How to Implement a Media Strategy to Reach Diaspora Peoples

By a writer from the Kingdom.Training team

“God”, “Hope”, “Bible”, “How do I get out of depression?”

Every day millions seek out popular search engines for some of life’s deepest questions. Diaspora peoples are no exception. Many search for information about how to operate in the new culture in which they find themselves. Others look for connections to the home they left behind.

Peter, in his first letter, wrote (using the latest technology of his day) to diaspora peoples. “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…” (1 Peter 1:1) He addressed their pain and loss, brought good news into their bad news, and gave them a vision for a better way. The content he wrote must have sent shockwaves through his audience as he spoke to their various felt needs: women with lost husbands, slaves, former partiers, leaders.

Similarly, the church today has unprecedented access and opportunity to use social media platforms to create content that addresses felt needs of communities from the diaspora. The challenge is no longer how to broadcast a message. Anyone with a Facebook account can do that. The challenge is how to find spiritual seekers, connect them with disciple makers, and equip them in how to reach their family and friends with the Gospel.

So, how to get started?

1. Set your Vision. What do you want to see happen? Which people group from the diaspora do you want to reach with the Gospel?
2. Get Disciple Making Movement (DMM) training. The fruitful Kingdom practices of Scripture should drive both online media content and offline face-to-face interactions. ZumeProject.com is a great nomination for DMM training because it will be translated into 37 major trade languages (probably the heart language of your target people group), and could become a resource for the believers you begin to partner with.
3. Extraordinary Prayer.  Every DMM in recorded history has happened in the context of extraordinary prayer. From beginning to end, this is a work of the Holy Spirit.
4. Set your Persona. Put simply, a persona is a fictional, generalized representation of your ideal contact. It is the person you are thinking of as you write your content, design your call-to-actions, run ads, and develop your filters.

Some questions to consider about your target people group as you develop your persona:

• What is their source of news? Do they care about the news of the country they are living in or their country of origin?
• Which messaging devices are they using and for what reasons?
• How incentivized are they to learn the language of their host country?
• Why do they use Facebook (or any social media platform?)? What are their motivations? Are they able to go a day without using Facebook? Why not?
• How connected are they to host people in their host country?

If you’d like to know more about how to implement a Media to DMM strategy, go to https://kingdom.training . Kingdom.Training is an online training that equips disciple makers to accelerate movements through effective use of media.

Though many who encounter your media may consider your content “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:9), through God’s grace and your diligence may God connect you to people who go on to “proclaim the excellences of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

This article is submitted by Jeff Moody of NextMove / Frontier Ventures, a Missio Nexus member.  Member organizations can provide content to the Missio Nexus website. See how by clicking here.