David Hernandez is a man of perseverance.
He’s an internet evangelist, a source of inspiration for hundreds of thousands of viewers and listeners each month. Since his early teen years, he has been gifted with the passion to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to offer hope and encouragement to as many people as he can reach.
So far, his journey has gone quite well, and his Internet presence has exploded.
But his journey has not been without its challenges, specifically the challenges posed by the coated pandemic. We asked David a few questions about his ministry and work.
How did the pandemic change your approach to your work? In what ways did it affect your audience, and how did you and the team rise above the challenges it posed?
“I can’t say that the pandemic changed our approach to ministry too drastically. We have always emphasized online ministry expression. So when the pandemic hit, I felt like God had prepared us for such a time. We were ready. Not because of our own wisdom or foresight. We simply followed God’s leading, and we ended up right where we needed to be. During the pandemic, our viewership rocketed an estimated 600%. And we’re still seeing growth spurts. Within the first day of lockdown, we went live. And we went live every day for 16 days, about 3 hours a day. A community began to form around those livestreams. And it’s still growing now. To God be the glory.”
Following this, what have you and your team been doing to rise above censorship and ensure that your message can still go out?
“We believe that it’s important to control and own as many points in between the content and the viewer – from camera to screen. This is a process. My team and I are currently in phase 1 of a 3 phase project in Austin, TX. We are working towards building our own network / data center. After that, who knows where it will go? I believe in Kingdom expansion. We as believers need to own our own tech companies, our own data/internet infrastructures, and so forth. Not to isolate from the world but to communicate to it. So, while we are currently able to use social media platforms, with ever-increasing scrutiny and tension, we work toward tech independence with our sights on freedom from censorship.”
“I’m an evangelist. Our ministry has a simple mission of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit through events and media.”
“Because we still hold large events during the COVID years, we’ve drawn a lot of criticism, but we refuse to live in fear. At some point, you have to begin living life again,” David explains.
Church during the pandemic age has been difficult, as there’s been pressure to stay home and stay isolated. Thus, the need for technology has never been more pronounced. And David has taken advantage of technology as much as possible to make things accessible. As his internet presence only grows, the future looks unlimited.
