Digital Mission: Fulfilling the Great Commission in the Digital Age with Ricky George

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
.9999999995Most people Are scrolling through their phone while watching the TV show. 2 00:00:03,629.9999999996 --> 00:00:06,19.9989999991 If this is a digital trend that's happening at home. 3 00:00:06,594.9999999997 --> 00:00:09,794.9999999996 Understand it's happening at church, understand it's happening. 4 00:00:09,794.9999999996 --> 00:00:14,939.085908577 When your sermon is being preached there is such a big internet habit that's been developed by the world. 5 00:00:15,309.085908577 --> 00:00:20,619.085908577 And if we don't take advantage of this as a church, we will miss out on this boom. 6 00:00:22,911.232933965 --> 00:00:29,511.232933965 Welcome to the Lizanne movement podcast, where we have a passion to accelerate global mission together. 7 00:00:30,51.232933965 --> 00:00:31,371.232933965 I'm your host, Jason Watson. 8 00:00:31,401.232933965 --> 00:00:38,451.232933965 And today on the podcast, we had the opportunity to sit down with Ricky George, the CEO of media tank companies. 9 00:00:38,811.232933965 --> 00:00:40,521.232933965 Our costs and our costs academy. 10 00:00:40,911.232933965 --> 00:00:44,451.232933965 To speak into the usage of digital media and spreading the gospel. 11 00:00:45,141.232933965 --> 00:00:48,291.232933965 During our time together, Ricky shared his powerful testimony. 12 00:00:48,621.232933965 --> 00:00:54,321.232933965 Of overcoming depression and suicidal thoughts and discovering God's calling for his life. 13 00:00:54,801.232933965 --> 00:00:58,221.232933965 Equipping the church with technology for impactful ministry. 14 00:00:58,271.232933965 --> 00:01:05,651.232933965 If you want to learn more about how you can leverage digital media for kingdom impact, then this episode is for you. 15 00:01:06,371.232933965 --> 00:01:07,481.232933965 So grab your headphones. 16 00:01:07,601.232933965 --> 00:01:11,441.232933965 Let's dive into today's conversation with Ricky, George. 17 00:01:13,490.960206692 --> 00:01:15,190.960206692 Well, Ricky, welcome to the podcast. 18 00:01:15,772.778192523 --> 00:01:16,552.778192523 Thank you so much. 19 00:01:16,572.778192523 --> 00:01:17,372.778192523 Really appreciate it. 20 00:01:17,502.778192523 --> 00:01:18,762.778192523 I'm so excited to be here, Jason. 21 00:01:19,255.097205361 --> 00:01:20,645.097205361 It's great to have you with us today. 22 00:01:20,662.062247351 --> 00:01:27,502.061247351 I'm always excited to host a younger leader like yourself, who is passionate about God and passionate about making a difference in the world. 23 00:01:28,42.062247351 --> 00:01:46,187.06224735 And in your case, you are passionate about inspiring and equipping others to use digital media for For Kingdom Impact, which we will unpack today, but to kick us off, could you begin by sharing a bit about who you are and just let the podcast audience know who you are how you come to faith? Cause it's an inspiring story. 24 00:01:46,507.06124735 --> 00:01:51,7.06124735 And the moment you realize God was calling you to make a difference for the kingdom through media. 25 00:01:51,511.56174735 --> 00:01:52,111.56174735 Thank you so much. 26 00:01:52,121.56174735 --> 00:01:54,661.56074735 First of all, I'm so excited that I'm doing this with Lausanne. 27 00:01:55,322.09095804 --> 00:01:55,522.09095804 Yeah. 28 00:01:55,522.09095804 --> 00:01:57,22.09095804 So my name is Ricky Raymond George. 29 00:01:57,116.72902791 --> 00:01:57,896.72802791 I'm from India. 30 00:01:57,926.72902791 --> 00:01:59,216.72902791 I live in the city called Hyderabad. 31 00:01:59,326.72902791 --> 00:02:00,596.72802791 Hyderabad is famous for biryani. 32 00:02:00,596.72902791 --> 00:02:02,586.72852791 So if you're ever in India, that's the place you want. 33 00:02:02,586.72852791 --> 00:02:03,586.72902791 That's the food you want to try. 34 00:02:04,256.72902791 --> 00:02:04,756.72902791 I'm married. 35 00:02:04,756.72902791 --> 00:02:10,24.90986615 I have a beautiful wife named Beulah John an eight month old son named Micah. 36 00:02:10,763.15685573 --> 00:02:14,643.15685573 so exciting to do what God's called me to do in the digital space. 37 00:02:14,723.15685573 --> 00:02:19,238.15685573 I really feel called, you know, when my son was born in August, 2023. 38 00:02:19,568.15685573 --> 00:02:28,617.32996402 Uh, One thing that actually really excited me was when I saw him, I realized one thing that my son would probably be alive to see. 39 00:02:28,677.32996402 --> 00:02:33,378.32996402 The year 2,100, he'll be 76 years old in the 2,100. 40 00:02:33,862.32996402 --> 00:02:35,512.32996402 And in the next century. 41 00:02:35,741.96984773 --> 00:02:41,111.96984773 the thought that came to my mind was, I have the power to impact the next generation. 42 00:02:41,141.96984773 --> 00:02:45,521.96984773 If I can minister to my son, if I can minister well to the next generation. 43 00:02:46,131.96984773 --> 00:02:51,881.04349009 And from 2023, every kid that's born is probably gonna be alive to see the next century. 44 00:02:52,452.8663679 --> 00:02:53,712.8663679 and we have the power. 45 00:02:53,802.8663679 --> 00:02:57,732.8663679 And of course, till kingdom comes till the end of times it's our job to preach the gospel. 46 00:02:57,732.8663679 --> 00:02:57,822.8663679 But. 47 00:02:58,622.8663679 --> 00:03:02,332.8663679 if my son gets to witness the next century, it's my job to witness to him. 48 00:03:02,332.8663679 --> 00:03:04,862.8663679 So that's the power of investing in the next generation. 49 00:03:05,452.8653679 --> 00:03:08,522.8658679 Nevertheless, my story let me just get unpacked on my story. 50 00:03:08,522.8658679 --> 00:03:09,652.8663679 My story goes like this. 51 00:03:10,212.8663679 --> 00:03:12,242.8653679 growing up, I grew up as a missionary kid. 52 00:03:12,592.8653679 --> 00:03:19,232.8663679 and, uh, if there was, One of the biggest challenge being a missionary kid was I had to move to different cities and different places. 53 00:03:19,322.8663679 --> 00:03:23,492.8653679 So I didn't really interact with kids my age because I never really had time to make friends. 54 00:03:23,492.8663679 --> 00:03:25,882.8663679 By the time I made friends, I would move to another city with my family. 55 00:03:26,442.8663679 --> 00:03:29,92.8653679 So all the missionary kids out there, I feel you. 56 00:03:29,132.8663679 --> 00:03:29,852.8663679 I relate to you guys. 57 00:03:29,852.8663679 --> 00:03:31,662.8653679 It's, it's, this is, this is life. 58 00:03:32,262.8663679 --> 00:03:35,642.8653679 But something very interesting happened in my third grade. 59 00:03:35,671.19187802 --> 00:03:39,842.72702542 And I remember when my dad got ordained to be a pastor when I was in my third grade. 60 00:03:39,842.72702542 --> 00:03:41,902.72702542 I was, I was about 10 years old. 61 00:03:42,547.72802542 --> 00:03:46,917.72802542 And everybody would congratulate my dad saying, Hey, congratulations you're a pastor now. 62 00:03:47,47.72802542 --> 00:03:47,997.72802542 God's going to use you. 63 00:03:48,597.72802542 --> 00:03:52,257.72802542 Everybody would congratulate my mom saying, Congratulations, you're a pastor now. 64 00:03:52,397.72802542 --> 00:03:53,457.72702542 You're going to be doing God's work. 65 00:03:54,67.72802542 --> 00:03:57,871.06135875 But whenever they came to me, they, for some reason, had this liberty to tell this to me. 66 00:03:57,871.06135875 --> 00:04:01,781.06135875 They said, Hey, now that you're a pastor's kid, you're going to experience a lot of spiritual warfare. 67 00:04:02,791.06135875 --> 00:04:06,351.06135875 And that, for some reason, didn't sit well with me. 68 00:04:06,651.06135875 --> 00:04:09,421.06135875 Because in my head, I thought, my parents made a commitment to serve God. 69 00:04:10,601.06135875 --> 00:04:12,171.06135875 They should be the one carrying the cross. 70 00:04:12,261.06135875 --> 00:04:23,821.06135875 I didn't make a commitment to serve God, why should I be the one carrying the cross, you know? And so every time when things went wrong in my life, I remember wondering, why would God do this to me? Because I didn't make a commitment to God. 71 00:04:23,881.06135875 --> 00:04:25,851.06135875 I understand when Jesus said, carry a cross, follow me. 72 00:04:27,31.06135875 --> 00:04:28,361.06035875 That's for my parents, not for me. 73 00:04:28,961.06135875 --> 00:04:30,121.06135875 Because I didn't make that choice. 