From Media to Movements in Eastern Europe

<p class="chapter-lead">“In 20 days we had more engagement with spiritual seeking people than the first ten years combined!”</p>

We love it when the Lord puts us in a position to link arms with others. Working together on common goals or using resources God has given us to help them serve better. Media specialists in Pioneers train, coach and collaborate with teams outside Pioneers as they share the gospel and pursue church planting in their contexts all over the world.

A team in Bosnia describes how God led them to a media strategy that’s bearing fruit and multiplying.

How Do You Find Disciples?

Diana and her team love the country God has called them to in Eastern Europe. But the ministry has been slow going. For ten years, they tried different approaches to build relationships with spiritually hungry people. Humanitarian aid. English classes. Running a business. Flood relief. Operation Christmas Child boxes. And believe it or not, goat farming!

“We met a lot of people through our efforts. They just weren’t interested in Jesus or spiritual conversations. We were doing good things, but it never led to the discipleship relationships we were looking for. That’s when we decided to try media.”

The Vision

Diana’s team had heard about a group in another country using media to catalyze disciple-making movements. In this strategy, media serves as a way to find and connect with those seeking spiritual answers online. But it doesn’t stop there. The goal is to move these relationships offline and see people become disciples of Jesus who continue making disciples among their friends and family.

In fact, most of the stories in this collection come from ministries hoping to see just such an outcome: disciple-making movements.

The First Campaign: Trading a Fishing Pole for a Net

It took Diana’s team six months to launch their first campaign. The response they saw blew them away. They had run Facebook ads asking, “Are you one of those people who had a dream of the man in white?”

Seem a little odd? Turns out, when people have had dreams of Jesus, that’s often how they describe Him.

“In 20 days we had more engagement with spiritually seeking people than the first ten years combined! It felt like we had been using a small fishing pole, and now we had a large net.”

A Vision for the Region

Since their launch in Bosnia, God has expanded the use of digital strategies to nearby countries, like Serbia. After nine months, a ministry in that country saw 281 people involved in a discipling relationship, and 58 people accept Christ as Lord. God continues opening doors for the Bosnia team to share what they’ve learned, and before long they had coached 18 other teams using the same strategy.

“Our goal is to see media-to-movements ministries take place in all 44 countries in Europe so they too can experience an increase in fruitfulness that ignites a powerful movement of God.”