A New Internet Strategy for Reaching the World
- Posted: 2017-12-14
www.TheHOPEProject.com is our website for streaming The HOPE and providing our companion Study Guide. Eventually, we expect to be streaming all of the 65+ languages of The HOPE on this website. Hundreds of people from around the world visit this site daily. If someone indicates a decision to follow Christ, they can connect to an online missionary with one of our ministry partners. Since its inception, we’ve viewed the Internet as one of the main venues where our ministry happens . . . but no longer!
For much of the world, particularly where most of the unreached people groups live, video streaming is just not possible. The Internet pipeline is too slow, or non-existent. In these regions, someone wanting The HOPE needs to be able to download it, even if it takes all night because of slow Internet. And the download file needs to be small enough to work on a mobile phone. The current data shows that the majority of people in the world now access the Internet on their mobile devices.
To meet the need, we’ve invested a lot of time, energy and resource into updating www.HOPEPartnering.com, our web portal “For All Things Related to Partnering in The HOPE.” Historically, this was the place where people learned how to partner in creating translations of The HOPE. It is now a part of the main Mars Hill website, and moving forward, it will be our main portal for delivering The HOPE. We even foresee a time when downloads will replace DVDs. Check out the section of this website that shows all The HOPE languages - www.TheHOPELanguages.com. It is really amazing to see what God has done through our partners worldwide.
Perhaps the most significant aspect of this new development is the way it has returned us to our roots. We’ve always believed that the highest use of media for ministry is as a tool in the hands of a Christian working to reach another person (or people) for Christ. Until now, we’ve viewed the Internet as one of our primary venues for ministry. We now view it more as our primary means for delivering The HOPE to those doing the ministry. Our goal is to provide The HOPE to the “boots-on-the-ground” Christian workers around the world whenever, wherever and however they need it!