Social Media: A Missional Tool
Church of God leader David Ramirez testifies of the powerful use of social media in ministry.
From the beginning the Christian Church has used every tool available to communicate the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to the peoples and nations of earth. Not only did Paul take advantage of his Roman citizenship, he also used extensively the famous Roman roads and highways to reach the cities that he could not reach by the maritime facilities of that day. The missional strategy of Paul included the use of all the means of access and connection that the empire offered him and used them as instruments or tools for the mission of God.
According the USA Today (June 12, 2012) Facebook, the largest Social network in the world, with more than 900 million members, saturates the homes of the United States of America. Just in April of this year, seven of every ten people who used the internet visited Facebook. This facility is completely free and is accessible to all persons who are thirteen years of age or older. It provides an opportunity for social connection through photos, videos and texts which can be accessed by others at any time, day or night. The persons who use this service, in whatever part of the world, can create their own personal and/or institutional profiles.
The church of the Third Millennium should take advantage of this phenomenal tool in order to reach more people with the hope-giving message of Jesus Christ. Also it is an effective tool that the local church can used to facilitate communication with each one of its members, those who attend and potential disciples.
On a missionary trip to Paraguay and Bolivia with Bishop Bill Isaacs and his son, Jason, together with other pastors from Ohio, we discovered, in an orphanage in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, an urgent need for a lawn mower, large enough to maintain the property there. As soon as Pastor Jason Isaacs learned of the amount needed to buy such a machine, he immediately posted a message in his Facebook account by means of an IPhone and in less than an hour had collected the $2,800.00 needed for the purchase. This is simply great—the use of technology as an instrument of mission.
How Can We Use Facebook in the Ministry?
1. List of Members and Attendees. In this list one can add any person who is part of the community of faith and who has a Facebook account and who accepts one’s invitation. On Facebook one can locate brothers and sisters with whom one has lost contact and add other new people with whom one would like to maintain contact in order to exchange photos and messages related to the ministry of the church. The Facebook server has tools for searching and even suggests others who might want to be your friend.
2. Groups and Pages. This is one of the capabilities of more recent development. It is about putting together persons of common interest. Each ministry or department of the church can have its own Group on Facebook, through which all individuals connected to that group can keep themselves informed through a listing of activities, photos and messages. The “Pages” are created for specific purposes and unlike the “Groups” do not contain forums for discussions, since they are directed towards specific ends or persons and there is no call for response. Further, “Groups” have their “regulations,” one of which is the prohibition of groups with discriminatory themes.
3. The Wall: The wall is a space in each user’s profile which permits the pastor, the leaders, or the brothers and sisters to write messages for the community of faith to see. It is only visible for those who are registered. It allows one to insert pictures and images and whatever logo or type one desires to use in the publication.
4. Photos and Videos: According to Facebook there are five billion photos of users and 160 terabytes of storage. The church can maintain an archive of photos of each of its members, of special activities, of missionary work, etc. The church can also publish short, publicity videos and synopses of the Sunday messages.
One of the more interesting aspects of Facebook is the ability to integrate it with the Web page of the local church or ministry. Then, each time that information is added to Facebook it is also added automatically to the Web page of the church and vice versa.
Personally, I dedicate from forty to forty-five minutes each day to my Facebook, giving advice and mentoring person in various countries. Every day I put a Biblical phrase or verse on Facebook so that it can serve as an inspiration to those persons on my social network. Also prayer requests and the formation of prayer chains for those who are sick are a great blessing for them and for their friends and family members.
I publish all the activities of the Church of God in Latin America on my profile or page at Facebook. It is interesting to see how many people respond positively and many make a commitment to pray and to participate in these special activities and event.
On various occasions persons who were not Christians have contacted me and wanted to know if I were a pastor and how could they learn more about the faith. In some cases I have helped people to find a church or a pastor near them.
In summary, Facebook is a very useful tool for the work of the church; it is free and easy to use. I highly recommend it and challenge our young people to utilize it as a tool to do missionary work from their computer or their cell-phone. Generally when I preach, I ask the young people to write a summary of the sermon, as they listen to it, on their cell phones and to send it out on their respective social networks. The multiplying effect and impact of that message is much stronger and reaches persons that we never imagined we could reach.
David E. Ramírez, D. Min. , is regional superintendent for the Church of God in Latin America www.davideramirez.org
