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

How can sending churches and missionaries create a partnership that lasts for years? Usually it starts with a plan. Team leaders receive a great deal of training, developing strategy plans for engaging a particular people group or urban segment with the gospel. Sending or base churches can easily be apart of these strategies. However it takes work on both sides. The missionary needs to communicate the strategy to the church and then the church needs to choose if they can or are willing to participate in any of the elements of the strategy.

Ty, this is great and all but what does this have to do with social media? Right now we are helping these strategy leaders integrate social media into their strategies. Some can see the potential while others cannot see how Facebook can be used in their strategy plans. That is where we come in to help them. Here are two items that churches can start doing today to partner with mission strategy.

First, church partners can manage social media advocacy for the UPG. Managing a Facebook Page or Twitter account can assist prayer awareness in the states. Trust me, from years of experience on the field, you want as many people praying for your people group as you can find. As missionaries send the church information about the UPG the church members can learn more and know better how to pray. Twitter is know for its Rapid communication style and urgent prayer requests can be sent around the world in a matter of moments. Social media fuels strategy.

Second, partnering church members can also look for people of peace in the social media world. Everyone knows at this point Facebook has over 1 Billion members from almost every nation. Thats 1 Billion potential people who need to hear the gospel. We are focusing on the unengaged and unreached people groups of the Middle East, but the use of social media for the gospel is limitless. I will post more about how churches and college students can share the message of the gospel on Facebook in another series of posts next month. If you can wait that long and want to know now just send me a message.

Tags: Prayer, Churches, Twitter, Facebook, Social Media