This year has challenged our pastors as they found new ways to do church and continue to minister personally, although remotely.  By way of recognising their efforts, we thought we would share with you a glimpse into the life of just one of our many pastors.

Victor Acuna pastors Springvale and Western Spanish congregations.  Fuelled by a passion to reach an audience “receptive like never before,” he determined to “show the world that we care and that our God cares.”

In the 1970’s Victor’s family found themselves on the wrong side of the Chilean coup d’état.  He remembers the trauma – compares it with the trauma the pandemic is wreaking around the world, and says life in Chili in the ‘70s was worse, on the wrong side.  But from that experience, Victor believes he has learnt to think on his feet.  So as soon as news of an impending pandemic was circulated, Victor was thinking and researching and planning.

In March, he was averaging four hours sleep and rarely sitting down, even to eat.  Quick to point out he is not a millennial, he had to learn about streaming, YouTube and Zoom and spent hours researching what other churches elsewhere were doing for worship and pastoral care.

As he took the initiative, learning how to use the various platforms, and deciding how he was going to reach his church members, his churches enthusiastically followed.  He found he needed to spend hours on the phone with his elderly parishioners, particularly those at Springvale Church, ensuring they were set up and would be able to be a part of his church communities.  His Western Spanish congregation had more young people who were able to help their parents.  The willingness of his congregations to follow his lead and to purchase paid accounts to help with what he had planned was a blessing.  And on top of all this, in those first weeks of our lockdown, Victor made many phone calls to touch base with his members and ensure they were doing ok and knew what was happening.

Until regulations changed, and Victor was able to record his sermons in the church building, he, like many of our pastors, needed an impromptu studio in their own homes.  With the help of his daughters, he was able to set it up and they also helped him with some of the visuals and editing he needed for his presentations.

E-meetings became the norm and Victor quickly learnt to be proficient at hosting zoom meetings as he met with his church leaders and they discussed his plans and later, moving forward.  They even planned and implemented an online evangelism program.

Both churches post their sermons on YouTube and meet for Sabbath School via zoom, catering for children, youth and adults.  They have prayer meetings or bible study groups during the week.  Western Spanish youth meet for vespers Friday night.

And Victor’s story is not that different from all our pastors.  They have all been personally dealing with the stress of the pandemic that each and everyone of us is dealing with.  They have families they need to be there for, even help with home schooling.  On top of which they have been there for you, their church members, ministering… and taking crash courses in all things digital to continue to provide opportunities for worship.

A huge shout out to our pastors.  If you haven’t done so yet, thank them for their hard work in this difficult time.  And above all, please keep them in your prayers.