Use of the Internet on the Rise in Latin American Countries
Transmission of Study Classes and Workshops
The Brazil Missionary Headquarters in Sao Paulo, Brazil transmitted via the Internet the “Truth of Life Study Class” (guided by Rev. Heitor Miyazaki, Ordained Minister) held on June 11 to Seicho-No-Ie centers in Latin American countries, and about 70 people studied the Truth. The Brazil Missionary Headquarters is promoting an active use of the Internet, which enables the simultaneous holding of Study Classes and Workshops for the study of the Truth and enhances the sharing of common awareness. This also helps reduce CO2 emissions resulting from the dispatch of lecturers by the Brazil Missionary Headquarters.
The 12 countries to which the June 11 Study Class was transmitted were: Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Paraguay, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile, Panama, Venezuela, Bolivia, Spain and Nicaragua. The transmission to these countries was in Spanish.
Since July 2007 this Study Class has been transmitted once a month on Saturday. The transmission consists of the pictures of the Brazil Missionary Headquarters’ Ordained Ministers/Assistant Ministers’ lecturing on the text, Seimei no Jisso (Truth of Life), so that people can study at locations in their own countries. If there are questions, questions are received through “chat” (realtime two-way letter-based conversation) or via microphone, and the lecturer answers them right away.
Comments from the participants included: “I learned a lot. I hope that the Study Class will be further strengthened in the future.”
These Study Classes and Workshops are now transmitted on the Internet from the Brazil Missionary Headquarters about 180 times a year. Within Brazil, the Leaders’ Workshops of the White Dove Association, Brotherhood Association and the Youth and Young Adult Association as well as Study Classes and Workshops for Regional Lecturers/Enlightenment Leaders are being held in Portuguese or Japanese.
Of special note is the fact that the Regional Lecturers/Enlightenment Leaders’ Workshop, which used to be held twice a year at about 20 sites, including Spiritual Training Centers and Missionary Centers was changed to simultaneous transmission via the Internet in 2009. This contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions from participants’ movement and also enables the lecturers across the country to receive guidance simultaneously and share information and hence form common awareness.
Rev. Yoshio Mukai, Bishop of Seicho-No-Ie Latin America, remarked, “I would like to use this method widely to build common awareness among the leaders in Latin American countries.”