Principles & Practice of Health Evangelism
Chapter 24
Networking & Marketing your Programs
Textbook pages 256-263
Networking is the process of exchanging ideas, data, and even program participants with other agencies, programs, or churches. Information about your health evangelism program needs to be communicated.
Communicate with church administrators. You should attend church sponsored meetings to share your success. You will want to publish your findings in appropriate journals. Do not forget to interface with the community as well. Secular service organizations and various governmental agencies need to know what you are doing. Voluntary organizations such as the Heart Association, Lung Association, Cancer Society, and Diabetes Association should know what you are doing in your health evangelism programs.
Once you have good data to share, make the rounds and share your success. This will result in referrals to your program from other agencies.
Take smoking cessation as an example. The Cancer Society, Lung Association, and Heart Association, all encourage people to stop smoking. These organizations have films, literature, and displays that discourage smoking. Some also conduct smoking cessation programs.
When you network with these organizations, you create an opportunity to use some of the excellent materials they have developed. Using good materials from other organizations helps legitimize your operations and shows a spirit of cooperation with outside agencies.
You may be invited to join a voluntary organization and participate in their activities. This is a good opportunity for you. I have served as a volunteer with the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the Texas Interagency Counsel on Smoking and Health. This was profitable for my health evangelism activities. It gave me access to great materials that I could use in my own programs and enhanced my credibility with my audience.
This is a two-way street. If you were to use some of the materials from the American Cancer Society in a smoking cessation program, they would want to know how many people attended and how much literature you distributed. The Cancer Society is anxious to document the utilization of their own materials. Your use of their materials makes them more successful as well.
This is more than advertising. You are developing relationships with community organizations. As your effectiveness and reputation grow, community agencies will be proud to affiliate with you and will refer individuals to your health evangelism programs.
So, reach outward and find organizations with similar goals. Use materials that have been developed by others when it is consistent with your own message. Receive program participants who are referred to you from other organizations.
Communicate with church administrators. You should attend church sponsored meetings to share your success. You will want to publish your findings in appropriate journals. Do not forget to interface with the community as well. Secular service organizations and various governmental agencies need to know what you are doing. Voluntary organizations such as the Heart Association, Lung Association, Cancer Society, and Diabetes Association should know what you are doing in your health evangelism programs.
Once you have good data to share, make the rounds and share your success. This will result in referrals to your program from other agencies.
Take smoking cessation as an example. The Cancer Society, Lung Association, and Heart Association, all encourage people to stop smoking. These organizations have films, literature, and displays that discourage smoking. Some also conduct smoking cessation programs.
When you network with these organizations, you create an opportunity to use some of the excellent materials they have developed. Using good materials from other organizations helps legitimize your operations and shows a spirit of cooperation with outside agencies.
You may be invited to join a voluntary organization and participate in their activities. This is a good opportunity for you. I have served as a volunteer with the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the Texas Interagency Counsel on Smoking and Health. This was profitable for my health evangelism activities. It gave me access to great materials that I could use in my own programs and enhanced my credibility with my audience.
This is a two-way street. If you were to use some of the materials from the American Cancer Society in a smoking cessation program, they would want to know how many people attended and how much literature you distributed. The Cancer Society is anxious to document the utilization of their own materials. Your use of their materials makes them more successful as well.
This is more than advertising. You are developing relationships with community organizations. As your effectiveness and reputation grow, community agencies will be proud to affiliate with you and will refer individuals to your health evangelism programs.
So, reach outward and find organizations with similar goals. Use materials that have been developed by others when it is consistent with your own message. Receive program participants who are referred to you from other organizations.
Referral
Your job is to change behaviors not to treat active disease.There will be individuals who attend your health evangelism programs who will need additional resources beyond those your program can provide. It is important to establish a roster of organizations to which you can refer problem participants.
The clinically sick need the care of a medical professional. It is your function to change behaviors but not to treat active disease. Those who are ill need to be under the care of a physician in the local health care system. If a person does not have a doctor, you should know how to find one for them.
Those who might be offended by the spiritual content of your health evangelism program need a secular program to attend that omits the spiritual emphasis. You should have a list of behavior change programs in your region that address the problems your participants have -- just in case they become upset with you and need a referral.
Then there will be those who simply fail to change their behaviors. These people may be successful for a short period of time but fail in the end. You have done all you can. Your church members have prayed for them and supported them, but they still failed. Such individuals usually need to be removed from their day-to-day environment to achieve success. Refer these difficult cases to lifestyle centers for more intensive behavior modification.
Most residential lifestyle programs enroll people for 7-28 days and control their diet, environment, sleep, and exercise. A person who has had trouble changing behavior at home is more likely to succeed in an institutional setting. These centers are relatively expensive to attend. Insurance programs usually do not cover the costs of behavior change programs. If there is a person from your church who would benefit from such a program and does not have sufficient resources to attend one, perhaps your church, or someone in your church, could help defray their expenses.
