This document discusses communicating the gospel and Christian mission through alternative media approaches. It suggests that alternative media can be dialogic, participatory, and give voice to marginalized groups. Some examples of alternative media mentioned include posters, pamphlets, audio/video recordings, radio, websites, and community newspapers. The document advocates for alternative media that promotes cultural understanding, social change, and non-profit goals over mass media's profit motives.

1. 1
Great Commission
 Jesus came to them and spoke to them,
saying, "All authority has been given to me
in heaven and on earth. Therefore go, and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them
to observe all things that I commanded
you. Behold, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age."
Matthew 28:16ff

2. 2
Matthew’s Context
 Manifesto (Otto) Summary (Bornkamm)
Climax (Luck) Culmination (Christensen)
 From Jewish Territory to Non Jewish
Territory –Christians post 70 scenario
 Johannan Ben Zakkai – Pharisees Leader
at Jamnia – systematizing synagogue
 Christians to fulfil the Will of God

3. 3
To Teach
 Matthew distinguishes two – Proclaim or
preach to the outsiders and teach to the
disciples
 Commandments – obeying the will of the
Father and doing and not simply listening
and speaking

4. 4
 Teaching to outsiders??? Where and how
 Converting others??? Bringing people to
the Church!! Is it possible?
 Contact, Relationship and Understanding
with others
 Witnessing and being a Christian and
saying that I am a Christian

5. 5
Jesus said I am the Truth
 Jesus is the only Truth?
 Can one accept Christ without being
Christian?
 Can we bring five new families a year to
our church?
 You are called to do God’s Mission in this
world? Are You ready to accept today?

6. 6
People’s Context in Mission
Lay Pastor
Churches’ context - Democratic,
continuity, taking sides…
Context of the people local and national
Global Context
Neo-Liberal values, Economic disparity,
concentration

7. 7
My Audience – Am I Making Sense?
Youth
Children
Adults
Women
Outsider

8. 8
Do we recognize Different Cultural Groups among
our audience? It follows their interest…
High
Low or popular
Mass
folk
Sub

9. 9
Instrumental Perspective of Mission

10. 10
Communication and Mission – present
approaches
Church
Effect
Effect Centered Perspective
Communication

11. 11
To Communicate What?
Gospel?
 Communicate Christian Faith? Doctrines?
 Communicate Values? Gospel Values?
 Communicating towards Liberation? Or
Humanization?
 Communicating for building Communities?
 Communicating Culture? Awareness?
 Communicating Prophetically?/Critically?
 Communicating towards development?

12. 12
Communicating
What? as Pastor
Faith
Values
Doctrines Values
Gospel
Gospel
Cultural
Critical
Communitarian
Developing
Reconciling
Healing
Liberating
Gospel

13. 13
YHWH
Logos = Word
Sign
word -
Language
Code
word –
flesh
word -spirit
Community of God - Trinity
Human Beings

14. 14
Christian Principles of Mission
Mission builds Community
Mission is Prophetic
Mission is Participatory
Mission is dialogic
Mission nourishes culture
Mission is credible
Mission liberates

15. 15
Evangelism
 Evagenlion – to announce good news
 Evangelism refers to proclaim the gospel
to all not proselytizing.
 Conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit –
emotional change from One religion to the
other religion has negative impact on
people of other faiths.
 To proclaim, to liberate, to relate people to
God and to others

16. 16
Missio Dei
God’s Mission
 Where are you Adam? Caring Communication
Gen 1
 Let my People Go! Liberative Communication
Exodus
 I am the Lord. You shall not murder! Normative
communication
 You are the man! Prophetic Communication
Kings
 Will the bones be alive? Restoring
communication Isaiah

17. 17
Communicating God
 Listening God –
opposite views
 God of silence
 Forgiving God
 Angry God
 Powerful God
 Speaking God
 Seeing God
 Dynamic God
Accepts audience
Breaks the barriers on his own
Use people’s language
Go to the margins
Corrects mistakes
Changes nature for audience
Space for other views
Struggles for relationship

18. 18
Missio Jesus
 Incarnation Model (Salt)
 Healing Model (Physician)
 Preaching Model (Stones)
 Demonstration Model (Water)
 Transfiguration Model (Light)
 Resurrection (Wheat)
 Crusification (Wine)

19. 19
Post Jesus
 Apostolic model (sent)
 Martyrdom model (die)
 Social service model (share)
 Church model (relate)
 Letter model (command)
 Spiritual model (fill)
 Witness model (live)

20. 20
September 11th
Deadly Narratives of Truths?

21. 21
Imagine that you are in one of these buildings

22. 22
When you are
hanging out there
You may ask
“Why my life is
caught between
truth narratives?”

23. 23
Truth Narratives Clashing over a Mosque?

24. 24
Ayodhya – a
clash point of
truth claims?

25. 25
Bali Bombings and Truth
established ?!

26. 26
Murdered for Truth?!

27. 27
Ready to die for the Truth which is yet to be understood
Truth and Children?

28. 28
Truth demonstrated through Bombs?! - London no safe!!!!

29. 29
Children and weak people
please close your eyes for
the next pictures Please

30. 30
Media and Mythical statements
 ‘Christianity is a slow poison which is the
cause of peace and family felling among
the tribals. Christian missionaries have
made use of Government resources for
the purposes of conversions’. – Sandesh
Newspaper
 missionaries do forceful conversion in
Gujarat -Gujarat Samachar (a daily
newspaper), Nav Gujarat (a daily),

31. 31

32. 32
Attacks on the churches in Gujarat
after these reports

33. 33
Muslim
Refugees
Dead bodies from
the train
Bogie on fire
Post Godhra
hatredness
hum paanch,
hamaare pachhis
(we are five and
we will be twenty
five).

