NOW’S THE TIME -when church goes online

Dream Church in Vietnam live-streaming their Sunday service.

At AP Media we have heard again and again in country after country that church leaders just basically don’t know exactly what to do in terms of media. So, just before the COVID-19 lockdown in the Philippines, the AP Media team produced several short videos about how to do live streaming and how to use media during this crisis time. In just two days, one of those videos that was posted on the Philippine General Council AG Facebook page had over 4,300 views. And that’s only one page where we posted it. Many pastors have commented that because of these videos have jumpstarted social media ministry to enable them to reach out to their congregation and beyond. Now, their churches are reaching many more people than ever showed up in person. They are doubling or more the number of people that are actually attending online ser

vices. There is a genuine opportunity for the gospel to be heard by millions who have never heard it before. This week we are beginning to create additional videos that walk them through the basics: How do we live stream? How do I speak on camera? How do we keep our audio quality good? How do we follow up? Each video will be less than 5 minutes long; we will probably do six or seven of them. We have people in several countries who will take the English version and subtitle it into their local language. Japanese, Mongolian, Vietnamese, Khmer, Burmese, and more. Churches in Myanmar were able to move to online services due to the investment of AP Media training and the building of a studio that was completed last year.

This training is for the small church that doesn’t have 500 members and people stepping up with all kinds of cameras and equipment. We will answer their most fundamental questions: How do we do online services with limited money, equipment and manpower. to make a difference in our own community? After the filming is completed, workers we have trained in our AIMM conferences will be able to do the technical side of the subtitling. The connection is already there. There is an incredible openness. God is mobilizing an army of digital missionaries. Many who we have trained. We are hearing from many we have trained that they are actively involved in media ministry. But now the Lord is calling into active duty many who have been waiting for the right moment. That moment is NOW.