Every generation has been given tools to proclaim God’s message. The apostles walked dusty Roman roads. The Reformers used the printing press. Early Adventists depended on literature evangelists, newspapers, and public meetings.
Today, God has placed before His church something previous generations never imagined—the digital world.
A single social media post can cross continents in seconds. A Bible study can reach someone living in a city where there is no visible Adventist church. A sermon uploaded from a small congregation can be watched by thousands around the globe.
For many years, the church has invested in creating quality digital content, livestreams, social media campaigns, and online Bible studies to reach people wherever they are. These efforts are bearing fruit. Around the world, thousands are discovering biblical truth through digital platforms and expressing a desire to know Jesus more deeply.
But perhaps the more important question is not how many people we reach online—it is what happens after they raise their hand and say, “I want to know more.”
If the Great Commission is to “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19-20), then the journey cannot end with a completed Bible course or an online decision. It must continue through personal connection, fellowship, and spiritual nurture within a local church.
As the General Conference’s OneVoice27 initiative calls every member to proclaim God’s love through every available digital and media platform, it also presents an opportunity to ask an honest question: Are we prepared to receive the people God is bringing to us?
The General Conference launched OneVoice27, calling on all members to unite in proclaiming God’s love through every available digital and media platform. This is a call for all church members to rally with ONE VOICE to share the message of love and hope.
As part of this global initiative, Adventist World Radio (AWR) promotes the Global Bible School to generate interests worldwide. In a recent pilot test using only minimal social media advertising, hundreds of people completed the 22-lesson Bible course and voluntarily shared their contact information, asking to be connected with a local church.
Many expressed a strong desire to connect with a community of believers so they could continue growing in their newly discovered faith. The Center for Digital Evangelism (CDE) of AWR, based in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division, has been working to connect these individuals from the digital space to local, physical churches.
A recent follow-up revealed that, among 1,250 people who submitted their contact information, approximately 225 were identified as highly interested and expressed an immediate desire to connect with a church.
Bridging the gap from digital interest to local church membership, however, is not as simple as it may seem.
Through online searches, 35 Adventist institutions were identified based on the location of these interests. The results were as follows:
- Six institutions had no email address that could be found.
- Twenty-nine institutions had published email addresses, and messages were sent.
- One email address was invalid.
- Twenty-eight email addresses were valid.
- Of those 28 valid addresses, only six responded.
Among those six responses:
- Two informed us that they were no longer responsible for the territory but kindly provided the contact information of the newly elected leader.
- Two responded initially, but no further communication was received.
- Two accepted the contact information of the interests. One institution is still processing the follow-up, while the other reported encouraging news: two individuals have already been baptized, and two others have begun attending church while continuing Bible studies.
These results reveal something encouraging.
When interested individuals are contacted, visited, or personally followed up by the local church, they respond positively. Lives are changed. People become part of a church family.
At the same time, the data also reveal several practical challenges that hinder this process:
- Emails routed to spam, junk, or promotions folders
- Recipients who were out of the office or on vacation
- Unknown senders whose messages were deleted without being opened
- Leadership and office transitions
- Limited monitoring of official email accounts and social media pages
- Outdated contact information on church websites and digital platforms
Many of these are technological and administrative issues that can be addressed through better systems, updated information, and proper training. Every institution should continually evaluate these areas so that sincere seekers are not left waiting when they are longing to connect with a local church.
To help close this gap, AWR continues reaching out to local institutions whenever individuals in their territory express a desire to connect with a church. In addition, AWR is developing adventistinterests.org, a multilingual global platform that will enable local churches to discover spiritually interested individuals within their own communities. The platform is expected to launch on July 1, 2026.
Yet this experience raises another important question.
Is this solely a technological and infrastructure issue, or is it also a theological one?
Jesus’ commission to His followers was clear:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” — Matthew 28:19-20
Going.
Teaching.
Baptizing.
These are all essential parts of fulfilling Christ’s commission.
Making disciples involves the entire journey—not only proclaiming the message but also nurturing those who respond to it.
This naturally leads to another question.
Have we become increasingly effective at creating digital content while unintentionally giving less attention to the equally important work of following up and making disciples?
Is the challenge primarily one of knowledge, training, tools, and infrastructure?
Or does it also reflect a need to strengthen our understanding of discipleship itself?
Perhaps it is both.
These are questions worth examining honestly if we are to fully embrace Christ’s call—not merely to preach, but to teach, baptize, and make disciples.
Ellen G. White reminds the church that evangelism does not end when someone accepts biblical truth:
“After individuals have been converted to the truth, they need to be looked after. The zeal of many ministers seems to fail as soon as a certain amount of success attends their efforts. They do not realize that these newly converted ones need nursing.” Evangelism, p. 351.
Interest in the Seventh-day Adventist message continues to grow. As OneVoice27 encourages every member to use every available digital platform to proclaim the gospel, the church has an unprecedented opportunity to reach countless seekers around the world.
May this also become an opportunity for every church and institution to evaluate not only how effectively they generate online interest, but also how faithfully they help those interests become disciples within a community of believers.
Technology and infrastructure are essential. But even more essential is cultivating a discipleship mindset that sees every online inquiry not as a statistic, but as a person whom Christ is calling.
Be part of OneVoice27. Proclaim the gospel through every available digital platform—and help ensure that those who respond do not remain only in the digital space but find a spiritual home within the family of God.