Lifestyle centers have operated as autonomous, self-supporting organizations for decades. They advertise widely to recruit their clients. Clients come directly from their homes, take the program, and then return home without any personalized follow-up. Not so with the clients you will refer to lifestyle centers.
A problem participant from your church who attends a live-in program will have friends back in the home church who know them, have helped them, and are praying for them. As soon as the live-in program is completed, these participants will be returning to your community. You can help them sustain their new behaviors.
The clinically sick need the care of a medical professional. It is your function to change behaviors but not to treat active disease. Those who are ill need to be under the care of a physician in the local health care system. If a person does not have a doctor, you should know how to find one for them.
Those who might be offended by the spiritual content of your health evangelism program need a secular program to attend that omits the spiritual emphasis. You should have a list of behavior change programs in your region that address the problems your participants have -- just in case they become upset with you and need a referral.
Then there will be those who simply fail to change their behaviors. These people may be successful for a short period of time but fail in the end. You have done all you can. Your church members have prayed for them and supported them, but they still failed. Such individuals usually need to be removed from their day-to-day environment to achieve success. Refer these difficult cases to lifestyle centers for more intensive behavior modification.
Most residential lifestyle programs enroll people for 7-28 days and control their diet, environment, sleep, and exercise. A person who has had trouble changing behavior at home is more likely to succeed in an institutional setting. These centers are relatively expensive to attend. Insurance programs usually do not cover the costs of behavior change programs. If there is a person from your church who would benefit from such a program and does not have sufficient resources to attend one, perhaps your church, or someone in your church, could help defray their expenses.
Lifestyle centers have operated as autonomous, self-supporting organizations for decades. They advertise widely to recruit their clients. Clients come directly from their homes, take the program, and then return home without any personalized follow-up. Not so with the clients you will refer to lifestyle centers.
A problem participant from your church who attends a live-in program will have friends back in the home church who know them, have helped them, and are praying for them. As soon as the live-in program is completed, these participants will be returning to your community. You can help them sustain their new behaviors.
Do not Compromise
Your health evangelism program should be a spiritual program. Do not apologize for this. Do not make compromises with anyone to make yourself “more acceptable” or “more attractive” to secular voluntary organizations or governmental agencies with whom you network.
Once I advised a local pastor who was wanting to run a Five-day Plan to Stop Smoking in his church to contact the American Cancer Society to obtain a couple of films and some literature I had recommended.
This pastor called me back a day or two later and was disappointed because the American Cancer Society would not share any of their materials with him. The reason was because he charged a nominal fee for his program and the Cancer Society didn’t want their “free” material to be “sold.” This of course was a misunderstanding by the American Cancer Society. The smoking cessation program was not operating for profit. The registration fee just covered the cost of the materials the pastor needed to purchase to conduct his program.
I contacted the Cancer Society and explained the situation to them and told them of my background in the field of smoking and health. As a result of my phone call, the Cancer Society delivered the films and brochures to the pastor’s door. I was invited to become a member of the Help Smokers Quit Committee for the local chapter of the Cancer Society. A few weeks later I was invited to sit on the board of directors for the local chapter of the Cancer Society.
On the day of my first noontime board meeting, the staff of the Cancer Society called with the offer to get me a roast beef sandwich for lunch. I declined the offer stating that I was a vegetarian and would just grab a bite at the hospital cafeteria before I came to the meeting. They countered with an offer to get me chef’s salad which I gratefully accepted.
I was early to the board meeting and instantly recognized my place at the table because there was a big, beautiful salad and thirteen roast beef sandwiches placed around the table. As board members came in everyone asked, “Who is he and how did he get a salad?” I explained that I was a vegetarian, a Seventh-day Adventist and was a new board member.
Of course, beef is a clean meat, and eating a beef sandwich once a month at a board meeting is a minimal compromise of my standards. No one would think less of me for eating a beef sandwich on a rare occasion. It would be a small compromise over a minor issue, but I chose not to compromise.
Board members were delighted to know that there were other options on the menu other than the traditional roast beef sandwich. Several months later at a subsequent board meeting, I was pleased to see 12 salads and only one roast beef sandwich at the table. The person who ate the beef sandwich apologized for not wanting to eat the “rabbit food” the rest of us were eating. He was a beef man and was not going to change.
The point is, do not compromise your standards in the process of networking. There will be many points at which you will have an opportunity to compromise. Do not do it. Others will want you to eliminate the spiritual emphasis in your program. Do not do it. There are plenty of Godless programs people can attend. Your programs are designed to be evangelistic. Your health evangelism activities involve church, church members, and the gospel.
