Lockdown Encourages One Adventist Family to Launch a Digital Ministry

Now, this is a fun way to approach the pandemic.

A family of five in Penang, Malaysia, never let the boredom of staying at home during the pandemic hit them. They took it, instead, as an opportunity to explore the possibilities of doing online ministry. Frendy and Selwida, husband and wife, involved their kids in creating online content for kids and families worldwide.

The whole idea started when countries around the world resorted to lockdowns to prevent the spread of the disease. This led to the closing down of private and public offices. Classes in schools were suspended to protect the students and their parents. Government agencies around the world strongly prohibited mass gatherings such as worship in churches, concerts, and meetings to contain the spread of the virus. The drastic change in society led everyone to transition to a digital environment for most of their daily activities.

On one occasion, Frendy and Selwida started filming their kids following one of the stories published in Gracelink material for kids. The family produced the video and decided to post it on their social media account. At first, it was just a simple family project, but eventually, it became more of a ministry.

“At first, the videos were only for our family viewing,” Selwida said. “Then we thought of sharing the videos with churches all around the world. We knew that churches were closed during the pandemic, so we decided to begin a YouTube channel. We uploaded all the videos to the channel so that children around the world could view them. Every week since then, we have been producing Kindergarten Sabbath School lessons,” she explained. 

Frendy added that what started as a hobby turned out to be a ministry. “We never thought of utilizing social media as our medium for ministry, but the Lord led us to this, and we are glad that He is using these materials in reaching out to kids and families,” he said. 

Mia, 8, Hans, 4, and Tiara, 2, are members of their family’s online production called Double Blessing Home Ministry. On June 26, 2021, the online family ministry celebrated its first anniversary.

The original version of this story was posted on the Southern Asia-Pacific Division news site.