Completion of the program will provide certification, ID card as a missionary preacher.
Seventh-day Adventist church leaders in southern Colombia recently launched a comprehensive online evangelism training program. The initiative, coined as Misión Kerigma, seeks to prepare and encourage church members in southern Colombia to spread the good news of salvation throughout the vast region, including the capital city of Bogotá. Bogotá has a population of more than 8 million people.
South Colombia Union president Juan Caicedo prays during the launch of the Misión Kerigma initiative. Misión Kerigma is a comprehensive online evangelism training program for lay church members. [Photo: South Colombia Union, Inter-American Division News]
Pastor Christian Gavilanes, a marketing expert, shares the workings of the Misión Kerigma online platform in Bogotá, Colombia, August 25, 2018. Misión Kerigma is a comprehensive online evangelism training program for lay church members. [Photo: South Colombia Union, Inter-American Division News]
Misión Kerigma has an objective to implement the Adventist world church’s strategy to get every member involved, both young and old, in becoming faithful disciples of Jesus and making disciples of others, said Misión Kerigma director Joel Hernández. He explained the word Kerigma comes from Greek and means “proclamation.”
For the South Colombia Union, the initiative carries the theme “Teaching, Preaching and Healing,” which motivates students in the preaching of the gospel during the first of several modules. The program has already enlisted more than 5,000 active church members, Hernández said.
“We are preparing so that our heart can be willing to listen to the voice of God and advance in the fulfillment of this special challenge,” Hernández said as he addressed hundreds of leaders and church members gathered at the North Adventist Auditorium in Bogotá, on August 25, 2018. Hernández explained that the initiative was born out of the need to train members across the nine church conference regions in the union territory to reach 25,000 people with Bible and discipleship studies.
South Colombia Union region president Juan Caicedo encouraged church members to get involved in engaging in the mission of the church.
“It does not matter what you know, your field of study, your skills or the gifts you have, because the Bible says that no one is marginalized from being part of the mission,” Caicedo said as he emphasized that Jesus needs every layperson to be involved to finish the work of evangelizing.
In an online message, Caicedo thanked those who have enrolled in Misión Kerigma and encouraged the 149 pastors in the South Colombia Union pastoring more than a thousand churches and congregations to continue ministering and working closely with the thousands of laypersons who are eager to share the gospel in their communities.
The online courses are free. Every registered member who enrolls in the program and completes the modules, holds an evangelistic campaign, and brings at least two new believers into the church will receive a certificate from Andrews University and an identity card as a missionary preacher certified by the South Colombia Union, Hernández explained.
The training module consists of several seminars, workshops, forums, and tests that are graded by the platform software. Students can choose the time and day of the week that is most convenient to take the online courses.
District pastors will oversee assignments that need to be corrected. “They will be available to review or answer questions regarding online assignments,” leaders said.
