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Hope Media Europe producer Adrian Dure, who co-hosted the opening program with TED associate communication director Vanessa Pizzuto, agreed. \u201cPresentations are important,\u201d Dure told participants. \u201cBut far more important for this event is the fact you are here.\u201d<\/p>\n
GAiN Europe 2022 leaders shared the network\u2019s history and what it now offers communicators. The program included discussions about GAiN Europe\u2019s vision and offered focused presentations by experts, along with workshops and case studies. But above all, as EUD communication director Paulo Macedo emphasised on opening night, GAiN Europe is a spiritual event. \u201cThe most important thing is that we seek the presence of the Lord,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sharing Faith in a Post-Christian Context<\/strong><\/p>\n The opening program keynote speaker was Jonatan Contero, associate director of the Adventist Church\u2019s Global Mission Center for Secular and Post-Christian Mission. Contero, who some years ago started an Adventist congregation in Madrid, Spain, to connect with secular and post-Christian people, discussed ways of reaching this growing segment of the population.<\/p>\n Contero explained that secular, post-Christian people are so hard to reach that we might give up on them. And the hurdles are real, he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t talk to them about prophecy or the Sabbath because they don\u2019t even believe in God or the Bible. They would tell you, \u2018I don\u2019t care.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Adapting to Meet People Where They Are<\/strong><\/p>\n He explained that even though we might share the same symbols with secular and post-Christian people, we assign them different meanings, which makes our communication unintelligible. \u201cSometimes we talk too much to Adventists, to ourselves. But we need to adapt ourselves to the people we want to reach,\u201d Contero said.<\/p>\n Adaptation is exactly what Adventist Church co-founder Ellen G. White recommended, Contero said. In her book Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, she wrote, \u201cThe people of every country have their own peculiar, distinctive characteristics, and it is necessary that men should be wise in order that they may know how to adapt themselves to the peculiar ideas of the people, and so introduce the truth that they may do them good. They must be able to understand and meet their wants\u201d (p. 213).<\/p>\n Above all, Contero said, it\u2019s about following the example of Jesus, who brought humanity \u201cunder the transforming power of truth by meeting them where they [were],\u201d he read again from White (Evangelism, p. 140).<\/p>\n Serving and Speaking Their Language<\/strong><\/p>\n Quoting the missionary example of the Apostle Paul, Contero explained that one of the ways of connecting with secular people is serving them. \u201cHow many times have you become a servant of non-Christian people?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Connecting also implies speaking in a language they can understand, Contero said. He explained how in Acts 2, the Apostle Peter gave a powerful speech by building a relationship and establishing common ground with his hearers. Only then did Peter move to discuss the point he had wanted to make all along.<\/p>\n Peter\u2019s example is also a call for us, Contero said. Everyone should ask themselves, \u201cHow many times [do] I preach, think, or speak with non-Christians in mind?\u201d<\/p>\n Overall, Contero acknowledged, connecting with secular and non-Christian people is a challenging enterprise. \u201cSometimes, it might feel that there is no reward, but we are called to do it. God has called you to be the Bible for non-Christians,\u201d he said. \u201cWith your approach, with your words, and with your behaviour, you become the first Bible they are going to read.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Jonatan-Contero-at-GAiN-630.jpg\")
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