How to reconcile digital ministry with more conventional kinds of ministry so that they support the same Kingdom objectives and are complementary.

1. Incorporating Cybermissions
Strategies Into General Missions
Approaches
By John Edmiston
CEO, Cybermissions

2. Cybermissions
• Cybermissions is the application of digital
ministry techniques to cross-cultural missions.
Either alone or in partnership and synergy with
conventional missions approaches.
• Cybermissions and general missions are
alienated. High-tech and high-touch are being
pushed apart by a deep theological and
missiological misunderstanding of the nature of
technology in spreading the fragrance of Christ.

3. Quality
• The key term in the integration of technology
projects into general missions approached is
quality assurance; a definition of quality
assurance is: “Quality assurance is
a system for ensuring a desired level of quality
in the development, production, or delivery of
products and services.” (Dictionary.com)

4. The only way to ensure a consistently
good result in anything (from washing
the dishes to landing a rocket on a
comet) - is with a good system - bad
systems only produce bad results.

5. Chokma
• The seeking of chokma or practical wisdom
and knowledge means that God teaches
people:
• The correct way to harvest and process dill
and cumin (Isaiah 28:23-29)
• Or to do technical work such as building the
tabernacle (Exodus 28:3, 35:25)
• Chokma is defined by Smend as “the art of
reaching one's end by the use of the right
means”. Thus godly Cybermissions is chokma
(wisdom).

6. A Path To Quality Results
Technology is not an end in itself. Technology is
just one of the means to quality, where quality is
defined as “producing consistently good
Kingdom results”.

7. Cooperation & Collaboration
• Technology exists alongside other Kingdom
activities and alongside prayer, good doctrine,
and holy living.
• This paper will explore how technology can be
integrated with general missions approaches
so that together they achieve consistently
good Kingdom results.

9. 4 Clarifying Concepts

10. A Complete Package
• Not just excellent information but also spiritual
impartation, personal spiritual formation and a
community aiming at transformation of
themselves and their local community.
• However information is the start of the process.
Proclaiming and teaching are the foundations for
discipleship and the Great Commission.

11. The Great Commission Narratives
• Preach the gospel – Information
• Baptizing them – Spiritual Impartation
• Make disciples – Personal Formation
• Teaching them to Obey – Transformation in
the church community, living out the one-
another commands

13. Step 1- CREATE
• Create a wide range of resources that are excellent,
clear, and structured and which keep people biblical,
honest and theologically balanced.
• Curate the resources for cultural relevance, age
relevance and situational relevance.
• Check that the resource is in a digital format that
people can access on their devices. Safe formats
include MP3, html, text and PDF. Video may be
difficult in some low-bandwidth areas.

14. Step 2 - DELIVER
• Deliver the resource to the device that most people
own or have direct access to.
• Mobile phones, TVs, radios, tablets, and Internet
cafes are among the most common and accessible
means of delivery.
• Delivery methods include wireless hotspots, SD
cards, BlueTooth, Internet downloads, apps, hard
drives full of resources, Internet radio, websites and
so on, see http://cybermissions.org/mobilemin/

15. Step 3 - TRAIN
• Information tends not to work very well on its own!
You will need teachers, trainers and facilitators.
• You need to train your trainers in four things:
a) The content that you have created
b) The delivery method and how to use it
c) How to facilitate a small group well
d) How to recruit group members
• The best facilitators are also able to depend on God
for their finances or to do business-as-mission.

16. Step 4 - Catalyze
• Once you start seeing success and have something you
can “show off” to others, that is the time to catalyze a
discipleship training movement.
• Organize conferences, consultations, and also engage in
focused project collaboration with other churches and
mission agencies. Global events in many locations.
• Think multiplication not addition
• Share a clear vision of transformation and a simple
pathway for achieving it, along with stories of success.
• Build trust first, then tackle projects together!

19. Technical Projects Require TRUST!
HIGH TRUST LEVEL LOW TRUST LEVEL
High Speed Slow
Low Cost Expensive
Zero Politics = FUN Politics = MISERY

20. Trust is NOT NATURAL
Managers don’t trust Engineers
Engineers don’t trust Marketing
Technicians don’t trust Visionaries
Intercessors don’t trust Accountants
Accountants don’t trust IT Spending
Security doesn’t trust Anyone Else

21. You Must Deliberately Create Trust.
Train Those You Trust
Trust Those You Train
Be Vulnerable To One Another’s Strengths

22. You have to deliberately be kind, humble,
a good listener, ethical, reliable,
non-confrontational, wise, demonstrate
competence, keep your word, spend face-to-face
time together, have written agreements and start
with small wins.

23. John Edmiston
Johned@Cybermissions.org