The Start of A New Adventure

By Rachel Greco

Three years ago, JP* knew nothing about media except that God is powerfully using it all over the world to draw people from a major religion to himself. JP lives in North Africa, where he shares the gospel with followers of this major religion. 

Hills in the area where JP serves

Local partners asked JP to help them put together some resources for Bible studies. Since he wasn’t sure how to go about doing this, he explained the predicament to the instructor of his ministry course. The instructor suggested he contact an organization that creates Scripture and evangelistic websites. JAARS has partnered with this organization for many years to support their website workshops, the creation of apps, and maintenance of the websites. “That is where the adventure started!” JP said. 

A desert in North Africa

Two members of the organization, Jim and Dan, helped JP develop three different Bible apps. The first app, which contains songs in a local language and recordings of various Scripture passages, is designed to facilitate the study of the Word of God in small groups. Each audio file has text from Scripture and some questions to help create group discussions. 

A town near where JP lives

The second app is similarly aimed at small group discussion of Scripture. According to JP, “The concept is simple. First, the group listens to the passage in chronological order two or three times. Then, participants try to repeat the passage using the group’s collective memory.” Once the people have a good grasp of the Scripture, they discuss four questions: What are we learning about God in this passage? What do we learn about human beings? If this is the Word of God, what should I apply in my own life? Who should I repeat this story to?

A man in the area where JP serves

The third app enables a viewer to display the Bible in three different scripts. Users can choose to view one or two versions simultaneously and highlight passages or insert notes. They can also listen to audio files of selected passages while the text is highlighted. 

In addition to the apps, JP had even more ideas for getting the Word of Life out to the people in this area. He spoke with Dan about using websites in his work as an evangelist. With Dan’s help, he now has two websites that offer strategies for evangelism and resources for foreigners who live in the area.

Not long ago JP began to feel uncomfortable because the website with these resources was publicly accessible. “I would not want to see an article about this website in a national newspaper here,” he explained. 

When JP expressed his concerns to Dan, he learned how to restrict access the website. “Within minutes, the website was protected through usernames and passwords. Your client service is absolutely wonderful!” JP said in gratitude. 

God is using this media for his kingdom! Last year JP and his team launched a country-wide campaign to saturate the area with the Christmas story. They created Bible videos in partnership with Faith Comes by Hearing, LUMO’s visual translations of Scripture, and the copyright holders of the four different Biblical texts. These videos are hosted on websites JAARS helps our Scripture website partner maintain. More than fifty thousand people watched the videos!

In three years, God used our Scripture website partner, JAARS, and people like you who give to Media Solutions to enable a man who knew nothing about media to develop these three Bible apps and two websites. “These resources have already been a great blessing to local partners and expatriate workers,” JP said, “and this is just the start, God-willing!” 

Your gifts to Media Solutions give people the skills and support necessary to create and maintain Scripture websites and apps. Thank you! 

*Name changed for security reasons