For decades, Seventh-day Adventists around the world have sold Christian literature door-to-door as a means of supporting their missionary work and, in many cases, their education. But how do these literature evangelists—also known as colporteurs—reach prospective customers during a global pandemic lockdown?
In 2018, long before the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 disease grabbed the world’s headlines and kept tens of millions behind closed doors, students and experts at church-owned Montemorelos University in Mexico began work to create an online sales portal, called Emprendum, these literature evangelists could utilize. Once the pandemic hit, the online option was more than a convenience: it became a lifeline.
Book sales are vital for many Montemorelos students: these literature evangelists work during summer vacation and on weekends during the school year, selling more than 60,000 Adventist books to nearly one million families throughout 500 cities in Mexico. Their profits go toward their tuition. Sales and earnings are processed through the Montemorelos University and GEMA Editores of Mexico, one of the Inter-American Division’s two publishing houses.
“God Led Us” With Emprendum
“I believe that God led us [with this project],” said Carlos Gastelum, Emprendum program director. “Even though we did not visualize a pandemic situation like this, God, in His providence, led us to start this project and complete it to be utilized in these circumstances.”
Pastor Ervin González, publishing ministries director for the church in Inter-America, said Emprendum is a first-of-its-kind platform for student colporters conceived and created in the IAD. González has been part of the process of leading and working with the five regional unions and Adventist universities in Mexico, as well as GEMA editors, from its genesis.
“The sales of student colporting represent a big part of the publishing ministry throughout Mexico, and it was so important for the engineers and IT specialists at Montemorelos to provide this opportunity to tap into the online business, more so now,” said González. “The church in Mexico, in Inter-America, and the Adventist world church all see it as another step toward [reaching] those online, on social media, and connecting with many who need to find hope through Adventist books and literature.”
The new platform at http://www.emprendum.um.edu.mx, whose main headline offers “Books With A Purpose,” includes information about the colporting program, a virtual store. and a list of participating students with their personal link, as well as testimonials. Anyone visiting the page can purchase books by choosing any of the more than 500 students currently registered in the university, Gastelum explained. Once the online purchase is made, the campus Emprendum group ships the books.
Students enrolled at Adventist-owned Linda Vista University in Chiapas, and the Southeast Adventist Institute in Mérida, can also take part in the colporting program through the platform.
Student Happy With Online Sales Platform
Sarai Prado is a second-year communication and media student at Montemorelos. She is part of the Emprendum group at Montemorelos and was glad to be able to use it to sell books since it’s difficult now during the pandemic.
“When I found out I couldn’t do my usual colporting I started to think that I had to look for another way to finance my education,” said Prado. But now she’s happy that she can at least send a message and a sales link to her contacts.
“Even though it may be a big challenge this way, we can adapt by using our creativity and means of communication. That’s the challenge,” Prado said. “I believe that we needed this tool to get to those people that we could not reach in the traditional way of colporting.”
Just like in door-to-door colporting and now in “virtual colporting,” university students are not alone, said Gastelum. They’re guided through the process by a team of leaders and teachers with the support of parents, alumni, and friends of the institution. In the initial period, more than 200 online sales supporting students were recorded.
The new platform software has been shared with several Adventist universities throughout the IAD, including Colombia Adventist University, which launched a customized version of the platform for their student colporters last week, González reported.
“We look forward to evaluating how students are doing with the platform, improving the process and serving this summer and through the fall semester,” said González. “We look to also making it available for our [non-student] literature evangelists as well.”
This article was originally published on the Inter-America Division’s website