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A conversation reminded me today how many choices the hearing has compared to the Deaf, especially when it comes to churches. Or how many translations of the Bible are available in our language compared to the Deaf. Just to have choices in what we do, where we go, and what our social calendar looks like is something the hearing like me take for granted.

There are ways you can help the Deaf feel like they belong:

• Livestream your interpreter and have an online host willing to engage with anyone who joins the Sunday service.
• Set up an interpreter and train them to communicate via email and social media with the Deaf (whether or not the interpreter will be there that Sunday and what time).
• Train your volunteer interpreter to understand the importance of showing up.
• Seat the Deaf in the front with a clear view of the interpreter. It’s tempting to think of the Sunday experience from the hearing point of view only.
• Make sure the interpreter is illuminated.
• Consider how the interpreter can lead a Deaf ministry rather than just offering a service. The Deaf need fellowship as much, if not more, than the hearing.
• Create Deaf events where the hearing serve the Deaf so the Deaf community can focus on connecting with each other rather than the dishes, the set-up, etc. This also allows the hearing to get a glimpse of the world of the Deaf and further learn their culture.
• Let your social media reflect all of your congregation, such as posting Deaf content.
• From the pulpit, when talking about the different ministries, don’t forget the Deaf. Recognize their value like you recognize the value of the hearing.
• Equip the Deaf to reach the Deaf and help in ministry.

It’s so important to understand and learn how the Deaf communicate, how they “hear” the Bible, and what they need. Today, I learned there are 300 Deaf in our area. The prayer becomes: How do we reach them all? How do we work with other church interpreters and create a para-church ministry that reflects biblical values and in-person and online fellowship so the Deaf can enjoy many of the activities the hearing take for granted at their church.

In this age of COVID-19, amid fear and panic, I am reminded of the Book of Esther. My favorite verse is,

 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (4:13-14)

We, too, are faced with a daunting challenge. Will our fate depend upon our own faithfulness to God? While Esther faced death for daring to approach the King without being called, we face the unknown. Many churches have stopped meeting in the face-to-face. Some have gone online. Small groups and Bible Studies are canceled. And yet, God has prepared us for this by giving us a way to talk to anyone we want around the world through social media and Virtual Reality.

So, why limit your church to a building, your group to your home, or your Bible Study to a room in the Sunday School wing of your church? Like Esther, we don’t need to stay silent. The Gospel is continuing. God is asking us to be faithful in using these tools to reach out to people online, build trust, and develop friendships. In this era where TP is being hoarded, we can shower our communities with the love of Christ.

I am available to help churches and individuals interested in making disciples and wishing to continue church even as we experience historical fear and panic as the globe begins to shut down. We don’t want our older people marginalized because technology scares them or they don’t understand or like it, and we don’t want to be on social media out of boredom, scrolling, and sharing, without any real thought or purpose. While the building shuts down, here are some tips to continue sharing the Gospel:

• Bible Studies: Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype, and Discord can be used to lead a video Bible Study like your face-to-face. This is an opportunity to invite people in your community to join. Hold them during times when the rest of your community can join you, too. Think of the working class in your planning.
• Small Groups: Your small groups are going to need your continued support as we face the challenges of this period of history. Use Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype, and Discord to continue meeting. As you meet people locally online, invite them to join you. When the church opens again, you may find them meeting you in person.
• Church on Saturday or Sunday: Virtual Reality has church every weekend through Altspacevr. Your church may use Youtube, Facebook, or IGTV to do your worship service. Instead of treating your online service as a pulpit, treat it as a coffee shop. Ask people questions. Pray with your words for people so they can read it and pray with you. Worship with your words in the chat. Share the live feed to local Facebook groups or invite someone to join you in a “watch party”.
• Socializing: You can use almost any video gaming system to play video games with people from across the world.

Check out WorldVenture’s Facebook page for more tech tips. I’ve been sharing there since Saturday.

