“At some point in your life you've likely heard stories from fishermen. Some narratives are real and others less so. But have you ever heard of fishers of men?” More than 1,700 teenagers participated in the Teen Media Webinar for Media Directors last weekend. The theme was Fisher, which means fisherman in Portuguese.

According to the organizer of the event, Eliane Lopes, who leads the areas of Children's Ministry and Adolescents' Ministry for all of Bahia and Sergipe , this initiative is part of the preparation for digital evangelism. The idea was to offer insights and practical communication tips to expand the reach of teenage missionary work in their online communities.

Fisher Project

Eliane comments that Jesus, at the time of calling some of his disciples, said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19; Mark 1:17). “In saying this, Jesus was promising to train these men for a task so honorable that it is only by the grace of God that a man can take part in it. Instead of catching fish, those disciples would catch men for the kingdom of God. The biblical text says that immediately after Jesus' call, they left their hammocks and eagerly followed him,” explained the leader.

Following the biblical model, the webinar was designed for this new generation to participate in a different type of training program. “Fishing nets have gone digital and it is possible to navigate them, exalting and proclaiming the tidings of a resurrected Savior [that is] about to come,” declared Eliane. In addition to challenging each teenager to evangelize virtually and create a wave of example and motivation, she also hopes others will use this format to help proclaim the word of God.

The digital generation and evangelism

According to Pastor João Batista, Evangelism Leader in the states of Bahia and Sergipe, to see this new generation willing to preach the gospel is very encouraging. “We see the prophecy fulfilling before us, and we are sure that many people will give themselves to Jesus and that these young evangelists will live Christianity in practice, and will be able to give many years of their lives to the service of the Lord”, commemorated John.

For Batista, the importance of uniting the departments of Communication, Ministry of Children and Adolescents, and Evangelism makes the principle of integrated evangelism clear. “When we join forces, we lighten the load, leverage resources, and expand results. We hope that this combination can be replicated in each church so that together we can finish the work”, he declared.

To find out about digital initiatives for children and teenagers, we talked a little more with leader Eliane Lopes, who explained the importance, adaptations, and tools of the new format.

How important is it to prepare teenagers for digital evangelism?

This is a digital generation and they are on social media every day. We need to motivate them and empower them to be more than consumers, to be content producers with a focus on Jesus Christ, thus building a veritable army for preaching the Word.

How will evangelism programs take place and what tools and media will they use for mission?

The teens will undergo two-month training in eight classes, where they will study formats such as digital public evangelism, Bible study with digital tools, missionary pairs, intercessory prayer, and personal social media evangelism. During this period, each teenager will be mentored in the construction of their strategies, and from September onwards they will be “throwing the nets” in search of thirsty souls for the Creator.

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site