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SBC DIGEST: IMB using social media to reach young adults; Children’s Missions Day cultivates community


Social media proves key to reaching young adults
By Jennifer Waldrep

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (BP) — Young adults of Latin America have grown up wired, as in many other cultures. They use smart phones to interact but not just when they are apart. Young people in the same room text each other, simultaneously following separate chats, interacting over shared photos and videos.

They use phones to check webpages for homework assignments, and they email one-paragraph reports to teachers who cut to the chase in lectures, preparing students to communicate in the soundbites of a digital world. As they enter the workforce, they use smart phones on the job. And to relax, video games and movies are on the same mobile device.

IMB missionary Matt Ostertag understands that leading young Latinos to Jesus is likely to happen through their phones. Ostertag and his colleagues are developing a project to flood social media with Christ-centered content that touches issues concerning Latino students and young adults. The team recognizes the need for a new method of presenting the gospel and is leveraging cyberspace to reach this tech-dominant generation.

Ostertag’s team will develop short gospel videos that springboard off current digital conversation topics. For example, in Guadalajara, where Ostertag lives, young people fear violent crime. They also are disillusioned with once-promising politicians who turned out to be corrupt.

Ostertag’s videos will use this topic as a bridge to the Gospel. Videos will include a pop-up window inviting viewers to chat with counselors. Christians will direct viewers to local events, such as evangelistic concerts, where they will hear more about Christ. The campaign’s trajectory will eventually connect interested young people to local churches.

Digital content that presents the Gospel is relevant not only to people who don’t know the Lord. It is also a tool that helps Christians share their faith.

Ostertag said the Mexican young adults he disciples, mostly in their 20-40s, are interested in knowing the Gospel deeper.

“They don’t like to tell stories, they don’t like to read much, though they can,” Ostertag said.

If disciple-makers use material that connects with young adults’ technology-based communication patterns and learning styles, their students “can get the Gospel deeper, and they can share it with others,” he continued.

“The issue is not that urban people don’t want to share the Gospel,” Ostertag emphasized. “[It’s that] they don’t know how. They are scared. They feel inadequate in their knowledge.”

During accountability sessions, when Ostertag asks those he disciples who they have shared the Gospel with, they say they need to learn more first.

When opportunities come, young people find themselves unable to explain biblical truths they have received from literate or orality-based methods. They grasp enough to embrace the Gospel but not enough to articulate it to a peer outside the faith.

“They are not able to learn well enough by the means we are providing to them,” Ostertag said.

Discipleship methods need to fit the learning style and worldview orientation of the people missionaries are trying to reach. In the case of urban young adults, incorporating digital content puts the teaching in their grasp, and offering digital methods for sharing biblical teaching equips them to lead others to Jesus.

There is an urgent need for young people who understand Latin culture, who speak via tech-based methods themselves, and who can create videos that communicate the Gospel. Latino or Third Culture Kids, for example, could transmit the Gospel via means that reach those speaking fluent tech. We’ve a story to tell to the nations. Let’s tell it in a communicable way. If you have interest in being a part of this approach, please email [email protected].

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WMU Children Missions Day cultivates community
By Carolyn Tomlin

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) — Woman’s Missionary Union invites all children in grades 1–6 to join thousands of kids across the country in hands-on ministry in their communities during Children’s Missions Day Saturday, February 15, 2020.

From feeding hungry people to visiting shut-ins, boys and girls follow God’s command to “put your love into action” (1 John 3:18).

Church groups create projects that meet needs in their own communities. WMU created Children’s Missions Day to move children out of their churches and into their communities to do missions.

The first Children’s Missions Day was in 2008. Since then, thousands of people have taken part in this special day.

WMU recently changed the name of this event from Children’s Ministry Day to Children’s Missions Day. Follow this link to read a little more about the difference between ministry and missions.

WMU offers three suggestions as congregations prepare for CMD:

As a church, begin to ask for volunteers for Children’s Missions Day. Always have responsible helpers in case of an accident or a situation in which you will need assistance. Collect the names and contact information of parents. Require signed permission slips to take children off church property. Inquire about food allergies or other medical conditions that leaders need to know.

Within your children’s missions group, leaders realize that all children are not at the same level of cognitive or physical ability. Knowing each child, modify or adapt activities where each child achieves a measure of success. Make each child feel special, unique, and loved by God.

Although one goal is for the children to have fun and enjoy being together, ask yourself: What are children learning about serving others while serving God? Engage children in loving people by visiting and singing songs with an elderly neighbor. Collect and deliver toiletries to a homeless shelter. Write thank-you notes to your church staff. Your choices should have a measurable impact on the people they serve.

If you have comments or questions about Children’s Missions Day, please email [email protected] or contact your state WMU office. We look forward to helping your kids do hands-on ministry!

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