74 00:04:30,451.06135875 --> 00:04:36,166.53606267 I didn't have, nobody asked me, hey, do you want to be in a missionary family? So I, was so confused. 75 00:04:36,176.53606267 --> 00:04:36,946.53606267 I was so lost. 76 00:04:36,946.53606267 --> 00:04:39,696.53606267 I was so, it was so weird for me. 77 00:04:39,756.53506267 --> 00:04:47,16.53606267 So every time when things went wrong, My mind convinced myself, or rather I was convinced that God doesn't love me. 78 00:04:47,816.53606267 --> 00:05:07,606.53506267 So since my third grade, for one year I had to, you know, unpack what I was feeling and by the, in the next one year, so when I was 11 years old till about 17 years old, I was dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts because I was convinced that God doesn't love me. 79 00:05:08,406.53506267 --> 00:05:19,4.5409031 I grew up with this idea that God doesn't care about me, which is why things are not going the way I wanted to go, which is why I was not performing well in my school. 80 00:05:19,54.5419031 --> 00:05:24,304.5419031 I was blaming that it is because of God's like, you know, God doesn't love me, which is why this is happening. 81 00:05:25,64.5409031 --> 00:05:31,134.5419031 I was not willing to take ownership because someone told me when I was 10 years old that, Hey, you're going to deal with a spiritual warfare. 82 00:05:31,134.5419031 --> 00:05:33,64.5419031 And for me, spiritual warfare looked like this. 83 00:05:33,844.5419031 --> 00:05:36,544.5419031 It looked like me not being able to make friends. 84 00:05:36,544.5419031 --> 00:05:42,668.40801634 It looked like me failing in my school, me not doing well, experiencing bullying when I was growing up. 85 00:05:42,938.40901634 --> 00:05:48,78.40901634 All this I saw it as a spiritual warfare saying, hey listen, this is proof that God doesn't love me. 86 00:05:48,578.40901634 --> 00:05:53,137.45078857 So I remember one day, when I was about 17 years old, I had, I had tried to kill myself five times. 87 00:05:53,137.45078857 --> 00:05:55,297.45078857 I had attempted suicide five times. 88 00:05:55,490.45028857 --> 00:06:01,180.45028857 And I remember the last time I was gonna, I was, I decided today I'm just gonna go and attempt suicide. 89 00:06:01,360.45028857 --> 00:06:03,730.45028857 And I remember going and I made up a mind. 90 00:06:03,730.45028857 --> 00:06:04,840.45028857 I said, I'm gonna go today. 91 00:06:05,410.45028857 --> 00:06:07,840.45028857 I'm going on top of a building, a building top, and I'm gonna jump. 92 00:06:07,900.45028857 --> 00:06:09,490.45028857 I'm going, I'm gonna give up my life. 93 00:06:10,143.72613352 --> 00:06:15,493.72613352 while I made that decision and I was going, the only thought that came to my head is I said, God, this is what I'm gonna do. 94 00:06:16,175.54431534 --> 00:06:20,602.210982 The only thing that's gonna stop me from doing this is to prove that you love me. 95 00:06:21,462.210982 --> 00:06:23,592.210982 And here's how I want you to prove that you love me. 96 00:06:23,742.210982 --> 00:06:25,62.210982 And I made an ultimate with God. 97 00:06:25,62.210982 --> 00:06:25,303.210982 I said, God. 98 00:06:26,103.210982 --> 00:06:29,403.210982 Because I grew up in a missionaries household because I grew up in a Christian home. 99 00:06:30,143.210982 --> 00:06:33,443.210982 The Bible became so immune, I became, so, I immune the Bible. 100 00:06:33,443.210982 --> 00:06:34,973.210982 It was not affecting my life. 101 00:06:35,303.210982 --> 00:06:37,433.210982 I couldn't believe it like everybody else did. 102 00:06:37,883.210982 --> 00:06:40,13.210982 I was not able to see the power of the Word of God. 103 00:06:40,463.210982 --> 00:06:43,993.210982 You know, the scripture says the word of God doesn't come back white for me. 104 00:06:44,53.210982 --> 00:06:45,403.210982 It is because I was so immune to it. 105 00:06:45,403.210982 --> 00:06:48,283.210982 For me, it felt void, you know? It felt very weird. 106 00:06:48,283.210982 --> 00:06:50,173.210982 So I said, God, God, okay, here's what I'm gonna do. 107 00:06:50,453.210982 --> 00:06:52,283.210982 I'm, I've decided I'm gonna give up on my life. 108 00:06:53,363.210982 --> 00:06:54,233.210982 But if you love me. 109 00:06:54,568.210982 --> 00:07:02,348.210982 You will have someone who does not really believe in God call me and tell me that it's something that's not from the Bible. 110 00:07:03,148.210982 --> 00:07:05,488.210982 And it should be convincing enough for me not to kill myself. 111 00:07:06,638.210982 --> 00:07:07,838.210982 That's how I know you love me. 112 00:07:08,638.210982 --> 00:07:10,988.209982 Okay, because I did not know how else to experience God's love. 113 00:07:11,338.210982 --> 00:07:17,858.209982 Okay? So, I decided, I go on this rooftop and lo and behold, a friend of mine calls me. 114 00:07:17,928.209982 --> 00:07:18,778.209982 And he's not a believer. 115 00:07:19,308.209982 --> 00:07:24,314.87664867 And so he just calls me, he's like, Hey Ricky, how are you doing? And I told him, hey man, life's been It's very hard. 116 00:07:24,314.87664867 --> 00:07:25,64.87664867 I'm so depressed. 117 00:07:25,64.87664867 --> 00:07:25,894.87664867 He knew I was depressed. 118 00:07:25,894.87664867 --> 00:07:31,421.54331534 A lot of my friends knew I was depressed, but he was just checking up on me and I said now life is just mundane. 119 00:07:31,421.54331534 --> 00:07:33,601.54331534 Nothing is changing my life I feel like a failure. 120 00:07:33,601.54331534 --> 00:07:34,261.54231534 I feel lost. 121 00:07:34,261.54331534 --> 00:07:37,821.54231534 I feel like I'm a useless person I have no purpose in this world. 122 00:07:37,841.54231534 --> 00:07:39,861.54331534 If I die, nothing is going to change in this world. 123 00:07:40,271.54331534 --> 00:07:44,81.54331534 I'm not gonna make any difference And so that's what I was telling him and he said something. 124 00:07:44,81.54331534 --> 00:07:47,371.54331534 He said, Hey, I read this quote somewhere, but I felt like I should share this with you. 125 00:07:47,371.54331534 --> 00:07:49,541.54331534 And he said this, he said, Ricky, I read the quote. 126 00:07:49,561.54331534 --> 00:07:53,91.54331534 The quote says, if you have the courage to kill yourself, you have the courage to face life. 127 00:07:53,915.4275204 --> 00:07:58,635.4275204 I repeat, it said, if you have the courage to kill yourself, you have the courage to face life. 128 00:07:59,35.4265204 --> 00:08:06,395.4275204 And for the first time in my life, I felt convinced with that quote. 129 00:08:06,395.4275204 --> 00:08:09,769.87297495 But for him, he just told what he had to say. 130 00:08:09,769.87297495 --> 00:08:10,589.87297495 But for me. 131 00:08:11,174.87297495 --> 00:08:17,884.87297495 I was experiencing the love of God in a very new way, which I would have never thought I could have experienced. 132 00:08:18,634.87297495 --> 00:08:19,964.87297495 For me, it was so personal. 133 00:08:20,174.87297495 --> 00:08:23,474.87297495 It was such a joyful moment because I knew that it was God. 134 00:08:23,474.87297495 --> 00:08:24,194.87297495 It was not him. 135 00:08:24,994.87297495 --> 00:08:30,614.87297495 I knew that it was God who enabled him to tell me that specific quote which changed my life. 136 00:08:31,414.87297495 --> 00:08:32,544.87397495 And that's how I found God. 137 00:08:33,114.87397495 --> 00:08:35,834.87397495 And since then, I've never had a thought for suicide. 138 00:08:35,834.87397495 --> 00:08:36,934.87397495 I've never felt depressed. 139 00:08:36,934.87397495 --> 00:08:37,629.77397495 I've never felt lonely. 140 00:08:37,857.82297495 --> 00:08:40,447.82297495 confused about the love of God because I knew he loved me. 141 00:08:41,247.82297495 --> 00:08:44,447.82297495 that's when I was 17 years old, I found God, I found Jesus. 142 00:08:44,912.89098431 --> 00:08:47,196.22431765 a few years later, I went to university. 143 00:08:47,216.22431765 --> 00:08:48,326.22431765 I was studying in university. 144 00:08:49,516.22431765 --> 00:08:54,274.53572524 While I was in university, I, by, when I was in my second year of university, I, got a job. 145 00:08:54,304.53572524 --> 00:08:56,772.89198431 Someone had offered me a job because went to design school. 