Years of raising support can make you forget to enjoy the company of people around you. Conversations point back to ministry, and you forget what normal conversation looks like. Ted Esler, president of Missio Nexus reminds me to stop making my work an identity.

“Organizations can suck the life out of a soul. The travel, meetings, concern for sustainability, mission fulfillment, and other realities of our jobs take emotional and mental resources. As we wrap our lives around confronting those challenges, we can exchange our personal identity for an organizational one.” He goes on to say how the job shouldn’t define us and warns that conversations personally become limited to work issues. He asks, “When the job is over, what happens to their identity?”

How do I break the hold of a ministry that can become all-encompassing?

• Relationships take precedence over support. In order to maintain an example of authenticity in a marketing world, I must also model this in my life. I look beyond the support someone gives to me and pray and care about them. If someone doesn’t support me, I pray and care about them. A friend once sent an email to say she couldn’t give financial support ahead of a lunch date. I had to assure her that I was meeting her for lunch and not asking for support.
• Get a Hobby. While I combine ministry with rest as a lot of creatives do, using my camera to practice taking shots for story postcards, social media, etc is also therapeutic. A good camera causes you to chase light and detail. You find rest in waiting for the right shot and changing your focus. Sometimes, that is in the middle of a forest and all you hear is the hollow sound of a woodpecker knocking on a tree.
• Spiritual Care. After changing jobs from a church job to a secular job in 2017, I maintained my normal hours of rising early to get into God’s Word or just sit in His presence to wait on Him. I can’t serve others if I am burned out and empty.
• Marriage Care. I am married to a great man. He is my prayer warrior. My life must include him in it and it’s not always easy. Making disciples on social media isn’t Monday through Friday. Boundaries are important. I break off from my work to sit with him. We hike together. He loves my photo journaling. We made a pact to grow together.
• Physical Care. Take a walk, go for a run, and keep your physical healthy. That’s my lifeline to keeping up my energy.

Many different sources say the same thing—working long hours doesn’t improve work output. Respect the shut down to refuel for the next day. You’ll get more done. Work is not my identity, and I am practicing being more thoughtful to others in what I converse about, making sure people know I care about them.

* Inspired by Missio Nexus CEO Survey

(picture of my dear friend who shares Jesus online every day)

Pastor Steven Roberts (Life Church) said on Facebook, “I get nervous talking to people about Jesus. This truth helps. It’s not about how clever or cool I am. God is already working in their heart and I get to be a part of the process. The only way to mess it up is to say nothing at all.”

I find a nervous pastor comforting. It’s not just me that struggles with sharing my faith. Is it safe to assume that’s why most people find it easier to share a meme about Jesus or a bit of Bible verse instead of engaging online or face-to-face with the deeper questions? Is that like tossing a handful of seeds out into a field and hoping they land in the prepared soil? Pride and fear are emotions I feel when I share my faith.

What if I don’t have all the answers? What if I fail? What if I let them down? Pride causes me to want to find the answers, to engage in debate instead of discussion, to be right. Voices From The Field: Conversations with Our Global Family by TJ Macleslie comforts me.

In the chapter titled, Sodnom—Mongolia, the story shares about a Mongolian Christian named, Sodnom. She grew up in Communist Russia as a Buddhist. In this chapter, Sodnom shares her experiences about missionaries. For me, missionaries always seemed like people who had all the answers.

Sodnom disagrees.

 “Missionaries are impatient and try to force the Gospel on us without knowing the history and context of our lives. Missionaries must understand the journey we have to make in order to truly embrace the gospel.” (Location 200)

Sodnom also shares how missionaries impacted her life.

“Wisely they (Jon and Vonnie) didn’t say anything but prayed…I think this is a very important lesson for missionaries to learn. Remember that you are guests in our country and even though you disagree with us, please do not ridicule or judge us for our beliefs. You need to respect our beliefs and traditions. (Location 213). This older couple never told us what to believe; rather they prayed, asking God’s Word to speak into our lives in a way that we could understand. (Location 236)”

She shared, “Our American friends had taken us to God’s Word and allowed it to speak to our lives. (location 247)”

Translating this chapter into my work with social media, I requoted what Sodnom said on Location 259. When you share stuff online, serve online, realize you will be living in a new world. Seek to understand the online world and the people you will interact with. Be sensitive to God and His leading; be sensitive to your new environment. Be prepared to change.

