Stay tuned to learn
about the fastest growing
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mission field in
the world and discover
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how you can become
an agent of change.
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My name is Jason Bradley,
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and you're
watching Urban Report.
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Hello, and
welcome to Urban Report.
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My guest today is Felicia
Lee, Special Projects Manager
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for the Center
for Online Evangelism.
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Welcome to
Urban Report, Felecia.
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Thank you so much, Jason.
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I appreciate it.
Excited to be here.
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You're very welcome.
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You know, lots changed
since you were last here.
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Specifically, your name.
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Absolutely.
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With all the changes
happening in the world.
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I'm glad that God is
gracious and adds blessings.
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And I've been
experiencing the blessing.
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So, yeah, I'm excited to
be working with my husband
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and Digital Evangelism.
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So hence the name change.
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I love it. I love it.
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Tell us a little bit about,
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you know, what Center
for Online Evangelism?
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We'll call it COE for
short, what COE is all about?
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And then, what
have you guys been doing
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in the midst of the pandemic?
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Yeah, so the Center
for Online Evangelism
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was founded in about 2012.
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By Ed Wagner, he saw this need
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for our presence as
Seventh-day Adventists
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to be stronger online,
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simply because almost
half of the world's population
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has access to the Internet.
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And when they hear something new
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or they hear the
name Jesus Christ
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or Adventists, one
of the first things
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that they do is to Google us,
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they want to find
out more about us.
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And so Ed
Wagner assembled a team
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and has been working feverishly
over the past few years
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to help churches and conferences
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and ministries build a
stronger presence online.
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So that when people
are searching for answers
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when they are
searching for Bible truth,
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that they would
come across content
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that will really
point them to Christ
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and give them an
accurate description about
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who we are as a people of faith
who we are as a denomination.
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And so that has
been our main work
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but ever since the pandemic,
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the responsibilities
have gone through the roof
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in helping churches.
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So one of the main
things we've been doing
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is conducting
training with churches,
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helping them to
transition online workshops
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with conferences,
training church members,
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now that we are online,
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what you can do to
continue to spread the gospel.
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So even though COVID has
hit, the gospel does not stop,
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even though we're not
physically worshiping together,
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we can still do a lot online,
on our social media pages,
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through our websites
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to reach more people for Christ.
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So that has been
one of the main things
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that we've been doing
and we're going to unravel
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a little bit more as we
go on through the program.
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So that is The
Center for Online Evangelism
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in a nutshell.
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We have an amazing
team behind us doing SEO,
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search engine optimization
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because that is a
part of Digital Evangelism.
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A lot of writers,
creating content online,
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and a lot of
persons have been influenced
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and impacted by the work
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that Seventh-day Adventists
are doing in the digital space.
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Amen.
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You know, I like that you said
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an accurate
representation of Christianity.
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So prior to all of that
there was a misrepresentation
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on gathering when
people search for, like,
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what is a
Christian or Christianity,
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or whatever the case may be.
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But now with that
search engine optimization,
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it lists accurate information
towards the beginning.
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Precisely,
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you know, the online
field is just like a garden.
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And when, if we lose focus,
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and we're not tending
that garden, weeds come up,
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and
unfortunately, over the years,
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some weeds have been coming up.
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But God is gracious and
good and that He's been blessing
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our church and our
ministry with skills to help
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get rid of those weeds
and plant flowers instead,
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so people can enjoy
that accurate description
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about who we are.
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We've conducted
studies and we found that
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almost 60% of people
stopped attending a church,
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Seventh-day Adventist Church
because they search us online
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and that
information isn't accurate
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or a lot of people
are searching for truth
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and our websites
aren't coming up.
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But a difference
has been in the works.
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The results might
be a little bit slow,
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but we have been
seeing a difference.
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Amen.
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So what have you noticed
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as a result of the
work that COE does?
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You know, one example
that really comes to mind
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I think it was
about last week Wednesday,
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we got an email
from one of our websites
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that seeks to answer
questions that people have about
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Seventh-day
Adventist and the Bible.
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And there was this gentleman
who said that he was agnostic,
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but he was searching.
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He wanted to
know more about God.
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And he had these
questions about how,
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some of the doctrines
that we teach according
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to how the Bible, teaches it.
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And so that is just one example
amongst the many out there
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of persons who are
searching for truth,
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they come across
one of the websites,
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this one, specifically
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by the Center for
Online Evangelism,
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even though we're
still working on it.
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And here is this person
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who is now coming to know truth,
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studying more about the Bible.
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And he's come across
that this information
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because he's searching
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and we have the
answers available online.
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So that's one
example that I can give.
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Other than that, with a training
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that we've been
conducting with church members,
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I would receive
messages of persons who say,
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"I started a YouTube channel
ministry or I started a blog,
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or I started a podcast"
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because they attended training
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by the Center for
Online Evangelism.