I ran across an outstanding example of compromise when I was promoting the Breathe Free Plan to Stop Smoking in Europe. At the time I was connected with the Health Ministries Department of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. I was trying to get people to try the new Breathe Free Plan in place of the older Five-day Plan to Stop Smoking. I was also trying to get people to use their local churches as program locations. I stressed the importance of using church members as helpers in conducting the Breathe Free Program.
In certain European countries, the older Five-day Plan to Stop Smoking was given official recognition by the government. Those who conducted the Five-day Plan were employed by the government to conduct these programs for the public.
The Five-day Plan was conducted without any spiritual component. It was conducted in public places -- not churches. And it was conducted by health educators -- without the added benefit that would have come from the services of volunteer church members. This is a sad example of networking that resulted in a compromise of the basic principles of health evangelism. In my opinion this weakened the Five-day Plan to the point where it became relatively useless to the church.
The Seventh-day Adventist church doesn’t need to be conducting health education programs that are totally secular. To do so represents a serious compromise of the principles of health evangelism which are put forth in this book. Networking is important, but not if you must compromise what you are doing. Compromise is a fine thing under many circumstances, but not if it results in a diversion from the fundamentals of the gospel of health.
Once I advised a local pastor who was wanting to run a Five-day Plan to Stop Smoking in his church to contact the American Cancer Society to obtain a couple of films and some literature I had recommended.
This pastor called me back a day or two later and was disappointed because the American Cancer Society would not share any of their materials with him. The reason was because he charged a nominal fee for his program and the Cancer Society didn’t want their “free” material to be “sold.” This of course was a misunderstanding by the American Cancer Society. The smoking cessation program was not operating for profit. The registration fee just covered the cost of the materials the pastor needed to purchase to conduct his program.
I contacted the Cancer Society and explained the situation to them and told them of my background in the field of smoking and health. As a result of my phone call, the Cancer Society delivered the films and brochures to the pastor’s door. I was invited to become a member of the Help Smokers Quit Committee for the local chapter of the Cancer Society. A few weeks later I was invited to sit on the board of directors for the local chapter of the Cancer Society.
On the day of my first noontime board meeting, the staff of the Cancer Society called with the offer to get me a roast beef sandwich for lunch. I declined the offer stating that I was a vegetarian and would just grab a bite at the hospital cafeteria before I came to the meeting. They countered with an offer to get me chef’s salad which I gratefully accepted.
I was early to the board meeting and instantly recognized my place at the table because there was a big, beautiful salad and thirteen roast beef sandwiches placed around the table. As board members came in everyone asked, “Who is he and how did he get a salad?” I explained that I was a vegetarian, a Seventh-day Adventist and was a new board member.
Of course, beef is a clean meat, and eating a beef sandwich once a month at a board meeting is a minimal compromise of my standards. No one would think less of me for eating a beef sandwich on a rare occasion. It would be a small compromise over a minor issue, but I chose not to compromise.
Board members were delighted to know that there were other options on the menu other than the traditional roast beef sandwich. Several months later at a subsequent board meeting, I was pleased to see 12 salads and only one roast beef sandwich at the table. The person who ate the beef sandwich apologized for not wanting to eat the “rabbit food” the rest of us were eating. He was a beef man and was not going to change.
The point is, do not compromise your standards in the process of networking. There will be many points at which you will have an opportunity to compromise. Do not do it. Others will want you to eliminate the spiritual emphasis in your program. Do not do it. There are plenty of Godless programs people can attend. Your programs are designed to be evangelistic. Your health evangelism activities involve church, church members, and the gospel.
I ran across an outstanding example of compromise when I was promoting the Breathe Free Plan to Stop Smoking in Europe. At the time I was connected with the Health Ministries Department of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. I was trying to get people to try the new Breathe Free Plan in place of the older Five-day Plan to Stop Smoking. I was also trying to get people to use their local churches as program locations. I stressed the importance of using church members as helpers in conducting the Breathe Free Program.
In certain European countries, the older Five-day Plan to Stop Smoking was given official recognition by the government. Those who conducted the Five-day Plan were employed by the government to conduct these programs for the public.
The Five-day Plan was conducted without any spiritual component. It was conducted in public places -- not churches. And it was conducted by health educators -- without the added benefit that would have come from the services of volunteer church members. This is a sad example of networking that resulted in a compromise of the basic principles of health evangelism. In my opinion this weakened the Five-day Plan to the point where it became relatively useless to the church.
The Seventh-day Adventist church doesn’t need to be conducting health education programs that are totally secular. To do so represents a serious compromise of the principles of health evangelism which are put forth in this book. Networking is important, but not if you must compromise what you are doing. Compromise is a fine thing under many circumstances, but not if it results in a diversion from the fundamentals of the gospel of health.
