Equipping Health Evangelists Worldwide

Our goal is to educate our students to be able to do effective ministry around the world, and we are pleased to be working together with ASI to equip our students with high quality DVDs to share the message of health and the gospel.  We are told that these two works are inseparable…

“The life of Christ and his ministry to the afflicted are inseparably connected. From the light that has been given me, I know that an intimate relationship should ever exist between the medical missionary work and the gospel ministry. They are bound together in sacred union as one work, and are never to be divorced. The principles of heaven are to be adopted and practised by those who claim to walk in the Saviour’s footsteps. By his example he has shown us that medical missionary work is not to take the place of the preaching of the gospel, but is to be bound up with it. Christ gave a perfect representation of true godliness by combining the work of a physician and a minister, ministering to the needs of both body and soul, healing physical disease, and then speaking words that brought peace to the troubled heart.” The Great Medical Missionary, Review and Herald, June 9, 1904.

New Beginnings Background

The initial idea for this project came from a brainstorming session at ASI in 2000. The members then approached It Is Written Digital Media Group to develop the New Beginnings DVD. A prototype edition was field-tested in the Philippines in 2001, resulting in over 3,000 baptisms from nine simultaneous lay-led evangelistic meetings. In order to offer a relevant tool for use around the world, the New Beginnings DVD started being localized for a variety of languages and cultures. By December 2002, dedicated workers completed over a dozen editions, including English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, and Romanian, with localizations for four different cultures. Currently there are several editions and 27 languages available. (Click here for more information).

Why DVD?

Technology is touching the entire world, and it should be harnessed for God’s cause. A Digital Video Disc is a small, thin disc the size of a CD that stores and plays back thousands of graphical images. An entire 25-sermon series can fit on a single DVD, fully illustrated in vibrant color with the widest array of artwork ever assembled for maximum impact. For the first time, broadcast-quality images can be presented using an inexpensive consumer DVD player. To present a program, all you need is a DVD player and a television or projector. Neither computer nor technical expertise is necessary. Anyone who can operate a remote control can successfully use the New Beginnings DVD!

Production Challenges

Harnessing DVD technology for this purpose has presented numerous technical challenges. No one has ever used DVD like this before, and existing production tools are not sufficient. The development team actually had to build new computer tools for creating the New Beginnings DVD – making it a truly cutting-edge product. The translation process itself is a daunting task. Each edition has 3,614 slides, and each speaker’s script has over 110,000 words – every one of which must be translated! The best Adventist translators from around the world have been selected, and provided with a software tool to assist in the translation process, custom built by the New Beginnings development team. The translation must be completed and certified by the local field, who will oversee the use of the edition before production can begin on that edition. Once the translation is complete, an edition passes through 72 production steps to reach completion, taking several months of labor. The translated material is inserted into the computer graphics. Every single slide is hand crafted by a graphic artist, as is each animation, resulting in the highest quality presentation possible. For each localized edition, images appropriate to the target cultures and ethnic groups are inserted. And the completed program passes through nine different quality reviews by both the development team and fluent speakers of the language, to ensure that the power of this evangelistic tool is not compromised by quality flaws.

Abundant Living Background

The Abundant Living series was developed by a group of well-known health educators and consists of 51 short health talks. These beautifully illustrated 12-15 minute health nuggets are written and illustrated for either Western use (i.e. U.S., Western Europe, and large cities around the world) or oriented for village settings, (i.e. India, Africa, etc).

Results

Not only have people’s physical health been improved by heeding the practical counsel contained in the Abundant Living series but thousands have given their lives to Christ as a direct result of the New Beginnings presentations. We believe these tools can be an important part in reaching the entire world with the Gospel in this generation!

The Need

$15 for each participant to receive printed scripts of the sermons and health talks

$60 for DVD players in countries where participants do not have their own

Please consider equipping a health evangelist for only $75 by donating to the DVD fund.

Or – what about 10 evangelists for only $750?