Can a Website be a Discipleship Tool?
UPdate Partner Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 2
by Mica Olinghouse
More Than a Website
Today is a historic day for us as we celebrate the completion of our biggest creative project yet for the ministry -- the website launch (finally!) of New Life Metro. This project is one we’ve been carrying in our hearts for the last 3 years.
As the creative director of our ministry, I’ve attempted multiple times to get this site off the ground, but I’ve been held back every time. Over the course of many years working with a variety of editorial and content projects for clients, I’ve learned that when the anointing isn’t on something, it’s pointless to progress until the Holy Spirit shows me exactly how and when to do so. In fact, 2020 was a year when God specifically dealt with me about increasing my patience and being more sensitive to His timing. When we yield to His perfect time and season, THEN when He says go, He provides a full supply of grace and anointing to accomplish the task at hand.
And so it is with great joy and gratitude that I present to you the completion of a task which the Lord assigned to me personally and amazingly graced me for these past few months. It’s been a labor of love and a seed sown into the work of the ministry.
In 2019, when Jeff and I were praying over our website, the Lord began to show us His plan and purpose for this piece of virtual real estate. We knew we needed a functional site for communication with partners and fundraising, but nothing we do in ministry should ever focus solely on us and our needs. As ministers, we are called to be a blessing to others through everything the Lord entrusts into our hands. As a result of this understanding, we desired to build a site that could actually be a discipleship tool for site visitors. Since I work in the communications industry, I’m well aware of how many people accidently discover websites from all over the world through search engines. In fact, my business site alone sees visitors from over 100 nations annually, including those from closed countries. Likewise, we knew our ministry website had incredible potential to minister to people across the globe, reaching them with the good news of salvation and solid doctrine in the Christian faith.
As I started working on the website again in March, a light switch came on and ideas from the Holy Spirit began to pour into my heart. I knew exactly what needed to be done and how it should look, and all the tools and resources needed to build this site just came into my hands. I had truly tapped into the flow of grace for this project! I can now step back and say with full confidence that the Lord has been my helper and co-partner in this project. May this website be a new tool that gives Him glory and brings people to His Light in such dark times.
Today, Jeff and I invite you to share with us in celebration as we rejoice over a job faithfully completed as unto the Lord. May this tool bless you, encourage you, and even inspire you as we reach the harvest with new life in Christ.
As you peruse through our new website, one place you'll want to visit is our dedicated Resources section. This part of the site is built with discipleship fundamentals in mind by providing scriptures, instructions, videos, and prayer for those who are seeking salvation and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you’re already a born-again Spirit-filled believer, you may not personally need this content, but this section may be helpful for you in two ways: 1) it's an easy online resource tool for you to send to friends or loved ones who need further instruction in these discipleship basics, and 2) it can encourage and inspire you to utilize your own website for discipleship ministry.
We also have included pages in this section for Bibles and Bible Study tools. Over the past few years, I've been alarmed at the scarcity of Bible availability in stores and Christian bookstores. As ministries, one of the first things we should give people access to is a Bible! So we've made it easy for site visitors to find Bibles and know which one is best suited for their study needs.
Other major places you'll want to check out on our website are the fresh content sections that we'll update regularly. We've created 4 of these areas on our website, each with unique functions:
1) ReNew Magazine - This is our monthly blog where we'll curate teaching articles by us and other guests.
2) ReFRAME Field Diary - This is where we'll be posting cultural and research articles from the field, primarily New York City, New Haven, Europe, or other places we minister or travel to for ministry.
3) ReFRESH Prayer Journal - Because we want to honor the gifts of the Holy Spirit, this section is where we will be sharing different words and exhortations the Lord gives us as we feel the release to do so. Often, the Lord gives Jeff exhortations in the early morning during his quiet time, many of which apply to the whole Body of Christ. (Click here to read one of his most recent words called The Whirlwinds Are Coming. We believe that will be a great blessing to you.) The Lord also moves with us in tongues and interpretation both privately and publicly, and we will be sharing those here as is appropriate.
4) UPdate Partner Newsletter - We finally have an online location to house our partner newsletters! This is the section you'll want to visit for recent project and ministry updates.
Finally, before you leave our site, we've put together these other strategic pages for you to visit:
1) Projects - If you want to know what projects we’re currently focusing on in ministry and where we are in the process of the NYC Church Planting Project, this section has all the info you need.
2) Broadcast Media - We're excited to begin teaching more online! We've developed several different programs to launch on YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook. These videos will also be available on our website.
3) Speaking - As the Lord continues to open doors for our itinerant ministry, we are traveling and ministering in different churches and Bible schools. This section provides an overview of what we specialize in, how you can invite us to speak in your church, where you can find us ministering in the next few months, and how you can download our press bios and photos for your advertisement.
4) Kingdom Advancers Prayer Ministry - Many of you were members of our Defenders of the Faith Prayer Group in 2020-March 2021. You'll be excited to find out how Defenders has grown and transitioned into our new prayer ministry complete with additional prayer groups and upcoming prayer trips. We even have an online calendar so you can keep up with prayer meetings and times!
5) Donations - We are currently believing God for new ministry partners that can come along side us to help with the monthly budget of New Life. If you would like to parter with us, we've made it easy for you to give online. You can also discover more of the fruit we're producing in the Kingdom on our testimonies page.