146 00:08:56,772.89198431 --> 00:08:57,672.89198431 I was studying design. 147 00:08:58,277.89198431 --> 00:09:06,967.89098431 And an agency, an advertising agency reached out to me for a summer internship and I joined them and they were very happy with me that summer that they offered me a full time job. 148 00:09:07,477.89198431 --> 00:09:09,994.1915598 So while I was doing the full time job I said, Hey, I have college. 149 00:09:09,994.1915598 --> 00:09:11,833.38154864 I have to go to school and I can't do. 150 00:09:11,863.38054864 --> 00:09:13,353.38154864 They said, no, no, you work from home. 151 00:09:13,383.38054864 --> 00:09:14,513.38154864 Whenever you're convenient, you can work. 152 00:09:14,553.38054864 --> 00:09:19,433.38154864 So I would wake up early morning at 5am and I'd work till 8am and then I'd finish all my work. 153 00:09:19,483.38154864 --> 00:09:25,543.38154864 I'd go to then college by nine, come back by four, And then four o'clock I'd see all my emails and I'd finish work. 154 00:09:25,543.38154864 --> 00:09:31,3.38154864 So six months of me getting into college, I was, I was, I had a full time job in my hand in my second year of college. 155 00:09:31,626.38154864 --> 00:09:46,376.38154864 And six months in, they were so impressed with me that they offered me a leadership position where I was an art director for that company while I was in college and their full time employees were working under me and all of them, I was 19 and they were all an average age of 25 to 35. 156 00:09:47,23.42363254 --> 00:09:51,343.42363254 as a 19 year old, I was being an art director in an agency where I was not in person. 157 00:09:51,553.42363254 --> 00:09:56,674.71488197 I was in college and that's the kind of recognition that God, I mean, of course through the grace of God. 158 00:09:56,674.71488197 --> 00:10:01,234.71388197 But at that point in my life I thought, wow, there's so much power in digital marketing. 159 00:10:01,254.71488197 --> 00:10:02,5.21488197 Cause I was running ads. 160 00:10:02,401.38154864 --> 00:10:03,761.38154864 I was working with different tools. 161 00:10:03,761.38154864 --> 00:10:06,701.38154864 I was building products for a lot of agencies, a lot of brands. 162 00:10:06,981.38154864 --> 00:10:12,626.38154864 And this is, we are talking about 2014, where this is 2012 to 2014 where the digital marketing boom was just coming in. 163 00:10:12,776.38154864 --> 00:10:15,536.38154864 So 2013 2014 is where it was getting into Indian market. 164 00:10:15,916.38154864 --> 00:10:18,6.38154864 And I was, stepping into that space massively. 165 00:10:18,646.38154864 --> 00:10:29,976.38154864 While I was doing that, I thought to myself saying, Wow, can we use this for the Great Commission? Can the church use this? Can the church find value in it? So what I decided to do is I decided to take this to my pastor. 166 00:10:29,976.38154864 --> 00:10:37,166.38154864 And I went to a pastor and told him, Pastor, I think we should use these kind of tools for the Great Commission, for missions and for different things. 167 00:10:37,951.38154864 --> 00:10:41,511.38154864 And when he looked at me, all he could see was a 19 year old speaking. 168 00:10:42,0.21488197 --> 00:10:44,690.21488197 He couldn't see that I was bringing value to the table. 169 00:10:45,20.21488197 --> 00:10:46,720.21488197 So when he saw that, he said, listen, all that is great. 170 00:10:46,760.21488197 --> 00:10:48,350.21388197 But you know what, let me just mentor you. 171 00:10:48,740.21388197 --> 00:10:49,670.21488197 Let you get mentored. 172 00:10:49,670.21488197 --> 00:10:51,170.21488197 And after that, you should think about all this. 173 00:10:51,440.21388197 --> 00:10:53,170.21488197 Now is not the time for you to think about all this. 174 00:10:53,220.21488197 --> 00:10:56,120.21488197 And I felt unheard for the first time. 175 00:10:56,630.21388197 --> 00:11:03,800.21488197 And that time I realized that the world was very welcoming of a young mind, but the church wasn't ready for a young person. 176 00:11:05,753.5482153 --> 00:11:07,33.5482153 It was very disappointing for me. 177 00:11:07,33.5482153 --> 00:11:08,703.5482153 So I went back and I went back to work. 178 00:11:08,703.5482153 --> 00:11:11,283.5482153 The world, of course, my workplace, they celebrated me. 179 00:11:11,283.5482153 --> 00:11:13,493.5482153 They loved me because I was doing great at what I was doing. 180 00:11:13,823.5482153 --> 00:11:15,563.5477153 But I didn't have the space to do that in church. 181 00:11:15,563.5477153 --> 00:11:17,643.5472153 So I thought to myself, okay, maybe if I go to Bible college. 182 00:11:18,3.5482153 --> 00:11:20,863.5472153 If I go to this Christian media college and come back. 183 00:11:21,313.05036016 --> 00:11:23,783.05136016 If I go abroad, study in Christian media college, come back. 184 00:11:24,688.05136016 --> 00:11:42,63.05136016 Everyone's going to listen to me because I'm Ricky from so and so college, you know, everyone's going to listen to me And that's what I thought and so I decided you know, what it was this was about 2017 I said, you know what December 20th and I said maybe let me just go ahead and apply this to this college So I went and applied to my college and I had faith that I'm going to get into that college. 185 00:11:42,73.05136016 --> 00:11:47,413.05136016 So I wrote, I wrote my resignation in January of 2018 and told my boss saying, I'm going to give you a six month's notice. 186 00:11:47,443.05136016 --> 00:11:48,663.05136016 In the month of May, I'm leaving. 187 00:11:48,723.05136016 --> 00:11:51,833.05136016 I'm going to go to this particular college. 188 00:11:51,833.05136016 --> 00:11:52,733.05136016 I'm going to leave the country. 189 00:11:53,363.05136016 --> 00:11:55,143.05086016 And so my boss was like, okay, that's great. 190 00:11:55,143.05086016 --> 00:11:56,153.05036016 You're giving me a six month's notice. 191 00:11:56,523.05136016 --> 00:12:10,517.91217813 And so, In my head, I thought, you know what, if worst case scenario, if I don't get into that college, I always can work here because my boss loves me, the team loves me, it's a great company to work with, so I have no problem staying back, you know, so I always had a back plan. 192 00:12:11,67.91217813 --> 00:12:19,627.91317813 But in April of 2018, my boss sends a message saying, hey guys, me and my wife decided to move to another country, so another company is willing to merge with us. 193 00:12:20,117.91317813 --> 00:12:22,997.91317813 So all those who are working with us, you're going to be hired by this new company. 194 00:12:23,577.91317813 --> 00:12:27,237.91317813 But I thought to myself, why do I need that hire? Because I'm anyways, I'm going to go abroad. 195 00:12:27,237.91317813 --> 00:12:30,957.82392766 I don't need that, right? So what happened long story short is I said no to that offer. 196 00:12:30,997.82392766 --> 00:12:35,46.37754151 So now my, in my head, plan A was to go to this new, university and come back. 197 00:12:35,456.37754151 --> 00:12:37,106.37854151 But plan B was to make plan A happen. 198 00:12:37,156.37854151 --> 00:12:38,326.32854151 You know, so I had only two plans. 199 00:12:38,326.32854151 --> 00:12:39,186.37854151 That is, that is one plan. 200 00:12:39,706.37854151 --> 00:12:44,893.07951024 what happened is I applied to the college and then college told me that you need to have certain amount in your bank. 201 00:12:45,583.07951024 --> 00:12:53,713.07951024 And so I went to the bank and I said, can you give me a loan of this particular amount? And the bank said, we can give you the loan as long as the college gives you something called a conditional application letter. 202 00:12:54,193.07951024 --> 00:13:01,613.07851024 So I went to the college and said, hey, can you give me a conditional application letter so that the bank can give me a loan? The college said, no, we can't give you the letter unless you show us the money in the bank. 203 00:13:02,193.07951024 --> 00:13:04,93.08051024 And I said, this is a cycle that was going on. 204 00:13:04,123.08051024 --> 00:13:05,243.08051024 So now I did have a job. 205 00:13:05,933.08051024 --> 00:13:07,413.08051024 The college was not working out for me. 206 00:13:08,128.08051024 --> 00:13:09,888.08051024 I didn't know what I was going to do in my life. 207 00:13:10,68.08051024 --> 00:13:11,938.08051024 And I thought I was going to do something for the Kingdom of God. 208 00:13:11,938.08051024 --> 00:13:12,758.08051024 I was so lost. 209 00:13:12,768.08051024 --> 00:13:16,98.08051024 So this is, I'm, it's already May of 2018. 