The Central California Conference is home to ten million people who need to hear the gospel. It has been the goal of Pastor Dan Serns, president of the Central California Conference until just recently, to mobilize every member to share Jesus. Through literature, media, and personal invitations, church members across the territory are finding and generating spiritual interest.
SHARING THE GREAT CONTROVERSY
The Central California Conference (CCC) has a thriving literature ministry, encouraging members to give away GLOW tracts and involving young people in literature evangelism programs. Another exciting aspect of this ministry is the CCC’s partnership with Streams of Light International to hand out The Great Controversy.
Oleg Lotca, the director of Streams of Light, with the encouragement of CCC, has sent teams throughout the CCC to help church members get organized in sharing this book. He has also planned mission trips to places like Silicon Valley and San Francisco, where volunteers go door-to-door. During just one of these trips, thousands of books go out, and many people sign up for Bible studies.
PRAYER ADS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
The CCC was the first pilot conference to try out a new digital evangelism strategy of the General Conference. The first phase involved picking six churches to film short social media ads that offered to pray for people.
The second phase involved even more churches and focused on training members to respond to the messages people sent in. Church members built relationships with these people, some of whom even started showing up to church and getting baptized.
During the third phase, Adventist schools in the conference did something similar, targeting families with school-aged children and offering to pray for them.
NEIGHBORHOOD PASTORS
Every church member has a sphere of influence, and Pastor Serns encourages everyone that “God has put you in your neighborhood for a reason. You are the pastor of your neighborhood. Keep your eyes open, pray for divine appointments, and let people know you’re here to serve and bless them.”
Around five hundred church members have put up signs in their front yards that say “Community House of Prayer” and provide a phone number for sending in prayer requests.
Pastor Serns and his wife go for a walk every day and pray for their neighbors. When they see people, he shares GLOW tracts with them and sends them off with “God bless you!”
One time, he handed a GLOW tract to a man, who then asked, “Can you pray for my fatherin-law Reuben? He just had a stroke.” They prayed together right there. The next day, Pastor Serns walked by the same home and saw a woman in the driveway. He called out, “How’s Reuben? We’re praying for him!” She responded, “Thank you so much! You’re the one who talked to my husband yesterday. He’s doing much better. Come on in.” Pastor Serns began a friendship with the family that has developed into weekly Bible studies, church attendance, and decisions for baptism!
Every member can be involved in inviting people to consider spiritual truth. It may be sharing literature or connecting with people who’ve responded to social media ads. It may be praying with people, inviting them over for a meal, or asking them to begin Bible studies. In this way, seeds of truth are being planted far and wide.
