Youth from hong Kong and U.S. meet over video conferencing
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Jo da Rosa from the West Columbia South Carolina stake was traveling for business in Hong Kong, China, in October 2010. With a desire to attend Church during his trip, he decided to attend the ward across the street from the Hong Kong China Temple.
After sacrament meeting, a man from the Hong Kong ward approached him and asked if he recognized him. Of course he did. This man from the Hong Kong Sham Shui Po Ward was Richard Cheung, a dear college friend from his days at BYU-Hawaii in the early 1980s.
The two friends exchanged contact information and began to catch up on family, Church and old times shared at BYU-Hawaii. They both discovered that each was serving in the bishopric of their respective wards and both had responsibility over the youth. Together they hatched a plan to bring together the youth from their respective wards using video conferencing technology used by the Church for long-distance meetings. Even though the two youth groups were located thousands of miles apart, through the miracle of technology, young men and young women from Hong Kong and South Carolina could see each other, share testimonies, ask questions and understand membership in the Church from a different perspective.
After discussing the unique opportunity with stake leaders and receiving permission to use the technology, Brother da Rosa and Brother Cheung set a date to invite the young men and young women from their stakes and wards to meet friends from across the world. More than 30 youth attended the one-hour video conference. The U.S. group met at 8 a.m. while the Hong Kong group met at 8 p.m. Brother da Rosa, originally from Hong Kong, translated from Cantonese to English. Brother Cheung is fluent in English and Cantonese as well and also invited some missionaries to help translate.
Things started slowly as the two youth groups got a first look at each other on the video screens. The Hong Kong youth were amazed at how much bigger and taller their U.S. counterparts were. Soon they warmed up and began sharing stories, asking questions and laughing at translation errors. Brother Cheung said, "I hope this experience strengthens these youth from separate cultures by sharing testimonies about the gospel of Jesus Christ, seeing the similarities and having fun."
Brother da Rosa said, "I love the youth. I notice there is always a few youth that are difficult to reach. I wanted to provide a faith-promoting activity that interested them in new and unique ways."
Reflecting on the experience, a youth from South Carolina said, "I think it was quite interesting to learn about different cultures and to be able to contact them and see others of the same religion on the other side of the world." A youth from Hong Kong said, "It is very interesting to have such an activity because we can exchange with the members overseas. I hope I can make more friends in other countries."
Both youth groups had very positive experiences with the video conference and have already scheduled three more calls for 2012. One of the meetings will be a gift exchange and another will take advantage of video conferencing screen sharing technology so they can share photos from their different cultures.
The Church is constantly searching for new ways to utilize technology to share the gospel, save money and increase the effectiveness of its members. Last year the Church introduced personal video conferencing, or PVC, a software-based service that connects Church leaders for face-to-face meetings using two video screens without requiring travel to the same location. To date, 2,000 leaders have signed up and used the service. Although the technology has primarily been used for stake presidency and high council meetings, additional innovative uses for this service are being explored.
While phone calls are sufficient for communications, the addition of video makes a significant difference in the effectiveness of conversations and meetings. Personal video conferencing enables better communications between people who are conducting Church business from different locations.
PVC services are available for all Church employees, priesthood leaders in certain leadership positions including all members of the Seventy, Area presidencies, mission presidencies, MTC presidencies, temple presidencies, stake and district presidencies, high council members, stake technology specialists, bishops and branch presidents and executive secretaries associated with those priesthood leaders.
To use PVC one will need a current PC/Mac or mobile device (iPad, iPhone or Android) with an Internet connection, a webcam and speakers or headphones. To obtain the necessary PVC account, visit pvc.lds.org and click on "Request an Account."
Learn more about PVC by clicking on "How to Use" on pvc.lds.org to get important details on equipment recommendations, training videos and other helpful information.
