Orality Journal Volume 3, Number 1, 2014 | Page 51

Mobilizing the Story of His Glory that the Android OS owns a commanding 64% market share for smartphonesiii, you only have a potential reach of 16% of all mobile devices. Having said that, I am always telling people who own a smartphone that they need to get a Bible app, JESUS Film app and other outreach apps like Global Recordings 5Fishx on their phone. I know of no easier way to equip Christians to share the Gospel crossculturally than through apps like these. It is great to see that the JESUS Film App has already had over 200,000 installations and, as the smartphone user base expands, let’s pray for hundreds of thousands more! Playing to Mobile’s Strengths How long would you watch a TV station that was simply playing audio from a radio station? How beneficial would it be for a TV station to create a website that only broadcasts the same video feed as was playing on the TV? In both examples you have the previous generation of mass media simply reproducing its content on the next generation’s platform while missing out on the tremendous new opportunities made available with the new platform. In a similar 49 way, simply repurposing Internet and audiovisual media to work on a mobile screen misses out on the new capabilities and strengths brought about through the world’s seventh mass media -- the mobile phone. Tomi Ahonen, Forbe’s #1 ranked mobile influencer (Shaughnessy, 2012), has created a list of the “9 Unique Aspects of Mobile” (Ahonen, 2012). I will share four of them here as I think they are important strengths to maximize in any mobile ministry: 1. Mobile is the first personal mass media As was shared in the first article, mobile is extremely personal. Use it that way. Don’t just look at it as a broadcast megaphone; rather, use it as a way of starting intimate conversations and relationships. 2. Mobile is always carried Nearly any time a believer and an unreached person meet at least one, and probably both of them will have a mobile phone on them. Consider how your ministry can equip the believer to be a better witness through the capabilities available on their phone and it also means you should consider what