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We were working with
the General Conference
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to help increase
the number of people
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who are visiting adventist.org,
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which is the official website
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for the
Seventh-day Adventist church.
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And we can begin to see
the results slowly but surely.
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So hearing the testimonies
of people coming across truth,
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seeing church
members active online,
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are just a few examples
of the results that will be.
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Oh, that is incredible.
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You recently rolled
out an amazing new resource
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to help people
do online ministry.
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Tell us a little bit about that.
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Yeah, so we recognize that,
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you know, we're a
small but powerful team.
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Unfortunately, we
cannot answer all of the calls
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that we're getting to
visit conferences and churches.
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So what we decided to do
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is to put together an
online missionary course
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so for persons who do
want to start something,
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whether they are 15, 25, or 75.
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And they recognize,
"Hey, I'm at home anyway,
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and I can't meet
physically with people,
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but I can get on my computer,
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I can pull up my
phone I can record a video,
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or I can write a blog, or
I could record a podcast."
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So what we've done is to create
an online missionary program
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that has four courses.
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And these courses cover
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how to start
podcast for ministry,
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how to start a blog,
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how to start an
online small group,
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everyone's
meeting on zoom anyway,
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and how to start
a YouTube ministry.
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Each of these courses
has about four videos,
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about 12 to 20
minutes in length.
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Each of those sessions
then give you activities to do
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to help you build that platform,
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we give you assignments,
we give you reading,
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to help you understand
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a little bit more
about Digital Evangelism.
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And so as you work
through each session,
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you will find that
your platform is growing
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and eventually that you
can have a YouTube Channel
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that's ready for ministry.
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Nice.
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So that's what I've been doing.
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Wow, it sounds like
you've been extremely busy.
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The great thing about this too
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is its giving
people a productive outlet,
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especially during
this time of isolation.
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You know, people
are constantly searching
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for communication,
different ways to communicate.
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And I think that
this what you're doing
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is providing people
with a positive outlet.
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Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
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And of course, if they
want to find more information,
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they can visit the website
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learn.centerfor-
onlineevangelism.org.
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But that's just one
part of the project.
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We have an entire SEO team.
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They're working
on these websites,
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we have writers
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who are constantly
pumping out articles,
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again, answering
questions that people have.
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And so it's a wide variety
of things that we're doing.
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But what we hope is
that the Holy Spirit
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will continue to work
through these resources
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on our website itself.
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We have resources that persons
can download for totally free,
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we have a guide.
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If you want to be
an online missionary,
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what you can do if you are
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the communications
director of our church,
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and you want to
improve your website,
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we have resources that
you can immediately access
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and start putting
that into practice
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to improve your online presence.
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Wow, that's beautiful.
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How did you get
involved in all of this?
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Oh, that's a good question.
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Again, as I stated,
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it was really Ed
Wagner and his team
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along with Dave Sharpe,
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who were really
setting the foundation
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and about three years ago
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because I hadn't even
heard of Digital Evangelism.
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I was using social
media and using that to,
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you know, tell persons about
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you know, the gospel of
sharing personal testimony,
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but it was a meeting, Ed Wagner,
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the founder for
Center for Online Evangelism,
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and he told me
about it, and I said,
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"Well, this is brilliant.
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If we assume that Adventists
are given this mandate
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to spread the
three angels' message
00:10:10.51\00:10:12.57
to the ends of the world,
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what better way to
do that than online."
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And so after
connecting with him,
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that's how I got
connected with COE.
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And then we started
expanding the digital missionary
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side of the program.
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So I, of course, giving
credit to God, but definitely,
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Ed Wagner and Dave
Sharpe was how I got involved
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in Digital Evangelism.
00:10:32.33\00:10:33.66
Amen, Amen.
00:10:33.70\00:10:35.20
What does a typical
day for you look like?
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Or is there even a typical day?
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There are typical days
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but sometimes it's
not typical at all.
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What I can do is
give you a snapshot
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of my typical day and
probably for some of the others,
00:10:47.98\00:10:51.28
but for me, specifically,
00:10:51.31\00:10:53.18
sometimes answering questions
that persons might have
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as to how can I
start an online ministry?
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So I know just last night,
00:10:59.55\00:11:01.66
someone reached out on
Facebook to my personal page
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and then, of
course, through Center
00:11:04.79\00:11:06.23
for Online
Evangelism's Facebook page,
00:11:06.26\00:11:08.43
that main question,
00:11:08.46\00:11:09.80
"What can I do
online to spread the gospel?
00:11:09.83\00:11:12.93
How can I reach more people?"
