In West Venezuela, Adventist communicators challenged to be God’s Messengers

June 23, 2015 | Barquisimeto, Venezuela | David Buenaño/IAD Staff

More than 600 Adventist communicators raise their phones during a social media challenge that took place during the Adventist Communication Congress at the Adventist Metropolitan Institute in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, June 12-13, 2015. Inter-American Division Associate Communication Director Abel Marquez encouraged communicators to share Jesus with a friend or an acquaintance through the use of social media. Image by Abel Marquez/IAD.

More than 600 Seventh-day Adventists from across West Venezuela crowded the Metropolitan Adventist Institute in Barquisimeto to take part in the church’s first Adventist Communicators Congress held June 12-13, 2015.

Challenged to be “Messengers of God”, hundreds of Adventist communicators from across 11 states, dozens of church leaders and members committed to communicating hope within their communities.

“This has been an unprecedented event here in Venezuela,” said Emilio Perche, communication director for the church in West Venezuela and organizer of the event. “One that will mark and change the course of communication within the church here in our territory,” he added.

In a country where political changes are increasingly affecting people across the nation, communicators were challenged to double their efforts in utilizing all modern means of communication available to build bridges of hope through social media, print media, radio, and television.

Keynote speaker Abel Marquez, associate communication director for the church in Inter-America, spoke on the need for more creative media productions and the importance of corporate communication in the church.

According to organizers, the event was also an opportunity to take stock of their many radio stations run by the church and some run by laypersons, and survey needs to maximize resources in creating a unified network of radio stations covering the entire western region of the country.

Communicators participated in seminars on digital communication, graphic design, news writing, broadcast, photography, audio editing, optimizing of radio stations, and more.

The congress was also about honing the skills of Adventist communicators across churches for a close-nit network of professionals serving the church, Perche said. The church operates a media center which supplies design, radio and television productions on the internet to keep its church and community informed.

For Helen Piñero from the San Felipe Central Adventist Church in Yaracuy, one of the most beneficial seminars for her was news writing. “Many of us in the seminar cameo out ready to cover every news event that takes place in our church for God’s honor and glory,” said Piñero. “I have never seen such an event here that assists us with so many of our communication needs in our church.”

Carlos Nieto from La Grita Adventist Church in Tachira, said the workshop on managing audio in the church will help him improve sound during church services back home.

During the event, awards were given to the radio stations, churches and institutions that demonstrated exemplary leadership in communications in the region during the past year.

The West Venezuela Union is one of two unions in the country. There are more than 144,300 Seventh-day Adventists worshiping in 562 churches and 250 companies.

For more on the Seventh-day Adventist Church in West Venezuela, visit unionvenezolana