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

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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