Foreign Films

“Seigneur Jésus, je crois que tu est le Fils de Dieu. Merci d’être mort sur la croix pour mes péchés…” That’s the French translation of the prayer, “Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins…” Last month Jackie, a pastor from southeast France, came to Orlando so I could record 17 videos for French translations of Jesus2020.com (evangelism) and LookToJesus.com (basic follow-up). Once completed, these web sites will reach French speakers around the world, from Quebec, Canada to Francophone Africa.

Pastor Jackie sharing the gospel in French.

A key goal of Global Media Outreach is to share Christ’s message in the top internet languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Italian, German, and Swedish. Over 80% of internet communication is in one of these languages. Our hope is to reach even more people in their primary or secondary languages. Since we’ve seen such a great response from using video on the internet, our ministry is trusting God to provide committed and telegenic people to present in each of these languages. (For a some languages, this also means finding a native speaker who won’t be put at risk by being identified as a Christian on the internet.)

Recording and editing video in a foreign languages is an interesting and challenging experience. For the French videos, I could pick out maybe one out of every twenty words Jackie spoke — mostly ones that were similar in English. I had to rely upon my French-speaking coworker to operate the teleprompter and make sure my directions — “sit up, straighten your shirt, and smile” — were sufficiently communicated.
As GMO’s sole videographer, I’m hoping that God will give me opportunities to record the other languages in the near future. I’ve already recorded some videos in Spanish and Arabic, but not the full number we need. While this could bring some new adventures my way, and let me meet more truly neat people like Jackie, the most important outcome is allowing more people to hear the gospel.

Would you please pray that GMO could soon complete this translation process? Pray that God would bring us the right people to do presentations in each language. I’ve said it many times, but it’s very true: there are many times each week that I can sense, in a way that’s difficult to put into words, that people are praying for me, my work, and the ministry of GMO. I sincerely and humbly thank you for your prayers. And I ask that you continue to pray that God would give me provision, guidance, strength, and resolve in pursuing His will.

A Wonderful Plan

God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life. This is the first of The Four Spiritual Laws,  Campus Crusade’s core evangelism tool used in various forms for over fifty years. These words summarize a positive and powerful truth: because of His great love, God has made a way — a wonderful plan — to grant every person the life for which mankind was created. The other three points, of course, cover what keeps us from God’s love and plan (sin), God’s solution (Christ’s death and resurrection), and how we can find it (trust in Christ).

These words — God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life — summarize the powerful and true motivation for the gospel story. It points to God’s heart for all of humanity, His desire to liberate each person from the consequences of rebellion and restore them to the glory of being fully alive in Him. God’s plan, driven by the unfathomable depth of His love, is about victory, redemption, healing, wholeness — a spiritual and, someday, physical return to the intimate paradise of Eden.

Talking about “God’s love” and a “wonderful plan” affirms the nature of God and connects to the longing in every heart… somehow, there’s got to be more to life than this. Yet we must be clear how “wonderful” is truly defined, both for our sake and for those who need the gospel. “Wonderful,” according to the dictionary, means “excellent; great; marvelous; of a sort that causes or arouses wonder; amazing; astonishing.” Genuinely understanding the wonderfulness of God’s plan means that we must see it spiritually, through the revealing work of the Holy Spirit. In awe, we humble our hearts and accept, then proclaim, the gift of salvation.

Can it be said that God has a “wonderful plan” for every single person? What about a person suffering a painful disease? The countless victims of natural disasters? AIDS orphans in Africa? Martyrs? If I knew a person would die a horrific death tomorrow, could I tell them today that God has a wonderful plan for their life? Absolutely “yes.”

The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:5 that “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” The moment a person decides to trust Christ, he or she is destined for heaven. By following Christ and living a life filled with the Holy Spirit we can receive the power, grace, love, and direction to live in this world. Yet bad things still happen, even to the most faithful believer. When we choose to put things into the eternal perspective, we realize that nothing that happens to us in this life can make God’s plan any less than marvelously, astonishingly wonderful.

The plan that God offers each person is woven like a thread in the rich tapestry of His master work to redeem all of Creation. Continuing in Ephesians 1:10, Paul reveals God’s endgame strategy: “At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ — everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we  are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.” The adjective “wonderful” seems insufficient — as if human language could ever adequately describe God’s plan.

