Standing on a stage to talk to crowds of people was likely never what Kaleb Eisele envisioned for himself as a shy kid. He remembers loving to read stacks of books piled higher than his head, writing interesting stories and catching bugs.
But he knew he had to challenge himself if he wanted to share his ideas with the world. And so he did.
Years later, on Oct. 18, 2018, Eisele found himself speaking to over 200 people at the Society of Adventist Communicators convention about how he hopes to repair the divisions and brokenness he sees in his church with his two-year-old project, Humans of Adventism.
Humans of Adventism, styled after the much acclaimed “Humans of New York,” features short, quote-based profiles on Adventists from a variety of backgrounds, age groups and lifestyles. Eisele’s hope is to not only connect Adventists to each other, but to give those from outside of the denomination an understanding of the culture in an authentic way.
After giving others a space to share their stories, Kaleb shares his own in an interview:
Tierra Hayes: Do you mind telling me what you do for a living?
Kaleb Eisele: I work full time in the service industry as a trainer for a pest control company. During the week I operate equipment and teach some classes on the systems we use, but because much of my job is automated, I am free to work on what I really love: an Adventist storytelling platform called Humans of Adventism. HoA is part of a broader “Humans of” movement that started with Brandon Stanton’s “Humans of New York.” Our page is a little different from much of Adventist media because the content is far less censored. It’s more about who Adventists are than who we want them to be.
TH: So HoA has been around for a little over a year at this point, do you mind walking me through that process?
KE: As I say often when I speak at events, Humans of Adventism could be run by anyone with a cell phone. I started with Facebook as a home base and use Messenger to conduct the vast majority of my interviews. The photos generally come from the interviewees. Humans of Adventism has grown much faster than I ever expected though, and I think that has to do with how we tell these stories. I’m blessed with the ability to come off as trustworthy. People are willing to get vulnerable with me, and I’m usually able to narrow down our conversations to the most meaningful, poignant part. That’s what goes up on HoA. People have really connected with this and come together to make the platform grow. It’s entirely driven by our readers-no corporate or church sponsorship, just people who believe in what we’re doing.
TH: How did you decide that HoA was something that you wanted to do?
KE: It actually started with an idea I had for my local church. I was taking photos for our church directory and thought, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if instead of flat pictures we could include people’s stories? Then everyone would feel like they knew something about each person when they came in.” That idea ended up failing, and in the in-between I continued reading posts from one of my favorite pages, Humans of New York. The two pieces of my brain sort of overlapped and became Humans of Adventism. I was dangerously close to scrapping the idea, but several of my peers weren’t having that. They stood behind the idea and encouraged me to make it a reality, and that core group has now turned into a community of over 4,000 people.
TH: What is your purpose for doing HoA? What makes you get up in the morning and want to continue the page?
KE: I see the world moving with every story we share. Online, I see hearts changing. In the physical world, I see my peers taking this inspiration and owning their faith. People have sent voice messages of them praying for me. My church, even though most of the members hardly use the Internet, is vocally, undeniably supportive of me in this. With that many people telling me that this matters, I can’t ignore the calling. Every day I’m directly involved with someone else’s life in a positive way. I can’t imagine a more meaningful way to live.
TH: What has the support been like? I know you recently hit over 4,000 likes and followers, so how has that felt? What significance does it have for you?
KE: I’m really just a guy with a regular job trying to use what I have to make this world better. The support I’ve gotten is a little overwhelming sometimes, and I don’t feel like I deserve it at all. When I go places, people voluntarily share the Humans of Adventism story for me and bring even more people into the conversation. It’s unbelievable. I think this is sort of an ideal version of church. Many of my peers don’t feel supported by their church, and because I do, I want to be that support for them. This experience has given me a role in the lives of other people, made me confident that God has a plan for my life and driven me to learn as much as I can about the diverse people around me.
TH: How has finding and featuring all of these stories spoken to you?
KE: I find every single human being interesting. Having this many people share their personal experiences with me has changed me in a couple of significant ways. First, it’s humanized the other people I pass in the world. The cashier at the grocery store. The kid reading at the library. The guy standing by the stoplight with a cardboard sign. When I look at them now, I see a life around them. And the individuals I’ve interviewed are suddenly people I genuinely care and think about. I feel a personal connection to them long after our interview is done and posted. Second, it’s changed how people look. Sounds weird, I know, but I can no longer separate someone’s physical appearance from their mind. Instead of seeing their features as a flat, objective thing, I’m seeing things like nervous twitches, posture, eye movement, and all of that is adding pieces to the massive puzzle of who they are. Humanizing and hearing stories like this forever changes how you view the people around you.
TH: Is there anything that I haven't asked or a topic I haven't addressed that you believe would be beneficial for our readers to know or understand?
KE: I just want to emphasize the power that everyone reading this has been given through technology. We can literally create communities and social movements from scratch. I don’t think it’s ever been more possible to move the world, and if you’re doing that I hope that Humans of Adventism and I can help you along on that journey.
To learn more about Humans of Adventism or see featured posts, visit adventisthuman.com or follow the project on social media (Facebook, Instagram) @humansofadventism.
Image credit: Kaleb Eisele