N O R TH N S W CO N FE R E N CE N E WS
NOV 2016
Hacksaw Ridge offers unparalleled opportunity to share the Faith of Doss com> along multiple media platforms. NNSW and AMN have developed a marketing strategy that will target people who have watched the movie, with consistent messaging directing them to the website where they will find more information about Doss’s faith and his beliefs — our beliefs. Directed by Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge tells the remarkable true story of Doss, an Adventist man who served in World War II, the first conscientious objector in American history to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The army medic braved bullets, grenades and snipers while single-handedly evacuating the wounded from behind enemy lines. Responsible of the “internal campaign,” managing a coordinated approach for church members willing to take advantage of this opportunity, Pastor Copaceanu said the film offers Adventists a rare opportunity to share their faith with family, friends, neighbours and colleagues. The 3 November release of the film Hacksaw Ridge offers members of the Seventhday Adventist Church an unprecedented witnessing opportunity, according to Pastor Justin Lawman, President of the North New South Wales (NNSW) Conference. Pastor Lawman says, “I can never remember a Hollywood movie where the main story is about a Seventh-day Adventist who is faithful and obedient to God. This is an unparalleled opportunity that God can use and I believe God has orchestrated it all. I heard about Hacksaw Ridge when I went to the It Is Written Oceania partner weekend where Garry Kent and John Bradshaw spoke about the powerful impact the movie had on them, so I thought we should do something about it. My love for evangelism means I get very excited by these chances where we can use God-given opportunities to direct people to the source of faith, and the reason for dependence and obedience.” This led to Pastor Lawman calling Nic Coutet into his office. Nic, the Project Manager for the NNSW Conference, was asked to put together a team to develop a public and internal strategy to promote Adventism through Hacksaw Ridge — a strategy that would eventually land on Hacksaw Ridge director Mel Gibson’s desk. Not long after this, Kalvin Dever, CEO of the Adventist Media Network (AMN), Pastor Cristian Copaceanu, Director of Personal Ministries for the Australian Union Conference (AUC), Pastor Lawman and Nic became the core project team of this exciting opportunity to promote our faith. Since then, the team has a completed a strategy that aims to influence people’s response to the movie, directing their attention to the faith of Private Desmond Doss. This goal will be realised by the coordination of a focused website <www.faithofdoss.
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“For the first time, millions will be exposed to the quality and character of the Seventh-day Adventist faith — a faith not of the world, but in it to its very miry depths,” he said. “We have launched this internal campaign, ‘One more, Lord,’ in order to encourage and equip members to use the movie’s publicity as a sowing opportunity. There are various things people can do, from sharing information on their social media accounts to holding a ‘Faith of Doss’ weekend at their local church.” Nic is uncertain how the public will respond to the campaign. However, they plan to saturate every possible media platform directing any interest of the movie back to the website. “It is likely that if many of our members like and share our website and social media posts that it will be the top ranking resource on the net,” he says. (Continued on Page 3)
Page 2: From the President: The importance of preaching prophecy Page 5: Pathfinders “Taste and See” that God is good at camporee Pages 6 and 7: Honours handed out at Homecoming N O RTPreacher H P O I N T // 1 Page 9: School and church combine for Week of Worship with Ghetto
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