Before delving into a visual solution, research had to be done to establish the problem of low Millennial engagement in missions. There is not currently a singular product that attempts to solve this problem; therefore, this thesis conducted research to bring clarity to the issue in order to help solve it.
According to the Barna Group, over half of professing Christians don’t even know what the Great Commission is.
“Less than 1% of all money given to missions goes to unreached people and places.” (Radical.net)
Millennials seem to be more likely to get involved in missions if they have people physically around them who they can develop relationships with and receive encouragement toward missions.
The literature showed that there is a need for a way to get more Millennials to engage in missions, whether through going on mission trips, giving to missions, or praying for missionaries and unreached people groups. To begin tackling this problem, the Church first needs to ensure that the entirety of the Great Commission is clearly explained to all its congregants—that making disciples among every nation and people group is of equal importance to making disciples wherever you find yourself. The Church must also address previous associations with colonialism in missions, but make it clear that that’s not what missions really is. Furthermore, it is true that good deeds follow missions work, but only part, not all, of missions is social justice or humanitarian work. Then, the Church needs to show Millennials the value of missions—how missions can give Millennials fun experiences, meaningful work, continual learning, close relationships, and the team experience of being part of something great that can positively impact the world. Finally, the Church needs to present opportunities for involvement and help Millennials picture how they can get involved, with the intention of building trust between Millennials and missions agencies. By raising awareness of the purpose, the value, and the opportunities for involvement in missions, Millennials will likely start to engage in missions more than ever before.
Patreon’s manifesto states they are trying to build a new model for the creative economy, “Where fans are encouraged to be more than followers and become active participants in the work they love” (Patreon Culture Deck). This is the vision for my visual solution as well: for Millennial Christians to become more personally invested in missions work around the world, leading the way for future generations. Missionaries may not be as creatively-driven as the creatives on Patreon, so this new platform will need to make it very easy for missionaries to make their own content contributions.
This new missionary crowdfunding company can also learn from Patreon’s mistakes and keep the financial power in the hands of the missionaries, as opposed to making supporters pay extra fees. Like Patreon, the goal of this new company is to make it easy for missionaries to share stories, updates, prayer requests, and whatever extra content they want, and get paid directly by supporters who want to actually see where their money is going. This new platform can give missionaries the tools they need to share with their supporters, which will hopefully lead to a greater engagement in missions among Millennials.
This website model could be helpful for the part of my project that connects Millennials to missions opportunities. On the landing page for jobs, Scatter Global has categories of jobs by vocational areas with the most need for that vocation and locations with the most need for the gospel, but they have jobs posted from other areas as well. Ideally, my project’s website would have the ability to search for jobs organized by country or vocation or another criteria or multiple criteria. The website could also potentially list missions sending agencies that the company partners with so Millennials can click the link to view more opportunities on the agency’s website.
As far as semiotics, Scatter Global uses small circle icons with colored symbols throughout their web- site and social media posts. Some of their icons include an airplane, a briefcase, a mountain climber with a flag at the summit, and a group of people (fig. 2.38–2.41). They all seem to surround the theme of travel and work, as is appropriate for the organization. Since my project company’s theme will be travel and missions in general, perhaps I should think of symbols surrounding the topic that I can use throughout my visuals.
HeartCry makes partnering with the local churches in the countries they support a priority, recognizing the work God is already doing in that country and simply joining them in support to reach the unreached with the Gospel. Much of that support is financial, but HeartCry also provides books and other evangelistic training materials. With financial support especially, HeartCry knows it is vital to involve the local church because they will be the ones in charge of sending out qualified missionaries who will steward the financial support well. This may be something to keep in mind with my missions project. This one project alone can’t save the world; it would better serve as a tool for the missions initiatives already established in local churches around the U.S.
Furthermore, the audience for HeartCry and the people who will care about my missions company will already have a mindset that isn’t hung up on material things or the things of this world. This theoretical company needs to have quality content that will be supplemented by design, not the other way around. On the flip side, good design is still important since my company’s goal is to increase awareness and engagement in missions for Millennials who don’t already value missions. Good design can help attract Millennials to missions and show them how missions is valuable.
I chose this method of additional research because I wanted to gain first-hand answers to my research questions from people who will actually benefit from my thesis. Since missionaries and Millennials will be the ones using the tool I’m creating for my visual solution, I wanted their input as to what they need and what would actually be helpful to them. I recognized that I couldn’t solve the problem in a way that will please every single person, but I did want it to be helpful for a large majority of my audience.
• Out of all 13 Millennials interviewed, only 2 mentioned the purpose of missions being to bring all peoples back to God
• Missionaries said they were involved in missions because of the purpose-filled work
• Millennials often don’t get involved in missions because they don’t know how, and they can’t see what the organization/church/missionary is doing
• Millennials would be more inspired to engage in missions if they could see how they could fit
• Millennials and missionaries want a better way to connect with each other on a personal level