Internet Exponential

I often refer to Jesus’ “parable of the sower” in talking about Global Media Outreach’s evangelism efforts. Whenever a person says “yes” to Jesus Christ, only God knows if he or she will be truly “good soil” where the seed of the gospel will take root and flourish. This is true whether you’re sharing Christ one-on-one or with millions of people on the internet. Jesus is very clear, though, that a person who is “good soil” will “produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted” (Matthew 13:23 NLT).

In Matthew 28:19-20, the Great Commission, Jesus Christ gives his followers the task of evangelism and discipleship. Specifically, in verse 20, Jesus instructs us to “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” Jesus’ commands are instructions on living an eternal lifestyle in the realities of His Kingdom, in both the present and future; through obedience a person experiences the fullness of God’s love and power. And, of course, one of Jesus’ commands is the Great Commission – His Kingdom grows through continuous cycles.

In nature, virtually every plant produces fruit with seeds containing the potential to grow into more plants. Similarly, spiritual fruit bears spiritual seeds: evangelism results in discipleship, and discipleship results in more evangelism. I’m excited and blessed to be a part of what God is doing through internet evangelism, yet I’m really, really excited by the opportunities He’s given us for internet-enabled discipleship.

If God continues to bless GMO’s evangelism efforts, we’re likely to see well over 2 million indicated decisions for Christ this year (we’ve already seen 545,123 in the first quarter)! Imagine if just 5% of the people we might reach in 2008 are “good soil” – a humble guess, since only God knows the real number. That’s over 100,000 people this year who, being equipped through effective discipleship, could go out and share the seed of the gospel with even more people!

Discipleship brings “spiritual multiplication” – exponential increases in the people hearing and responding to the gospel. And God has been increasing GMO’s evangelistic response exponentially. This is why I steadfastly believe that God may use the internet as a tool to multiply these two exponential factors together to fulfill the Great Commission. While we cannot reach everyone through digital technologies, but we can reach the connected and equip them to reach the un-connected.

In 1 Corinthians 3:6 (NIV), Paul writes, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” We are currently planting many seeds through internet evangelism. Many of those that “sprout” will ideally be “watered” in the context of a local church body – though there are still many ways that God can use our online ministry as a growth factor. Yet there may be a number of people for whom our internet ministry is both the planter and the waterer, at least for a season. Above all else, regardless of people or process, it is God alone who causes good soil to produce good fruit.

Online Missionaries

Did you know that a significant part of the ministry of Global Media Outreach relies on volunteers? Our “online missionaries” are people, much like you, who answer a few or a few dozen emails each week that come from those responding to the gospel on one of our web sites.

In my own experience, about two-thirds of the messages are easy: the person simply indicated their spiritual decision, and I can use a standard, pre-written responses. Other message may contain a comment or question I need to respond to more directly. Sometimes these are relatively straightforward, while others require more thought and a detailed response from Scripture. In any case, my hope is that the person I’m communicating with will write back and so I can further help them.

Some recent emails we’ve received have said:

I want to experience the fullness of the spirit. I want to accept forgiveness of sins and settle with God. How can I stay free from sin? — Lagos

I am a sinner and dishonest with everyone in my life, I lie and cheat. Is there any forgiveness from the Lord for the horrible way I have treated others?” — Massachusetts, USA

Does God love a sinner like me? Does God get tired of helping sinners? I wish God can change my ruin and sinful life and make a miracle in my life. I life now a miserable, full of questions, sorrowful, and meaningless life. I just can’t fight temptation. I hope you pray for me! — Philippines

I want to change my life. I want to receive Jesus Christ into my heart. — India

All I know is all that I’ve tried to do so far isn’t working and I need God. — Washington, USA

You, too, can join GMO as an online missionary. The basic requirements are simple: internet access and a sincere desire to help people find and grow in their relationship with God. GMO also provides basic training and regular coaching to help each volunteer. This is a very urgent need: in 2007, GMO responded to over 257,000 emails, and we’re believing that God could soon double this number.

One of my coworkers recently shared this note from Sharon in Nebraska, an online missionary and one of his ministry partners:

This has been some of the most rewarding work. I never dreamed that I would be answering questions and giving Biblical counsel to people over the internet… never in a million years! Biblical counseling is answering questions or comments, for the most part, with Scripture. It has really kept me on my toes, and my knees. I’m being blessed by this ministry. It’s hard to tell just how many people are helped, but there is a reward when someone says, “Thank you for caring.”

Being an online missionary only takes a small part of your day — you can answer emails anytime. I want to encourage you to consider joining our efforts. You’ll get to see firsthand what God is doing around the world. To apply as an online missionary, go to www.gmojoinus.com.

Yours in Christ,