By Shenalyn Page
The Granite Bay Hilltop church hosted Panorama of Prophecy: A Bible Study Spectacular in partnership with Amazing Facts International from Oct. 15 to Nov. 13. The 25-part prophecy seminar, presented by Pastor Doug Batchelor, was broadcast to a live worldwide audience of over 100,000 via 3ABN and Hope Channel. Thousands of online viewers from 120 countries also logged in to watch the live broadcasts on Facebook, YouTube, AFTV, Good News TV, and SUMTV. A live Spanish translation with Pastor Carlos Muñoz further expanded the reach. Thirteen individuals were baptized at the church following the series.
“It’s thrilling to see God’s Word going out to so many at once,” said Batchelor. “We’ve heard from people all over the world telling us how excited they are to learn the truth. There is power in the Word of God. We preach it, then stand back and watch God work conversions in people’s lives.”
Rogina Blissett, a Roseville nurse who was baptized at the end of the series, said, “Panorama of Prophecy was amazing. I have a much clearer understanding of God’s Word than I did before. My life is completely turned around from where it has been for the past 40 years. I am so grateful.”
Reaching the Local Audience
The Panorama of Prophecy meetings were the first full evangelistic series held at the Granite Bay Hilltop church. “This is a dream that has been in the works for fifteen years,” said Wayne Leman, media producer for the series meetings. “From the very beginning, we’ve wanted to use the new church auditorium as a venue for global evangelism.”
Granite Bay Hilltop members were actively involved in the Panorama of Prophecy meetings. Members invited and hosted guests, prayed for the meetings, and much more.
Volunteers also made up about 80 percent of the media production team. Father and son, Bob and Ricky Curtice, from Sacramento, have been assisting with media production at the Sacramento Central and Granite Bay churches for over 30 years. For Panorama of Prophecy, Bob operated the jib camera and Ricky served as a stagehand. “There is nothing stronger than a volunteer’s heart,” said Leman. “They put in 110 percent, and God can certainly work with that.
One team of church volunteers ran a prophecy program for kids that included nature and Bible lessons, crafts, and activities. “Children’s evangelism is so important,” explained Amy Martin, children’s program leader. “Kids are like sponges. When you take a dry sponge and fill it up with water, it gets so full it starts leaking all over. These children learned about Jesus. They got so excited, they just couldn’t contain it. They wanted to share what they learned.” Martin and her team are working to continue building relationships with the young people who came and will be studying the Bible with several of them.
Students from Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism spent the fall months doing Bible studies in the communities surrounding Granite Bay. They also supported an evangelistic series at the Folsom church plant led by evangelist Dakota Day.
Powerful Partnerships to Share Prophetic Truth
Partnership with two of the world’s largest religious broadcasting networks gave Panorama of Prophecy a truly global reach. Hope Channel is the largest Adventist media network in the world, broadcasting on 69 channels around the globe in more than 80 languages. The meetings were aired live on Hope Channel’s English and Spanish channels.
“Many of our other language channels will be translating the recordings and showing them soon,” explained Vyacheslav Demyan, vice president for programming. “The world needs the hope that comes from Revelation and the biblical end-time message. It is exactly what must be preached at this time so people can understand what is coming and the hope that we have in Jesus.”
Adds Greg Morikone, president of 3ABN, which has a potential audience of 95 percent of the globe, “People are very much attuned to what is going on in the world right now. There is a lot of chaos and uncertainty out there. We’ve had a fantastic response to Panorama of Prophecy. People have a higher interest in prophecy than ever before.”
