Immeasurably More
One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 3:20, in which Paul proclaims, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” It applies to every aspect of our Christian life, from our own spiritual growth to fulfilling the Great Commission. Though I’ve seen this truth in action many times, I am still amazed at how God works.
A unique attribute of digital, internet-enabled ministry is that we can collect an abundance of data that reveals what God is doing through us. Last October, Global Media Outreach recorded the 2,000,000th indicated first-time or recommittment decision for Christ in 2008 — our goal for the whole year. Yet that was just the beginning of what God was going to do. While our efforts remained largely unchanged, the Lord caused the results to grow at ever increasing rates. In December alone, GMO saw over 494,000 indicated decisions (more than all of 2006!)
The final result for 2008 was 3,097,355 indicated decisions for Christ! We had over 17,459,221 visits to our web sites, from both computer and cell phone users in 191 different countries. Our ministry has seen God exceed goals in previous years — but I don’t think anyone even thought a 154% result even remotely possible.
With 669,449 email contacts, 2008 was also a banner year for our growing community of “online missionaries.” And this number does not include any follow-up messages that may have been sent or received. In these messages we continue to see that our numbers represent real people with real spiritual needs who are searching for truth answers.
“I’m very grateful that I’ve been given the chance to know God and accept Jesus as my personal Savior.”
– J, Indonesia“just want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to accept christ back in to my life again. – A, Georgia (USA)
“i want to deep study bible in a profound manner and [learn] the exact meaning of it! and would want to convert from hindu to a christian!” — N, India
“what should i do to accept God with all my heart.” — J, Philippines
“how can i make my faith more deep?” — J, Lebanon
“I happen to be a muslim but thanks be to God I have accepted Christ as my saviour help me be more powerful in the Lord; spiritually strong in my Christian life.” – H, Ghana
Each year God is bringing an increasingly abundant harvest as a result of internet-enabled media ministry. This boom in evangelism makes our growing discipleship focus all the more important. I look forward to the day when, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we see more and more people come to faith in Christ, grow in their relationship with God, and then go out and reach even more people.
The vision of Global Media Outreach is to give everyone on earth multiple opportunities to know Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith. This is what we “ask or imagine” — but God, through His power within us, can do immeasurably more “…to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