00:11:12.97\00:11:14.44
So it's answering
questions like that,
00:11:14.47\00:11:16.37
and then writing newsletters
00:11:16.40\00:11:18.57
to send out to
some of our supporters
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to let them know
what we're doing,
00:11:20.38\00:11:22.41
and then giving them ideas
00:11:22.44\00:11:23.98
of how they can get
involved in online evangelism.
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And then the course,
00:11:27.42\00:11:28.75
the online course
was the main thing
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that had my focus
over the past few months
00:11:30.72\00:11:33.72
and then creating
resources for persons to access.
00:11:33.76\00:11:36.69
So that's for me but
for some of our writers,
00:11:36.73\00:11:39.06
it is doing
research, keyword research
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to find out what
are people plugging
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into Google to learn
about Christ or the Bible,
00:11:44.33\00:11:47.30
or Seventh-day Adventists.
00:11:47.34\00:11:48.77
So they are busy with
that and then writing articles
00:11:48.80\00:11:52.11
to answer those questions.
00:11:52.14\00:11:53.48
And then we have
our marketing team,
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which is the team
that my husband works on,
00:11:55.38\00:11:57.98
where it's a lot
of website design,
00:11:58.01\00:12:02.62
again, to answer questions
00:12:02.65\00:12:04.02
that people have about
the Bible and about Christ.
00:12:04.05\00:12:06.45
So although we
might have a typical day,
00:12:06.49\00:12:08.42
it sort of varies
on a day to day basis
00:12:08.46\00:12:10.49
because the world of technology
is continuously expanding.
00:12:10.53\00:12:14.26
Yes, why don't you
provide us with a few tips
00:12:14.30\00:12:17.77
like an answer to some of
the questions that you get,
00:12:17.80\00:12:20.84
just give us
like a brief rundown
00:12:20.87\00:12:23.24
of what someone
can do to start online?
00:12:23.27\00:12:25.67
Sure. Sure.
00:12:25.71\00:12:28.24
So it's usually
sometimes young adults,
00:12:28.28\00:12:31.58
who are asking the question,
you know, what can I do?
00:12:31.61\00:12:34.92
So one thing that I
would say is you use YouTube
00:12:34.95\00:12:37.95
anyway, right?
00:12:37.99\00:12:39.32
And it is totally free
to start a YouTube channel.
00:12:39.35\00:12:42.22
First of all, think
about your target audience.
00:12:42.26\00:12:44.99
This is the part that we
usually walk people through
00:12:45.03\00:12:47.70
because we can't talk
00:12:47.73\00:12:49.26
to every single
person on the planet,
00:12:49.30\00:12:51.30
we're separated
by language barriers
00:12:51.33\00:12:53.27
or by various
religious backgrounds.
00:12:53.30\00:12:56.50
So think about, maybe
it's you want to reach out
00:12:56.54\00:12:59.07
to other young
adults or your age
00:12:59.11\00:13:02.21
or specifically men
or specifically women,
00:13:02.24\00:13:04.55
do you want to reach Christians,
00:13:04.58\00:13:06.11
agnostics, Hindus, Buddhists,
00:13:06.15\00:13:08.42
think about
your target audience.
00:13:08.45\00:13:10.49
When you think about
your target audience,
00:13:10.52\00:13:12.25
consider what
are their interests,
00:13:12.29\00:13:14.26
their fears, their values,
what questions do they have.
00:13:14.29\00:13:18.23
And that sort of
data will help you to know
00:13:18.26\00:13:21.00
what kind of
content then you can create.
00:13:21.03\00:13:23.67
And then if you
are familiar on camera,
00:13:23.70\00:13:25.67
and you have, let's
say, a webcam, or a phone,
00:13:25.70\00:13:28.54
and you have good
lighting in front of a camera,
00:13:28.57\00:13:31.27
maybe you want to
start a YouTube channel
00:13:31.31\00:13:33.17
because you feel comfortable
in front of the camera.
00:13:33.21\00:13:35.34
So begin creating
content, and of course,
00:13:35.38\00:13:37.91
I'm saying all of this,
00:13:37.95\00:13:39.28
starting with the
basis of you are in prayer
00:13:39.31\00:13:41.32
and asking the
Holy Spirit for help
00:13:41.35\00:13:43.25
you then begin
creating video content
00:13:43.28\00:13:46.35
to reach your target
audience with that information.
00:13:46.39\00:13:49.82
Perhaps you
feel more comfortable
00:13:49.86\00:13:51.76
with writing because you
have the gift of writing.
00:13:51.79\00:13:54.46
Again, you're thinking about
00:13:54.50\00:13:56.16
what kind of
people do I want to reach?
00:13:56.20\00:13:57.83
What questions do
they have about the Bible,
00:13:57.87\00:14:00.24
conducting that
research, keyword research,
00:14:00.27\00:14:02.84
for example, to see
what they're plugging in,
00:14:02.87\00:14:04.97
and then creating
content based on that?
