus can be shared with the cyber community as well as news and activities taking place in the church locally and from around the world church.”
Adventist communicators came from churches across Guatemala for the special training workshop. Image by Melvin Batz
In 2014, there were more than 21 million cellular phones registered in the country and according to the national census, or RENAP, done in December 2015, there were 17 million people accounted for in Guatemala, explained Menendez.
“Every Adventist communicator is crucial in communicating Christ, in building bridges of hope to transform lives as our mission in the communication department states,” added Menendez.
Committed communicators is what the church of today needs, said Abel Marquez, communication director for the church in Inter-America.
“We are all communicators in the church and that is why creative disciples must partner together with the church to devise new innovative ways of sharing the gospel of salvation,” Márquez added.
“The task is to be creative and innovative and take advantage of the technology we have at hand,” said Willy Solis of the El Triunfo Adventist Church in Zacapa, in the eastern part of the country. Solis operates a television program on cable called Adventist TV. “We must use social media and connect with more people as we expand this vision as communication directors of sharing more than just announcements in our churches.”
Rocio de los Andes Acevedo, church communication director of the Amatitlán Adventist Church, wants to improve the image of the church as she strives to share the hope of Jesus on the WhatsApp 911 prayer group she leads. “There is so much to do in communication and I believe many have neglected the image of the church that we projects to the community,” said Acevedo. “But this is the time to make change and share the correct image of who we are and what we believe in as a church.”
Radio frequency equipment on the Anshigua Mountain in el Progreso eastern part of Guatemala set up by the church in 2015. Image by Juan Lopez
The time is ripe, said Pastor Guenther Garcia, president of the church in Guatemala. “Six years ago the church began investing in its radio stations and expansion began in the Adventist Communication System here,” said Garcia. The church bought three more frequencies and nine repeaters. It’s a large investment as each frequency costs upwards of half a million dollars, explained Garcia.
The church has already purchased land on which to build a multi-media center in Guatemala City, added Garcia. “We want to produce television programs for our Esperanza TV Interamerica television channel as well as produce media resources for our Adventist Churches in Guatemala.”
Church leaders hope to raise funds across its membership to inaugurate the center by 2018 or sooner.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Guatemala has more than 247,000 members worshiping in 1,185 churches and congregations and operates three radio stations, 30 primary and secondary schools, a rehabilitation center, a nursing home and three medical clinics and laboratories.
Gustavo Menendez, Selvin Sosa and Jorge Carbajal contributed to this article.