Contributed by Pablo Fernandez
Contributed by Pablo Fernandez
A group of 24 students went on a mission trip through Southern Adventist University’s Evangelistic Resource Center (ERC) earlier this year to preach a series of sermons in Chetumal, Mexico. Joining them was a team of five students, who were going as a media missionary team to shoot a multi-episode evangelistic television series for Hope Channel Inter-America. They couldn’t do this ambitious project alone, however, so they teamed up with students from Montemorelos University in Mexico, as well as staff from Hope Channel Inter-America.
The idea for a media-focused mission trip began two years ago when Pablo Fernandez, professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Southern, reached out to Hope Channel Inter-America leaders Abel Marquez, director of communications, and Lizbeth Elejade, director of programming. Fernandez wanted to expose his students to media ministry outside of the United States to broaden their horizons and give them a chance to serve.
Elejade proposed that if Southern’s production students partnered with ERC and went with them to Chetumal, Hope Channel Inter-America would sponsor the students from Montemorelos University to join them.
“After two years of work, God made all the variables come together,” said Fernandez. “It is undoubtedly evidence of God’s hand being in this project.”
The 15-person production team got to work as soon as they arrived. The crew divided into three smaller teams of five each to cover various filming locations. Each team contained a mixed crew from both universities.
The television series will contain a set-up episode showing the students’ journey, a behind-the-scenes episode with interviews, and eight episodes featuring condensed versions of the sermons, the experiences of the students who preached, and highlights from the trip. The goal of the series is to inspire transformation in the hearts of the viewers by showing the spiritual transformation that students experienced on the trip.
“The audience will see 24 college kids who didn’t feel ready to preach but were willing to serve, being transformed in the process,” said Fernandez. “That in itself will be impactful. These students could have spent spring break however they wanted, but they chose to spend it serving and sharing Christ with others.”
As a result of the ERC evangelistic campaign during the mission trip, about 30 individuals were baptized.
Larron Matheson, junior mass communication-media production major at Southern, shares, “The best part of it all was when we would go to the churches where the students were preaching, and we would interview the visitors and capture their testimonies. Then, we saw many of those same people accept Jesus and be baptized on Sabbath.”
Southern Adventist University | November 2024
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