Advertising
Health evangelism programs need advertising and promotion to get started. It has been my experience that as soon as a program becomes well established in the community, almost all advertising can be stopped. Usually, by the third or fourth program done in your church, you will be so well known that further advertising will not be needed.
It is important to have brochures that describe your program. You should schedule future programs 12 months in advance. Your brochures should have your yearly schedule printed in them. At the end of each health evangelism program, your audience wants to know when the next program is going to be held. Give each participant two or three brochures for them to hand out to their friends and neighbors. Most of your new participants will come from the word-of-mouth recommendations of previous participants.
Another good source of referrals is from health professionals in your community. The health professionals in your church and health professionals in the neighborhood should have a supply of brochures for their offices. They can refer patients who need the help you provide. A person referred by a health professional is more likely to attend a program than a referral from any other source.
Deliver a supply of brochures to health professionals in your community. Family practitioners, internal medicine doctors, pulmonary specialists, cardiologists, and cancer specialists will all be glad to refer their patients to your church for behavior change classes.
Other media can be useful as well. Regional newspapers will often run a feature story about your health evangelism program, especially if you purchase some advertising space at the same time. Radio and TV stations have community calendars where special events like your health evangelism program can be promoted.
Advertising on social media is particularly rewarding. Facebook is one of the best ways to advertise to your community. It is used by 71% of persons in the United States regularly. The South Bay SDA Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee has used this in connection with other advertisement forms and has found Facebook advertising to be the most effective and least costly way to advertise. It will take a little effort to set up your campaign, but once you have it, it will be very easy to do every time you run the program.
You will need to set up a Facebook Business account with a credit card in order to pay for the ads. There are many YouTube videos that show how to do this. Once that is set up you will need to develop your advertisements.
There are several ways to have potential participants register. On Facebook they will click a button to “Sign Up”. It is best to have a registration page for them. This can be something on your website. Google Forms is the easiest way to set this up. You can target audiences in the vicinity of your church.
About one to two weeks before a program starts, I like to send a letter, text, or email to all previous participants to remind them that the new program is about to begin. Backsliders can come back and recycle themselves if they have slipped. Remind past participants to recommend your program to their family and friends. Many new participants come from notifications like this.
I also promote each program to participants who have attended other kinds of programs we have conducted in the church. Frequent reminders keep your church calendar fresh in the minds of the public. Participants who attended one program may very well be interested in other programs you conduct.
Posters may be useful when placed in local business and professional offices. Posters look best if done professionally but do the best you can with the talent and resources you have in your church.
It is important to have brochures that describe your program. You should schedule future programs 12 months in advance. Your brochures should have your yearly schedule printed in them. At the end of each health evangelism program, your audience wants to know when the next program is going to be held. Give each participant two or three brochures for them to hand out to their friends and neighbors. Most of your new participants will come from the word-of-mouth recommendations of previous participants.
Another good source of referrals is from health professionals in your community. The health professionals in your church and health professionals in the neighborhood should have a supply of brochures for their offices. They can refer patients who need the help you provide. A person referred by a health professional is more likely to attend a program than a referral from any other source.
Deliver a supply of brochures to health professionals in your community. Family practitioners, internal medicine doctors, pulmonary specialists, cardiologists, and cancer specialists will all be glad to refer their patients to your church for behavior change classes.
Other media can be useful as well. Regional newspapers will often run a feature story about your health evangelism program, especially if you purchase some advertising space at the same time. Radio and TV stations have community calendars where special events like your health evangelism program can be promoted.
Advertising on social media is particularly rewarding. Facebook is one of the best ways to advertise to your community. It is used by 71% of persons in the United States regularly. The South Bay SDA Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee has used this in connection with other advertisement forms and has found Facebook advertising to be the most effective and least costly way to advertise. It will take a little effort to set up your campaign, but once you have it, it will be very easy to do every time you run the program.
You will need to set up a Facebook Business account with a credit card in order to pay for the ads. There are many YouTube videos that show how to do this. Once that is set up you will need to develop your advertisements.
There are several ways to have potential participants register. On Facebook they will click a button to “Sign Up”. It is best to have a registration page for them. This can be something on your website. Google Forms is the easiest way to set this up. You can target audiences in the vicinity of your church.
About one to two weeks before a program starts, I like to send a letter, text, or email to all previous participants to remind them that the new program is about to begin. Backsliders can come back and recycle themselves if they have slipped. Remind past participants to recommend your program to their family and friends. Many new participants come from notifications like this.
I also promote each program to participants who have attended other kinds of programs we have conducted in the church. Frequent reminders keep your church calendar fresh in the minds of the public. Participants who attended one program may very well be interested in other programs you conduct.
Posters may be useful when placed in local business and professional offices. Posters look best if done professionally but do the best you can with the talent and resources you have in your church.