00:14:05.01\00:14:07.08
So one, recognizing
your target audience,
00:14:07.11\00:14:09.51
two, recognizing which
platform they are present on
00:14:09.54\00:14:13.08
and which platform you
feel more comfortable in,
00:14:13.11\00:14:15.98
and then we always point
them to additional resources
00:14:16.02\00:14:18.75
that would help them
00:14:18.79\00:14:20.12
so like the sdadata.org at
the North American Division,
00:14:20.16\00:14:24.99
they have a YouTube
manual that you could follow
00:14:25.03\00:14:28.30
and then, of
course, on our website,
00:14:28.33\00:14:30.03
you can download those resources
00:14:30.07\00:14:31.53
to help you to
build your channel.
00:14:31.57\00:14:33.17
So those are just a few things
that we begin to direct people
00:14:33.20\00:14:36.57
to help them build
their online ministry.
00:14:36.60\00:14:38.67
Nice. Nice give us that website.
00:14:38.71\00:14:40.61
One more time SDA...
00:14:40.64\00:14:42.98
SDAdata.org.
00:14:43.01\00:14:46.11
Okay, Wow!
00:14:46.15\00:14:47.78
You know what's
interesting is like,
00:14:47.82\00:14:49.55
I see Christ method in this so,
00:14:49.58\00:14:53.15
you know, you're
getting to know your audience
00:14:53.19\00:14:55.62
and who it is
that you want to reach,
00:14:55.66\00:14:57.63
what are they looking
for, what do they need.
00:14:57.66\00:15:00.10
Then you're figuring out
how you can meet those needs
00:15:00.13\00:15:02.53
by delivering the content
00:15:02.56\00:15:04.30
that's going to add
value to their lives
00:15:04.33\00:15:07.17
and hopefully eternal
value to their lives as well.
00:15:07.20\00:15:10.91
I mean, that's incredible.
00:15:10.94\00:15:12.87
What's the next
phase of your work?
00:15:12.91\00:15:16.38
Yeah, and this is something
that we are excited about
00:15:16.41\00:15:19.68
as a team, once again,
00:15:19.71\00:15:21.08
Ed Weiner has been
just a phenomenal leader
00:15:21.12\00:15:24.89
in helping us
to expand our work.
00:15:24.92\00:15:27.59
We don't just
want to focus here,
00:15:27.62\00:15:29.69
you know, in the US or
in the developing world,
00:15:29.72\00:15:32.99
we're shifting our focus,
and what he's decided to do
00:15:33.03\00:15:36.93
is to look at
vulnerable populations
00:15:36.97\00:15:39.30
in developing world,
00:15:39.33\00:15:41.17
specifically
Seventh-day Adventist refugees,
00:15:41.20\00:15:44.11
Congolese refugees
00:15:44.14\00:15:45.47
who are living in
refugee camps in Rwanda.
00:15:45.51\00:15:48.64
And he had this question,
00:15:48.68\00:15:50.01
what is it that we can do
00:15:50.05\00:15:51.61
to provide them with
working opportunities,
00:15:51.65\00:15:54.72
and we find out that
there are more than 60, 000
00:15:54.75\00:15:57.85
Seventh-day Adventists
00:15:57.89\00:15:59.35
who are currently in
refugee camps in Rwanda.
00:15:59.39\00:16:02.12
Wow.
00:16:02.16\00:16:03.49
They cannot leave
these refugee camps
00:16:03.53\00:16:05.86
if they don't have a job.
00:16:05.89\00:16:07.56
And for many of them
with a lack of education
00:16:07.60\00:16:10.43
and no job opportunities,
00:16:10.47\00:16:11.87
that means that it's almost like
00:16:11.90\00:16:13.57
they're wasting their life.
00:16:13.60\00:16:14.94
And so Ed Wagner
partnered with Impact Hope
00:16:14.97\00:16:18.14
and took students who
were in the refugee camps,
00:16:18.17\00:16:22.04
put them through school,
00:16:22.08\00:16:23.55
and then are putting
them through university
00:16:23.58\00:16:25.61
to help them to build
their English language skills,
00:16:25.65\00:16:28.22
to learn the local language.
00:16:28.25\00:16:29.68
And then more specifically,
00:16:29.72\00:16:31.55
teaching them
digital marketing skills.
00:16:31.59\00:16:34.06
This then will allow
them to find jobs online.
00:16:34.09\00:16:37.96
And once they
can find jobs online,
00:16:37.99\00:16:39.96
they can also be
digital missionaries.
00:16:40.00\00:16:43.20
That will help them
to improve their lives.
00:16:43.23\00:16:45.07
And then they can
also bring their families
00:16:45.10\00:16:47.24
outside of the camp.
