First Steps
“There are four things that never come back:
the thoughtless act, the spoken word,
the wasted opportunity, and the time.”
On December 21st, 2021, my 2,074 photos, 60 videos, and 94 notes have reached four million views on Google Maps.[1] Can anybody ask me how this relates to “digital mission”. This is a long story, which this year celebrates the Hematite Wedding.
Right after returning from summer break 1997, I received from Charles (Carlos Roberto Tavares), my editorial director of the Tribuna do Paraná, the largest newspaper in the capital of the Paraná State, in South Brazil, the proposal to assume the Newsroom Secretary of the daily news. This change should take place within six months, after training in the function offered. It was configured like this as a major career advancement, coveted by many colleagues. However, I was reluctant to return a definitive answer until the day that Marcos Paulo Assis, another director, opened the door for me to a new acting scenario: the internet.[2]
Working with Paraná Online meant more independence in relation to printed matter O Estado do Paraná and Tribuna do Paraná newspapers. There was the infinite possibility of launching non-existent sections in the press periodicals. Initially I prepared three new sections: Education, Science, and Archeology, which became the only one to publish articles even after I left the Paulo Pimentel Group. In the interior of São Paulo, neighbor to the north of my State, I signed an agreement with the editor who took over the content management of Paraná Online to give space to Journalism students of the Adventist University of São Paulo (Unasp) through the column “Canal da Imprensa” (Press Channel).[3] This partnership lasted until 2006. When recently researching the longest-running digital media from the mainstream press in the South of the country, I noticed Paraná Online as a pioneer. The project entered the Web, on the night of June 16th, 1997, and in 2022 completes 25 years of the unprecedented feat in brazilian journalism.
No brazilian pioneer of digital media resides in Brazil anymore. Dr. Cayo Túlio Costa[4] managed the first content site in Latin America, the Universo Online (UOL), in 1995, and currently teaches in Master’s Journalism at Columbia University, on New York; editorial director Rosental Alves[5] transformed Jornal do Brasil into fully digital media, creating JB Online in 1996, and now directs the Knight Foundation at Texas State University, on Austin.
To launch the Education Section, I selected texts by Ellen White, adapting them to journalistic language. In the Science Section, I used articles from the magazine Universitary Dialogue, rewriting them according to press standards (gatekeeper). My favorite was the Archeology Section,[6] whose texts were transcribed from videos presented by George Vandeman interviewing adventist archaeologist John Carter; Andrews University faculty articles; texts from the book “Archeology”, by Dr. Siegfried Júlio Schwantes; and articles by Dr. Rubén Aguilar, former professor of Theology at the Adventist Teaching Institute, now Unasp. The illustrations were captured, with due credit, from the Harvard University Museum of Archeology, available online at the time; from Andrews Museum of Biblical Archeology; or from Vatican Museum. It took me time. I spent hours rewriting the material. I entered the newsroom at 1:30 p.m. and left at 3 a.m. the next morning, because I needed to edit both newspapers for the digital platform, check international agencies, prepare the new columns and answer the readers. Some of this content is in a container, at my eldest daughter’s house, awaiting the day we settle down after retirement.[7]
“GOD works first in you, then for you.”
(Pr. Igor Bolichoski)
Life Change
At the end of 1999 I received the invitation to be a professor in the Journalism course at Unasp. Arriving at the adventist institution, I set up a digital news agency, in order to offer students an environment of internship and professional practice. Launched on May 7th, 2000, the IAE News Agency (AIN) changed the name to Unaspress, and later to Brazilian Journalism Agency (ABJ). In 2010, it received the award as “Best Junior Journalism Agency” of Brazil. In this work, there was always room for a health or education section. While preparing for the secular market, the students also received training to work with the Communication Advisories and Church’s media, such as the Brazilian Publishing House, and the New Time Broadcasting of Communication (Hope Channel Brazil).
When I assumed the editorial directory of Unasp Radio FM, which had lost the government concession, I encouraged the insertion in the digital world, strengthening the webradio concept. In 2015, we recovered the concession, but digital was already at a well-advanced stage of quality. At that moment we started the production of podcasts. The students made the journalistic agenda (guidelines), determined the content, produced, recorded and published. Health became the main agenda, presenting a lifestyle consistent with adventist principles.
When looking for a job at a television station, in Florianópolis, capital of Santa Catarina State, in South Brazil, an alumni presented as a portfolio a feature story about geology, evolutionism, lifestyle, religion. The reporting chief commented: “If you can do a feature story on these indigestible subjects, you will definitely do anything. The vacancy is yours.” Months later, she became the anchor of one of the local television news station. Nowadays, she is considered the greatest adventist youtuber in the world, with over 630 thousand followers, and over 17 million views. Shepherd’s wife, she specializes in healthy lifestyle and counseling. It should be remembered that it all started in the Journalism course and its media tools, part of them digital.
“It’s during crises that GOD grants us great opportunities,
calling us to other responsibilities.”
