Trailblazers: 7Q's with Campus Crusade's GMO

Trailblazers is a new interview series I'll be doing here on the Intersect - grabbing a quick peek into the lives and brains of leading Intersection ministries and thinkers.

This week I sat down with (metaphorically speaking) Allan Beeber and Michelle Diedrich of Campus Crusade's Global Media Outreach to ask the 7 questions:

Name: Allan Beeber and Michelle Diedrich
Ministry: Global Media Outreach, Campus Crusade for Christ, Intl.
Role: Orlando Director and Communication Director

1. How does your ministry intersect with the Internet?

Since Global Media Outreach is an internet ministry, we intersect very well! Our mission is share the gospel online, giving people multiple opportunities to accept Jesus as their savior, every moment, every nation, every day. We have developed evangelistic and discipleship websites with a unique response system. When people come to our sites and indicate a decision for Christ, they can fill out a form letting us know their decision or if they have not made a decision but still have questions. This form triggers an email to our volunteer responders (we call them “online missionaries”) who then pray for and disciple them and provide follow-up material for Christian growth. And since the Internet provides trackable measurements, we know how many people come to the sites, what decisions are made, how many people email us and how many interactions we then have. In 2007, we saw more than 1.3 million indicated decisions for Jesus. Our volunteers answered more than 200,000 emails!

2. Who does your ministry serve/target?

Global Media Outreach (GMO) serves any adult with online access. We have been able to serve people in all 191 countries – even into some of the most closed nations – because the Internet often provides the safest way someone can seek spiritual help. We have websites in multiple languages with responders who speak those languages and understand the culture. Over 70% of the responses we receive are non-US.

3. What exciting opportunities lay ahead (next 18 months-ish)?

GMO has been developing more discipleship materials and follow-up processes to help people once they make a decision with the basics of Christianity such as how to pray, how to read the Bible, how to find a church, who is the Holy Spirit, etc. so that Christian growth and multiplication can happen. The biggest development for us, however, has been in creating a model for cell phone evangelism. We will continue to explore ways to use technology to reach people with the good news of Jesus.

4. How can someone (individual, church etc.) benefit-from or help participate-in your ministry?

We have several ways people can participate in the ministry. Any Christian with an internet connection can become an online missionary. It is easy, safe and can be done on your own time. The volunteer controls how many emails they receive each day or week. Anyone interested in this option should go to www.GMOJoinUs.com to learn more. We also have a church partner program where churches can put a gospel presentation on their site and have church members respond to emails from seekers around the world. More info on this program can be found at: www.gmoalwaysready.com.

5. What social media/Internet trends do you think the church should be paying attention to?

The world is changing as you know. Churches should be looking for multiple ways to interact with their members and their community and the world. Social networking is becoming a key way people are interacting – through Facebook, MySpace, ShoutLife, etc. The church should not be afraid of or ignore these trends. If a church is not actively communicating through email, mobile, social networking sites – they are missing many of the key tools that can help them connect with their congregation. And the great thing is, these tools are inexpensive, fast and broad and can be used to encourage your members to communicate not only with the church, but with each other for encouragement, support and prayer. Also, cell phones will be key – they won’t be called cell phones, though. We found internationally our audience is so far ahead of the US in cell phone use it is truly unbelievable. With 3 billion cell phone users TODAY it’s a no brainer to look at mobile evangelism as a key way to share the gospel, start a prayer ministry, even feed the hungry.

6. What advice/suggestions/ideas would you offer others thinking about the Ministry/Internet space (1-3 points)?

First of all – a ministry should think about how the Internet can enhance and broaden their current ministry. Many people feel like they have to be “technical” to get into the Internet, but luckily today many of the tools are very easy to use. So a brainstorming session to see if any parts of the ministry can also be done “online” would help to start their thinking. Second, get on google and search for items related to your ministry so you can see how others have done it. And look at secular commercial and non-profit sites for ideas. What we found when we got going were many Christian websites that served other Christians, but almost none that were doing evangelism. And the few doing evangelism had no response system to help people with the next step other than “call us” or email our webmaster. But until we started searching, we didn’t know that. Finally, once you’ve found some sites that you like – call them up. I have found most people are willing to give you a 1/2 hour on the phone to tell you what worked and didn’t work for them on internet strategy. And, oh yeah, grab a college and student and get them to show you how they use Facebook and MySpace and Instant Messenger – they use these tools in ways we would never think of. And it has been a great source of ideas for translating those uses for the ministry!

7. What blogs/magazines/websites/books help shape your thinking about the Ministry/Internet space?

Great question – there are many: Internet Evangelism Coalition, Live church online, how churches can better reach people – Center for Church Communication and Gospel Communications. Then there are some that are not ministry related, but have great examples we should be using! Kiva.org – microfinance that gets donors personally involved, Seth Godin’s books and blogs on how people relate and marketing, MarketingProfs.com for their great case studies on how to use the Internet to get your message out. Finally, NonProfit Technology Org – very helpful for how to use technology in the non-profit world – which most ministries are!