The convention under the theme ”Empowered for mission” was officially opened by Pastor/Dr Nathaniel Walemba.

 ECD COMMUNICATION CONVENTION—MARCH 12-16, 2014

HELD AT ADVENT HILL, NAIROBI – KENYA

The above convention, under the theme: Empowered for Mission, was officially opened by Pastor/Dr. Nathaniel Walemba, the Executive Secretary, East-Central Africa Division (ECD), who represented Pastor Blasious M. Ruguri, President, ECD.

Dr. Walemba, who referred to himself as the African sub-chief to Elder Ruguri, delivered what was a motivational introductory and general welcome speech to the more than eighty-seven delegates. He compared the Seventh-day Adventist church mission of saving souls to that of the United Kingdom, during the Second World War, under Prime Minister Winston Spencer Churchill, when the UK was under the threat of annihilation by the Nazi Germany.

Quoting Churchill verbatim from his greatest speech of all time in history, to the House of Commons, on June 4, 1940, the ECD administrator said:

“’I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, we shall prove ourselves able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years. That is the resolve of His Majesty’s Government—every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight on the seas and on the oceans; we shall fight with the growing confidence and growing strength in the air; we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches; we shall fight on the landing grounds; we shall fight in the fields and in the streets; we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.’

“Like him,” Dr. Walemba concluded, “we have a mission as soldiers of the cross. You are soldiers on the frontline reaching the world with the message of salvation.” Communication strategy is a matter of urgency in ECD given the fact there are many places that are hard to reach. Modern technology combined with the zeal for mission will enable the communicators to facilitate the efforts to reach where people are.

The ECD members of staff who were present for the morning devotion service also attended the official opening of the event.  The four-day long communication convention brought together more than eighty church communication specialists, directors, IT specialists and journalists from eight of the eleven countries of ECD territory.

Peter Muchitsa is news editor at ECD Communication Department.