“Stay at Home”
Then arrived the “stay at home” paranoia, coronavirus times, authoritarianism and monastic seclusion for teachers and students. Thereby, I planned to improve myself by learning to produce podcasts. After many tests, I launched three titles, one of them the “Livre para Sempre” (Free Forever), reflections about doctrines, on the life and destiny of humanity, through the prism of biblical literature, using the Anchor/Spotify app platform.
One fact encouraged me to write, narrate, produce, edit and release religious narrative content. In the face of the paralyzing darkness that has taken shape on the planet, I decided to send a message of hope, comfort and warning to eighteen friends with whom I maintain links by WhatsApp. Follows the text:
If a relative, friend, colleague or acquaintance had very important information for your life, and he decided not to share with you, how would you react to knowing between the lines of the content some time later? If you knew crucial information for the future of relatives, friends, colleagues and acquaintances, and don’t share it, how do you think these people would feel? Reflecting on these possibilities, I’d like to share information whose facts are already in progress and could change the course of History, as well as making us decide the fate of our existence. Initially, I send you two videos for you to watch. Yes, they’re long, the same time spent in movies, series, documentaries, sports event or auditorium programs. Watch them and tell me what you think and if you are curious to go deeper into the topics covered. I share my information with you, clear and objective, because I hold him (her) in esteem for being mine (relative, friend, colleague, acquaintance, neighbor). Know that as a Seventh-day Adventist christian, I will continue to pray for you.
Among these friends and relatives, atheists, agnostics, charismatic catholic, baptist, lutheran, pentecostal, spiritualist and mormon. None of them failed to respond thanking the words of appreciation and affection. Some surprised me, especially one of them who had been a member of the Communist Party, counselor of the Union of Journalists and university professor. All because at another time, years before, he had agreed to pray for him and his family. That simple attitude of prayer made an impact and made a good impression. It is very hard for someone of this level to change their lives, to embrace the Gospel. However, I do not give up praying for everyone.
From August 1st, 2020, to April 10th, 2021, I produced 23 podcasts on “Livre para Sempre”,[8] episodes with 2.5 and 12.5 minutes each. The access wasn’t expressive, only 829 views, highlighting the fifth episode, “Holy Spirit, The Comforter”,[9] and the last episode, “The another face”,[10] on biblical criticism of homosexuality, both with 61 and 141 views, respectively. In reality, my voice timbre doesn’t help and the Anchor editor is very limited in features. Even though some friends I shared each release with complained when I didn’t produce a new episode. I tried to compensate for the technical deficiencies with a text that lived up to the expectations of the listeners.
“Crisis goes, crisis comes,
to show who’s who.”
(Dr. José Carlos Ramos)
Impact Images
Another way to make good use of time during house arrest imposed by the pandemic became a challenge for a previous project. In 2010, I became a contributor to Panoramio/Google Earth, posting images captured on three continents, exactly in the places visited and visualized by Google Earth. Many of them are still there, but the system has changed and no longer allows the publication of photographs. Then, on July 1st, 2020, I took the initiative to insert all possible images into Google Maps. With an addendum. It was now possible to describe the scenario to the public and await comments. On Google Earth, only the collaborators could make considerations.
On Google Maps, a specific audience, of privileged knowledge, accesses indications in search scripts. He may like or not, make comments, ask, add, collaborate with new information. Initially, I only posted images, photos and videos. Realizing that the most viewed image was an adventist congregation, I decided to produce a specific text. From twenty thousand views, the photo jumped to over a hundred thousand, and today it has more than 320 thousand views. It is an image of the interior of the Central Adventist Church on Curitiba, on a sabbath. Among the comments, I highlight the following: “I want to go back to the Church”; “What days and times is it having worship?”; “I simply loved. I felt at home, welcomed and loved from the first contact. It will be my new home of worship to the Lord”; “I went to meet. I’m there until today. I want to stay there. I came from another evangelical church”; “I simply loved. First time I went to this church”; “My dream was to become a Seventh-day Adventist. I grew up hoping to be an adventist, and today this dream comes true”; “I’m catholic, but this Church surprised me”.
Some promise to return to the Church, others comment on the facilities, programming, and receptivity. To get the attention of these readers, I published this text:
Historic monument of downtown Curitiba, the temple of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church located on Dr. Carlos de Carvalho Avenue began in the old mansion of the City Hall, after Cultural Foundation of Curitiba, in Garibaldi Square, next to the Presbyterian Church. Afterward, moved to Ermelino de Leão Street, where is a parking lot now. It was not until the mid-1960s that the congregation moved to its current address, whose modern building opened its doors in 2011. The second image shows pastor José Irajá da Costa e Silva, temple interior painting artist, in one of the Sabbath School explanations. The last image depicts the final phase of the construction of the first temple, which counted on the manual labor of the membership. In this case, Rubens Holdorf and João Darcy Menegusso attend on Sundays and holidays to help the master builder. The author of the photo was the local pastor Assad Bechara (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYUFOfIsjXE), now retired and residing in São Paulo. For those who don’t know, the name of the Church refers to two of the 28 biblical doctrines on which it is based: the belief in the imminent return of Jesus Christ to rescue His followers who accepted by faith the sacrifice on the cross of Calvary; and the sabbatical rest, symbol of the recognition of a Creator GOD of the Universe. Other informations: https://www.iasdcentral.org.br.
