In years past missionaries would have ministry which took place in a face to face environment. For the most part this is still true today. Most ministers are people oriented, they love to meet with people, to serve them, and to pray for them. If you have been in ministry for a long time you know that people are important. It is often said that we are in the "people" business.

In the past few years people have been extremely interested in virtual ministry among groups of people that have limited access to the gospel. Many Virtual missionaries can log on and share the gospel in a different context. This is a great way for believers in the church to take advantage of new technologies to share the message more effectively in closed countries. 

However, most of these individuals crave something more. They have a desire to be, excuse the buzz word term, "missional" with their lives. In my opinion this is where virtual and physical ministry intersect and if done properly can become... Ministry. As believers take what they are doing on the street and continue that same ministry in the online social environment the virtual and physical become one ministry. This intersection has so much potential to reach more people through authentic relationships it is really exciting to see where the future will take us. I personally looking forward seeing this played out in each of your ministries. 

Tags: Social Media, Missions, Strategic

Last year during the summer researchers saw the amount of Tweets in the Middle East exponentially increase over the course of two months and then it went back down to normal. This caused some to wonder what happened and how they could adapt for the next year.

When the findings came out it was one of those... Oh ya moments. Last summer the Islamic month of Ramadan was in the middle of two different months. The Online Project, a marketing firm in the Middle East published a report that not only details the peak times for twitter activity across the region but also a run down of country in the region.

So as a mission strategist in social media what am I to do? That's right start getting ready for next year. If there are peak times when Muslims are on Twitter sending messages back and forth to one another, then that is the exact time that we need people actively trying to share the gospel with them. Because we know in advance the suggested times we can create a mini social media strategy and gain partnerships from people in the states to be actively listening and engaging Muslims with the gospel during this specific 30 day time.

A strategy of this nature has three main parts. First, mission strategists need to actively listen to what Muslims are saying during this upcoming Ramadan. Missionaries already have a good idea of the conversation topics that revolve around the Muslim holy month, yet, actively listening implies the constant monitoring of activity and keywords in order to interact with potential seekers during Ramadan. Second, mission personnel need to be ready to interact with these individuals that flood the scene with tweets about how thankful they are for God and all he has done for them this year. This gives missionaries and prepared believers the opportunity to share why they are thankful for God. I have always said, "It is much easier to get into a spiritual conversation with a Muslim, than someone from the West." Third, a group of people need to stand at the ready in the churches all across the world following and praying for this team and the Muslims they interact with on Twitter. Its a simple strategy but like the student mobilizers I have worked with in the past say about the Christian life… "Its Simple, Not Easy".

Please join us in praying for next years Ramadan starting in the last few days of June. If you would like more information, send me an email or message

Tags: Strategic, Missions, Twitter

The other night I was at a Youth event and they were talking about "Threats" to the youth group. One of the items they wrote down was that social media is a threat to youth group growth. I have a lot of experience with using Facebook and Twitter for Kingdom impact so I was curious to figure out how social media can threaten our churches and youth groups. Don't get me wrong, I know about the potential threats that are in the world. Living in the Middle East kind of prepares you to see potential threats especially with information in the "online" world.

In America I feel like most parents are terrified of social media. They seem afraid of what their children have access to in the world. It shows me that parents are not preparing their children to be light in a dark world. Parents, if you are not preparing your children in how to act in a lost world, and even a lost social media world then we have pretty much lost the battle at this point. Yes, there are dangers of placing content (pictures, locations, and status updates) out there for anyone to read. Parents and mentors need to be proactive in educating your children and followers in proper social media etiquette.

In the past few months I have started encouraging students to use social media to share their faith with the nations from their social media accounts. This can even mean those that live in the Middle East. My main context is Muslim peoples so I usually train and challenge students to share their faith and look for friends and potential followers in other cultures that speak english. In the Arab world over 50% of Arabs that have a Facebook account mark English as their primary or default language. They do this for three reasons: 1) They speak English 2) They want to speak English or 3) They want you to think they speak English so you will be their friend. As a missionary in that context I want you to friend them and share the gospel with them. If you are interested in more information about this send me an email or a DM on Twitter and I'll hook you up.

I clearly think that social media is not a threat to youth ministry. I see a huge potential for using social media for sharing ones faith in the Facebook & Twitter culture. I also agree with Len Sweet who says that Twitter has the best potential for disciple-making because users follow people they want to hear or learn from but, I will talk more about that in another post later. Youth groups and youth ministers just like any other person in ministry need to use social media to its max potential for Kingdom purposes.

Tags: Students, Missions