There was a time when the majority of the population was not actively involved in communication. You watched TV, you listened to the radio, but the relationship between people and the media was very distant. Today, in an era when anyone can communicate en masse and be an influencer, it may be difficult to imagine a reality like this.

But young Assad Bechara felt compelled to be close to it all. After completing a theology degree in the 1950s, he embarked on a career in the world of communication while studying journalism. According to him, his initial desire when deciding to learn more about communication was to improve his rhetoric so that his message as a preacher would be more interesting to those who heard his sermons. However, as a result, a world of possibilities unexpectedly opened up to him.

Bechara also received degrees in advertising and public relations, becoming the only Adventist to have these three qualifications in the field at the time. Not satisfied, he completed a master's degree in communication and a Ph.D. in ministry in the area of ​​communication from Andrews University in the U.S.

Initial challenges

According to him, the value of communication was not always clearly recognized, which made the job challenging. 

“Before the church achieved the media presence we are familiar with today, recognition of the value of and investments in this area were very limited,” Bechara points out. “But our great God provided real miracles in that period of transition.” 

In the 90s, the church managed to secure a free space on Sunday mornings from TV Bandeirantes, a nationwide network. At the same time, billboards were produced at no cost throughout the country, with messages related to the book of Revelation, Jesus' return, and special dates, which broadened awareness of the Adventist Church.

New steps

Over time, the church's leadership became aware of the important role that communication played in the work of evangelism. From there, new steps were taken in this direction, such as the creation of the social communication course, with concentrations in journalism and advertising, at the Centro Universitário Adventista de São Paulo (UNASP), and the structuring of the Novo Tempo Communication Network. Both initiatives were supported by Bechara.

“They were fundamental, helping to improve the knowledge of our internal public in relation to communication, as well as reaffirming the image of the church before the external public,” says Bechara.

Changes

Over the past 20 years, the investment made in the Adventist communication area has paid off. At the beginning of 2020, the church already had digital initiatives, which ended up multiplying with the arrival of Covid-19. During social isolation, TV Novo Tempo and the official channels of the denomination on social networks kept company for millions of people. For Bechara, this was a moment of searching for something superior. 

“People are hungry for security and peace,” he stresses.

At the age of 87, Bechara says that during the pandemic he had numerous lives and highlighted one of them in particular, when he spoke to a small group of Brazilian Adventists from New York. In a short period of time, the transmission, which became available later, was seen by more than 110,000 people. 

“The enemy would have liked to have closed our churches indefinitely, but God has shown that, without significant expenses, we can share his message with even greater scope,” he reflects.

Yesterday

Bechara was also at the forefront of other challenges as a pastor. After graduating, he served in the Central Church of Curitiba and, in the mid-70s, led the departments of Youth, Pathfinders, Temperance, and Communication in the Southeast region of Brazil. From 1980 to 1995, he led Youth and Pathfinders for eight South American countries, at which time the first South American Pathfinder Camporee was held in Foz do Iguaçu. It was during these years that the church's communication team for that territory began its official work.

After this period, Bechara spent a year in Cairo, Egypt, pastoring a local community. Upon his return, he was a speaker on the program The Voice of Prophecy. Then, he founded the Arab Open Community, in the Vila Mariana neighborhood in São Paulo, where he currently serves as an advisor pastor.

Today

Bechara has already written 50 books, 30 of which are about women from the Bible, including Hagar, Rahab, Ruth, Abigail, Bathsheba, and many others. In 2012, he was appointed to occupy a lifetime seat at the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL).

To those who wish to serve as communicators on the mission, he leaves a message: “Be ready to proclaim God's incalculable love and accept all the invitations and challenges that come to you. The wonderful Savior is not looking for trained people; God's dream is to empower those who contemplate him and praise him. ”

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site