The Rise of Media in Missions

Within days of the WHO declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, Spain became one of the first countries to enter lockdown. As the practicalities of being physically separated were realized, churches began to get creative with how they reached people, and in nearly all cases, the tool they used to reach people was media.

The Church is engaging people through media now more than ever. Of course, Christian media is nothing new, but we have seen an exponential increase at the intersection of the gospel and media this year. Since the onset of the pandemic, I’ve personally seen a shift in the way churches see the function of media in ministry, their audience, and themselves.

A Different View

The first change I see is a different view of media’s role in ministry. Before the pandemic, hosting small groups via Zoom, using messaging apps like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp to communicate, and live-streaming services were largely considered optional. The pandemic proved each to be critically important.

Where I live in Spain, we were under strict lockdown for nearly 100 days. I don’t know of any churches who did not implement some new-to-them tools to remain connected while quarantined. Even in an ideal scenario, these platforms can’t replace physical interaction, but the desire to use the most effective tool will help us better engage the world around us.

The results don’t life: As churches switched to online platforms during COVID-related shutdowns, many people heard gospel presentations and were saved.

Seeing The Audience

The second chance I’m seeing is in how churches see their congregations or “audience.” In the past those who attended church online were viewed as less engaged and received little attention. Suddenly everyone attending church was attending online. Because of this, pastors and churches now see their online attendees as a viable audience who need to be shepherded instead of treating them as too lazy to show up in person.

A church close to me is giving actual energy, time, and resources to improving online services. This means not just providing a video of the service that already happening but creating an intentional, strategic service designed to engage an online-only audience. Once they resume in-person services, their online campus will remain open.

Pastors Practicing Media

A third change is that ministers now see themselves as media practitioners. In the past I’ve been part of church media seminars where pastors ended up frustrated that, while they learned a great deal, they felt they couldn’t devote the energy needed to implement the skills in a meaningful way. These churches are now innovating like never before. A year ago few had dreamed of Zoom prayer meetings, WhatsApp life groups, or television street evangelism.

While I’m sure our pastors, missionaries, and lay ministers feel overwhelmed with many of the circumstances that brought on this new reality, I hope the engagement continues. Born of necessity and creativity, these strategies have largely worked! I pray they will continue to be a critical part of the path forward as we share the gospel and establish the Church.

Matt and Rachel Nelsen serve as missionaries at International Media Ministries in Madrid, Spain. They have three children: Robert, Reegan, and Cora.

Divine Appointment at the Grocery Store

During our time here in Austria, we have been continually ministering to a Syrian refugee family. We had connected with them during an outreach that we were a part of at Vienna Christian Center.  We hadn’t seen or heard from them in a while, so with the coronavirus crisis we reached out to them to reconnect and see if they needed anything. Unfortunately the number we had for them was out of service and we had no way to get in touch with them other than knowing their last place of address.

Without a correct phone number and uncertain of whether or not they still lived in the same apartment, Caleb still felt led to make a trip out their way the day before Easter Sunday. He went to a grocery store nearby where we thought they still lived to pick up some groceries for them, and during his trip he ran into his friend! This was back during the time when people weren’t going to the store as often because of quarantine restrictions. Caleb was only in the store for 10 minutes - what a God divine appointment! After talking to his friend, Caleb found out that the family had moved into a different place down the street from their old apartment. This was a great opportunity to explain that this meeting was not by accident and that the Holy Spirit led him to be at the store at the right time to run into his friend. Caleb was able to bring the groceries to the family, visit with them, and share with them about the Resurrection of Jesus.

May we be sensitive to His Holy Spirit every day and we pray God bless your daily routines with divine appointments to share His love with the world!

Seclusion and Solitude

A virus ravaged our world. Borders have closed, curfews were enacted, and our calendars became cleared for perhaps the first time in a long time. Life seems to be at a standstill, and we have no control over it. What do we do now?

What if God is calling us to greater intimacy with Him? What if He is giving us the opportunity to spend quality time with our loved ones? What if our Heavenly Father is removing all our excuses and calling us to a place of solitude, seclusion, and intimacy?

The opportunity for rest, recovery, and intimacy with God has never been more attainable than it is today. Unfortunately, instead of using our extra time to decompress and recover, many of us are trying even harder to connect with people. We are spending more time on social media, participating in excessive video conferences, and subconsciously doing everything we can to avoid being alone.

The great twentieth-century artist Pablo Picasso said, “Nothing can be accomplished without solitude.”

Before COVID-19 our family focused on helping national partners establish churches where the Church has yet to exist. When the pandemic hit, Macedonia took a strong stand and shut everything down. Different age groups received different curfews. We entered a season of solitude and seclusion yet remained connected to the digital world.

