In This Issue: Great Media for Missions Presentations
Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!
Practical Mobilization by Shane Bennett is published once a month.
Great Media for Missions Presentations
By Shane Bennett
Were you glad that Crash won the Oscar for Best Picture of the year at the Academy Awards? Maybe you don’t care about American movies. I was glad, though. The movie is poignant and feels true. It’s packed with a hundred great scenes that I would love to use when teaching about cross-cultural interaction. Unfortunately, each great scene is packed with a dozen really bad words. I wouldn’t be able to use the movie even if I were training a group of sailors!
But there must be good media stuff that we can use. In last month’s column I asked readers to send in examples of great media that could be used in missions presentations. Seven readers responded with ideas, plus one wrote to say “Hi.” (Hi, Mari!) I can’t face the possibility that seven responses represent all our readership, but I assume that there is room for some more great stuff to be created.
I’ll grant you this: The bar for excellence in missions presentations has not always been high. You can be only half-way good and still make a splash. (My whole career is based on this principle!) True as that may be, if you love high-caste Hindus, don’t you want whatever audiences you can round up to be stunned by their beauty? If you believe God is unfolding history to accomplish his purposes, don’t you want the truth of that reality to be stamped on peoples’ souls? Great media tools are not the only answer, but they can capture hearts and unleash passion.
Here’s a run-down of the ideas fellow mobilizers sent in:
1. Brian Mosely from RightNow recommends the downloadable videos available from Bluefishtv.com. I checked out some of these. What fun! Great stories, compellingly told, available to download! Way to go, guys! As I write, I’m scheming to persuade my pastor to show one at our church this coming Sunday.
2. A reader named Michelle says, “We have used the “Everybody Needs Jesus ” video, by Good News Productions. It is four minutes in length and features a wonderfully captivating song accompanied by video footage of people from all over the world. This is especially great if you live in a pretty homogeneous community!”
3. Jerome Hannaman, of the U.S. Center for World Mission, says to check out “Global Purpose: Fulfilling God’s Heart for All Peoples” from Create International. God’s global purpose to reach all peoples unfolds from Genesis to Revelation in this power-packed graphically dynamic presentation. The whole DVD (20 minutes) also includes four chapters (about five minutes in length), one each on biblical, historical, unreached people, and involvement themes.
Create International has also begun its own podcast which our readers might enjoy.
4. Mert, a world-class mobilizer for Arabian peoples, suggests a couple of DVDs: “Praying through the Arabian Peninsula” shows the plight of the unreached there and portrays them in a winsome and compelling way. “Considering the region, you would be hard-pressed to find anything, secular or otherwise, as moving for a contemporary audience,” says Mert. He also suggests “Revive Us” by Robin Mark, accompanied by moving Arabian images and Egyptian praise music. E-mail Mert for more information or to purchase these.
Mert also suggests checking out “Yemen: A People Apart,” “Journeys,” and “The Real Story: A Christian’s Guide to the Arab World” from Arab World Ministries.
5. Another reader, Andrew, says, “I thought you might be interested in Video Ministries International. They produce professional-quality videos and other communication tools for missionaries and ministry organizations, whether they can afford them or not. Their staff members raise their own support.” You can also reach VMI by e-mail.
6. If you would like to try your hand at your own productions, David with WorldVenture recommends Code Jam’s slideshow software, Memories On TV. “I have gotten rave reviews for the presentations I made using this super-simple program,” he says.
Now here’s the challenge: Take a minute and think through your constituency. You may be connected to people who have media production talent. You may have some real stars. Is it possible that you could encourage them to use some of that talent to produce a compelling video, flash animation, or maybe even a PowerPoint that illustrates a key missions idea or principle? This would provide an opportunity for them to use their talent to expand God’s kingdom. And it might just provide some useful tools for the rest of us.
Here are three ideas I’d love to see well illustrated: God’s glory as the ultimate goal of missions, current global hot spots in kingdom growth, and God’s tendency to use unlikely characters to do his work. I expect you have more. Keep me posted on what happens.
Questions? Problems? Submissions? Contact publisher/managing editor Marti Smith.