In This Issue: Mission Mobilization, Twitter, and Your Tribe
- SUBVERSIVE MOBILIZATION – Twitter for Mobilizers, Continued
- FEATURE – The Power of the Holy Spirit in Mobilization
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.
SUBVERSIVE MOBILIZATION – Twitter for Mobilizers, Continued
By Shane Bennett
In last month’s Practical Mobilization edition I ventured into the murky waters of Twitter, openly wondering about its possible helpfulness in mobilization. I also mentioned my plan to tweet twice daily for a month. Well, the month is up and I have three things to report:
1. I’m pretty sure I actually tweeted twice a day. The discipline was good for me. I was challenged to consider what I had read that merited passing on (or, in the local parlance, retweeting). Seth Godin also pushed me to consider what I have to say, what value I can add to the mix.
2. The looming problem for me and Twitter seems to be separating the wheat from the chaff. At this point I follow 107 people, who crank out over 150 tweets a day, and increasingly I don’t read them all. I have 97 followers. (Truth be told, I wanted to get to 100 before this article came out – but didn’t want to beg!) If I don’t read the people I follow, what hope do I have that they read me? Well, I might think my posts are just hugely interesting, compelling, un-pass-up-able, but really? I sort things out as I go, trying to overlook the sleazy marketing tweets and the “I feel sorta gloomy right now and can’t wait for Friday” whines to focus on the ones I think are the most interesting, eccentric, and potentially helpful.
3. The closest thing I have to a goal with Twitter is this: I’d like to build a tribe of followers who sense a real benefit from the stuff I post and who are willing to read and, if possible, answer a question within five minutes of my posting it.
Mission Catalyst readers also sent in several suggestions, and recommend following the following:
DavidLWatson – International training and catalyzing of church-planting movements
OnlineDisciples – Developing church-planting strategies for online communities
JohnKKing – Training church planters
Thanks to John, who sent us a list of some Wycliffe Bible Translators UK staff involved in Twittering for/about mobilization: John_Nornirn, WycliffeUK, EngageBF09, EngageCMB09, EngageCam09, Rumble60, WoodwardMW, KattheKat, and Stephangus3
Carrisa says, “I’ve found that Desiring God International Outreach has great stuff on Twitter for missions mobilization. Find them at NationsBeGlad.”
Tiffany offers this list of her favorites: EdStetzer, TonySteward, DavidHFoster, and LenSweet.
Elda shared how following vomc has been helpful for her: “I really like Twitter for how quickly it allows prayer requests and news to be transmitted. I remember recently being awakened by a tweet on my cell phone in the middle of the night regarding unrest in the Indian state of Orissa. It was asking for immediate prayer for Christians who were being beaten and assaulted. I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but I prayed for God’s hand to be on those who were affected. I was so grateful for the opportunity to pray at the ‘appointed’ time.”
Finally (shameless plug), you’re welcome to check out CalebResources and Shanedar.
>> To get started (or decide if you want to) check out this short video, How to Use Twitter. To keep the conversation about Twitter and mobilization going, feel free to go to our website and comment.
FEATURE – The Power of the Holy Spirit in Mobilization
By Shane Bennett
I’ve been thinking lately about the role of the power of the Holy Spirit in mobilization. While my tendency is to focus on snazzy presentations and engaging anecdotes, a niggling little voice in the back of my head reminds me there’s more at play than producing an accurate and relevant message.
Without going all charis-maniac on you (and realizing that many Mission Catalyst readers could take me to school in these matters), I’ll mention one of the thoughts kicking around in my mind, ask for your help, and continue the topic in September.
Who Is God Calling out from Your Tribe?
In your mind’s eye, look out over your church, your Facebook friend list, your InterVarsity or Cru pals, your denomination, basically your tribe(s). See their faces, their lives. Dream about their futures. Who might God be calling to take some new steps of obedience to the Great Commission?
Ask God how he might want you to envision, equip, and encourage them on their journeys. Ask him to show you.
Lately, Justin Long has been asking (in the midst of a million other great questions), how local church mobilizers might identify and facilitate global activists from their fellowships. Perhaps that’s the very thing you find yourself doing these days. Good for you. It’s a great service. Here are a couple of “whys” and one warning.
1. You know your tribe best.
I’d totally love to talk to your people and tell them cool stuff they could do to join in God’s purposes. But let’s face it, you know them way better than I do. And while I’m hanging out with my family a month from now, you’ll still be living life with your peeps, walking through trials, celebrating success, and building authority in relationship.
2. No invitation, no RSVP.
I have a hunch (demonstrated, but not proven, both in my life and those of others), that people tend to do what they’re invited to do. While God certainly can call a person entirely by putting an idea in their heart and mind, most often he calls through others and through the communities we’ve linked up with.
If so, a key prayer for mobilizers is, “God, help me understand what you’re asking of us, both corporately and individually. Give me eyes to see where you’re taking us.” Then as God unveils his purposes, find good ways to pass them along.
Recently, for example, I was part of a team at church helping out with a huge youth service effort. One of the team leaders was a walking hat trick: She was bright, hard working, and sported a great attitude! In a brief conversation, she mentioned she’d recently graduated from college and was asking God about her place in the world. I told her I had friends around the globe that could use someone like her for a year to help home school their kids. I explained how this would provide both a great service to a family and awesome cross-cultural experience for her. She said, “That’s worth thinking about.” I put her in contact with a family I trust and they’re all praying about how to make things happen.
I don’t know if she’ll actually end up doing what I invited her to do, but at the least she’s taken fresh, hopeful steps to following God.
3. A word of warning.
Most of us have been victims of a “God told me to tell you to go to Yemen while I stay here in my comfortable home” scenario and refuse to foist that on others. I think we can avoid this by a careful combination of relationship building and listening to the Holy Spirit. It also helps to say, “I think God maybe might like me to share this with you…” Or maybe don’t even blame it on God at all: Just tell people what you think you’re sensing. Later on you can share from where your inspiration came.
Even though we want to avoid manipulation, we can’t fail to invite people to make their lives count. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us what he’s up to and let us know how we can rightly speak about his purposes to individuals and groups.
Next month I want to talk about how the power of God can release us from a debilitating sense of rejection. How can we expect people to “give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ” when they’re pretty sure they’re going to fail even at their small ambitions?
>> If you’d like to pre-comment on that issue or float out other ways we need the power of the Holy Spirit in our mobilization efforts, please zip off a quick email to me.
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