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On April 9-12, more than 80 Adventist communicators from across Indonesia gathered in Manado for the bi-union communication summit. The meeting, themed "Creation and Innovation: Developing Ideas for Church Ministry," provided a forum for delegates to collaborate and develop strategies aimed at improving digital ministry through contextualized content and a needs-based approach.

The summit gave Adventist communicators the opportunity to share ideas and strategies for effectively communicating the gospel message to a changing world. Because of the rapid pace of technological advancement and cultural shifts, Adventist communicators must be creative and innovative in their approach. 

The meeting also aimed to creatively find ways how to share the gospel message with various people groups within the 1this culturally diverse region. Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country comprised of more than 273 million people as recorded in 2021. These numbers pose a huge challenge for the church in developing strategies to build better relationships with the Muslim community especially those who are seeking hope and healing.

Delegates participated in a variety of activities throughout the summit, including presentations, breakout sessions, and workshops. They were also able to network with other communicators from around the world and share ideas and best practices.

One of the summit's highlights was a message delivered by Pastor Heshbon Buscato, the region's communication director for the Southern Asia-Pacific region. Buscato emphasized the significance of utilizing technology and social media to reach a larger audience. "We live in a digital age, and it is critical that we use technology to reach as many people as possible with the gospel message," Buscato said.

Other summit speakers included branding, marketing, news writing, and digital media experts who shared their insights and strategies for effective communication.

Some recommendation was usage of reels and videos as content in the church's social media accounts. It's easy to see why the usage of reels and storylines in social media content has grown in popularity in recent years. These features provide a distinct and interesting approach to disseminate content, connect with audiences, and increase followership and interest.

One of the most significant advantages of reels and stories is their capacity to deliver bite-sized, visually appealing content that is simple to consume and distribute. With people's attention spans on social media shrinking, it's more crucial than ever to grab their attention fast and leave a lasting impression. Reels and stories are ideal for this since they let you to exhibit your brand or message in a fun, creative, and eye-catching manner.

During the discussion, delegates were encouraged to see the bigger picture of production and to innovate in the programming ministry. Production is more than just executing the livestream, editing the recordings, and preparing the content; programming is a representation of an organization and how it carries out the church's plans and programs through events and gatherings.

While publishing news in English is difficult for most Asian countries, the communication summit advised certain strategies to help communication workers filter their stories for their local region. Use of numerous applications for speech to text, translation, and proofreading is one suggestion. These applications are free, however they can be enhanced with premium memberships.

 Delegates also evaluated their respective missions' and the conference's social media activities. This presented a number of challenges in terms of production costs versus responses and organic followership. This encouraged delegates to rethink and redevelop their content so that the message is not compromised due to length but is creatively presented to meet the attention span and clearly convey the message.

The bi-union communication summit was organized by the Adventist Churches of West and East Indonesia with the participation of communication leaders from the missions and conferences throughout the country. The organizers thanked all delegates for their active participation and engagement throughout the summit.

"We believe that this summit will assist us in better understanding the challenges and opportunities that Adventist communicators face today, as well as in developing innovative and creative strategies for effective ministry," said Pastor Pierson Doringin, communication director for the North Minahasa region.

On April 12, the summit concluded, with delegates leaving Manado inspired and energized to put the ideas and strategies discussed during the event into action. This annual meeting of communicators will be held again next year, with West Indonesia serving as the host.

Edward Rodriguez, SSD Communication Department