We were on social media, had weekly Zoom meetings, talked with friends and family on Marco Polo, sorted through multiple emails, and followed local and global news reports. It was overwhelming. With the world’s needs on our screens, we experienced confusion and guilt as we dealt with something new—social media contagion and overstimulation.

We felt like we had to do something.

In his blog Leadership in the Middle, Dr. Jim Sabella makes this powerful statement: “When we are on video conference after video conference, sometimes with dozens of people on a single video call, we are subconsciously reading people’s faces. We sense their fear and anxiety, and we take that emotion on ourselves. Social contagion is impacting our mind, body, and spirit.”

On top of that, as a global community we are collectively suffering from what psychologists have labeled overstimulation. Our lives are full of stimuli fighting for our attention everywhere and at all times. We are feeding our minds more information than they can process.

During this time we have felt God whisper into our hearts, Trust Me. I have a plan for you in the midst of what seems like chaos. Do not worry, for I am with you. Take this opportunity to be still, focus on your family’s health, and draw closer to Me.

Words can’t explain how refreshing this has been for our souls. Even though everything seemed to be collapsing around us, we were content—maybe even happy. We couldn’t lead any program or do ministry how we were used to doing it. We could only leave the house for essentials. We could only love God and each other, intentionally looking for creative opportunities to do so.

We were content. God was using our family to minister, yet we weren’t busy. Ministry was happening, yet our calendar was empty. Humans are social beings; however, our bodies, minds, and souls need time to recover. We subconsciously crave silence, solitude, and time for reflection.

We found simple acts performed in solitude ministered to our minds and bodies the most, whether planting and tending our garden, reading favorite books that had collected dust on our shelves, ensuring our meals were tastier and more nutritious, playing board games, or drinking coffee on our porch. Simple things fed our innermost being in ways earlier busyness had never done. God had given us contentment.

Not long after that, guilt overwhelmed us once again. This time, it was less about doing something and more about our happiness and contentment. Why did we feel content when the world seemed to be falling apart? How could we be happy when everyone we knew was talking about how hard life was? Is there something wrong with us? Shouldn’t we be feeling bad?

That’s when God reminded us of the following Scriptures.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27, NIV).

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you…” (Isaiah 41:10, ESV).

God has reminded us of what He spoke to our hearts in the beginning. We had a tough choice to make. We cut our time on social media, allowed Marco Polo videos to go unanswered, limited our consumption of news reports, and only answered essential emails. We disconnected and found a place of solitude, seclusion, and intimacy with the Lord.

And wouldn’t you know it—ministry with our neighbors exploded! For years we could never get our neighbors to engage in any meaningful conversation about faith. They were always happy to talk about the weather, sports, or politics, but spiritual matters were off the table. Now our neighbors are coming to us asking why we chose to stay in Macedonia during a pandemic and how they find the contentment we have.

Amid chaos and confusion, God uses seclusion and solitude. Intentionally disconnecting from social media is essential. Turn off the television. Reschedule video conferences. Find a place of rest and solitude instead. Read a book. Plant a garden. Play a board game with your children. Spend time in prayer and reflection. Allow your body, mind, and soul to decompress and recover. Allow God to call you to greater intimacy with Him.

Tim and Elle Bentley and their son Bruin serve as missionaries in Macedonia.

Divine Meeting at McDonald's

People often ask, “How has the COVID situation changed your ministry or what you do?” As Missionary Associates working with a Project Rescue affiliate home in Finland, not much has changed. The care for survivors of human trafficking is a daily walk towards recovery with the vulnerable and hurting. Just being present and listening is often the open door for us to show God’s love and concern. For some the daily care doesn’t seem to be enough. The changes are slow, and we wonder if God is working. But then He reminds us that His plans for someone are better than ours. Such is the case for Genie, a survivor of abandonment, childhood abuse, and sex trafficking.
 
Genie came to Rose Home last fall full of anger and fear - fear of her traffickers and fear for her future. While she had been making progress in her recovery, building skills, and becoming more open to discussing God, things didn't really start to change until Sara visited the home. Sara had been a Rose Home volunteer two years ago and did not know Genie. However, they both recognized that they knew each other from somewhere. Sara finally shared that she had stopped to pray with Genie outside of a McDonald's in the summer of 2019. At that time Genie was distressed and looking for ways to get away from the traffickers. Sara told her that even after that one meeting she continued to pray for her to find the right place to go. Genie was so surprised and began to cry at how God had answered Sara's prayer and allowed her to come to Rose Home for recovery. Recently, Genie went to church for the first time! She has a long journey ahead of her, but now she knows that God loves her, thinks about her, and cares about her life.