210 00:13:16,98.08051024 --> 00:13:17,578.07951024 I have no clue what I'm doing in my life. 211 00:13:18,88.08051024 --> 00:13:19,728.894275 I remember I gave myself one month. 212 00:13:19,728.894275 --> 00:13:21,838.894275 I said, okay, you know what, June, I'm not going to say anything. 213 00:13:22,689.5219813 --> 00:13:24,65.56094167 I used to play music with a band. 214 00:13:24,65.56094167 --> 00:13:28,655.56094167 So I was traveling around the country playing music in different gigs, in different venues. 215 00:13:28,995.56094167 --> 00:13:33,380.92021826 And one of venues the vocalist of my band, Pranati her aunt came to visit us. 216 00:13:33,520.92021826 --> 00:13:35,820.92021826 And so she said, Hey, listen, Ricky, you're a designer. 217 00:13:35,860.92021826 --> 00:13:36,820.91971826 Pranati, you're a designer. 218 00:13:36,820.91971826 --> 00:13:40,640.91921826 Why don't you both start a company together? And I thought to myself, yeah, that sounds great. 219 00:13:40,860.91921826 --> 00:13:44,630.91921826 But then I've never thought the idea of starting a company never really hit me. 220 00:13:45,210.91921826 --> 00:13:48,814.25255159 So I was a little afraid, but I also thought, you know what? I have no other option. 221 00:13:48,894.25255159 --> 00:13:50,184.25255159 So let me just go ahead and start a company. 222 00:13:50,534.25255159 --> 00:13:54,438.15452963 So when I went ahead and I told my dad about it, saying, Dad, I'm planning to start a company. 223 00:13:54,838.15452963 --> 00:13:57,418.15452963 My dad, being a missionary, said, Listen, we're missionaries, we don't do business. 224 00:13:57,958.15452963 --> 00:13:59,988.15402963 Because he grew up with a very different ideology. 225 00:13:59,988.15402963 --> 00:14:03,268.15452963 And so, my dad and mom lived in a different city, I lived in a different city. 226 00:14:03,898.15452963 --> 00:14:06,178.15452963 And I didn't tell my parents, and I started my first company. 227 00:14:06,468.15352963 --> 00:14:09,588.15452963 For six months, I ran my company, and six months we blew up. 228 00:14:10,88.15452963 --> 00:14:17,338.15452963 To an extent where there was an article written as in the newspaper and someone sent that article to my parents and that's how my parents got to know that I ran a company of my own. 229 00:14:17,768.15452963 --> 00:14:19,928.15452963 You know, for six months I was just running this thing. 230 00:14:19,938.15452963 --> 00:14:23,128.15402963 And so, we became this finest design agency to work for right now. 231 00:14:23,128.15402963 --> 00:14:24,348.15452963 So we were killing it in that space. 232 00:14:25,58.15452963 --> 00:14:37,999.07928201 And then when, all this fame and all this attention was coming to me, God again called me and said, Hey, Ricky, what happened to the What happened to your desire to take the gospel to the digital space? And I said, God, I, I went to a pastor. 233 00:14:38,9.07928201 --> 00:14:39,849.07928201 He said, he rejected me. 234 00:14:39,939.07928201 --> 00:14:41,339.07928201 he was not understanding where I was coming from. 235 00:14:41,409.07828201 --> 00:14:44,719.07928201 I thought I applied for this college and you didn't give me the college admission. 236 00:14:45,79.07928201 --> 00:14:47,949.07928201 What more should I do? He says, no, I want you to write on your vision. 237 00:14:47,949.07928201 --> 00:14:49,959.07928201 So I sat down and I wrote my entire vision down. 238 00:14:50,709.07928201 --> 00:14:54,19.07928201 As I wrote my vision down I was overwhelmed with the vision I wrote down. 239 00:14:54,309.07928201 --> 00:14:56,579.07928201 I was very overwhelmed because it's bigger than what I thought. 240 00:14:57,832.41261534 --> 00:14:59,512.41261534 And I shelved it for a year. 241 00:15:00,312.41261534 --> 00:15:08,62.41361534 But then one year later, again in July of 2019, God asked me, Rikki, what are you doing? And that day I knew I can't reject what God is calling me to do. 242 00:15:08,82.41361534 --> 00:15:10,892.41311534 And so, I decided to do something about it. 243 00:15:10,892.41311534 --> 00:15:18,215.04705266 I said, you know what, God, I don't know where to go, but I'll start with starting a small Instagram page and I'll educate people about digital missions. 244 00:15:19,160.04705266 --> 00:15:20,140.04705266 That's the great start. 245 00:15:20,190.04705266 --> 00:15:21,850.04705266 I'll do just, I can just do that as a hobby. 246 00:15:22,120.04705266 --> 00:15:25,0.04705266 You know, it doesn't have to be a serious, you know, ministry kind of thing. 247 00:15:25,570.04705266 --> 00:15:28,970.04705266 So 2019 July, I started an Instagram page with a friend of mine named Jeremiah. 248 00:15:29,760.04705266 --> 00:15:30,730.04705266 And both of us started it. 249 00:15:31,56.71371933 --> 00:15:32,163.381386 both of us were running it. 250 00:15:32,163.381386 --> 00:15:34,603.382386 We were just helping each other out doing this. 251 00:15:35,223.382386 --> 00:15:38,323.382386 And before we started it, I had to find a name for that page. 252 00:15:38,583.382386 --> 00:15:39,613.382386 I didn't know what to name it. 253 00:15:40,523.382386 --> 00:15:44,833.382386 And I was praying and asking God, God, give me a name for this, this movement that I'm going to do. 254 00:15:45,798.382386 --> 00:15:50,478.382386 And then he gave me a flashback of something that happened to me when I was in 10th grade in school. 255 00:15:51,348.382386 --> 00:15:57,511.71571933 And in 10th grade, because I hated, or rather, because I was convinced that God doesn't love me, I felt detached from God. 256 00:15:57,511.81571933 --> 00:16:00,461.71571933 I had a lot of my friends who were Christians who didn't believe in God. 257 00:16:00,511.71571933 --> 00:16:03,701.64429076 Does it make sense? Who were Who grew up in a Christian household, but didn't believe. 258 00:16:03,701.64429076 --> 00:16:09,771.71571933 So I decided in 10th grade that I'm going to start a magazine, an online magazine, where we write stories of people who left church. 259 00:16:10,451.71571933 --> 00:16:12,981.71571933 Okay, and tell them why the church is a bad place to be. 260 00:16:13,71.71571933 --> 00:16:22,531.71571933 Okay, and the name of that magazine was called Outcast Magazine, because we felt like outcasts, right? And so I decided to do that, but of course, I was not entrepreneurial that time, so I clearly failed at it. 261 00:16:23,271.71571933 --> 00:16:28,681.71571933 And when in 2019, name this page, I asked God, give me a name, and he revealed that name again to me. 262 00:16:29,756.71571933 --> 00:16:31,256.71571933 He gave that name outcast again. 263 00:16:31,726.71571933 --> 00:16:39,338.282386 And I thought to myself, God, but I used that name to, to defame your bride, disturbance to the church. 264 00:16:39,638.382386 --> 00:16:42,18.382386 Why would you use that name? But he says, no, I'm going to redefine. 265 00:16:42,18.382386 --> 00:16:43,428.382386 I'm going to redeem that name through you. 266 00:16:43,838.382386 --> 00:16:50,258.381386 And this time when the word outcast came, it came through this definition, which said outreach through broadcasting. 267 00:16:51,98.381386 --> 00:16:56,41.7147193 And that was the beginning of outcast, which is the digital ministry that I run in India. 268 00:16:56,531.7147193 --> 00:17:00,281.7157193 And in 2019, when I started it, thought it's going to be just four cotton buckets. 269 00:17:00,281.7157193 --> 00:17:02,451.7157193 You know, read your Bible, pray every day, go to church, read the gospel. 270 00:17:02,481.7157193 --> 00:17:03,661.7157193 Four things I was going to talk about. 271 00:17:03,721.7157193 --> 00:17:04,11.7157193 That's it. 272 00:17:04,31.7157193 --> 00:17:06,721.7157193 Read your Bible, pray every day, go to church, preach the gospel. 273 00:17:07,331.7157193 --> 00:17:08,651.7157193 I thought that's the four things I'm going to do. 274 00:17:08,886.7157193 --> 00:17:09,916.7157193 I'm going to see what's happening. 275 00:17:09,916.7157193 --> 00:17:13,936.7157193 And by the time we hit May, I felt like we became a meme cum joke page. 276 00:17:14,16.7157193 --> 00:17:15,196.7157193 Nobody was taking it seriously. 