ADVENTIST REVIEW ONLINE

F E A T U R E

BY KANDUS THORP

aptisms, baptisms,” exclaims Edson Rosa, Central Brazil Union (CBU) personal ministries director and coordinator for “Esperanca 2000.” This huge CBU satellite initiative is a great step of faith and an amazing drama of cooperation between South American Division, CBU, local conferences, and laity.

Featuring the combined preaching energies of Canadian It is Written speaker Henry Feyerabend and Joel Sarli from the General Conference Ministerial Association, this six-week intensive series is projected to have a nightly viewing audience of more than 325,000. The series goal of 30,000 baptisms is what Rosa is so excited about.

An Ocean Away
On the other side of the globe the explosion of satellite evangelism ignites the South Pacific Division with the dynamic preaching of Geoff Youlden in the “Jesus 2000” series. Translated into eight languages and broadcast across Pacific Rim countries, transmitted via satellite to Europe and the British Union, the “Jesus 2000” is transmitted to nearly 400 downlink locations. With thousands gathering nightly in various outdoor locations in Papua New Guinea, including a satellite downlink in Goroka National Park, the South Pacific uplinked its first satellite series with its own brand new uplink equipment.

Back in South America, from the Stadium San Marcos, Alejandro Bullon and his It Is Written team launched another satellite venture from Lima, Peru, May 20-27. This satellite campaign, “IMPACTO 2000,” was history-making for the Adventist Church: the host location is from a giant stadium seating 70,000!

This IMPACTO 2000 event for the Spanish speaking areas of South and Inter-America was the culmination of months of preparation by hundreds of local churches and Home Bible Circles. More than 27,000 persons were baptized in Peru in one week.

Brazilian Breakthrough
In every corner of the globe Adventist evangelists are multiplying their effectiveness through satellite outreach. In São Paulo, Brazil, Erlo Braun says, “The greatest miracle for me is to see the way God blessed the rapid installation of churches [in the Central Brazil Union] with the downlink equipment. To go from 150 churches less than nine months ago to a little more than 2,200 churches now using this satellite technology is completely a miracle!”

Braun, a pastor of the host church for Esperanca 2000, had the vision for a combined citywide evangelistic effort more than two years ago. But even he never dreamed how rapidly and far this project would go.

Parked outside the church is the satellite uplink truck picking up the live production. It beams the signal to the sky, with the Media Centre in Nova Friburgo turning the signal to another satellite so that ultimately an estimated 350,000 viewers can participate in this thrilling program.

The strong interest of the executive leadership of the CBU was evident in the budgeting, promotion and complete ownership of this event. Union president Tercio Sarli is convinced that the use of modern technology significantly leverages the union resources. He is thrilled with the powerful impact this series is making. With more than 2,200 downlink sites, CBU now breaks the world record for the most downlinks in a single union. The record had been held for four years by the Romanian Union with

more than 700 sites. The South American Division now has more downlinks than any other division in the Adventist Global Communication Network.

Williams Costa, Jr., director of the division media center, is also very excited about rapid developments in satellite ministry. He projects that the 3,500 downlink facilities in SAD will grow to nearly 10,000 in the next couple years. The development of the media ministry has been an exciting story over the past five years since the purchase of the current center. Pro-viding fresh programming in Spanish and Portuguese and delivering that programming to best suit the four time zones that cover the nearly 6,000 churches and 1.6 million members of this division is proving a great challenge.

But Costa is optimistic that 24-hour Adventist television and coordinated satellite evangelistic efforts will become more and more effective. Because the satellite coverage of Adventist Satellite Services of South America (ADSAT) can be viewed in North America’s central states, the potential for use of ADSAT by the North American Division and Inter-American Division has great possibilities for our Spanish-speaking members.

Jorge Florencio, uplink technician for ADSAT, shares the enthusiasm because the programming is being carried on numerous local cable networks throughout Brazil and Argen-tina. In fact, in Brazil one dedicated lay member turns the programming from the satellite to a local VHF converter allowing nearly 10,000 homes in several towns to see Adventist TV. He shared how he recently received a call from someone in a small town asking for the name of a pastor and the location of the nearest Adventist church so they could join the church—all from viewing ADSAT programming on local TV.

Pastor Bullon’s Holy Week satellite series was a highlight for the division. With 3,500 sites tuning in for either the Portuguese or Spanish presentation, Bullon presented powerful sermons for Christ. The media center was flooded with hundreds of faxes and e-mail from the estimated 350,000 viewers.

My husband and I were thrilled to witness a baptism April 22 in the central Nova Friburgo church at the end of this Holy Week broadcast. At the conclusion of the baptism, the speaker made a beautiful invitation, and 17 people came forward. After the appeal, at the invitation of the pastor, Adventist members came forward and stood beside each potential candidate, committing themselves to be spiritual mentors and teachers to prepare and nurture these new believers as they joined God’s family.

Some of those baptized had been watching the Holy Week broadcast each evening outdoors in the town square. Adventist young people set up a big screen, large video projector, PA system, and antenna dish right in the heart of the city! What a great idea for outreach when your own church is already full.

For Henry Feyerabend it’s a dream come true to come back to Brazil and preach to such a large audience. Feyerabend worked for decades in Brazil, actively involved in evangelism and the establishment of media ministries. He and Pastor Sarli, an associate General Conference ministerial director, were joined on stage with the other two original members of the first Voice Of Prophecy Brazilian quartet from 35 years ago.

The impact of the Esperanza 2000 event in Brazil is being felt beyond the continent of South America. José Carlos DaCosta, evangelist for the Portuguese Union, was also in São Paulo for the start of Esperanca 2000. The 100 churches of the Portuguese Union prepared their churches for sharing via satellite in the Feyerabend/Sarli series. They also are looking forward to hosting their own satellite series next year.

Brad Thorp, director of Adventist Global Communication Network, sums up the explosive growth in Adventist satellite evangelism: “No longer can the Adventist Church think regionally or geographically. We must move beyond to think culture and language when planning our evangelism initiatives. With the satellite technology now available to us, we need to unite together, boldly planning and cooperating with each region to finish our mission.”

Nearly 10,000 churches worldwide participate in the AGCN network, and nearly 200,000 people have been baptized in the past two years through the ministry of satellite evangelism. AGCN currently reaches 20 percent of Adventist members. From the 12 members of Karratha, northwestern Australia, to the outdoor downlink in Dwambo in the extremely remote mountainous regions of Tanzania, where the villagers hike hours to view a satellite program, to the Romanian villages, where the satellite antennas are the “steeples” on the Adventist churches, AGCN broadcasts have brought a new sense of identity and unity to the church’s diverse membership worldwide.
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Kandus Thorp is an administrative assistant for the Adventist Global Communication Network.