00:16:47.27\00:16:48.60
So digital evangelism is
not simply going on YouTube
00:16:48.64\00:16:51.74
and creating great
videos, while that is great,
00:16:51.77\00:16:54.31
or improving
your church's website
00:16:54.34\00:16:57.08
or your social media presence,
00:16:57.11\00:16:58.85
it's also extending your hand
00:16:58.88\00:17:00.98
to those who are
less fortunate situations,
00:17:01.02\00:17:04.89
teaching them those skills,
00:17:04.92\00:17:06.96
and then helping them
00:17:06.99\00:17:08.72
to be online to
spread the gospel
00:17:08.76\00:17:10.96
and also to create
work opportunities.
00:17:10.99\00:17:13.33
And so it's our wonder
project, and currently,
00:17:13.36\00:17:15.66
we have 14 students
enrolled in that project.
00:17:15.70\00:17:19.10
And they're going
through university,
00:17:19.13\00:17:21.24
and then we're
going to teach them
00:17:21.27\00:17:22.70
digital marketing skills.
00:17:22.74\00:17:24.07
And so that's why we
need all hands on deck
00:17:24.11\00:17:26.64
with this phase of the project.
00:17:26.68\00:17:28.01
Absolutely.
00:17:28.04\00:17:29.38
And so you're currently
looking for volunteers correct?
00:17:29.41\00:17:32.45
Yes.
00:17:32.48\00:17:33.82
We need volunteers right
now specifically to engage
00:17:33.85\00:17:37.32
with them in English,
just for an hour a week.
00:17:37.35\00:17:41.12
You get on Zoon with
one of these students,
00:17:41.16\00:17:43.26
and you talk to them,
00:17:43.29\00:17:44.63
you tell them about
your life here in the US
00:17:44.66\00:17:47.13
if you are living in the
US, your day to day life,
00:17:47.16\00:17:50.97
you're asking them question
and giving them the opportunity
00:17:51.00\00:17:53.77
to practice their English,
00:17:53.80\00:17:56.27
maybe reading the Bible together
00:17:56.30\00:17:58.21
or reading a passage of steps
to Christ together to help them
00:17:58.24\00:18:02.24
to build their
English language skills.
00:18:02.28\00:18:04.35
So that's primarily
the kind of volunteers
00:18:04.38\00:18:07.25
that we are looking
for in this program.
00:18:07.28\00:18:09.52
Then later on, I'll just share
00:18:09.55\00:18:10.92
a few stories about
some of these students.
00:18:10.95\00:18:12.72
But, yes, we do need volunteers
00:18:12.75\00:18:14.49
and supporters for this program.
00:18:14.52\00:18:15.86
That sounds great.
00:18:15.89\00:18:17.23
And how do they
sign up for that?
00:18:17.26\00:18:18.59
How do they become a volunteer?
00:18:18.63\00:18:19.96
How do they become a supporter?
00:18:20.00\00:18:22.03
Yeah, right now,
00:18:22.06\00:18:23.40
as they're
watching this program,
00:18:23.43\00:18:24.93
they can
actually send us an email
00:18:24.97\00:18:26.67
at info@centerfo-
ronlineevangelism. org.
00:18:26.70\00:18:32.01
And all they have to say
is I want to be a volunteer
00:18:32.04\00:18:36.04
and type in Rwanda
project immediately,
00:18:36.08\00:18:39.01
we're going to connect you
to our student coordinator.
00:18:39.05\00:18:42.75
He's currently in Kenya,
00:18:42.78\00:18:44.12
but he coordinates
with the students in Rwanda.
00:18:44.15\00:18:46.76
And he will connect
you to one of the students
00:18:46.79\00:18:48.99
and just like that, you
get connected with them.
00:18:49.02\00:18:51.56
And then you get hop on
zoom or maybe a WhatsApp call
00:18:51.59\00:18:54.66
whatever is most convenient,
00:18:54.70\00:18:56.23
and you can begin
just talking with them
00:18:56.26\00:18:58.63
going through the
Sabbath School lesson,
00:18:58.67\00:19:00.20
just engaging.
00:19:00.24\00:19:01.74
It's as easy and simple as that.
00:19:01.77\00:19:03.51
Wow.
00:19:03.54\00:19:04.87
I see why the digital field
is the biggest mission field.
00:19:04.91\00:19:09.01
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
00:19:09.04\00:19:10.65
Yeah, that's huge.
00:19:10.68\00:19:12.11
So okay, so you need volunteers.
00:19:12.15\00:19:15.12
What else does
your organization need?
00:19:15.15\00:19:18.85
Yeah, for sure
we need supporters.
