GAiN Europe 2022 Opens with Invitation to Fulfill Mission in a Post

October 21, 2022 | Bucharest, Romania | Marcos Paseggi | Adventist Review and IAD

More than 180 communicators in the Seventh-day Adventist Church gathered in Bucharest, Romania, for the 2022 Global Adventist Internet Network (GAiN) meeting for Europe from 14-18 October 2022. The program titled “Forward: Keep Moving Forward” brought together leaders and communications experts from 35 countries who work in Adventist journalism, radio, television, and social media.

Most communications officers who have registered with GAiN Europe serve in the Inter-European Division (EUD) and Trans-European Division (TED) regions of the Adventist Church. Some attendees, however, came from as far away as French Polynesia, Mongolia and Mexico, leaders said. A group of Adventist communications officers from Ukraine traveled by van for hours to attend

First face-to-face program

The program was originally scheduled for 2020, but had to be postponed due to the pandemic. “We are happy to be able to do it two years later, with more people,” said former EUD communications director Corrado Cozzi during his welcome speech on October 14. “In the meantime, we held two online programs, but they weren’t the same,” he said.

TED Communications Director David Neal also hosted face-to-face program participants. “Zoom is fantastic, but relationships go beyond Zoom,” he said. “And it’s an opportunity to learn, to network, to share, to encourage each other and to build relationships,” he said.

Hope Media Europe producer Adrian Dure, who co-hosted the opening program with TED deputy communications director Vanessa Pizzuto, agreed. “Presentations are important,” Adrian Dure told attendees. “But far more important for this program is the fact that you are here. »

GAiN Europe 2022 leaders spoke about the history of the network and what it now offers communications managers. The program included discussions on GAiN Europe’s vision and featured focused presentations by experts, as well as workshops and case studies. Above all, however, as EUD Communications Director Paulo Macedo pointed out on the opening night, GAiN Europe is a spiritual program. “The most important thing is that we seek the presence of the Lord,” he said.

Sharing the faith in a post-Christian context

The keynote speaker during the opening program was Jonathan Contero, associate director of the Adventist Church’s Global Mission Center for Secular and Post-Christian Mission. Jonathan Contero, who a few years ago founded an Adventist congregation in Madrid, Spain, with the goal of reaching out to secular and post-Christian people, discussed ways to reach this growing segment of the population. .

Jonathan Contero explained that secular and post-Christian people are so hard to reach that we might abandon them. And the obstacles are real, he said. “You can’t tell them about prophecy or the Sabbath because they don’t even believe in God or the Bible. They would tell you, ‘I don’t care.’ »

Adapt to meet people where they are

He explained that even though we use the same symbols as secular and post-Christian people, we attribute different meanings to them, which makes our communication unintelligible. “Sometimes we talk too much to Adventists, to ourselves. But we have to adapt to the people we want to reach,” said Jonathan Contero.

Adaptation is exactly what Adventist Church co-founder Ellen G. White recommended, Jonathan Contero said. In her book Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, she writes: “The people of every country have their peculiar and distinct characteristics, and men must exercise wisdom in order to know how to adapt themselves to the particular ideas of the people and thus present the truth in such a way that it may benefit them. They must be able to understand their needs and respond to them. (p. 213).

Above all, Jonathan Contero said, it is about following the example of Jesus, who brought mankind “in touch with the transforming power of truth by meeting them where they [étaient],” he read again in Ellen White’s book (Evangelizing, p. 133).

Serve and speak their language

Citing the missionary example of the apostle Paul, Jonathan Contero explained that one of the ways to come into contact with secular people is to serve them. “How many times have you become servants of non-Christians? he asked.

Getting in touch also involves speaking in a language they can understand, Jonathan Contero said. He explained how in Acts 2, the apostle Peter gave a powerful speech by establishing a relationship and common ground with his listeners. Only then was Pierre able to discuss the topic he had wanted to present all along.

Pierre’s example is also a call for us, said Jonathan Contero. Everyone should ask themselves, “How many times [est-ce que] I preach, think or speak with non-Christians in mind? »

Overall, Jonathan Contero acknowledged, reaching out to secular, non-Christian people is a difficult undertaking. “Sometimes it may feel like it’s not bearing fruit, but we are called to do so. God called you to be the Bible for non-Christians,” he said. “With your approach, with your words and with your behavior, you become the first Bible they will read. »

Translation: Patrick Luciathe

Subscribe to the BIA by Telegram.

Subscribe to the BIA by email. It’s free !

Scan the QR code or follow this link then enter your email address. Then confirm the subscription by e-mail.