What Are Digital Tools and Why Are They Important for Local Outreach?

Jamie Jean Schneider Domm

Digital Strategist for the North American Division

If you feel that you have a solid grasp of what modern communication tools and technologies are, you may want to skip down to the second part of this section. However, we felt it appropriate to include a general description to ensure a common understanding among a diverse audience. For the purposes of digital discipleship and evangelism, let’s define digital tools and technologies as: devices, web-based platforms, applications, and software that process and use information (videos, text, images etc. in numerical form known as binary code) to communicate or connect with other devices and software through the internet or with cellular data. More simply put, these are devices and web-based tools that enable individuals to share ideas, communicate to a global audience, and connect with people anywhere almost instantaneously.
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These tools encompass a wide variety of technologies that many people interact with daily and include, but are not limited to:

• Social media and content-sharing platforms
• Email
• Websites/blogs
• Podcasts
• Digital advertising (outdoor signage, sponsored social media posts or website sidebars, for example)
• Instant messaging/chat widgets
• Texting
• Smart phones
• Business review platforms
• Digital meeting and video conferencing tools
• Digital cameras
• Smart phone applications
• Computer applications and programs (Microsoft Word, Spotify, Google Chrome, etc.)
• Search Engine Optimization
• Computers and tablets
• Smart TVs

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Connecting with the Local Community

Digital tools have become an integral part of the fabric of modern living, but as a Church, we have yet to fully tap into their potential for sharing the gospel and directly serving our communities. As discussed previously, people spend significantly more time socializing online than they do in person. Social media and other digital communication tools allow us to not only go global, but effectively reach and permeate our local communities with positive messages and mission projects.
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When we think of missionaries, we usually think of traveling to far away lands and learning new languages in order to communicate. However, what is becoming ever clearer for the Church in North America is that our biggest challenge is reaching our local neighbors in an increasingly post-modern, secular society. 

The mission field is right next door, and it’s just as legitimate. 

Digital technologies have made it easier than ever to:

• get to know the needs of our community
• let people know they are heard and understood
• connect with our neighbors
• build relationships
• let them know we’re here to help
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With digital tools, we can accomplish these objectives quickly and implement them on a large scale for a relatively low cost—empowering churches to become more than the building up the street, but rather an active and engaged people who benefit the larger community through their care and relevant acts of service. A common expression says, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” We can and should be attending to people’s felt needs first, then inviting them to follow Christ after we’ve already developed a friendly and trusting relationship. 

The most meaningful expression of our mission of hope and wholeness is in the context of the local church. 

The potential of digital evangelism and discipleship must be realized at the individual church level. A top-down approach cannot meet the needs of your neighbors, but you and your congregation can. The Adventist Church began as a grassroots movement, and we can re-embrace this mentality to reach the modern seeker next door. With over 1.2 million Adventists in the North American Division and over 5,500 churches, there is a lot of untapped potential.
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The true power of the local church is in its unique ability to create and sustain meaningful relationships with people. Social media and other digital technologies are merely tools that can be used to scale up these efforts beyond who we physically meet. They can also assist us in being more targeted and relevant in our approach to evangelism, by revealing the felt needs and demonstrated behaviors of our community. I believe that the next great awakening in North America will be a digital one, but we must work intentionally where we are, in order to more effectively reach people where they are in their spiritual journey. In the following sections we’ll expound upon this principle, mapping out practical ways to leverage digital discipleship and evangelism.

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