By Holly Meriweather

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 fully understands that the Great Commission of making disciples of all nations was given to the local church, the only authorized body to fulfill this great task. These are her marching orders as given by Jesus, so Lifeword, rather than doing the work for the local church or doing things for the local indigenous peoples, has come alongside with media tools, training, and various forms of support. 

The men and women who create gospel media content for lifeword.org serve their own communities, their own cultures, and their own languages and dialects. There are currently more than 160 community radio stations and seven online radio stations run by local churches in their communities and for their communities. 

The evangelistic gospel presentations they create are broadcast in 140 languages and led by local indigenous believers in our churches. Hundreds of these programs are 100% produced by churches for ministry to their own communities. Meant to be extensions of church outreach, these videos are produced for the various cultural niches in their own context.  

In each of the four regions, Lifeword global partners work to create these relevant videos. In Africa, the BMA Ghana, BMA Liberia, and BMA Nigeria associations are reaching their own communities using tools Lifeword has provided. Nigerian Joseph Eniowo’s use of smartphones distributed in three mission points to help evangelize children and families then begin discipleship.

In the Americas (Central and South), the Gaitans (Nicaragua) produce marriage and family videos in a culture where infidelity and bigamy are acceptable lifestyles. Valmori Zelaya ministers in an area of El Salvador that is hungry for the gospel, so he produces 60-90 second evangelistic videos and is seeing positive results. Peruvian Paul Tinoco installs powerful transmitters as close as he can to people groups in Peru’s remote jungles when he hears of those without access to evangelical radio stations. 

In Asia, Filipino Pastor Pete Etabag is helping BMA churches there to reach communities from the cities to the jungles. Most of his trainees only have cell phones, so he teaches them how to produce gospel content with them. In Lebanon, Joe Costa records programming for several niche cultures in Arabic including Muslims, women, Armenian diaspora, and agnostics. 

In the European region, Lifeword has come alongside Brother Bogdan Bilav with media tools that share the gospel. Using gypsy-language Bible recordings and translations of the four Gospels, he targets this marginalized people group. Also, Ukrainian Pastor Pasha Onatsko continues ministering to refugees and produces videos explaining why the war with Russia is happening instead of what is happening. His content is for people who need hope and an understanding that God is in control.Lifeword Director of Operations Luis Ortega says, “It is an honor for Lifeword to be invited by the local church to help fulfill the great task given to her by her leader, Jesus. Making disciples of Jesus in the heart language of every tongue, tribe and nation requires believers in each of those areas to do their part, and who better than local indigenous believers who are passionate about the task and familiar with their own context, traditions, beliefs, and needs, serving their own immediate neighbors.”