2 Billion Gospel Presentations: Online Evangelism Ministry Passes Milestone
A leading online evangelism ministry reached a major milestone in May by delivering its 2 billionth gospel presentation, some 15 years after it was founded by one of the original employees of Apple.
Global Ministry Outreach, which celebrated its 2 billionth online gospel presentation on May 19, reaches the world’s lost population through search engines and social media by targeting keywords and directing people to a website catering to their needs.
It was founded in 2005 by Walt Wilson, who worked under Steve Jobs in the early days of Apple.
The ministry operates more than 100 websites in 13 languages. It also has 3,500 volunteer online missionaries in 110 countries who contact individuals who make decisions for Christ.
Since its founding, more than 230 million people have indicated they became a Christian through the ministry.
“We reach people at their point of need, all over the world with the gospel,” John Thompson, director of marketing for Global Ministry Outreach, told Christian Headlines. “When an individual goes online and searches for, ‘How do I know God?’ [or] ‘How do I find peace?’ … they will run across one of our ads or a link, and it will link them to one of our websites in that particular language that they are searching for.”
More than 60 percent of the ministry’s activity takes place outside the United States. About two-thirds of its budget is spent on Google and other search engines; the other third involves social media.
The Global Ministry Outreach website answers the individual’s search question but also transitions to a gospel presentation. The ministry only counts the click as a gospel presentation if the person scrolls to the bottom. If the person “clicks the link and bounces out,” it doesn’t count, Thompson said.
If the individual indicates he or she made a decision for Christ and then fills out a form, a volunteer missionary will make contact.
“Then they will begin a process of discipling that individual and ultimately connecting them into a local church or a community of believers,” Thompson said.
Global Media Outreach averages about 350,000 gospel presentations each day. In April – during the coronavirus outbreak – it averaged 517,000.
For more information, visit GlobalMediaOutreach.com.
Photo courtesy: ©GettyImages/Sticker2you
Video courtesy: Global Media Outreach
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, The Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
