Mr. Famoriyo Oluwapelumi
Since the advancement in technology, social media has been a major tool renowned ministers of the gospel have been using to propagate the gospel. One of such ministers is the General Evangelist of Christ Apostolic Church, Worldwide, Prophet Hezekiah Oluboye Oladeji. His media team has been doing a great job and the result is there. In this interview, the Director of Prophet Hezekiah Media Team, Mr. Famoriyo Oluwapelumi speaks on how the team started, challenges faced so far and how churches can improve on their followers.
The contribution of the social media to the success of the ministry of Prophet Hezekiah cannot be overemphasized. The media team headed by you has been doing a great work for the Lord's servant even before he became the General Evangelist of CAC Worldwide. Kindly briefly tell us how the media department or team of Prophet Hezekiah started?
To God be the glory for the grace to head a very big department that has not reached its peak but have had recognition. Knowledge is power but also power is power and all power belongs to God. In answer to this question, to the best of my understanding it began in year 2013 and we started with Twitter and Facebook, both social platforms are synchronized. We create all our contents from the scratch and my dear friend, Ayobami who believed in the cause joined us for smooth running of the work.
Some people believed CAC doesn't spend much on media, but it seems Prophet Hezekiah's case is different, what do you think is responsible for this?
Prophet Hezekiah has always been different and that is why he wants the best for the work of God. He is a man who does the work of God with integrity without stealing or any misconduct.
Some CAC assemblies may not be spending much on the media due to some challenges which I believe would be solved one after the other.
What has been the greatest challenge you and your team has faced so far and how did you overcome it?
We encountered a lot of challenges. When we started we were not accepted because we were young then. I have learnt from Prophet Hezekiah how to give and make necessary sacrifice. I gave my whole life to this work and I always use it to challenge God whenever I face personal challenges..
Why do you think some assemblies or churches are yet to embrace the opportunity embedded in social media for the purpose of evangelism?
It has advantages and lot of disadvantages, right now. I will advise many assemblies to manage the advantages well and be cautious of the disadvantages. There are many things that are not supposed to go on social media. Nowadays some men of God have turned it into a habit to live stream every part of their daily praying activity, including exposing their personal time with God and places of prayer. Things like this expose the Church and we should never forget that not everyone has an understanding of how we pray in CAC and many of these so-called audiences are only there to pick faults and not to pray. I will just advise that they should take precautions in how they put everything on air.
Considering your wealth of experience in church media evangelism, how can small assemblies who are not buoyant financially start or further equip their media department?
The truth of the matter is that huge amount of money is needed to set up a good media department. Only Prophet Hezekiah knows what he has spent. Assemblies who can’t afford the equipment can start live streaming of their programmes using at least an android phone and good internet connection. You can later advance it subsequently.
There are few assemblies who are investing in their media department, but with little success in terms of their followers on social media. What do you think is responsible for this and what is the way out?
Rome was not built in a day. We started with few followers and the number increases day by day. I won't advise anyone to pay for followers because to my knowledge they aren't real. They are inorganic created by computer service to get more money from you. Let your church members know that they can watch from work or homes. Secondly, try to make more publicity about it. Always pray and fast before going online. Speak the truth and raw gospel. Make sure you don't get carried away or get tired by the turndowns. It will get better day by day.
Churches that have large following on social media should not be carried away by the number of their followers because they may lose focus if they are too addicted to it.
It has been observed that the picture quality of all Prophet Hezekiah's ministrations we watch on his official Facebook page and YouTube channel are of world class standard. What are the gadgets and software you can recommend for assemblies or churches who wish to have same quality?
It depends on the financial capacity of the church but it is best you meet with a professional media personnel to give you a load down of things according to your budget.
How do you think churches can raise money to fund their media department?
It could be handled as a project or on the discretion of the minister in charge or planter.