277 00:17:15,856.7157193 --> 00:17:21,466.7147193 In March of 2020, our prime minister announced saying we're going to have a one day lockdown. 278 00:17:22,266.7147193 --> 00:17:23,406.7137193 He announced it on a Thursday. 279 00:17:23,406.7147193 --> 00:17:26,236.7137193 And I thought to myself saying, OK, and the lockdown was happening on a Sunday. 280 00:17:26,906.7147193 --> 00:17:30,346.7147193 And I thought to myself, saying, wow, this one Sunday, many people can't go to church. 281 00:17:30,716.7147193 --> 00:17:41,927.0348471 I'm sure they can record a sermon on their phone, but how would they do worship? So I called a friend of mine who's a worship leader and I said, listen, can we record a worship set and we can give it to churches? I had recorded this worship set on a Friday. 282 00:17:42,337.0358471 --> 00:17:43,927.0358471 Thursday was the announcement of the lockdown. 283 00:17:43,997.0358471 --> 00:17:45,247.0358471 Friday, we had recorded it. 284 00:17:45,517.0358471 --> 00:17:46,967.0358471 Saturday morning, we edited it. 285 00:17:46,967.0358471 --> 00:17:48,497.0358471 Saturday night, we launched it. 286 00:17:48,907.0358471 --> 00:17:55,896.9358471 By Saturday midnight, we had about 1400 churches that downloaded the worship packs just in one day. 287 00:17:56,657.0358471 --> 00:17:58,477.0358471 Which they knew the need of it was. 288 00:17:58,537.0358471 --> 00:18:01,277.0358471 We thought the lockdown was going to be one day, but it lasted for a year. 289 00:18:01,417.0358471 --> 00:18:08,127.0358471 And in the whole year, 8, 000 churches all over India and Southeast Asia used those worship pacts. 290 00:18:08,497.0358471 --> 00:18:10,107.0358471 And we were able to enable the locals. 291 00:18:10,107.0358471 --> 00:18:14,381.1368735 And all of a sudden, post pandemic, we realized, this is why God enabled us to start in 2019. 292 00:18:15,91.1378735 --> 00:18:16,401.1378735 Because we had a head start. 293 00:18:16,461.1378735 --> 00:18:18,801.1378735 We were talking about digital way before anybody else was. 294 00:18:19,251.1378735 --> 00:18:24,201.1378735 And what the pandemic did was, the pandemic forced organizations to move online, and they were helpless. 295 00:18:25,76.1378735 --> 00:18:27,696.1378735 Because they had people with the heart to serve God, but they had no skill. 296 00:18:28,206.1378735 --> 00:18:30,396.1378735 And so Outcast came and stepped into that space. 297 00:18:30,929.4712068 --> 00:18:33,419.4712068 but I was still running my company, you know, I had run my agency. 298 00:18:33,419.4712068 --> 00:18:36,849.4712068 So I had to run my agency and I had to run Outcast, which is volunteer driven. 299 00:18:37,494.4712068 --> 00:18:43,44.4712068 And so in November of 2020, a pastor friend of mine said, Hey, can you send me an address? I'd like to send you a gift. 300 00:18:43,694.4712068 --> 00:18:49,354.4712068 And he sends me a book and someone who doesn't like to read so much, I put that book safely on the shelf. 301 00:18:49,418.8699746 --> 00:18:54,618.8699746 I didn't want to read it, but then he said I was watching this TV show on Netflix called Madam Secretary. 302 00:18:55,158.8699746 --> 00:19:00,198.8699746 And in that TV show there was a scene where the, the protagonist, her husband is a theology in the show. 303 00:19:00,773.8699746 --> 00:19:07,917.2043079 And so he's reading a book and she's very frustrated with something that happened at work in the liberal scenario in her work space. 304 00:19:07,957.2043079 --> 00:19:11,907.2043079 And, and so she comes in and she says today in the government office we had so many tensions. 305 00:19:12,247.2043079 --> 00:19:17,175.4012372 And he was reading the book, she's like, it's these books like these that are you know, causing chaos among our people. 306 00:19:17,625.4012372 --> 00:19:18,635.4012372 And she was very frustrated. 307 00:19:18,635.4012372 --> 00:19:19,495.4012372 She put that book down. 308 00:19:19,495.4012372 --> 00:19:23,295.4002372 And then I saw her and I was like, Hey, that's a book I've seen somewhere. 309 00:19:23,885.4002372 --> 00:19:24,815.4012372 And I went and looked for it. 310 00:19:24,815.4012372 --> 00:19:27,575.4012372 And I found that book and that book was called Radical by David Platt. 311 00:19:28,325.4002372 --> 00:19:33,765.4012372 And because it was available on the TV show, the TV show, the protagonist in the TV show was talking about it. 312 00:19:34,95.4012372 --> 00:19:35,635.4012372 I was curious enough to go and read it. 313 00:19:35,675.4012372 --> 00:19:36,915.4012372 So I read it in three days. 314 00:19:36,945.4012372 --> 00:19:46,405.4012372 As I read it in November, The third day I read it, I finished the book and I knew that God was calling me to be an answer to a prayer for this space. 315 00:19:46,975.4002372 --> 00:19:49,65.4012372 And in, I sold my company in December. 316 00:19:49,105.4012372 --> 00:19:55,245.4012372 In January 2021, I went into full time ministry, decided I'm going to be a digital missionary as long as God's called me in this space. 317 00:19:55,672.0679039 --> 00:20:03,327.5162249 Well, I mean, such a like full testimony, and I'm so glad that you shared it with us because a lot of what you've shared we're going to unpack it. 318 00:20:03,717.5162249 --> 00:20:06,997.5162249 We're going to definitely touch in on the practical elements. 319 00:20:06,997.5162249 --> 00:20:13,637.5172249 You mentioned a pastor seeing that you are young incapable of seeing the value that you could add as a young person. 320 00:20:13,637.5172249 --> 00:20:21,237.5162249 And we'll dive into that a little bit later, but I want to speak about the power of digital ministry and digital media for ministry. 321 00:20:21,637.5162249 --> 00:20:35,764.1529814 Could you elaborate on that concept for a bit? How does it differ in your mind from traditional approaches? And what are some unique approaches that you've implemented in terms of digital ministry? I think with, with, when it comes to digital, we live in such interesting times. 322 00:20:35,814.1529814 --> 00:20:38,734.1529814 And I'm going to talk about in Indian context because I'm from India. 323 00:20:39,49.1529814 --> 00:20:45,295.8196481 So, something that happened in 2018 was in the year 2018, WhatsApp, the messaging app, crashed. 324 00:20:45,985.8186481 --> 00:20:51,565.8196481 And the reason why WhatsApp crashed was because Indians were sending too many good morning messages. 325 00:20:52,495.8206481 --> 00:20:59,805.8206481 So, what I learnt in that story was Indians, like, people have different internet habits. 326 00:21:00,82.4873147 --> 00:21:04,102.4873147 For example, if you understand digital there is a lifestyle we live offline. 327 00:21:04,102.4873147 --> 00:21:05,432.4863147 There's a lifestyle we live online. 328 00:21:06,72.4873147 --> 00:21:08,882.4863147 And, but there are, there's something called the lifestyle behind the lifestyle. 329 00:21:09,62.4873147 --> 00:21:10,172.4873147 So let me give you an example. 330 00:21:10,562.4873147 --> 00:21:15,779.1539814 You know, if someone's has a girlfriend, cause you can see his story, you can see his posters and you're like, Oh, he's dating somebody. 331 00:21:16,209.1539814 --> 00:21:24,804.23821 But you also know that there's some, Tension going on in their relationship when they, when you don't find a lot of stories with his girlfriend and then you go to his profile and say, Hey, all those photos are deleted. 332 00:21:24,804.23821 --> 00:21:25,794.23821 Looks like they broke up. 333 00:21:25,964.23721 --> 00:21:29,374.23821 He didn't tell it, but you still know it because you know internet habits. 334 00:21:29,964.23821 --> 00:21:31,844.23821 But you also know there's something interesting that happened in India. 335 00:21:31,844.23821 --> 00:21:37,774.23821 I don't know if it happens globally, but in India, when people are sad, they usually turn off their WhatsApp profile picture. 336 00:21:38,364.23821 --> 00:21:44,14.23821 And so sometimes when I message my friends saying, why is your WhatsApp profile picture off? They'll be like, no bro, I'm, I just didn't want anyone to talk to me. 337 00:21:44,14.23821 --> 00:21:44,814.23821 I'm dealing with something. 