00:19:18.89\00:19:21.09
So for example, writers,
00:19:21.12\00:19:22.59
we're always looking
for writers to help us
00:19:22.62\00:19:24.69
answer these questions
00:19:24.73\00:19:26.29
that people have online,
00:19:26.33\00:19:28.40
and sometimes
sharing your testimonial
00:19:28.43\00:19:30.73
where the Lord has done for you
putting that in writing form.
00:19:30.77\00:19:34.27
That's something that can help.
00:19:34.30\00:19:35.64
If you don't mind, Jason,
00:19:35.67\00:19:37.01
I just want to go back
to the Rwanda project...
00:19:37.04\00:19:38.37
Absolutely.
00:19:38.41\00:19:39.84
Just for a little bit
00:19:39.87\00:19:41.21
and tell you why
this project is so dear
00:19:41.24\00:19:44.15
to the Center for
Online Evangelism families.
00:19:44.18\00:19:47.98
In particular, this one
student his name is Rafeeque.
00:19:48.02\00:19:51.59
He had lost his father.
00:19:51.62\00:19:52.95
He has his mom
and three siblings,
00:19:52.99\00:19:55.49
he had lost his father
and because of civil unrest
00:19:55.52\00:19:58.96
in the Congo,
00:19:58.99\00:20:01.30
they had to flee their
home and had to walk for miles
00:20:01.33\00:20:05.10
in order to get to a bus
00:20:05.13\00:20:06.53
that would take them to
the border to Rwanda border
00:20:06.57\00:20:09.60
in order for
them to be refugees.
00:20:09.64\00:20:11.74
But he had experienced,
00:20:11.77\00:20:13.11
you know, a gun
being pointed to his head.
00:20:13.14\00:20:15.04
You know, there are
a lot of rebel soldiers
00:20:15.08\00:20:17.35
who get young children,
young boys, teenage boys
00:20:17.38\00:20:20.68
in order to join
their rebel army.
00:20:20.72\00:20:22.82
And he recalls the story of him,
00:20:22.85\00:20:25.45
just walking with a
gun pointed to his head
00:20:25.49\00:20:27.59
and all the
soldiers surrounding him,
00:20:27.62\00:20:29.36
and he thought he was
going to lose his life.
00:20:29.39\00:20:31.89
And in that moment, the
only thing that he could do
00:20:31.93\00:20:34.66
was pray and ask
the Lord to spare him.
00:20:34.70\00:20:38.80
And eventually, they let
him go by the grace of God,
00:20:38.83\00:20:41.87
he was able to be reunited
with his mom and his siblings.
00:20:41.90\00:20:45.51
And that's when they
were able to cross into Rwanda
00:20:45.54\00:20:49.11
and put into refugee camps.
00:20:49.14\00:20:51.71
Now the UN only gives a
certain allowance to them
00:20:51.75\00:20:55.78
every single day for free,
00:20:55.82\00:20:57.35
which is
sometimes less than a dollar
00:20:57.39\00:20:59.75
but the family would
sometimes sacrifice or give him
00:20:59.79\00:21:02.46
that money so he could
be able to go to school.
00:21:02.49\00:21:05.53
So when we as the
Center for Online Evangelism
00:21:05.56\00:21:08.20
come together,
and with the viewers,
00:21:08.23\00:21:10.20
as supporters worth a
referee helping students
00:21:10.23\00:21:13.50
like Rafeeque,
finish his schooling,
00:21:13.54\00:21:16.64
find a job, learn
more about the gospel
00:21:16.67\00:21:19.01
so that he can bring his
family into a better situation.
00:21:19.04\00:21:22.18
And so, again,
that's what it's so exciting
00:21:22.21\00:21:24.68
about digital evangelism.
00:21:24.71\00:21:26.85
Wow, what an incredible story.
00:21:26.88\00:21:29.38
What other stories do you
have that you can share with us?
00:21:29.42\00:21:32.95
Yeah, so
actually, just yesterday,
00:21:32.99\00:21:35.96
I was meeting with a
church, a very small church,
00:21:35.99\00:21:40.23
and they're trying to
grow their online presence.
00:21:40.26\00:21:44.10
And the pastor called and said,
00:21:44.13\00:21:45.80
you know, that he had
watched one of the Center
00:21:45.83\00:21:47.50
for Online
Evangelism's presentation
00:21:47.54\00:21:50.41
and he gathered
together his team,
00:21:50.44\00:21:52.54
and they wanted to
know what they can do
00:21:52.57\00:21:55.38
in order to grow
their presence online.
00:21:55.41\00:21:57.85
So within that time,
what we help the church to do
00:21:57.88\00:22:00.48
was to look at their community.
00:22:00.52\00:22:02.45
And they found that the highest
problems that they were having
00:22:02.48\00:22:05.25
had to do with teenage pregnancy
00:22:05.29\00:22:07.26
or persons who
are leaving prison
00:22:07.29\00:22:09.86
and not knowing how
to integrate themselves
00:22:09.89\00:22:12.23
back into the community.
