A Global Reach

I have an admission to make. The meeting was 2012 and the ministry was discussing a new logo and adding the word “Global” to its name. I was all for the new logo as the previous one was more about radio and not capturing what the ministry was doing. My excitement was not the same for adding Global to the ministry name. We were at less than 8% international conversations and most of those were phone calls from Canada. 

As the meeting progressed, it became clear this was an aspirational move based on a belief that the world was getting smaller and more connected. The thought was social media would make it easier for people to find us and technology would make it easier for them to connect with our volunteers. I am grateful that others were more in tune with these coming changes and trusting that God would use them to help us reach more of the world.

The change did not happen overnight, but it was consistent and has only grown in momentum. We are now talking each month with more people from outside the U.S. than within. This trend has been growing and last year we actually had double the number of international conversations compared to conversations from the U.S.

This is amazing when you consider we are an English-speaking ministry. We are not advertising in other languages or attempting to attract visitors with multi-language appeals. Despite those limitations, we spoke with people from 221 different countries and territories last year.

When people lament the spiritual direction of the U.S., I am quick to encourage them that God is on the move and working powerfully in other parts of the world. Improbably, many of those places that are showing incredible growth and supplying the most encouraging testimonies are places we simply would not expect. Places like Iran, Pakistan, India, and many Muslim controlled countries. 

We all see how the world seems smaller and the barriers to connecting with people on the other side of the globe have almost disappeared. We are grateful that these changes have allowed our volunteers to share the hope of Jesus Christ with people from every tribe and nation even if it is in only one language.