It has nothing to do with technology, social networks, or even media in fact. When I reflect on how our ministry has been impacted after learning about Media to Movements (MTM), those simply are not the benefits that come to mind. To be certain, we learned about these things and the training helped me get a better understanding of the current state of technology and social media. I saw examples of how others have and are using digital content and social media to reach people with the Gospel, disciple them and facilitate multiplication. I have borrowed from those examples in our own work. God used the the MTM strategy to enlarge my vision and see ways that He is at work in the world today.
With that enlarged vision, MTM has changed how we do ministry in two significant ways. We have become much more intentional in answering the “who” and the “what” questions. Who are the people we are trying to reach, what are their characteristics, desires, fears, what questions are they asking, what are the points of belief disruption in their life? As we have identified the who, we have spent a great deal of time defining what we want the people we are reaching to do – what is the path or process that we want them to follow in learning about Christ, accepting Christ, becoming a disciple of Christ and multiplying themselves in others?
MTM strategy is focused on answering these “who” and “what” questions initially to understand how digital content and media could possibly help in supporting that discipleship path. But the impact of this learning has been much greater than just how media may be used in our ministry but challenged and strengthened how we are doing face to face ministry as well.
We are not there yet. We are still on this journey of following the vision and calling God has given to us, prayerfully to catalyze a church planting movement among one of the largest unreached people groups in Southeast Asia and specifically in a city of 10 million people. Thankfully, we are not on the journey alone. One of the additional benefits of the largeer movement for us is the network of others on a similar journey it introduced us to, instructors and students who continue to be sounding boards, teachers, supporters, and friends. From that field of support, we are actively working a strategy to reach the people of our city. Most recently we have been focusing on a segment of our city which numbers about 3 million in population. Advertising on social media has been most appropriate in our context and so we have used that tool to get the Gospel in front of roughly 100,000 in that population segment.
The tools of social media have further helped to filter through that 100,000 down to a little more than 10,000 who interacted with us or took at least a passing interest in our content. Certainly not all those 10,000 are actual seekers or persons of peace, but some of them definitely are. We are now in the process of focusing digital content on that 10,000 with the goal to filter even more to find the ones on whose heart God is already at work and are willing to group their friends together to explore the Bible. We are not to churches multiplying, or even starting yet, but we will get there by God’s grace and in His will. MTM strategy started us on this journey and God continues to affirm and bless us with each step of faith we take.
Contributor: AJ
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