Two Knox-area churches — Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in West Knoxville and Two Rivers Church in Lenoir City — are turning to technology to help spread their faith.

Global Media Outreach, a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 by Walt Wilson, a former executive at Apple Computers, services the global Christian community by partnering with churches to train volunteer congregation members to be online missionaries. “Global Media Outreach’s vision is to use the internet to give everyone on earth multiple opportunities to hear the gospel, build them in their faith and connect them with the Christian community,” said Kristina Miller, marketing manager and online missionary for Global Media Outreach.

Currently partnering with more than 200 churches across the country, Global Media Outreach claims 26 million people committed their life to Christ last year through online correspondence with a trained online missionary. “Many of us have had that experience of knocking door to door, trying to share the gospel with people. At Global Media Outreach, we don’t have to knock on doors. It’s like people are knocking on our door, so to speak, wanting to learn about Jesus,” said Miller. The nonprofit exists on funds from donors and volunteers. Global Media Outreach’s corporate headquarters are in Silicon Valley, Calif., with other offices in Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Lancaster, Penn., Southern California and New York. More than 9,300 volunteers make up Global Media Outreach’s base of online missionaries. Each one must go through a four-week training process before actively corresponding with people over the website. “When a church gets involved, we will help them recruit online missionaries and set up an online community of their own. Online missionaries apply by sharing their testimony, providing spiritual references and agreeing to our statement of faith,” said Miller.

Mary Sue Temple, former schoolteacher and member of Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, decided to join Global Media Outreach in September of 2012. “I took a mission trip to Spain and met the man who was head of fundraising for Global Ministries Outreach, and it was then that I had a burning desire to get involved. I actually couldn’t get it off my mind and finally told the missions director (at the church) of my desire,” said Temple.

After serving as an online missionary for six months, Temple believes Global Ministries Outreach’s approach is a successful way to reach people. “I have been involved with many different kinds of outreach and missions, and I have never in my lifetime even imagined any results to this degree,” said Temple.

Gary Owens, a retired electrical engineer and fellow member of Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church, also joined the Global Media Outreach team this past September. “The Global Media Outreach believes the Bible and has a desire to share the gospel with as many people as possible. I see this as a wonderful way to connect with people who have seen the gospel as presented by Global Ministries Outreach on websites. They connect me via Global Ministries Outreach after seeing the websites,” said Owens.

Owens described the time involved in volunteering as flexible. The work involves responding via Global Media Outreach’s website to faith-based inquiries that are filtered and allocated by Outreach staff to the online missionaries. “Most volunteers receive one new contact per day, plus they will be receiving ongoing contacts from previous contacts. I estimate one hour a day for that,” said Owens, though he mentioned that volunteers can ask to receive fewer contacts per week, resulting in a smaller commitment.

Miller described an incident that occurred at a Global Media Outreach office a few weeks ago. “A woman called the office crying. She said she wanted to give up,” said Miller. “So my coworker and I prayed with her. Then she told us she had been on one of our sites with her mobile phone, but couldn’t wait to hear back from someone. She needed help right then. It’s because of people like her that God is using technology to reach the world with the gospel, and we privileged to be a part of it.” said Miller.

For locals interested in becoming an online missionary for Global Media Outreach, contact Gary Owens, who serves on the administration of the program at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church.

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Media Contact: Sharon Christian, sharon.christian@gmomail.org,
408-626-9071

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Global Media Outreach Appoints Chief Operating Officer
Nick Runyon to help Christian ministry reach millions more with the Gospel

Campbell, CA – September 17, 2012 – Today, Global Media Outreach (GMO), the leading Internet evangelism and discipleship ministry at www.globalmediaoutreach.com, announced the appointment of Nick Runyon as Chief Operating Officer.

In Nick’s prior position as GMO’s Director of Outreach, he was tasked with building and directing the ministry's outreach strategy to give everyone on earth multiple opportunities to know Jesus by the year 2020. As Director of Outreach, Nick built an international strategy to share the gospel with millions all over the world and helped lead GMO to the forefront in Internet evangelism. In 2011, GMO saw more than 19 million indicated decisions for Christ.

“Global Media Outreach is committed to reaching the world with the Gospel online,” said Walt Wilson, founder of Global Media Outreach. “With Nick as COO, the ministry will be in the position to expand its development of new tools and applications to share Jesus with even more seekers.”

Nick's background is in Internet advertising in an entrepreneurial, dot-com environment as director of marketing and member of the executive management team for PrintingForLess.com. He was also executive director for Creativepro.com.

To discover more about how GMO’s online mission ministry helps people discover how to have a personal relationship with Jesus, visit www.globalmediaoutreach.com.

About Global Media Outreach
Global Media Outreach is a ministry with a vision to give everyone on earth multiple opportunities to know Jesus, build their faith and connect in Christian community. GMO uses the Internet and emerging technologies to share the love of Christ and plan of salvation across the globe. In its eight years as a ministry, GMO has seen more than 50 million people indicate a first time or recommitting decision for Christ. For more information about online missions at GMO or to give a donation to this Christian ministry, please visit http:///www.globalmediaoutreach.com.

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Media Contact: Sharon Christian, sharon.christian@gmomail.org,
408-626-9071