Prayer in Your Feed: Fresno Asian & Community’s Digital Doorway to Grace

Through these prayer ads, 252 prayer requests were received directly from the local community.

FRESNO, Calif.— On a Sabbath‑morning drive, Brandee Cruz, felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit: “What if you used social media for ministry?” When she arrived at church, she was surprised to hear guest speaker Pastor Justin Kim, Communication and Digital Evangelism Director for the Central California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists preaching on digital evangelism and sharing stories about other churches’ Facebook prayer ads. In that moment she knew God was confirming His call. After the service, Brandee walked straight up and volunteered to pioneer a prayer-ad outreach for Fresno Asian & Community Adventist Church.

From left to right: Jacqui Flores, Brandee Cruz, Pastor Alvin Maragh — the Digital Evangelism Team of Fresno Asian & Community Adventist Church.

What began with a single Facebook prayer ad has become a living pipeline of grace. In just the first seven weeks, the digital evangelism team received about 15 to 20 prayer messages every week and, through more than 350 prayer requests, began conversations and built relationships with neighbors in the community. God used a single localized Prayer ad to spark 252 meaningful conversations, linking the church directly with people right in their area.

“We quickly learned that a small church can meet a big need when every member takes a watch,” Brandee says.

Digital Evangelism Prayer ads team members covered morning, evening, and overnight shifts so that no request ever went unanswered.

From left to right: Brandee, Elizabeth, and Pastor Alvin.

 Brandee shared the story of Elizabeth. She had reached out through the prayer ad with a simple but heartfelt request: “Just for the Lord Jesus to help me do something meaningful. I’m 62 and I want to serve the Lord.” Brandee immediately responded and began praying for her. Then she assigned the conversation to Yuritzy, a member of the prayer team. Yuritzy continued to pray for Elizabeth and faithfully followed up. Soon, Elizabeth expressed a desire to come to church—but there was one challenge: she needed a ride.

That’s when members of Fresno Asian & Community Adventist Church stepped in. Elder Ricardo drove the church van to pick her up not once, but twice, so she could attend Sabbath worship. On her third visit, Elizabeth was brought to church by her son, Jordan. That Sabbath, after a powerful message and music, Elizabeth stood when Pastor Alvin invited people to commit to Bible studies and baptism. Through a single prayer ad, a soul was led to Jesus.

From left to right: Yuritzy Villaseñor, Brandee Cruz, Joe Khoe, Jacqui & Aaron Flores — the Digital Evangelism Team of Fresno Asian & Community Adventist Church.

“Honestly, about 95% of the time, every message we received ended with gratitude,” Brandee says.

Many people from the local community reached out to the church with prayer requests, and through those conversations, meaningful relationships began to form. To this day, the prayer team at Fresno Asian & Community Adventist Church continues to intercede for their neighbors. And through it all, the faith of the prayer team members has grown deeper as well.

For churches ready to dive in, Brandee’s counsel is both practical and Spirit‑filled: listen for the Spirit’s prompt, recruit at least five responders, schedule coverage blocks, and keep guidelines simple. “It’s a lot of work, but if God’s hand is in it, it will work,” she says.

A church van, a smartphone, and a handful of prayer warriors—that’s all it took for heaven to link screens to pews and pews to baptismal waters. What might God do if your next notification wasn’t ignored—but answered with, “How can we pray for you?

Written by Bryan Bong.