Lausanne World Pulse – Perspectives Articles – Making Waves: Trans World Radio Helps Students Create a Splash for God
By Dawn Overman
|
Trans World Radio’s “Making Waves” website is designed for |
Today’s young people are quite the expert cybersurfers, having grown up navigating surges and swells in the ever-changing sea of technology. And, since most of them turn to the Internet for everything from entertainment and shopping to social communication and education, it is more imperative than ever that we harness current and new media to catch their attention.
That is why Trans World Radio (TWR) recently launched a new website sub-portal, aimed at piquing the interest of 20-somethings and encouraging them to take a new look at world missions—and their role in it. TWR debuted its “Making Waves Since 1954” campaign at the 2006 Urbana Student Missions conference in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. A key part of the initiative is several online videos describing how missionaries today are needed in a broad range of vocations and expertise.
“We decided to produce a series of short-form conceptual videos targeting the so-called ‘YouTube generation,’” said TWR public relations director David McCreary. “We wanted to create something that would resonate at Urbana, but then could also have broader usefulness for at least a year or so beyond that conference. We also produced several thousand mini CDs to put into the hands of young people and drive them toward ‘Making Waves’ online.”
According to Chris Overman, one of TWR’s exhibitors at Urbana, “TWR’s main purposes in attending Urbana were to present the work of the mission to the next generation of young people and to offer them opportunities to become involved in what God is doing around the world. It was fantastic to see thousands of young people with a strong and fervent desire to use their skills and abilities to serve God wherever he calls them.”
Of the 115 solid contacts that TWR’s team made at Urbana, nearly one quarter of them have followed up about pursuing an internship. According to missionary care coordinator Heather Johnson, “I have had more preliminary questionnaires [returned] in the past two months than I processed in the latter half of last year.” She said that included people who had not attended Urbana and had come upon either the Making Waves site or the opportunities page on TWR’s main site.
“Young people today are looking to make a difference with their life. They want to use their skills, abilities and passions to make an impact for God,” said Overman. “But most believe these skills and passions won’t fit into missions. TWR’s Making Waves site shows them there is a huge need for people like them, and that God can use them anywhere in the world.”
|
Dawn Overman is magazine and Internet content editor for Trans World Radio. She and her husband, Chris, a senior systems administrator for TWR, live in Willow Spring, North Carolina, USA. |