In past years I have at times attended the Association of Christian Media (ACM) Annual Conference in Southern Africa. However, on this occasion a cheaper route to the conference was possible. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic it was decided to hold a virtual gathering with over 50 different media organisations serving Southern Africa joining together via Zoom.
Key speakers from South Africa and as far afield as the USA, Australia and the UK were brought together under the theme of the Conference, ‘Open Your Eyes.’
ACM chairman Nurden Cross set the tone of the Conference by encouraging us to “see beyond the normal”. A provocative question was put to us by Loyiso Bala, director of TBN South Africa, “What’s the point of what we do?” He made us think through the issue of whether we are concentrating too much on the method of our communication, rather than the principle of what we are communicating – focus on the content and not the platform.
Phil Cooke, International Media Consultant and founder of the Cooke Media Group, suggested that the time to reinvent ourselves was now! He went on, “change is never easy and yet it’s so easy to get stuck in a rut in our communication”.
We were encouraged to anticipate the future, adapt to new circumstances, be flexible and creative in outreach – and to do this by keeping learning and growing, building better relationships and making sure we are plugged into a local church.
Ron Harris, president of MEDIAlliance International and with more than 50 years’ experience in media, closed the Conference by asking the challenging question, “Are we willing to do what God is telling us to do – even though it doesn’t seem to make sense to me at the time?”
“It’s not an easy path,” he admitted, pointing out that, “if there is no strain then there will be no progress.”
Interaction with other Africa media personnel and experiencing a challenging conference over three days from my desk on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, UK, was the icing on the cake!