Big Upgrade for the Story Producer App!
The Story Producer app, which allows users to translate and produce Bible story videos all from a single Android device, launched a new version at the… Read More »Big Upgrade for the Story Producer App!
Media Ministry
The Untapped Power of Media for Mobilization
The State of the World
In a survey done by Barna Research, it showed that 51% of the U.S. churchgoers do not know the Great Commission and 63% could not even correctly identify Matthew 28:18-20 as the Great Commission when given 5 verses to choose from. Media and social media have played a major role in desimination of information whether true or false, and have lead to response and action among people. Are we creating enough digital awareness through videos and on social media about the needs of the Unreached People Groups?
The Bible Explained
When Google launched Chrome they created a comic book to explain Google Chrome. After the U.S. government spent millions of dollars compiling the 9/11 Commission Report they had a problem – no one was reading the voluminous text. That is, until it came out as a graphic novel and catapulted to best-seller lists and the front of USA Today. Comics, it turns out, can be the language of choice to explain stories of significance.
Below and countless other letters and e-mails we receive attest to the fact that people need to understand the Bible. That is why the Comic Bible Society focuses on serializing and explain in a systematic, chronological and visual manner the whole testimony of the Scripture.
Read More »The Bible Explained
AniMissions Seminar Update
Create Taiwan
As of today, the 2021 AniMissions Seminar has been underway already for one week. Fourteen students from seven countries have jumped into this adventure in learning animation for the purpose of frontier missions. This is our first ever online school, so you can imagine a lot of issues had to worked out during the first week. Thanks to Keegan, the designer of the Campfire site, things are running relatively smoothly.
A Nudge
One of our hopes in transitioning to an online program was to expand our training to reach those who are working on the field and would not have the ability to travel to Taiwan. We are delighted to see this hope being fulfilled already as two teams working in the 10/40 window are participating, along with other individuals from the Global South.
In fact, all fourteen students are either involved or are preparing to be involved in missions, so we are already more effectively reaching our target audience. The recent pandemic and especially the closing of the Taiwan border gave us the push we needed to move quickly into this online learning venture, and we are grateful to God for this.
A Foundation
Last week, the students learned about culture and contextualization, story structure, scriptwriting and storyboarding. These are all foundational teachings on which we build the main 3D graphics and animation section of the course. They were also introduced to our main software tool, Blender, and ended the week with a tutorial on how to build and animate a simple rocket. This week, they will dive fully into learning the Blender modeling process, so things will get a bit more complicated.
“The recent pandemic and especially the closing of the Taiwan border gave us the push we needed to move quickly into this online learning venture, and we are grateful to God for this.”
We are already talking about our next seminar, which we plan to run in Spring 2022 from April to the end of May. Several students that couldn’t get into this seminar will be doing the seminar at that time. If you have an interest in learning to create animated short films to bring the gospel to the world’s unreached people groups, consider joining us in 2022!
– Dave H.
Which Audio Player
Which Audio Player?
Listening to the translated Scriptures: a review of today’s digital audio players
Fourth Edition – Revised for 2019
It is not hard to convince those involved in Scripture access and Scripture engagement of the value of listening to audio Scriptures. We want to assist communities in making strategic choices about how best to make them available and how best to encourage people to engage with them. One of the ways people listen to the Bible today is using a digital audio player. But since there are so many different audio players to choose from, how do we make a good choice?
This in-depth review (66 pages) compares a range of today’s digital audio players including the Proclaimer (from Faith Comes By Hearing), the Envoy 2 (from MegaVoice), the Audibible K1 (from Kivah Distributors), the Papyrus and The Torch (from Renew World Outreach), the Kulumi Mini and Lost Sheep from Hope Tech Global.
Using Wi-Fi boxes at large events.
Digital Distribution Strategy for Bible Dedication Celebrations
A Step-By-Step guide for using Wi-Fi media boxes at your event
“While stacks of the newly published Scriptures awaited eager buyers, those embracing the digital age were not forgotten. Five Wi-Fi hubs had been set up at various locations around the stadium. A large vinyl banner promoted the availability of a free Bible app and other Scripture resources for those who connected to these units.”
Using Your Wi-Fi Media Box
28 ideas for digital distribution
For years, Missionary Aviation Fellowship’s pilots carried a box on planes containing Bibles and Christian literature. When they landed, these resources would be offered for sale. Eventually, due to the popularity of smartphones and the weight of books, they switched to carrying less printed resources. Instead, a Wi-Fi Media Box was often substituted. It weighed almost nothing and could hold more resources than a physical box.
Women: Record The Bible
During many long hours of commuting in heavy traffic and listening to lots of great audio books, we noticed a silent space in the audio book world when it came to the Bible. Women’s voices were missing. her.BIBLE brings the Word of God to life through a multi-ethnic U.S. women’s narration of the New Living Translation in English. We pray that as you listen, you will connect with the heart of God on a deeper level.
Do women’s voices make a difference? We believe they do. When we think of women as a people group, wouldn’t we want to reachout to them in their heart language?
Our goal is to produce a great audio Bible using women’s comforting voices—as if your mother is reading to you. We also want women to feel their value to God, grow in faith through hearing, and fully engage in his kingdom work.
Which Wi-Fi Media Box?
A detailed comparison of the ConnectBox, LightStream Pocket, MicroPi and BibleBox Pi
How do you get digital resources into the hands of people who aren’t connected to the Internet? How do you distribute apps, videos, audio, documents, and images to people who can’t afford the data it would take to download those materials? What if those people live in remote areas where they don’t have access to a cellular network?
The Top 20 Apps of 2020 in Least-Reached Countries
Beyond being the year of COVID-19, we all know that 2020 was also a breakout year for TikTok video shorts and Zoom teleconferencing. After some… Read More »The Top 20 Apps of 2020 in Least-Reached Countries
Mini-Film Mini-Preview Online Festival 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.
Are you planning for your Media Ministry in 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.
Read More »Are you planning for your Media Ministry in 2021?
Missions Filmmaking Part 1 & 2 (EMDC Podcast Episode #3 & #4)
Missions Filmmaking Part 1
For our third EMDC Podcast episode recorded on November 16th 2020, Tim and Steve begin a series of informal discussions with experts that will focus on specific areas of ministry interest. For this episode and the next, it will be filmmaking–specifically for missions and non-profit ministry settings. We will hear from creative leaders representing International Media Ministries, Youth With A Mission, Create International, Ur Vision and Greater European Mission’s Gemstone Media.
Missions Filmmaking Part 2
For our fourth EMDC Podcast episode recorded on November 16th 2020, a selection of ministry filmmakers representing International Media Ministries, Youth With A Mission, Create International, Ur Vision and Greater European Mission’s Gemstone Media have been giving advice and recounting stories. We pick up the conversation as the group explores formal education versus on the job training.
— Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/emdclive/message
Read More »Missions Filmmaking Part 1 & 2 (EMDC Podcast Episode #3 & #4)