SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR JESUS CHRIST

The potential to reach Latin Americans through digital media is enormous. Like much of the world, nearly everyone has access to a cell phone and uses at least one social media platform.

Just as Reach Beyond (HCJB) used the ‘latest technology’ of radio in 1931 to proclaim the Gospel to all the world, today, God is moving young Latinos to reach their generation using digital media.

Over one hundred young people recently participated in a “Misiones Digitales” (Digital Missions) conference at HCJB Ecuador, Reach Beyond’s radio and multi-media partner in Quito, Ecuador. Speakers from Latin America and the United States led workshops involving videography, photography, branding, and the use of artificial intelligence for evangelism and missions.

PEOPLE COMING TOGETHER

Reach Beyond missionary Geoff Kooistra helped with logistics for the conference. He said his favorite part was how everyone involved from the different agencies who organized the conference just wanted to help wherever they were needed. “It was heartwarming,” he recalled, “to see how when people come together for the idea of advancing God’s kingdom, it does not matter who does what. We are going to come together and we are going to work together, and God works through us.” He added that, with this conference, “Nobody was saying, ‘This is our ministry.’ We all worked together to move this thing forward. That was very refreshing.”

Christina, one of the conference’s attendees who serves in digital strategies with another ministry organization in Ecuador, said that she gained many resources they were not using in her work. She said, “The tools and the space we were given to create content was very inspirational. Personally, I was surprised at the talent that came out when we were able to share together in our groups. I am excited about the idea of continuing to be part of these events and continuing to learn.”

HEARING THE NEEDS OF OTHER PEOPLE

Another attendee, Alexandra, was moved to use digital media to spread the Word of God after the conference. She explained, “Since I was little, I wanted to study journalism. But it never happened. So I studied sociology, and daily I hear the needs of people.” After the conference, Alexandra said God put a specific challenge on her heart. She was to “start a podcast and a webpage to support people who have emotional needs and guide them the best way that I know.” Additionally, she and a fellow attendee of Misiones Digitales decided to write radio scripts for a podcast. Alexandra said, “They would be directed to listeners with epilepsy and share the testimony of what God has done in our lives.”

Because the conference was so effective, Geoff believed they would have Misiones Digitales next year. He said, “Praise God that this conference went so well and has created a whole bunch of relationships that God can use in the future. God works in people’s hearts and we’re there helping and watching it happen.”