338 00:21:45,544.23821 --> 00:21:49,614.23821 I told him if you don't want anyone to talk to you, keep your whatsapp profile picture on, nobody is going to talk to you. 339 00:21:49,664.23821 --> 00:21:52,124.13821 The minute you put it off, people are going to talk to you. 340 00:21:52,124.23821 --> 00:21:54,964.23821 And what I understood was he actually wanted people to talk to him. 341 00:21:55,354.23821 --> 00:21:56,784.23821 And that's his cry for help. 342 00:21:57,514.23821 --> 00:21:58,964.23821 Just putting his whatsapp profile picture off. 343 00:21:59,404.23821 --> 00:22:01,24.23721 Internet habits are so unique. 344 00:22:01,24.23821 --> 00:22:06,214.23721 Before we used to grow up saying, Growing up we were taught saying, show me your friends, I'm going to tell you who you are. 345 00:22:06,314.23721 --> 00:22:09,154.23721 We live in a time where we say, show me your phone, I'll tell you who you are. 346 00:22:10,4.23721 --> 00:22:12,889.23821 Right, the first thing we see when we wake up, is our phone. 347 00:22:12,979.23821 --> 00:22:21,12.0995447 The last thing we see when we go to, before we go to sleep is our phone, right? And we are so involved in the screens, in the digital space. 348 00:22:21,202.0995447 --> 00:22:26,725.432878 A phone without internet is pointless, by the way, right? Because in today's day and age, we are not addicted to our phones. 349 00:22:26,725.432878 --> 00:22:28,965.431878 We are addicted to the content inside our phone. 350 00:22:29,565.432878 --> 00:22:30,515.432878 So it's such a unique thing. 351 00:22:30,515.432878 --> 00:22:34,975.432878 You know, in 2012, there was a disease that came into existence. 352 00:22:35,205.432878 --> 00:22:35,555.432878 Okay. 353 00:22:35,875.432878 --> 00:22:38,145.432878 It's called Phantom Vibration Syndrome. 354 00:22:38,590.432878 --> 00:22:38,790.432878 Okay. 355 00:22:38,790.432878 --> 00:22:48,10.432878 And this disease is basically, have you ever felt something vibrate in your pocket, thinking it's your phone and you put your hand in your pocket, but there's no phone in your pocket, but you have still felt it. 356 00:22:48,530.432878 --> 00:22:56,590.432878 That's, that is called phantom vibration syndrome, because we are so addicted to our phones that we feel like our phone is buzzing, even though our phone isn't in our pocket itself. 357 00:22:57,260.431878 --> 00:22:57,290.431878 Right. 358 00:22:57,300.432878 --> 00:23:01,570.432878 And that is because of how much the phone is involved in our life. 359 00:23:02,140.432878 --> 00:23:04,715.432878 Our phones Be very honest with you. 360 00:23:04,715.432878 --> 00:23:10,438.7662114 The phones are one of the most dirtiest objects on the world because they go into places You know, we wash our hands, but we don't wash our phones. 361 00:23:10,478.7662114 --> 00:23:14,148.7657114 We take our phones everywhere, you know Some people take out their phones to the washroom. 362 00:23:14,148.7657114 --> 00:23:27,680.9080685 Some people take it, you know for any place on the world They take their phones with but that's how much internet is part of our life And so if you understand, there is such a big internet habit that's been developed by the world. 363 00:23:28,50.9080685 --> 00:23:33,360.9080685 And if we don't take advantage of this as a church, we will miss out on this boom. 364 00:23:34,160.9080685 --> 00:23:37,110.9080685 when printing press came into existence, we decided to print the Bible. 365 00:23:37,610.9070685 --> 00:23:40,10.9080685 And a lot of people in the church were not really excited about printing the Bible. 366 00:23:40,220.9080685 --> 00:23:43,910.9080685 But there was somebody who was very convinced that, hey, no, we need to print the Bible. 367 00:23:43,910.9080685 --> 00:23:49,512.4747352 And when he printed the Bible, it still, because he printed in the right time, in the right place where nobody else believed in it. 368 00:23:50,342.5747352 --> 00:23:54,322.5747352 Till today, the Bible is the oldest and the longest selling book. 369 00:23:54,832.5747352 --> 00:23:57,622.5747352 Right, because someone stood in the right in the gap at the right time. 370 00:23:57,652.5747352 --> 00:24:05,476.6427624 But when television came in the first 40 years, we were too busy trying to call television the idiot box, you know? And the 40 years later we're like, oh no, we have to get into television. 371 00:24:05,476.6427624 --> 00:24:07,996.6427624 And there was Televis evangelism, which came into place. 372 00:24:08,626.6427624 --> 00:24:11,866.6427624 Do you know, even in India when I was growing up, I was told that watching movie was a sin. 373 00:24:11,956.6427624 --> 00:24:15,316.6427624 You know, watching a TV show is a sin because that's what we were growing up with. 374 00:24:15,316.6427624 --> 00:24:18,407.6427624 But if you know the history of Indian Film Ministry, which is 110 years old. 375 00:24:19,207.6427624 --> 00:24:26,677.6417624 The interesting thing about Indian film industry is the first Indian film was called Raja Harishchandra and was directed by this person named Dadasaheb Palke. 376 00:24:27,447.6427624 --> 00:24:35,314.309429 And he says in his autobiography, the man who made the first Indian film, and the industry today is Bollywood, which is one of the second largest big film industry. 377 00:24:35,624.308429 --> 00:24:44,124.308429 He says in his autobiography, he was inspired to make the first Indian film because he watched a movie called Life of Christ in UK. 378 00:24:44,924.308429 --> 00:24:49,725.1733746 So you have to understand the power of a Christian film that actually encouraged somebody to make an entire film. 379 00:24:50,45.1733746 --> 00:24:52,725.1733746 But the church was too late saying, Hey, that's a sinful place. 380 00:24:52,985.1733746 --> 00:24:53,605.1733746 That's wrong. 381 00:24:53,875.1733746 --> 00:24:57,616.9463497 And so what happened? We missed out on using this as a tool. 382 00:24:57,776.9453497 --> 00:25:00,126.9453497 We have to understand we are not worshipping these places. 383 00:25:00,126.9453497 --> 00:25:02,426.9463497 We are using them as tools to reach the world. 384 00:25:02,926.9463497 --> 00:25:05,96.9463497 And with digital, that's the same boom we are in. 385 00:25:05,306.9463497 --> 00:25:06,616.9463497 With AI we are in that boom. 386 00:25:06,866.9463497 --> 00:25:16,165.3839914 And if we don't take advantage of these spaces, we are missing out on this, entire journey of what people can do in using digital media. 387 00:25:16,165.3849914 --> 00:25:18,165.3849914 If you're a church, use digital. 388 00:25:18,225.3839914 --> 00:25:20,755.3844914 Understand that people use their phone for comfort. 389 00:25:20,755.3844914 --> 00:25:29,498.95542 You know, one of the things I was talking about very recently is, we've been talking about this in our space at Outkast, is the idea that a lot of people use their phone as a comfort machine. 390 00:25:29,498.95542 --> 00:25:31,628.95542 So we, we, it's a coping mechanism. 391 00:25:32,448.95542 --> 00:25:41,361.4053996 So let's say if two of us are having a conversation, if there's a third person who is not involved in the conversation, just to cope with that awkwardness, he's going to take his phone and scroll, even though he has nothing to see in his phone. 392 00:25:41,811.4063996 --> 00:25:51,311.4063996 Many times when people are in church service, if they are to cope with how overwhelmed that entire sermon may be, they may take out their phone to scroll, not because they got a notification or not. 393 00:25:51,651.4063996 --> 00:26:01,347.6862865 So we said, okay, how do we incorporate church services with phones? So we said, okay, what if we introduce a technology where we do push notifications while the sermon points are coming in. 394 00:26:01,427.6862865 --> 00:26:13,707.3457485 So, for example, if the pastor is preaching and he has a five point sermon, we put the sermon on the LED wall or on the projector, whatever that, type of church you're from and but then imagine the same point is coming as a notification on people's phone. 395 00:26:14,47.3457485 --> 00:26:28,224.1374087 The ones who decided not to use your phone is always going to keep his phone inside but the ones who's using your phone even if they're using another app they're getting notified saying the pastor is preaching and there is a notification coming and guess what the ones who miss church is also getting notification and those notifications are on your phone. 