Teach Your Team to Use Phones for Evangelism

Just because everyone has a phone in their hand, does not mean they know how to use it for evangelism.

You may be thinking one of two things about training your team on mobile ministry. Either they already know how to use their phones, so they don’t need training, or, it’s going to be too complicated and frustrating. Wolfgang Tiedeck, a teacher at Cornerstone – Centre for Intercultural Studies, the missionary training college of WEC in the Netherlands, has some advice for wherever you land on the training your team spectrum. Tiedeck was a WEC missionary in Ghana for 13 years and now teaches Introduction to Evangelism at Cornerstone.

Just because everyone has a phone in their hand, does that mean they know how to use it for evangelism? Tiedeck responds, ”I am a ‘digital immigrant’ to the digital world we live in today. But I was amazed to see how little knowledge many of our students, “digital natives,” had about websites and online material which they could use for evangelistic outreach, easily accessible via their smart phones which they often use on a daily basis.”

If you are overwhelmed at the thought of putting together training and bringing your team through it, Tiedeck recommends Your Phone – God’s Glory curriculum. He says, “I go with the students through the technical pages of the curriculum and let them explore the websites that are suggested. Then they should download material which could be helpful for them personally when they go into different countries during their internships.”

What other advice would Tiedeck give?

• Go through the manual first for yourself.
• Make sure that everything works on your phone.
• Be aware of differences between Android and iOS (Apple) phones.
• Students might get stuck on their phones, but the manual is easy to use and guides you safely through.

Tiedeck gave us some feedback on what he would like to see covered in developing future curriculum. If you have used Your Phone – God’s Glory and have suggestions for next steps, please let us know.

Wolfgang Tiedeck, was a missionary with WEC International, first in Ghana (1991-2004) and since 2007, a full-time staff member at Cornerstone – Centre for Intercultural Studies,  the missionary training college of WEC in the Netherlands. He teaches Introduction to Evangelism and How to Avoid Unhealthy Dependency in a Church Planting Project.