With shoes, shirts, pants and 5 huge boxes of Lego compressed into his suitcase, Russ left for the Middle East. 40 leaders from 14 countries, representing some of the most persecuted and least reached places on the planet, gathered last week to spend a hands-on time shaping a digital strategy to bring Jesus to “the last, the lost and the least.” Russ would guide the time.
As the workshop started, Russ told each group to build a “village experience” with Lego. It was illustrative that each village has its own characteristics and yet most villages have similar layouts. The tools our team uses are like building blocks, that can be configured in many different ways to accomplish similar goals, but we have to do it as a global team.
Victor, a leader in central asia, from a Muslim majority country, explained how his website about exploring Christianity recently became so popular that the government told people not to visit the site. It only increased traffic.
Kong, an entrepreneur from east asia attended. His company, engages on specialized Asian social networks. Russ and Kong discussed how to create content that would entice digitally savvy youth, who are taught there is no God, to explore that there might be more to life.
As the time ended, a leader from Russia exclaimed, “The tools you’ve given us are going to multiply our efforts.” Russia has recently cracked down on evangelicals sharing their faith, but this newly forming team is determined to make Jesus discoverable online.
WBC Friends, because of your partnership, we were able to play a part in equipping these global leaders to lead the next generation of digital missions. Thank you for praying for Russ on the road and Meredith at home, the week went well on all fronts.