March 2021

Mini-Film Mini-Preview Online Festival 2021

by Tim Cowley
March 31, 2021April 29, 2021

For the past several years, EMDC has been host to a lineup of films created to highlight stories focused on people and places where the Christian faith is not in the majority or crafted with the express purpose of sharing biblical concepts rich in spiritual depth and meaning. Genres usually include documentaries, animations, live-action, anthropological and experimental.

In 2020 the film festival moved online with the cancellation of our in-person conference. This year of 2021 will be more of the same as the EMDC.online platform will become the meeting place. We will also plan to produce a version that will be uploaded after the event to be enjoyed anytime.

If you want more information about any film, simply email us.

Some Simple Things to Think About When Recording Audio

by David Gray
March 24, 2021March 31, 2021
3 Comments

I’m beginning to get asked a lot of questions about recording audio. I’m thinking about voice recordings of Scripture. Here are some things to think about:

Equipment – you only need a USB microphone or decent headset with microphone, or a condenser microphone with pop filter and sound card (that plugs into your USB port)
You also need to make an acoustic baffle to absorb sound. This will cut out unwanted echo called ‘reverb’. Reverb can always be added later but there is no button to remove reverb, and people like FCBH, who we work with, are fussy about these things, as they know a voice with reverb is hard to listen to and understand (music, on the other hand, needs some reverb, especially the vocals). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bTK6tZzzaE is a good video on how to make a simple acoustic baffle. You can make a small tent in your room, but this gets hot and stuffy in places like Central Asia…

Priorities of product development

by Peter Brassington
March 17, 2021March 31, 2021

What are the key topics to consider in planning and developing a new Christian product for discipleship, evangelism, education, or other kind of engagement? What are the questions we should be asking ourselves as we consider ?

An initial thought about three P’s of product, protection, and promotion quickly expanded. Alliteration may have got the better of me or provided a framework for some valid thinking. Other p’s could be partnership, professionalism, pride (the good and bad kinds) , patience, perseverance, perspiration (effort and hard work), perspicacity (deep insight and discernment) , politeness (cultural sensitivity), pushiness, possessiveness (releasing organisational hold and letting community emotionally own products and process).

Are you planning for your Media Ministry in 2021?

by Keith Williams
March 10, 2021March 31, 2021

The Digital World Atlas is a site Mobile Ministry Forum is developing to provide a “one-stop-shop” for all your country-specific information needs! The current problem is that neither site will give you everything you might want to learn as a media ministry practitioner. That’s where our latest project comes in – the Media Ministry Background Data Research Tool. One item you won’t find in either of the first two sources (but coming soon from the Atlas) is the “religiosity” of a country’s people. Find data on that in the Data Research Tool’s Demographics.

It might be helpful to know the top phones people are using in your country.
You can find the top Android phones by country in the Mobile section.
How affordable is the Internet and how censored is it in your nation? We’ve got you covered in the Internet section.
What are people in your country searching for the most?? We’ve got a link to that in Search.
Who are the top TikTok influencers in your country? You will find a link in Social Media.
You’ll find this information and so much more in this tool, but you won’t find any of them in the Atlas or DataReportal slides.

Developing a Digital Scripture Access and Awareness Strategy

by Peter Brassington and Richard Margetts
March 3, 2021February 22, 2021

We are living in exciting times for the digital publishing of Scripture. The Bible is being made available in ever more of the world’s languages, as audio downloads, Smartphone apps, Scripture videos, on social media and language-based websites.

But good products alone will not ensure success. The diagram below, developed by a multidisciplinary team within SIL, illustrates several key themes that need to be considered in a comprehensive digital Scripture access and engagement strategy.