Lay-led Ministries Share the Gospel through Astronomy, Cell Phones

At the 2023 ASi convention, two of them show how they are “thinking outside the box.”

August 21, 2023 | Kansas City, Missouri, United States | Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

As in every annual convention of the Adventist Laymen’s Services and Industries (ASi), the 2023 gathering in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, included reports from frontline ministries that are finding ways of sharing Jesus in tried-and-trusted or novel ways with their relatives, colleagues, neighbors, and friends.

During one of the evening programs, two ministries showed how they are using broadcasts and social media to reach people who might never know about Bible truth any other way. Here’s what they shared.

Good News for Everyone

For decades, James Burr has presented lectures on astronomy from a biblical perspective to thousands in churches, youth groups, elementary and high schools, colleges, universities, retirement centers, and home-school associations in the United States and the Russian Federation.

Burr is recognized throughout the world for his achievements in telescope design and manufacturing and his design patents for astronomy accessories, some of which he reportedly sold to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

He also manages Heavens Declare, a site created for the purpose of “providing lectures, presentations and instructional materials to the general public and the educational community, with a biblical Christian perspective on science and more specifically on astronomy.”

Burr is also the driving force behind Good News TV, a television service offered in several U.S. states, which has partnered with high-quality Christian networks to share “programs designed to deliver a wholistic and hope-filled message that consistently point to Jesus and the Bible,” including the Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN) and Hope Channel. According to its website, Good News TV offerings include “a wide variety of practical programs that feature healthy cooking, relationship skills, beautiful music, local worship services, disease prevention, Bible teaching, children’s programs, exercise, mission adventures, archaeology, and history,” among others.

Speaking at the ASi convention, Burr said he is happy to report that people are calling the contact numbers provided in search of answers. “The results we are getting are amazing,” he said. “People are looking for answers, and they don’t know where to find them.” Burr often puts people in touch with a local Adventist church, he said.

Every time he travels, Burr also wears a special tie with a planets motif and the phrase “In the beginning, God created,” clearly visible. It is what he calls “tie evangelism.” Burr shared that just wearing the tie has helped him to start meaningful conversations with other people and to invite them to reflect and find out more about the Bible.

Burr said that the ministry’s next goal is the city of Colorado Springs in Colorado. “We want a television station in Colorado Springs,” he said.

Reaching Closed Communities

Chris Hofer grew up in North Dakota, United States, in a German-speaking Hutterite colony. Hutterites live in around 500 self-sufficient communities, similar to the Amish, in Canada and the U.S. With Anabaptist roots, they follow a strict dress code for men and women and are hard-working, industrious, and deeply religious.

At the age of 17, Chris chose to run away from his colony, which led to a completely new life. His path took him ever further from his roots as he tried living in the fast lane.

After finding Bible truth and becoming a Seventh-day Adventist, Hofer has also found his life calling. “My mission is to share the gospel with my people,” he says. He launched ESG Ministries, with ESG standing for “Es Steht Geschrieben,” or “It Is Written” in German.

Hutterites live in closed communities, so an open evangelistic series or door-to-door outreach is out of the question. But Hutterites use cell phones, and it’s through cell phones that Hofer has been offering subscriptions to free Bible studies. ESG Ministries advertises through social media groups to reach out to the Hutterite colonies, spread out in extended family groups mostly in rural areas, Hofer reported.

“We send Bibles; we send Bible studies, and recently we have partnered with AWR [Adventist World Radio],” Hofer shared. “They put together an amazing ‘godpod’ [a small solar-powered device with hundreds of hours of listening content] with resources in German, including Bible studies, stories for children, and when I introduced those on social media apps, they went out like wildfire.”

Currently, about 1,500 Hutterites in closed communities are receiving Bible studies, he said, although the full effects of his ministry are difficult to quantify.

“It’s hard to be able to tell the impact,” Hofer said, “and I have to be careful how I share about that. I cannot give statistics because it’s a closed community. But I know God is moving among my people.”