396 00:26:28,959.1374087 --> 00:26:31,419.1374087 Monday to Friday, you can always go back in a minute or not. 397 00:26:31,679.1374087 --> 00:26:34,219.1374087 Look at the power of using phone to your advantage. 398 00:26:34,219.1374087 --> 00:26:36,99.1374087 And instead of trying to say, shh, this is church. 399 00:26:36,99.1374087 --> 00:26:36,909.1374087 We don't use phones. 400 00:26:37,709.1374087 --> 00:26:40,805.8335579 Does that make sense? So we have to find a way to incorporate it in our daily life. 401 00:26:40,965.8335579 --> 00:26:47,615.8335579 Because my son grew up in a world thinking Siri and Alexa is his siblings, because he's not seen a world without technology. 402 00:26:48,335.8335579 --> 00:26:58,825.8335579 You have to understand, he's not seen a world without AI assistants, right? So for him, when I tell him, Hey, listen, don't depend on Siri for, you know, your homework, He's not going to get it because he's not seen a world without that. 403 00:26:58,945.8335579 --> 00:27:00,125.8335579 I've seen a world without that. 404 00:27:00,875.8335579 --> 00:27:04,368.670279 Right? example, when I was growing up, we had to write assignments, reading, doing research. 405 00:27:04,578.671279 --> 00:27:06,888.670279 But today we have ChatGPT which is helping us do our assignments. 406 00:27:07,78.671279 --> 00:27:10,767.8212444 So while growing up, my son is going to use that because available to him. 407 00:27:11,307.8202444 --> 00:27:13,457.8212444 Just like I had encyclopedia available to me. 408 00:27:13,657.8212444 --> 00:27:15,187.8212444 Just like I had books available to me. 409 00:27:15,420.2064086 --> 00:27:20,930.2064086 But our forefathers, like four or five generations ago, before printing press came into existence, they didn't have that available to them. 410 00:27:21,420.2064086 --> 00:27:30,586.1322856 How do we use technology? And digital, to our advantage, the question that we need to ask ourselves and understand when we use digital platforms. 411 00:27:31,8.2197687 --> 00:27:31,228.2192687 Yeah. 412 00:27:31,228.2192687 --> 00:27:31,938.2187687 That's so good. 413 00:27:31,938.2187687 --> 00:27:39,21.3315976 You know, I want to go back to the story of the pastor and you've already mentioned some strategies that, pastors could use in churches. 414 00:27:39,561.3315976 --> 00:27:40,351.3325976 He looked at you. 415 00:27:40,871.3950976 --> 00:27:45,921.3950976 You were a youngster, you had a vision, but he kind of was like, oh, let's, let's disciple you first. 416 00:27:45,921.3950976 --> 00:27:48,321.3950976 And, and I think there's really good intention there. 417 00:27:48,741.3950976 --> 00:27:58,546.3950976 but I would love to ask the question, you know, what advice, when you're now working with, church leaders and ministry leaders, what advice would you give? To ministry leaders around the world looking to leverage. 418 00:27:58,551.3950976 --> 00:28:00,166.3950976 So they're hearing you speaking about digital. 419 00:28:00,466.6603958 --> 00:28:03,886.6603958 They wanna leverage digital media to expand their reach and impact. 420 00:28:04,266.6603958 --> 00:28:07,926.6603958 Where can they begin? What advice would you give them? They're now saying, you're no longer young. 421 00:28:07,926.6603958 --> 00:28:08,946.6603958 Let's, let's hear you out. 422 00:28:08,946.6603958 --> 00:28:09,636.6603958 We wanna hear you out. 423 00:28:09,641.6603958 --> 00:28:10,691.6603958 Ricky, what would you say? Mm-Hmm. 424 00:28:11,436.1291458 --> 00:28:18,276.1291458 me, I'm actually very inspired by this person who I got, I had the privilege of meeting in person was Bob Hoskins, the founder of One Hope. 425 00:28:18,816.1291458 --> 00:28:21,826.1291458 And he said this something very unique and I found it very profound. 426 00:28:21,929.4614791 --> 00:28:27,499.4614791 he was talking about his 80 years of ministry and how God used him those 80 years because he started preaching when he was nine years old. 427 00:28:27,499.4614791 --> 00:28:29,279.4614791 And so, so he was talking about that. 428 00:28:29,279.4614791 --> 00:28:32,562.4433385 And he said, one of my key takeaway for me in my ministry life was been. 429 00:28:33,92.4433385 --> 00:28:38,132.4433385 that, I look up to young people as my mentors because I'm trying to reach young people. 430 00:28:38,932.4433385 --> 00:28:43,522.4433385 And so when he said that, it really blew my mind because that made so much sense to me. 431 00:28:43,732.4423385 --> 00:28:46,457.4433385 If you want to reach a generation, understand them. 432 00:28:47,197.4433385 --> 00:28:54,400.7756719 The problem with many leaders, me including, you know, one of our biggest struggle is we listen to, respond not to understand. 433 00:28:54,400.8756719 --> 00:29:01,550.7766719 Does it make sense? But if we listen to understand, if that pastor just listened to me to understand. 434 00:29:02,350.7766719 --> 00:29:06,180.7766719 I believe we could have done so much together, but I think it was God ordained that it didn't work out. 435 00:29:06,180.7766719 --> 00:29:11,387.4423385 But I'm saying, as leaders, I'd love for you to listen to the next generation to understand not to respond. 436 00:29:12,510.7761719 --> 00:29:14,10.7766719 are frustrated with the next generation. 437 00:29:14,60.7756719 --> 00:29:15,940.7766719 We Their lifestyle doesn't match our lifestyle. 438 00:29:16,290.7766719 --> 00:29:17,210.7766719 They're so confused. 439 00:29:17,210.7766719 --> 00:29:17,740.7766719 They're so lost. 440 00:29:17,740.7766719 --> 00:29:19,660.7766719 In fact, Gen Z is called the lost generation. 441 00:29:19,980.7766719 --> 00:29:22,70.7766719 And we kind of put these titles in their head. 442 00:29:22,70.7766719 --> 00:29:26,630.7766719 But if you actually sit back and listen to what they have to say, I'll tell you a story about what happened. 443 00:29:26,890.7756719 --> 00:29:30,770.7756719 I remember meeting a 16 year old kid, in a meeting. 444 00:29:30,770.7766719 --> 00:29:47,194.1090052 And I, he was wearing a lot of these wristbands, you know, and I asked him, why do you wear these wristbands? And, he said, you know, it's cool, it's, it's nice, and a lot of, and I asked him, do people ask you questions about, and these are all gospel wristbands, you know, like, Jesus, or, you know, carry the gospel, different kinds of things, like, you know, what would Jesus do, all those kind of wristbands. 445 00:29:47,654.1090052 --> 00:29:50,54.1090052 So he said, yeah, people ask me, and I just tell them about Jesus. 446 00:29:50,364.1100052 --> 00:29:55,24.1100052 What do you tell them? He says, he said, just vaguely, he said, yeah, I'm a Christian, I want them to know I'm a Christian, and that's it. 447 00:29:55,714.1100052 --> 00:29:56,594.1100052 I said, that's interesting. 448 00:29:56,644.1100052 --> 00:30:00,500.7766719 And so I, thought to myself, okay, there is something that's happening in this wristband world. 449 00:30:01,190.7766719 --> 00:30:07,170.7766719 And I was watching a standup comedy and I'm just, I'm going to give you a vague idea, but what, what happened in the standup comedy said, if you want to send something. 450 00:30:07,715.7766719 --> 00:30:15,865.7766719 To someone and if they're not okay with you sending it to them, okay, a photo of something you let's say a photo something you want to send, but you're not sure if they want to see that photo or not. 451 00:30:16,25.7766719 --> 00:30:16,315.7766719 Okay. 452 00:30:16,799.1100052 --> 00:30:18,59.1100052 you don't send the photo directly. 453 00:30:18,399.1100052 --> 00:30:22,169.1100052 You send them a link and you say this is the content of that link. 454 00:30:23,165.7756719 --> 00:30:25,645.7766719 now if they click on the link, it's consent. 455 00:30:26,445.7766719 --> 00:30:27,65.7766719 Doesn't make sense. 456 00:30:27,555.7766719 --> 00:30:32,885.7766719 But if you directly send the photo, it's you're forcing them to see the photo which they were not they didn't want to see. 457 00:30:33,530.7766719 --> 00:30:42,930.7756719 Make sense? Right? so what I thought to myself, so imagine if you're sending, let's say, a gory image of something and I'd be like, why are you sending this photo to me? I don't want to see it. 458 00:30:42,940.7766719 --> 00:30:47,470.7756719 But if you send me a link and say, hey, there is, you know, this image is gory and it's explicit. 