Lausanne World Pulse – Perspectives Articles – Using Mass Media to Flood South Africa with Godly Values
|
HEARTLINES seeks to turn “professed” values into “lived” values. |
It was Nelson Mandela who first coined the now famous phrase “RDP of the Soul.” For Japhet, it was the “RDP of the Spirit” that motivated him to devise a way of not only restoring godly values in the nation, but of inspiring people to act out those values.
Convinced that any lasting transformation in the nation could only come through a deep move of God’s Spirit, Japhet and his small team of Christians nevertheless acknowledged that a values system does exist among all South Africans. They saw this as an exciting and challenging point of departure from which to explain the origin of the eight values deeply rooted in God’s character and exemplified in the fruit of the spirit.
In South Africa, seventy-nine percent of the population profess to be Christians; over ninety percent adhere to various religious affiliations; and ninety-five percent claim to believe in very positive values. Evidence based on the high crime rate, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other social ills suggests that there is a huge gap between lived and professed values. Undaunted, the team grabbed the opportunity to narrow the values gap by harnessing the power of mass media.
Generating a National Conversation on Values
With government statistics citing Christians as constituting seventy-nine percent of the population, the Church presented the perfect vehicle to spearhead the HEARTLINES values’ project. Emanating from a national conversation on values that was generated in July 2006, the “8-weeks-8-values-One National Conversation” touched the nerve of the entire nation—many of whom are yearning for solutions to the state of the country.
Eight films depicting the values of acceptance, compassion, honesty, forgiveness, responsibility, perseverance, self-control and second-chances (grace) were produced. Each one was the backdrop of a home-grown story in multiple languages with which every South African could identify.
In an unprecedented move, the South African Broadcasting Association flighted the films on all three of its public channels over eight weeks. The films, which were never intended as an evangelical tool, but more as a means of awakening awareness of shared values, resonated with viewers from all faith communities.
Overwhelming support came from the Church, which recommended to members that they watch all films and that the pastor preach on a specific theme during the Sunday message. The discussion guide for Christian leaders was used extensively in youth and cell groups. Many South African musicians voluntarily gave of their time to produce a HEARTLINES CD. Each track depicted one of the eight values. The track “I Believe in Love” has become highly popular with all age groups. The feature film “HEARTLINES” has received numerous awards and nominations both internationally and locally.
Positive Results
On preliminary evaluation, twenty-seven percent of the South African population was reached with the films. HEARTLINES experienced unprecedented buy-in from a broad spectrum of society, including government, civil society, business and faith-based organisations. In the eight weeks, over five hundred articles were in print, and 132 television and radio programmes covered the values topic.
Pages: ALL Prev 1 2 3 Next
|
Val Pauquet is head of communications for FBO Mobilisation, HEARTLINES, the Mass Media Project. She is also a journalist in South African Christian media. Pauquet was a member of the South African Presidential Task Group on Government Information and involved in the historic National Peace Accord and CODESA, which led to the dawn of democracy in South Africa. |