In view of the growing number of views, I decided to insert the descriptive sentence of the adventist belief together with photos from other congregations in Brazil and abroad, in spanish, english and ukrainian, totaling eighteen adventist temples in seven countries. The Kyiv’s Central Church wasn’t even on Google Maps. So I opened a domain in my name, I inserted four photos and a note – in ukrainian and english (calling for the history of the ukrainian Church in the Adventist Encyclopedia of the General Conference) –, and the views growed. Today there are more than sixty thousand views. Beyond the congregations, there are images of our higher education institutions, clinics and hospital. Among the most viewed temples, stand out that of the Church of the University of Montemorelos, in Mexico, with more than eighty thousand views; of the Campus Church of Unasp-EC, with more than 35 thousand views; the Battle Creek Tabernacle, with more than forty thousand views; and the Pioneer Memorial Church, in Andrews University, with almost ten thousand views.
“We should not pray for GOD to change circumstances,
but to change our interior.
So yes, circumstances can change.”
(Pr. Ranieri Salles)
Молетовна Лікарня
One of the projects shared among ukrainian university students on the occasion of the moments of prayer, Sabbath afternoon, is the Prayer Hospital (Молетовна Лікарня, “Moletovna Likarnya”). I have a file with the schedule of everyone I know who needs prayers. After “interning them”, I register the entry date and start praying for everyone. They only get “discharged” when the request is fulfilled, recording the date of leaving the “hospital”. I suggested that this idea be molded under the responsibility of someone who understood programming, with the objective of developing an application of its own to be shared and used as a private prayer agenda.
“The example is the only effective way to teach.”
(Dr. Hernandes Dias Lopes)
Digital Megaconference
I once shared with the senior pastor of the congregation in which I attended the idea of holding a digital megaconference, using all the resources of the university center, mainly of a technical nature and in the area of interpretation, given the presence of representatives from more than thirty countries on the campus. The pastor was sympathetic to the project, but soon after he received a transfer and the plans went back to the drawer.
The Journalism and Publicity students would do the dissemination in their respective countries and, together with the Theology students, they would help in the ecclesiastical support of the administrative headquarters of the countries for which there would be an interest in participating in the evangelistic project. The Law students would check all the legal feasibility in each region of the world in order not to cause problems with the authorities. Computer Science students would provide technical support to Radio and TV students, while Architecture students would prepare possible scenarios for broadcasts and recordings. The Translator and Interpreter students, on the other hand, would prepare themselves for the challenge of interpreting the speaker, without losing the essence of the content, so that the receiving public could really understand the messages. Before and after each conference, spots recorded with students from the Health area would guide the assistants about the ideal lifestyle for health; the Accounting students would talk about taking care of household finances; the Engineering students would provide tips for solving domestic problems, with the objective of not burdening the family budget.
“This life is the only time given to man to prepare for eternity.”
(Ellen G. White)
Final Considerations
I have always defended teaching and face-to-face work above any pedagogical invention contrary to the balanced project carried out through the book “Education”, by Ellen White. Despite the changes that have taken place in recent years, I believe that the digital world needs to be better explored, provided there is common sense, intelligence and quality technical and human resources. Without this, we continue to do an excellent job in the face-to-face universe. It is better to continue learning before venturing into a field whose results can be disastrous if proper monitoring, guidance, supervision and self-criticism are not carried out. Perseverance, knowledge, humility and consecration precede credibility.
“I don’t have a Facebook account
because I don’t intend to expose my entrails in
a ‘table’ in which anthropophagic attitudes
have became part of people daily lives.”
Ruben Dargã Holdorf, Comm.Se.D
[1] On Apr 30th, 2025, twenty-four million views, with 3.023 pictures, 105 videos, and 149 texts.
[2] On June 16th, 1997, Paraná Online started receiving only three views. Later 2.5 years, POL received 70 thousand/day views.
[3] The name refers to the electronic magazine “Canal da Imprensa”, created on August 21st, 2002. This is a criticism media academic magazine (www.canaldaimprensa.com.br) of Journalism course, in Unasp.
[4] http://caiotulio.com.br/biografia.
[5] https://knightfoundation.org/employee/rosental-c-alves.
[6] From 2000 to 2006, the column was called “Archeology and Science”.
[7] https://ugi.edu.ua/kafedri/kafedra-zhurnalistiki/teacherszhurnalistiki/holdorfruben.
[8] https://anchor.fm/ruben-dargan.
[9] https://anchor.fm/ruben-dargan/episodes/Esprito-Santo–o-Consolador-eii9g8.
[10] https://anchor.fm/ruben-dargan/episodes/A-outra-face-eqg1sh.
The Social Crafter 
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