Unreached People Meet Jesus on Social Media via New Media 2 Movements Arm

Imagine a remote people group living in a far-flung village high up in the craggy Himalayas. This semi-nomadic tribe has never heard the name of Yeshu – in fact, no one who has passed their way has heard the truth of the Good News. Those they encounter in the high places are committed to the gods of their forefathers.  

On a rare visit to a larger nearby town, a man named Kumar* begins scrolling through social media while waiting for his goods in the bazaar — a relatively new pastime resulting from the rapid expansion of technology in his country. As he catches up on local news, an advertisement pops into his feed inviting him to hear a story about a teacher who miraculously healed a man paralyzed since birth. Interested, Kumar clicks on the ad. Immediately, a two-minute story from the book of Luke arrives in his direct messages.  

After listening, he is asked a reflective question, “Where did this teacher, Yeshu, gain the ability to heal a man paralyzed from birth?”

Kumar considers for a moment and finds he doesn’t know the answer. He doesn’t even know if this is a true story or not. Curious to know more, he decides to click through and receive the next story. This time he hears how Yeshu enables some fishermen to haul in a catch so large their nets burst! 

Kumar is a herdsman, not a fisherman, yet he relates to the experience of lack and abundance. This story about Yeshu meeting people’s physical needs is intriguing. He wants to know more.  

Learning More

By the end of the week, Kumar has listened to all 30 of the stories available in his local language. He has decided he will do anything to meet the man the stories speak about. At this point, someone reaches out personally and offers to have a conversation with him about Yeshu (Jesus). Kumar eagerly accepts the invitation and they set up a time to chat.  

A trained staff member from DMI’s Media 2 Movements (M2M) branch spends the next several weeks discipling Kumar online.

By now, he is convinced!  He wants to follow Yeshu and be baptized! He is connected with other believers in his state and learns of a discipleship group a few hours away. Kumar travels there as soon as he can to be baptized and to learn to obey Yeshu with other believers. Kumar begins reading the Bible himself and is coached by his friends at DMI M2M (Disciple Makers Increase Media 2 Movements) on how to begin praying for his friends and neighbors. Eventually, he begins a small discipleship group in his own village that grows into a church a year later.  It soon begins to multiply and start other groups and house churches.  

All of this happened because Kumar saw an online ad posted by DMI M2M and was prompted by curiosity. Of course, long before that time, DMI M2M had been diligently working to record a series of Bible stories in Kumar’s language and set up targeted ads to reach far-flung villages in nations closed to the Gospel.  

The Media 2 Movements (M2M) concept is quite recent in missions but is growing fast, with many agencies experimenting with this abundant seed-sowing approach to looking for Persons of Peace.

Let’s Make Jesus Famous!

M2M’s vision is to make Jesus famous. They harness the power of social media and technology to put the Good News in front of as many people as possible.

M2M offers pathways for those living in areas hostile to the Gospel to be discipled and brought into the Christian community; making and multiplying disciples throughout closed regions. Currently, DMI M2M South Asia has been able to reach 6.5 million people regionally with their content.

Ads have resulted in more than 60,000 stories of Jesus being heard. This has led to over 14,000 individual conversations with men and women like Kumar. Our hope is to see the program translated into many languages to make Jesus known throughout all of South Asia! 

M2M South Asia began its work in 2020 and grew as a ministry, expanding rapidly in similar ways to DMI. Three years later, it made sense that these two ministries would work together, as the staff had similar aims to see movements launched. DMI is excited to announce the grafting in of this exciting ministry as part of our overall work and strategy. There is a lot of synergy in how we both operate – it seems a perfect fit! 

“M2M South Asia is innovative, creative, and effective in finding seekers and Persons of Peace. We look forward to seeing those people connected with others we are training and witnessing many new Disciple Making Movements launched as a result!” 

– DMI Founder, Cynthia Anderson

The founder of M2M South Asia is likewise looking forward to working more closely together with DMI, saying:

“We appreciate the opportunity to join an organization with an established board and leadership team who is able to offer mentorship and impart wisdom!” 

 DMI M2M South Asia looks forward to seeing how the Lord will continue to expand their network of partners. They are grateful for His provision as they expand the overall application of the lessons they are learning. This new division of DMI opens up even more opportunities to strengthen new believers by plugging them into existing online discipleship training and mentorship programs. While the merging of this ministry with DMI is new, all are all excited about the significant ramifications for the Kingdom of God in South Asia and beyond.

Join us in celebrating what God is doing!

*name and story are representative