Bucharest, Romania [Loredana Dumitrașcu; CD EUDNews]. Peace, strength and purpose for the future, this what the tens of thousands of viewers were offered by the sermon series "Horizon of Hope", held in Bucharest, between December 6-14, by the pastor and writer Doug Batchelor, president of the Amazing Facts media organization.
The event took place at the Adventist Theological Institute and broadcast live by Hope Channel, Radio Voice of Hope and on the internet. The lectures were translated into four languages – Romanian, Hungarian, Russian and Ukrainian – and broadcast in Romania as well as in the Republic of Moldova and the Ukraine.
Every evening, the audience was taken by the pastor Doug Batchelor through a fascinating journey into the world of the Bible. Spontaneous and witty, Doug Batchelor, aided by his own experiences, narrated significant episodes from the lives of the men of faith, in a 21st century context. With a past full of searching and interior struggles, Doug Batchelor understood the torments and doubts of the biblical heroes, which are very similar to those of our own.
There were 328 churches that transmitted the programme via satellite in Romania. The members of the Adventist churches promoted the event by distributing flyers and inviting friends to watch it together. A Hope Channel team travelled across the country for nine days and broadcast live from a different church every evening.
Online, the people's response was even more spectacular. The first and the last lectures of the series were the most viewed, with viewer count on the sperantatv.ro website of 13.000 and 15.500 respectively. Overall, during the broadcast period, there were over 150.000 visits on the video player, both live, and through sperantatv.ro, sperantalaorizont.ro, adventube.ro and hopetv.org websites. For better access to Hope Channel's programs, Android and iOS apps were also launched. The Speranta TV Facebook page reached 10.000 fans.
The "Horizon of Hope" sermon series was followed by a Special Edition, with remarkable participants from academia as well as representatives of various denominations. "I consider [it] to be is a commendable event, first and foremost for being a cultural manifestation, much needed nowadays, with an important spiritual dimension, also necessary. It represents a considerable effort of display. The entire event is a success that other confessions should emulate!", declared dr. Constantin Bălăceanu-Stolnici, Acad. PhD.
The success of the series was possible thanks to the team of over 30 people behind it – technicians, directors, copywriters, machinists, online broadcast technicians, translators, online marketers.
The lectures are available online for anyone to watch and/or download. Over 8800 downloads have been made until now: cca. 5400 for the Romanian version, 1900 for the Hungarian one, 1400 for Russian and 170 for Ukrainian.
Doug Batchelor's message has had a very strong impact on people. "What I like most about these sermons is the way that the Lord's message is presented, in the simplest of ways, for everyone to understand. I wish you a lot of success in all of your work.", wrote Mr. Vasile Ștefan. "To me these lectures are a special gift from God, also because we had the opportunity to listen to them in our mother tongue (Hungarian, A/N), declared Mr. Szabó Gergely. "I watched the sermons with a lot of interest. From now on I will practice Jesus' teachings and follow His path.", added Ms. Csiki Margit.
On the last day of the "Horizon of Hope" program, ten persons of a few communities from Bucharest were baptised. A reason more to celebrate and strong proof that the good news of God's love reaches people's hearts and can change them. And this motivates us to find any means, to use every technological step forward in order to spread the word of the Bible. Because, as pastor Doug Batchelor said, when you live in a sick world and you know the cure, you cannot delay spreading it to everyone. If you love people, you want them to be healed, too.
Picture 1: Pastor Doug Batchelor and Christian Sălcianu, the English to Romanian translator [photo by Claudia Tache]; Picture 2: The baptism in the last day of the Horizon of Hope sermon series, live at Hope Channel Romania [photo by Claudia Tache]; Picture 3: Sidonia and Sorin Dinu, the hosts of the Horizon of Hope event, wearing Romanian traditional costumes [photo by Claudia Tache]
