A New Possibility A global movement of visual story for the kingdom of God

Why Do We Need a Movement? People live into stories too small (sports, celebrities, political parties, private fears and pain) People everywhere need hope People need to find life in the Greatest Story of all We firmly believe that the truth of creation, fall and redemption revealed in scripture is the missing message in the stories shaping the lives of billions of people.

Why Do We Need a Visual Movement? The world is increasingly visual Have you noticed how kids are constantly in front of screens? It is one of the great challenges of our day. We constantly try to control the quantity and quality of content our 7, 12 and 15 year old are exposed to. A new generation of youth is accustomed to “media multi-tasking” that increases the amount of visual media one digests. Youth in America are exposed to 8.5 hours of media per day even though they pack that into 6.5 hours of time (Kaiser Family Foundation Study, 2005). We estimate that every day 2 out of three people on the planet are shaped by visual story. Do we really need to watch TV while pumping gas?

Isn't visual media only a dominant influence in “developed” nations? Not any longer. Over 39 countries, even those that lack running water, have their own version of “American Idol.” Teens in rural Swaziland watch 1 to 2 hours of TV a day. Jerry Springer is a favorite. Many countries are leapfrogging over landlines and wired Internet to wireless devices. From 2000 to 2007, mobile phones in Africa jumped from 15.6 to 200 million. More than half the world’s population has a cell phone

the 21st century world communicates The language in which the 21st century world communicates is the language of …. visual story I had the privilege of working with the Jesus film for 7 years. Much of the impact is derived from the fact that there was a concerted effort to take a simple film and translate it into every language with 100k speakers or more. To date, it has been translated into 1044 languages. We must understand that increasingly the world will communicate in a visual way. 58% of American high school graduates will not read a book in its entirety for the rest of their lives.

Paul Eshleman, founder of the JESUS Film Project: For 1500 years the church preached. For 500 years the church has printed. Today we must portray Jesus and His kingdom in stories. Visual story must penetrate everything we do in Christian missions. The success of the expansion of the Church will hinge on how well we personally demonstrate and visually portray who Jesus is and what impact He can have in our lives.” Paul Eshleman, founder of the JESUS Film Project: This is a tectonic shift we must be aware of.

We believe it is vital to … Help God’s people connect and communicate in new ways Identify, encourage and equip a new generation of visual storytellers

Visual Story: A Definition Combining narrative and visual media in communicating the message of Christ and His kingdom.

Visual Story includes . . . Theater Television Computer Cell Graphic Novel Painting Design Flannel graph We’re broad in our view of what visual story includes.

What Kinds of Stories Are Needed? We believe seeking people will respond to stories that engage, inspire, challenge and ultimately evoke a desire for Christ. Some stories will be subtle and will provoke. They will raise questions rather than answer them. Other stories will be direct and seek to provide answers to the spiritual needs of the viewer. In all cases, a visual story should go beyond simple entertainment.

A Vision :: Achieved When God’s people consistently create and share visual stories in culturally compelling ways with every person on the earth so people can experience life-change through Jesus a movement will have occurred.

A Vision Feature films released, captivating audiences, revealing the kingdom, in every continent in the world High school kids using iPods showing clips that speak to their peers at there level of need An energized, connected, Christ-centered, visual story community of 100,000 that share ideas, projects, resources, best practices Christians ready to respond regarding the hope within them through an authentic life, biblical truth and visual story that connects with people around them Stories are shared that inspire people to live lives of integrity, humility, compassion and justice…for Christ and His kingdom

A Vision : Pathways A Christ-centered visual story movement will occur when… The Church embraces the visual storyteller in her midst Innovators and early adopters connect to influence the early majority We understand that story is at the heart of God, culture and the biblical narrative We yield our lives fully to the caring, holy Creator who is bringing all things to an astounding close The body of Christ synergistically works together on new tools and strategies

Visual Story Network : Who We Are The Visual Story Network is a coalition of missional and creative Christians working together to fuel a global movement of visual story for the kingdom of God. We sensed a need for a global, missional and strategic concerted effort It began with a handful of organizations

Visual Story Network : What We Do Advocate for the need for visual story Provide opportunities to connect and collaborate Equip God’s people to create and use visual story 4. Promote best practices and products

BIG opportunities before God’s people Support and expand ministries that train and equip local believers to produce and distribute contextualized stories. Sharing of best practices and products at a global level. A wave of new models of effective visual story use at community, city, country and continental levels. Uncover and expand new methods of distribution to get kingdom stories into the homes and hearts of non-Christians. Helping creative Christians become more missional and missional Christians become more creative

Evangelism Process & Communication Roles D F E R K B EL IEVERS Mass Media Radio, TV, Print, etc. Interpersonal Implicit msg Explicit msg Stone Clearing Sowing & Watering Reaping Discipling

Call to Action Organizational Evaluate your organization’s ability to connect and communicate in a visual world Find visually oriented partners (www.visualstorynetwork.com to start) Think beyond fund raising in your use of visual story. Think in terms of outreach, discipleship, leadership training (OneHope) Develop your organizational and personal visual story toolkit Encourage the emerging visual story teller in your midst

Call to Action Live fully into your own story with passion and abandon Personal Live fully into your own story with passion and abandon Become a story teller and story user Be able to connect with the stories that are popular in current culture