"I RECOGNIZE your voice," blurted out a strange woman in a restaurant here in Greensboro, North Carolina. She then recalled having seen me on television and asked me to come by some time and answer some questions for her. I began giving Peggy, for that was her name, and her family Bible studies. After they had attended church for several months we began a series of evangelistic meetings. The whole family accepted God's truth and became members of the remnant church. Peggy speaks convincingly when she says, "I know the Lord led you to me that day."
When we first moved to Greensboro we felt that it would take several years to awaken a general interest and knowledge of Seventh-day Adventists in our city. Through the providential working of the Lord we have seen this take place in one year.
It was to publicize our first Five-Day Plan in Greensboro that our church public relations secretary, Tom Hall, contacted the local TV station for an interview. Tom did not speak to the program director or manager, but rather, contacted Lee Kinard of the Good Morning Show, and Judy Walker, who has an after noon woman's program. They were enthusiastic, and the audience response after the shows was good. We were now friends at the TV station. We were respected and trusted.
Other programs followed in quick succession. The Carolina Adventist Youth in Action singers were featured on several programs. We came back on when the next Five-Day Plan was held, only this time with a different format. Some of the former graduates of the Plan discussed the help they had received from the clinic and their new non smoking way of life. Because of the general interest in health, I drew up a proposed series of interviews for Elder Milo Sawvel, of the General Conference Temperance Department, who was to hold meetings in our church, and the result was five 20-minute programs on Mr. Kinard's show that dealt with alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and the answers that we have to these problems.
After one of these sessions Mr. Kinard mentioned that Edgar Cayce, the clairvoyant who died in 1945, also had some good ideas on health and Kinard spent several programs discussing his views. I thought to myself, if Edgar Cayce, why not Ellen C. White for a good program? The next day I took with me a proposed series dealing with Ellen White. Kinard was interested, and we scheduled the programs for several months in the future. The interest shown in this series was so great that the original five programs stretched into eight, and we discussed Ellen White's counsel on the home, health, rearing children, marriage, and future predictions. We showed slides of our world medical work and told the part Ellen White had played in its development.
Other programs have been presented, such as a five-day series with Elder Roland Hegstad on religious liberty and a four-day series on spiritualism. I had originally planned to rent a large auditorium for a special forum, which would discuss the historical and Biblical background of this topic, but God arranged things so we could present our understanding of this truth to multiplied thousands of people. Every week the station is also running a "health nugget" with Dr. Agatha Thrash, a Seventh-day Adventist physician from Columbus, Georgia.
We have recently backed off the religious subjects and will now come through with strong "human interest" programs. Recently my wife, Becky, was interviewed on the subject, "Why do you boycott the meat counters?" She gave a cost breakdown between meat prices and vegetarian entrees, and went into the advantages of a meatless diet. Later that week one hundred people attended a vegetarian banquet held at noon in the Duke Power Demonstration Kitchen. In the near future we plan to present a series on the raising of children and one on the need and benefits of exercise.
Our use of radio and television has not been limited to features and interviews. TV spots were used to advertise our three-day vegetarian cooking school last year. And this year TV spots advertized the temperance programs our thirty junior academy students carried on in the local junior and senior high schools.
Our members can hardly believe their ears. Everywhere they go their friends, families, and business acquaintances are talking about our church and our philosophy. To a potential viewing audience of one million homes the message of truth is finding its way.
Here are some suggestions we have found helpful in dealing with the radio and television media:
1. Get to the local TV or radio personality himself.
2. Have something that will be educational and of general interest.
3. Use variety. Don't expect continual coverage on the same subject with the same old approach.
4. Plan the program well do your homework. If you can speak with authority others will listen and be delighted. People who know are in demand!
5. Be objective in your presentation and weigh the amount of subjectivity that the local host will allow you to exercise. For example, a discussion on Sunday closing laws should look at some of the very real advantages and the apparent advantages, as well as some of the problems that the laws present. If the opportunity seems right, a tactful and brief explanation of the Sabbath might be possible.
6. In your TV interviews, don't try to rush through a subject to get more said. The strength of most interviews is informality.
7. After a program has been arranged, deliver the goods. Be on time and have everything ready to go.
8. Don't be afraid to ask for time when you have something of value and interest. (Ask and you shall receive!)
9. Pray for the Lord to prepare the way. Only with His blessings can we reach men successfully through the mass media or otherwise.
