Five years after Hope Channel Inter-America was officially launched, Seventh-day Adventist leaders plan to expand programming across its three channels, which represent the three official languages in the territory, English, Spanish, and French.
The plan is to establish more media centers, create more digital productions, more relevant programs, and tackle social media networks more, said Abel Márquez, executive director of Hope Channel Inter-America. “We have many challenges facing us because of the pandemic; more and more people are interested in shorter, on-demand programs, and we must continue to focus on being accessible to more audiences with the message of hope.”
Using television media to inform, teach, and transform the lives of the more than 300 million people in the territory remains at the core of the mission of Hope Channel Inter-America, said Márquez.
Hope Channel Inter-America is part of the global network of Hope Channel Adventist television channels on Satellite Eutelsat 113W.
“We are celebrating our five-year anniversary, and we are happy to see how far the Lord has blessed this venture,” said Márquez. “During these first five years, our affiliated media centers have produced series, films, shorts, spots, and so much more, while Hope Channel Inter-America coordinators in the unions have worked diligently to distribute the channel through cable companies in hundreds of cities and regions.”
Hope Channel Inter-America’s Spanish channel started with a few programs produced in Inter-America and other divisions of the world church. Today, the channel runs 24 hours a day with 90 percent original content produced in the IAD office and its media centers throughout the territory, reported Márquez.
“It’s really a dream come true to reach this far with 65 original productions airing in our channels, mostly in Spanish and in French,” said Márquez. That’s equivalent to one new program running every month for the past five years, he added. The series includes programs for children, young people, the family, and adults ranging from educational subjects, worship, the study of the Bible, health, cooking, art, personal stories, missionary work, and more.
The French channel runs 24 hours a day online and includes productions made in Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Haiti. The English channel continues to run the same programming as does Adventist Television’s Hope Channel and is transmitted via satellite, Roku, cable companies, and online.
In addition, two years ago, Hope Channel Inter-America launched a website that features live streaming, on-demand programming, and resources for the three channels.
According to Márquez, among the 18 media centers across the Inter-American Division (IAD) territory, 14 of them are actively producing segments for the channel. There are also project collaborations with production centers within IAD, as well as with the world church, he added.
“We want to work on getting all 24 unions on board, each one with a production center, and see each Adventist university in the territory set up with a media center also be part of growing unique programming,” said Márquez. So far, model university studios at Northern Caribbean University (in Jamaica) and Montemorelos University (in Mexico) continue to contribute with significant programming.
Plans are underway to ensure that each of the division institutions like the theological seminary and publishing houses can also be consistent program contributors as well. In addition, the church in the IAD will soon launch its Hope Bible School (formerly known as a Bible correspondence school).
“One of the greatest blessings from God is to have Hope Channel Inter-America reaching millions of people with the message of hope in the territory these past five years,” said Pastor Elie Henry, president of the church in Inter-America. “God prepared the way to use this medium to connect with so many who need to know Jesus and His love, while also strengthening church members’ spiritual life as well.”
To learn more about Hope Channel Inter-America and view on-demand programs and resources, visit hopechannelinteramerica.org
This article was originally published on the Inter-American Division’s website