34. 34
culture of
suspicion
culture of
confrontation
culture of
violence
e.g.
Islamophobia

35. 35
Died for Truth? – Defending Truth!

36. 36
Waiting for a Ritual Burrial – Truth Along with it?

37. 37
A Muslim man
Begs for his Life
before the Hindu
groups.
Which Truth will set
them free?
An Iraqi Child waiting for doctors to
remove bullets from his head

38. 38
Mediated Myths of
Fundamentalism

39. 39
Media, Myth and Ignorance
Huntington’s thesis on Clash of Civilization
Edward Said’s Clash of Ignorance
Ignorance does not refer to ‘not-knowing the other’ rather
means to ‘knowing more or only the negative side of the
other’. It is often articulated by the vested groups and so
can be identified as ‘articulated ignorance’ of the other.

40. 40
Muslim
Refugees
Dead bodies from
the train
Bogie on fire
Post Godhra
hatredness
hum paanch,
hamaare pachhis
(we are five and
we will be twenty
five).
Flash and Clash

41. 41
Years
No of
rel. news
Hindutva[1
]/Hindus
On
Muslim
s
Other
Rels
1981 119 54 42 23
1992 172 77 59 36
2002 348 126 173 49
Years
Total
Rel issues
Hindutva
/ Hindus
Muslms Other
Rel
1995 270 93 118 59
2002 336 124 168 44

42. 42
India Today
No of articles
Islam.Vs
Hinduism
Terrorism(Islam)
Vs Nationalism
Iconic clashes –
Picts-Colours
(green.vssaffron)
1981 3 7 00
1992 14 21 08
2002 56 73 17
Frontline
No of
articles
Islam Vs
Hinduism
Terrorism
(Islamic)
Vs
Nationalism
Iconic
Clashes
Pictures
1995 12 8 3
2002 71 79 17

43. 43
culture of
suspicion
culture of
confrontation
culture of
violence
e.g. Islamophobia
Conversion-phobia

44. 44
Towards
Coexistence of
‘the Truths’?

45. 45
Hinduism
Ministry – engage in this
search for God – participating
in people’s search!

46. 46
Prophetic and
liberative
Healing and
Serving
Nourishes
Relationship
Reconciling
Communities
Individual and
Commity
Development
Dialogic
People
Centered
communication
for effective
ministry
Proclamation
Preaching and
Worship

47. 47
Alternative
Media and
Ministry
Sharing the
Gospel
Serving
Christian
Community
New Spirituality,
Alternative media
and mission
Ecumenical
Media as
alternative
Interacting with
Communities
Networking
different
Communities
Alternative
Media for
Development
Net as
Alternative
Media
Training Priests
and
Missionaries
Banking the
Knowledge
Alternative - Media
Education as
mission
Alternative
media and
cultural groups

48. 48
ALTERNATIVE
MEDIA and Ministry
Global
to local
Local to
global
Cheap,
available
Effectiveness
Simple,
plain
Easy access
to community
Development and
social change
Democratic,
participatory
Against
mass media
in promoting
culture of
peace,
dialogue
Promote communitarian values
and Individual freedom
Inter-cultural
understanding
Purpose
Reaching the mass
but not for profit
Fair representation of
minorities, disabled,
refugees…
Taking sides
with poor,
labourers in
reporting
Voice of
the
voiceless
Culturally rooted,
community building,
inter religious harmony
Praxis

49. 49
Alternative
media
characteristics
Dialogic, democratic,
communitarian, local,
participation
Voice of
voiceless,
minorities
and others
Cheap, easy
access, non-
profit, simple,
non-
professional
Towards
Social
change,
human
dignity
and
development
Intercultural in nature,
culturally rooted, folk
culture, updated
interactive technology
Alternative
perspectives and
practices
Space for
disabled,
HIV/AIDs
infected,
refugees,
Eunuchs, and
less privileged
people
Promote a
culture of
peace and
harmony

50. 50
Possible Alternative Media are posters,
writings on the wall, loud speakers,
postcards, Christmas cards, cards, flannel
boards, pamphlets, tracts, notices boards,
notices, magazines, newspapers, puppets,
slide projectors, audio cassettes, VCDs,
DVDs, Video cassettes, VCRs, television,
computer, websites, Internet, radio and
special training programs and seminars,
fellowship groups, street theatre; some
types are - Christian education, access to
schools, festival programmes, house-visits,

51. 51
 Further Possibilities to explore –
- FM Radio Stations in colleges and
Schools for education and awareness
Narrowcasting, community radio…
- Local Cable Channel space or Cable
Channels
- Running a Newspaper for local
community
- Online broadcasting, webhosting,
networking the members of the church
and sending them clips of songs,
messages and information

52. 52
Examples of Alternative
Media
Street Theatre Programmes
for HIV/AIDs Awareness
ICT for Development Training
NGOs in Bangladesh
Thailand Training NGOs

53. 53
High Speed
Interactivity
Convergence
Hypertext
User based
Searching
self
God &
Other
E-vangelist for Netizens
E-mission
Online Pastoral counseling

54. 54
Programs in Nepal, Bangladesh,
Indoensia and in India –IR
Communicating Networks between
NGOs and Different Religions
Building
Communities
through the
Net

55. 55
Dialogue about the Media