April 3, 2021 | St. John’s, Antigua | SLC Staff
After months of preparation, the GNCARU Good News Impact virtual evangelistic campaign, with Evangelist Claudius Morgan, has come to an end. The Caribbean Union of Seventh-day Adventists (CARU), consisting of 10 fields, collaborated to make this effort a tremendous success. The South Leeward Conference, one of the 10 fields, participated, and from all accounts a significant impact was felt. The campaign ran from February 26 to March 27.
The South Leeward Conference (SLC) devised intentional strategies to position individuals before and during the Good News Impact to make decisions for Jesus. These activities included a Bible work strategy, switchboard operations, video promotional ads, SLCMedia behind-the-scenes activities, crusade watch parties, platform chats and the Victory Prayer Hour nightly program.
Before the campaign commenced, the SLC launched, the "What the Bible Says" Bible lessons for adults, and " the "Children's Good News Impact" Bible lessons. These lessons, conducted weekly, prepared persons for baptism. Additionally, during the campaign, pastors and full-time Bible workers worked assiduously to prepare children from the Seventh-day Adventist Schools. Bible workers also worked with contacts from the Second Advent Radio station, missing members, former members and visitors for baptism.
A critical, behind-the-scenes component of the SLC evangelistic approach was the switchboard team. This team’s function was that of a hotline, connecting the felt needs of individuals to the relevant personnel. The switchboard featured contact numbers from each territory in the SLC, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis, and Montserrat. The switchboard activities were extended beyond SLC. By utilizing WhatsApp numbers, the reach was expanded. Some nights recorded individuals connecting from Dominica, Guyana, Trinidad, the UK and the USA. When contacts outside of the SLC territory were received, the Personal Ministries director, Pastor Kay White, directed these precious souls to the nearest field. Truly networking at its finest for the Kingdom!
The local churches had a number of approaches toward ensuring maximum benefit from the evangelistic series. Observing COVID-19 restrictions, some churches utilized Facebook watch parties, some utilized the Zoom platform, others sent links nightly through various social media formats, while a few capitalized on lighter restrictions by having the series viewed at local church sites. Whatever the approach, it is evident that the churches were adopting methods that were best for soul winning.
Some major highlights for the SLC approach included the daily advertisements, virtual war room, and the Victory Prayer Hour. Pastors encouraged their congregations to flood the social media platforms with the ads. These ads, at times, featured high-profile personnel, including a former West Indies cricketer, a disaster relief coordinator, an attorney at law, a medical doctor, the president of a netball association, and the like. Reports across the Conference revealed that church and community members were filled with anticipation over who would be next to make an appearance. Additionally, there was a virtual prayer room, which persons could access at midday, 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. to meet their needs outside of the 6 p.m. Victory Prayer Hour time period. The Victory Prayer Hour featured live interaction, power-packed testimonies, soul-stirring prayers, and children’s Bible trivia. This was an excellent prelude to the nightly online evangelistic meetings.
Long in advance of the start of the Good News Impact evangelistic series, the South Leeward Conference media team (SLCMedia) was ready for the task of spreading the gospel. Through the use of the radio (Second Advent Radio, 101.5 FM) and video platforms (SLC Adventist YouTube Channel and Facebook page), many persons were able to participate nightly in the GNCARU programs. SLCMedia’s contribution over the four weeks, saw an 11 percent increase of subscribers to the YouTube channel. The SLCMedia looks forward to providing many more excellent programs to the church and community.
The South Leeward Conference climaxed its weeks of participation in the Good News Impact campaign with 129 souls "added to the church. “The Lord added daily such as should be saved." Acts 2:47. To God be the glory.