By John Kyle, Louisiana Baptists Communications Director
Church planting, compassion ministries, missions education and other missions-related endeavors are what typically come to mind when one thinks of state missions.
In Louisiana, you can add multi-media outreach to the list.
Here for You is a multi-media evangelism strategy for local churches that has become a significant part of Louisiana Baptists state missions efforts.
Launched in southwest Louisiana in the summer of 2014, Here for You is a multi-platform media strategy designed to give every person in Louisiana the opportunity to say “yes” to a relationship with Jesus.
According to Louisiana Baptists Communication Director John Kyle, the basis for Here for You comes from a parable of Jesus.
“In Luke 14, Jesus tells a parable that includes the admonition to ‘go into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in.’” Kyle said. “What does this look like in 2015 and beyond? How can we get inside people’s smart phones, tablets, TV’s and other communication platforms?”
Since July 2014 the spots have aired over 7,800 times on broadcast and cable outlets in southwest and northeast Louisiana. They have generated more than 135,000 online views via the splash page and YouTube and there have been in excess of 220 searches for area churches.
A splash page, LouisianaBaptists.info, has been created where viewers are introduced to Louisiana Baptists, view a Gospel presentation, find a church in their area and view and share the spots via social media. Since the splash page was launched it has received more than 9,500 visitors.
Here for You launched its third pilot market in New Orleans and southeast Louisiana in August to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
“The Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering has totally underwritten the first two pilot campaigns in southwest and northeast Louisiana,” Kyle continued. “While it’s still early in the process, preliminary feedback from local churches in the two pilot areas has been positive.”
Kyle emphasized that all of the spots are based on scripture. “The idea is to take the words of Jesus and make a practical application of a truth to a specific audience, which in the first three pilot campaigns has been young mothers.”
Based on reports from a media placement firm secured for this initiative, Kyle estimates that over 90 percent of young mothers in southwest Louisiana saw one or more of the spots at least 25 times. In northeast Louisiana the coverage jumps to 98 percent of the young mothers seeing the spots 57 or more times.
All of the Here for You spots can be viewed at www.LouisianaBaptists.info. Churches are encouraged to post the spots on their websites and Facebook pages as well as sharing them with family and friends via social media.
Here for You is just one of the areas featured in this year’s Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering emphasis. To view all of the featured missions and ministries, visit www.GeorgiaBarnette.org. The goal for 2015 is $1,800,000 all of which is used for missions and ministries in Louisiana.
“I believe Here for You is a great addition to our state missions efforts,” Kyle said. “We’re told there are approximately 2 million people in our state who do not have a relationship with Christ. Here for You enables us to share God’s word with people we normally wouldn’t reach and do so more frequently than we could otherwise.”