I am continually meeting awesome people that I’d love to spend more time with: business people, doctors, missionaries (and all the people that read this blog 😁)… But in life, time is limited. We can’t just sit and talk with everyone we’d like to.
Especially if you’ve got kids that want donuts!
So, we use tools like social media and blogging (yes, blogging is still a thing) to communicate and connect at scale.
And with 64% of the worlds population now online, and 59% using social media, the skill of communicating online is only becoming more important.
So what does this have to do with missionaries?
Missionaries have always faced the unique challenge of having to communicate remotely. Their supporters back home are the people they rely on to literally sustain them financially and spiritually.
Like the rest of us, missionaries have a long list of people and tasks to take care of. They have families, a ministry to manage, finances to balance, and people who need spiritual nurturing, training, and encouragement.
Unlike most of us, they live overseas.
And they have a LOT of folks who want to stop for donuts in a short amount of time! Communicating well with so many people can be difficult and requires the right tools.
The right place and the right tools
Luckily, if you want to connect with people in today’s world, you can definitly find them online.
- The average internet user spends 6.5 hours on the internet per day
- Adults (age 30-49), spend about 4 to 5 hours per day on social media
- And 77% of internet users read blogs
Here's where they (and you) hang out on social media:
The perfect missionary tool
One of the first steps in our One Village Group 'Modern Missions School' is to help missionaries establish their blog so they can connect with all those people they would love to engage with one-on-one, but simply can’t.
When missionaries meet someone new, they can send them to their blog containing a backlog of posts about their mission and how they are sharing more Jesus with more people (our goal).
And if they use blogging platforms, like Ghost.org, their blog post will automatically go out as an email newletter as well (like my blog at itserikscott.com).
An imperfect solution
Blogs (and social media) are not perfect. They will never replace sitting across the table from someone and sharing life stories.
But until my donut eating girls grow up 🍩🤤, blogging is a great alternative to stay connected with more friends around the world.
And my hope is that helping missionaries take small steps, like setting up a blog, will help get more people (back home in the church) excited about the awesome ministries happening all over the world.
So suscribe to my blog if you haven't! And get the next blog post sent straight to your inbox for some digital connecting.
P.S. Here’s a great video on ‘How to Write a Blog Post’ from Cathrin Manning if you’re not sure what to put in your own blog post.
How to write a blog post for beginners from Cathrin Manning