00:22:12.26\00:22:13.80
So we walk through this
series of how the church can
00:22:13.83\00:22:16.56
actually start
creating content online
00:22:16.60\00:22:19.63
to specifically meet
those individual needs,
00:22:19.67\00:22:24.01
learning how to use
social media advertising,
00:22:24.04\00:22:28.18
to target persons, specifically
within their community.
00:22:28.21\00:22:32.05
And that way, when
these persons are online,
00:22:32.08\00:22:34.88
they see this content,
00:22:34.92\00:22:36.25
they get
connected to that church,
00:22:36.28\00:22:37.85
they can join an
online small group
00:22:37.89\00:22:39.79
that the church has.
00:22:39.82\00:22:41.16
And as they are
building connections,
00:22:41.19\00:22:43.06
building relationships,
that increases trust,
00:22:43.09\00:22:46.16
and then allows
them to be more open
00:22:46.19\00:22:48.30
to a personal
invitation to church,
00:22:48.33\00:22:50.80
let's say this is
post the post COVID world
00:22:50.83\00:22:53.60
when persons are
able to go into church.
00:22:53.64\00:22:55.74
So that's one experience
just to be able to see
00:22:55.77\00:22:58.11
how that church
has now new ideas
00:22:58.14\00:23:00.91
because so many are discouraged
that they cannot meet in person
00:23:00.94\00:23:05.05
and they cannot practice
traditional evangelism means
00:23:05.08\00:23:08.38
and simply
through this training,
00:23:08.42\00:23:10.22
they had so many ideas,
00:23:10.25\00:23:11.95
we can still continue
to function as a church
00:23:11.99\00:23:15.26
with all of these ideas.
00:23:15.29\00:23:17.13
One more story I can think about
00:23:17.16\00:23:19.53
is there was this
church in Florida,
00:23:19.56\00:23:21.83
and they had a
lot of senior members
00:23:21.86\00:23:24.83
over the age of 50.
00:23:24.87\00:23:26.33
And their fear was that,
00:23:26.37\00:23:29.14
they didn't know
anything about technology,
00:23:29.17\00:23:31.44
they didn't know how to
start a YouTube channel,
00:23:31.47\00:23:33.54
or how to start a podcast.
00:23:33.58\00:23:35.54
In just one weekend,
00:23:35.58\00:23:37.28
we were able to take a group
of more than a dozen people
00:23:37.31\00:23:40.55
over the age of 50,
00:23:40.58\00:23:42.72
who some of them did not
even have an email address
00:23:42.75\00:23:45.79
but by the end of that weekend,
00:23:45.82\00:23:47.99
all of them knew how
to have an email address,
00:23:48.02\00:23:51.09
how to sign on to YouTube,
00:23:51.13\00:23:52.69
how to start a Facebook account
00:23:52.73\00:23:54.26
and just be able to
share their personal stories
00:23:54.30\00:23:56.93
or begin to share the gospel.
00:23:56.97\00:23:58.77
And so that is something
00:23:58.80\00:24:00.44
that we really
love to give churches,
00:24:00.47\00:24:03.41
innovative ideas, and
to not limit themselves
00:24:03.44\00:24:06.41
and thereby not limiting
God with what he's able to do
00:24:06.44\00:24:10.15
through these Digital means.
00:24:10.18\00:24:11.51
And we have so much more.
00:24:11.55\00:24:14.32
But yeah, those
are really things
00:24:14.35\00:24:16.58
that inspire me to
do digital evangelism.
00:24:16.62\00:24:18.99
Amen. Amen.
00:24:19.02\00:24:20.69
How has, you know, partaking
in this digital evangelism
00:24:20.72\00:24:24.23
and doing what you do now,
00:24:24.26\00:24:25.96
how has that impacted
your life on a spiritual level?
00:24:25.99\00:24:32.07
You know, when you
get a message from someone
00:24:32.10\00:24:35.60
on the other side of the world,
00:24:35.64\00:24:37.24
specifically, I'm thinking
about a young lady in Germany,
00:24:37.27\00:24:40.34
who messaged me
because she had seen a video
00:24:40.38\00:24:42.91
that I posted on YouTube about
increasing her faith in God.
00:24:42.94\00:24:47.38
When you get a
message from someone like her
00:24:47.42\00:24:49.65
who says that
video truly inspired me
00:24:49.68\00:24:53.15
when you get an
email from a young lady
00:24:53.19\00:24:55.29
who was living in
Tennessee, she was 21,
00:24:55.32\00:24:57.89
and she said, "I
watched a video that you posted,
00:24:57.93\00:25:01.20
and I have been
encouraged in my walk with God.
