How Do We Associate? (Part 3 - Lifeword)

By Donny Parrish, Executive Director

Executive Editor’s Note: The “Moving the Conversation Forward” article by Associate Editor Allan Eakin in the Dec. 20 issue introduced a series of articles we would feature at the beginning of the new year. The first of these articles — “How Do We Associate?” — appeared in the Jan. 10 issue.

In the Jan. 17 issue, we shared the stories of two of the ministries that are made possible because of the churches of the Baptist Missionary Association of Arkansas. We will return to the ministries from the state of Arkansas in a future issue. In this issue, we will share the stories of the two largest ministries — BMA Global (Missions) and Lifeword — that are made possible because of the national association of churches — Baptist Missionary Association of America (BMAA). (All articles in this series are being made available and accessible to everyone at BaptistTrumpet.com. Look for the “How Do We Associate?” Series graphic.)

At Lifeword, we tell the story.

Lifeword is essentially a media missions ministry. We use all sorts of media — radio, television, the Internet, digital print — to share the message of Jesus with the world. We desire to help our BMA churches fulfill the Great Commission by using every media platform at our disposal to tell His story.

On Sept. 4, 1965, Harold Morris, the BMA of America’s first missionary, began a Saturday afternoon radio broadcast on KSTL In St. Louis, Mo., “to make Jesus known to the multitudes of our land.” In November of 1965, Morris named his program The Harvest Gleaner Gospel Hour (HGH), and three years later, it became a department of the BMA with Morris as its first director. From that single radio broadcast and the original vision of Harold Morris to reach the world through media, Lifeword is now broadcasting in 157 languages on multiple media platforms. It is estimated that 2 billion people around the world can hear and understand Lifeword every day.

Our mission statement pretty much sums up our ministry: “Lifeword exists to help make disciples through the creative proclamation, production and promotion of biblically-sound media that communicates in the heart language of every tongue, tribe and nation.”

Lifeword’s USA leadership team consists of Executive Director Donny Parrish, Director of Operations Luis Ortega, Director of Internet Strategies Jon Dodson and Director of Audience Engagement Yalanda Merrell. Lifeword Studios USA is located on the BMA Global Missions Center campus in Conway, Arkansas. In reality, Lifeword is located all around the world. With over 250 Lifeword Team members worldwide working to produce gospel content introducing people to Jesus, Lifeword is truly a global ministry. These Lifeword team members worldwide are creators, producers, technical personnel, videographers, editors, on-air personalities and all types of media people, all talented and committed to using media to introduce Jesus to their culture.

Lifeword is constantly on the lookout for media content providers. Most of those content providers are members of BMA churches. People who are gifted writers (bloggers) or have an idea for unique video/audio programming that will capture the attention of a secular audience are all encouraged to connect with us. If you are interested, visit lifeword.org/registration to register to become a contributor.

Lifeword is on track to be in over 200 languages in the next 3-5 years. In the past year, over 45 million people have logged on to Lifeword.org to discover the truth about Jesus, 25 million of those people for the very first time. Over 300 million social media accounts have viewed Lifeword content in the past 12 months.

Much is being done to share His story at Lifeword. But there is still so much to be done. While broadcasting in 200 languages is a lofty goal, there are presently over 6,000 languages spoken on planet Earth. And, while an audience of 2 billion people around the world is amazing, still one-fourth of the world has never heard the story of Jesus. That’s over 2 billion people.

Lifeword is perfectly positioned to take the message of God’s great salvation to the edge of lostness. We live in a media-driven world, and Lifeword is working hard to take the gospel to all four corners of planet Earth in each heart language. We covet your prayers and financial support while working to fulfill His Great Commission.

In 2024, we hope to fully implement our new discipleship tool — “Follow” — releasing it to all social media platforms and supporting each feature virtually and with Lifeword personnel. We will target the spiritual needs of the Spanish-speaking immigrant population of North America with gospel programming that speaks their cultural language. We will expand our social media presence around the world with more video and digital print content reaching into specific cultures with the gospel. We will explore the use of artificial intelligence and other virtual methods to use as a response tool for those interacting with our content. We will attempt to expand our financial base across the BMA of America and cultivate financial relationships online. We will target 7-10 new languages to add to the 157 that Lifeword presents the gospel in daily.

Your church’s reach can be worldwide through the ministry of Lifeword. By giving to support the work of Lifeword, your church can impact a generation for Christ. When you partner with Lifeword, you can truly say, “We tell the story!”

There are several ways to partner financially with the ministry of Lifeword. Monthly support from BMA churches is the lifeblood of Lifeword’s financial plan. Individuals can support Lifeword monthly by visiting lifeword.org/donate. Our Faith Inner Circle (FIC) is a special giving opportunity for individuals to increase our gospel footprint around the world, especially in countries closed to traditional missionary outreach. FIC Members are sent a monthly update via newsletter detailing how their donations are making an impact. To become a member of Lifeword’s Faith Inner Circle, visit lifeword.org/lifeword-faith-inner-circle.

Another way you can join in Lifeword’s mission is by helping share the content we produce. Visit lifeword.org and check out the large number of shows, blog posts and more that are available. Be sure to check out the gospel presentation available in 157 languages by clicking on the “Who Is Jesus To You?” banner. When you find something that encourages you, share it with your friends via social media. You can also connect with Lifeword by following its social media pages and sharing the content when it is published. Here are a few of the places you can find them:

• facebook.com/lifeword

• twitter.com/lifewordmedia

• tiny.cc/lifewordyoutube

You can also invite a Lifeword team member to share about the ministry at your church. Contact Director of Church Connections Jennifer Harrell at jennifer@lifeword.org or (501) 329-6891.

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