Pastor Steven Roberts words resonate with others, too and he is right when he says, “The only way to mess it up is to say nothing at all.”

Friends, you are not alone in your fear and nervousness or in your grappling with pride. The most important thing I have learned is to let the Holy Spirit do His work. Follow God’s leading.

The film, Follow Me directed by Asri Bendacha (2018) explores the life of Social Media Influencers. Social Media influencers earn thousands of dollars per post on Instagram. Asri starts an Instagram account and documents his journey to gain as many followers as possible. Yet, building a following on Instagram is not as easy as it sounds.

In one scene, he sits on the sidewalk with a cardboard sign asking for Instagram followers. A man passing by gives him money, and Asri chases him down to return it.

“I need followers on Instagram,” he says to the man who immediately takes back his money and walks away. Many people who follow Asri do so because he asked in the face-to-face, took selfies and tagged them in the selfies. The documentary is a must-see for anyone seeking to use Instagram to influence, but as a church and missions agency, we must look at social media through the lens of authenticity and ministry. Even Social Media Influencers work to maintain the trust of their followers. In their product placements on video and photos, the products are something these influencers can support. Be real and authentic, one said. Photos do not have to be perfect, but visually engaging.

Asri shared some interesting facts:

• Millennials share 25,000 selfies in their lifetime.
• The average person spends two hours a day on social media.
• Professional photographers who were interviewed rarely do a selfie unless something is interesting in the background. A couple of photographers called selfies egotistical or self-centered.
• Children are watching less television. They are on their parents ipads and tablets watching Youtube.
• One woman in a Burka stated that Youtube was her identity.
• Kuwait is the number one user of Instagram per capita.
• Youtube is used frequently in the Middle East.
• Media is the number one tool for communication.

At $30 a week, Asri bought real followers, not fake ones, but only gained a small number of followers for the cost. He began searching on Youtube for organic ways to build the audience.

People he interviewed gave helpful tips:

• Make your case why a person should care about your product or service you are selling.
• What is going to move your followers to care, buy or donate?
• Many stated social media is about offering value to others. Being generous. Serving others online (Doesn’t that sound like church?).

At VidCon, Asri encountered young teens and adults idolizing Youtube stars, wanting to have their children, and crying in pure joy when they meet a Youtuber. Two young mothers idealized a family Youtube star. Asri asked them why they followed this family’s life on Youtube. The two young moms thought the family was interesting.

“What makes them more interesting than your family?” Asri asked the young moms. The moms couldn’t answer.

As the interviews continued throughout the documentary, other interviewees shared interesting facts:

• Instagram was rated as the most negative experience for “positive or mental well-being” while Youtube was rated as the number one most positive experience.
• Women are more critical of their looks because they compare themselves to the digitally enhanced images on Instagram.

But what impacted me the most was this statement: What we see in the media governs how we see the world. It even governs how we see ourselves and what we choose to focus on. It’s why I became involved in social media.

The church can learn from Follow Me. As the film closed, Asri reveals the positive side of social media. It can be used for good. We know this as Christians, but like, in the face-to-face, relationships take time to develop. Time isn’t what most Americans have available. The problem is time management, realistic expectations, and new priorities.

• If the average person spends two-hours a day on social media, we can use that time more intentionally in online conversation with the idea of moving that online interaction to a face-to-face environment.
• If we are constantly checking our phones, are we checking because we are addicted or bored; or because we are asking the Holy Spirit to lead us to Gospel conversations?

As I prepare for Georgia and the Kingdom Focus and Kingdom Purpose workshops, Follow Me is a good reminder that what we see in the media governs how we see the world. Let’s stop the addiction and start living our online life with purpose.

Image by rawpixel from Pixabay