00:25:01.23\00:25:03.93
And I've started
reading the Bible and praying,
00:25:03.97\00:25:06.77
" those things
really encourage you,
00:25:06.80\00:25:08.67
and then it
points you back to Christ
00:25:08.70\00:25:10.51
because you realize
that you can only give,
00:25:10.54\00:25:12.87
you cannot give
what you don't have.
00:25:12.91\00:25:14.88
And so it pushes me to
spend more time with the Lord,
00:25:14.91\00:25:18.98
it pushes our team.
00:25:19.01\00:25:20.48
So we're always
sending out prayer requests,
00:25:20.52\00:25:22.88
making sure that
00:25:22.92\00:25:24.25
we are spending time before God.
00:25:24.29\00:25:25.62
So the content that we put out
00:25:25.65\00:25:27.19
will always point
people to Jesus Christ.
00:25:27.22\00:25:29.56
And that has
helped me spiritually,
00:25:29.59\00:25:32.09
I think about my husband,
00:25:32.13\00:25:33.46
his own personal story
of coming to know the Lord
00:25:33.50\00:25:36.60
because a friend came
across online content.
00:25:36.63\00:25:39.27
Unfortunately,
there were family members
00:25:39.30\00:25:41.54
who, again, Google
Seventh-day Adventists,
00:25:41.57\00:25:43.77
and some of that
information was not good.
00:25:43.81\00:25:45.87
And they were turned off
from the church but to see
00:25:45.91\00:25:48.68
how he has stuck with it
and continued to pursue truth
00:25:48.71\00:25:53.65
and now fully invested.
00:25:53.68\00:25:56.42
And proclaiming
that truth online,
00:25:56.45\00:25:58.75
all of those
things helps to confirm
00:25:58.79\00:26:01.32
and increase my faith in God
00:26:01.36\00:26:03.93
and what he is
able to do through us
00:26:03.96\00:26:06.03
and through our technology
and through our machines,
00:26:06.06\00:26:08.83
if we will
consecrate them back to Him.
00:26:08.86\00:26:10.97
Amen. Amen.
00:26:11.00\00:26:12.33
So it really
strengthens your faith walk
00:26:12.37\00:26:14.40
and your journey, as
well as that's wonderful.
00:26:14.44\00:26:17.67
What advice would you
have to that young person
00:26:17.71\00:26:21.54
or that older person
that's out there that says,
00:26:21.58\00:26:25.28
"You know, I really want
to do something for the Lord?"
00:26:25.31\00:26:30.59
And where would you
recommend that they start?
00:26:30.62\00:26:34.96
One of the first
things that I say
00:26:34.99\00:26:36.83
is to always start with
what you have, start small,
00:26:36.86\00:26:40.90
take the device that
you have in your hand
00:26:40.93\00:26:43.30
and consecrate
that back to the Lord,
00:26:43.33\00:26:45.90
always look at what
you're holding in your hand,
00:26:45.93\00:26:48.10
God use Moses, and
he only had a stick,
00:26:48.14\00:26:51.57
and he was able to lead
00:26:51.61\00:26:52.94
a nation of slaves into freedom.
00:26:52.97\00:26:55.18
God can use that cell phone
that you're currently holding
00:26:55.21\00:26:57.68
or that laptop that you have,
once you put that back to Him,
00:26:57.71\00:27:01.55
He will be able to use that
00:27:01.58\00:27:02.92
to fill you with the Holy Spirit
00:27:02.95\00:27:04.99
so that you can
reach someone else.
00:27:05.02\00:27:06.79
Start small, don't
limit the Holy Spirit,
00:27:06.82\00:27:09.99
consecrate yourself in prayer.
00:27:10.03\00:27:12.39
Think about the number of
friends that you have online
00:27:12.43\00:27:14.60
who have yet to know Christ,
and then allow the Holy Spirit
00:27:14.63\00:27:18.93
to work through
you to reach them.
00:27:18.97\00:27:22.14
And then, of course, I
would encourage churches
00:27:22.17\00:27:23.97
to not be afraid
of being creative
00:27:24.01\00:27:26.37
and being innovative.
00:27:26.41\00:27:28.14
Visit our website,
they can learn more.
00:27:28.18\00:27:30.15
So that's what I would
say start small, trust God.
00:27:30.18\00:27:32.88
Wow, excellent
advice, excellent advice.
00:27:32.91\00:27:35.78
Thank you so much, Felecia.
00:27:35.82\00:27:37.15
Thank you for
sharing with us today.
00:27:37.19\00:27:39.45
Well, we've reached
the end of another program.
00:27:39.49\00:27:41.82
Tune in next time and remember,
00:27:41.86\00:27:43.49
it just wouldn't be, couldn't be
00:27:43.53\00:27:45.79
the same without you.
00:27:45.83\00:27:47.16