459 00:30:47,759.5784 --> 00:30:48,687.3036898 if you want to see it, see it. 460 00:30:48,687.3036898 --> 00:30:55,227.3036898 You know, and then when you click on that link, that's a choice I made to look at that, you know, that content piece. 461 00:30:55,757.3036898 --> 00:30:58,207.3036898 For the first time in my life, I understood the meaning of consent. 462 00:30:58,287.3036898 --> 00:31:00,687.3036898 Okay? Now, these are two parallel conversations. 463 00:31:00,747.3036898 --> 00:31:04,827.3036898 I spoke to this kid about wristbands and I heard a stand up comedian about consent. 464 00:31:04,857.3036898 --> 00:31:05,147.3036898 Okay. 465 00:31:05,927.3036898 --> 00:31:14,597.3036898 And I thought to myself saying, okay, there are wristbands where I'm showing it to people saying, Hey, listen, I'm a Jesus follower, but that's me directly telling them this. 466 00:31:14,987.3036898 --> 00:31:20,227.3036898 But what if I, if I introduce the consent factor? So we built an entire campaign called ask me my story. 467 00:31:21,39.5784 --> 00:31:21,347.3036898 Okay. 468 00:31:21,507.3036898 --> 00:31:25,487.3036898 And this, the simple thing that the wristband had was it said, ask me my story. 469 00:31:26,317.3026898 --> 00:31:28,97.3036898 And when people would ask me my story. 470 00:31:28,892.3036898 --> 00:31:30,482.3036898 They're asking me because they want to know. 471 00:31:30,482.3036898 --> 00:31:32,412.3036898 Hey, they would see the band and say, Hey, tell me your story. 472 00:31:32,442.3036898 --> 00:31:33,652.3036898 And so I'm telling them my story. 473 00:31:33,882.3036898 --> 00:31:35,412.3036898 In my story, Jesus is the hero. 474 00:31:36,224.5784 --> 00:31:37,542.3026898 And I'm presenting the gospel to them. 475 00:31:37,802.3026898 --> 00:31:39,502.3026898 And so because, there are two things that are happening here. 476 00:31:39,542.3036898 --> 00:31:41,822.3036898 One, they gave me consent to tell them my story. 477 00:31:42,162.3036898 --> 00:31:43,322.3036898 So they're listening to my story. 478 00:31:43,772.3036898 --> 00:31:45,642.3026898 Two, in my story, Jesus is the hero. 479 00:31:46,242.3036898 --> 00:31:49,572.3036898 But another interesting thing that's happening is because they ask, they're going to pay more attention. 480 00:31:50,61.7724398 --> 00:31:56,261.7724398 Does it make sense? But if they didn't ask, if I was just directly going on the streets and telling, then they'd be like, Oh, I don't want to listen to you, I won't move on. 481 00:31:56,541.7724398 --> 00:32:00,31.7724398 But if they ask me, they're going to pay attention. 482 00:32:00,81.7724398 --> 00:32:03,401.7714398 It doesn't, truth is our job is to present the gospel to the world. 483 00:32:03,411.7714398 --> 00:32:05,261.7724398 We can't force them to believe what we believe. 484 00:32:05,501.7724398 --> 00:32:11,181.7724398 We can only present the gospel hoping that they will receive and experience Jesus and oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. 485 00:32:11,231.7724398 --> 00:32:13,251.7724398 That's it, right? And that's what our desire is. 486 00:32:13,251.7724398 --> 00:32:17,438.4391065 And so, when you look at digital, as leaders, I'd encourage you to listen to young people. 487 00:32:18,63.4391065 --> 00:32:46,3.915297 listen to understand because you may find a solution that's so unique that could change the world because we've as an organization moved to that model For universities saying hey, let's not force people to like Throw the gospel on people's faces, but let's create the curiosity where people are like Hey, listen, tell me more about this and then i'm telling my story and it's the truth in my story Jesus did save me the way I told you he saved me You may not believe it, but for me, everyone can think that, hey, Jesus didn't do anything. 488 00:32:46,3.915297 --> 00:32:47,603.915297 a friend of yours gave you a quote and you believed it. 489 00:32:48,383.914297 --> 00:32:52,953.915297 But nobody knows that it's, I was the one who made the prayer and said, God, a non believer should call me. 490 00:32:53,3.914297 --> 00:32:54,843.914297 He'll say something that's not from the scripture. 491 00:32:55,3.914297 --> 00:32:56,53.915297 So that's my story. 492 00:32:56,693.914297 --> 00:32:58,433.915297 And so we want to be able to introduce that. 493 00:32:58,433.916297 --> 00:33:04,4.6748232 And really encourage leaders to look at the next generation as something positive and not something that is. 494 00:33:04,579.2208917 --> 00:33:11,109.2208917 responsibility that you have to carry because they are probably the answer for a lot of your problems that you're facing. 495 00:33:11,694.8289352 --> 00:33:18,364.8289352 And I, you know, just to touch on what you're saying, I think that our traditional idea of what mentorship is, is that it's like a top down thing. 496 00:33:18,364.8289352 --> 00:33:21,234.8289352 I'm going to share all my wisdom with you and you've got to sit and listen. 497 00:33:21,524.8279352 --> 00:33:23,34.8279352 And there is actually a space for that. 498 00:33:23,394.8279352 --> 00:33:34,78.1612686 But the mentorship goes both ways, right? So if that person had sat down with you, saw the passion and the energy that you brought and realized, Oh, actually there's a two way street for this and off air. 499 00:33:34,443.3882753 --> 00:33:40,281.0405884 You've spoken about how there is the energy of the young and the wisdom of the old need to meet together. 500 00:33:40,701.0405884 --> 00:33:43,351.0405884 And I think that was a beautiful example of where that could have happened. 501 00:33:43,351.0405884 --> 00:33:48,751.0415884 He could have learned and absorbed and, you know, caught the fire of your energy and passion. 502 00:33:49,131.0415884 --> 00:33:50,50.9415884 And you could have, you know. 503 00:33:50,281.0415884 --> 00:33:55,971.0415884 definitely benefited from the wisdom that he brought and perhaps out of that something beautiful could have happened. 504 00:33:56,421.0415884 --> 00:34:10,111.9949693 And so just as an encouragement ministry leaders out there, let's pursue those intergenerational relationships where you grab hold of those who are young and eager and might be naive and unwise. 505 00:34:10,511.9949693 --> 00:34:12,427.2330646 And you see that from your vantage point. 506 00:34:12,807.2330646 --> 00:34:16,130.5663979 But what they have is they've got the energy that you need to take your mission further. 507 00:34:16,140.5663979 --> 00:34:17,500.5663979 And so, really encouraging. 508 00:34:17,710.5663979 --> 00:34:21,290.5663979 I would love for us to chat about Outcast and Outcast Academy. 509 00:34:21,600.5663979 --> 00:34:40,69.0779928 I resonated with that question that God asked you when he said, what happened to the Great Commission? What happened to that call that I had on your life? And I think many of us as ministry leaders, have a moments like that where God has spoken to our hearts and said, Hey, what about this? And either we've turned to it or we run away from it like Jonah. 510 00:34:40,454.9398182 --> 00:34:42,384.9408182 let's talk about Outcast and Outcast Academy. 511 00:34:42,404.9408182 --> 00:34:55,233.6466786 Could you share a bit of the vision and the strategic approach that you've implemented in training up digital leaders in the space of mission? uh, the vision of Outcast is very simple to equip, engage, and empower the local church to advance their God given calling. 512 00:34:55,723.6466786 --> 00:34:59,863.6466786 We firmly believe that we need to do ministry in and through the local church. 513 00:35:00,203.6466786 --> 00:35:01,283.6466786 That's a must. 514 00:35:01,453.6466786 --> 00:35:03,233.6466786 We believe that the local church is the hope of the world. 515 00:35:03,253.6466786 --> 00:35:11,33.120184 We firmly stand by that vision we've heard that from GLS, and we really believe that it is, we want local church to make, solutions in this space. 516 00:35:11,633.120184 --> 00:35:31,673.651434 And so what unique thing that we were able to do is because we were ahead of time in 2019, when the pandemic hit, a lot of these organizations reached out to us saying, Hey, how do we restructure our vision in the digital space? Because I think every organization was moving digital, but the pandemic just fast tracked that entire process. 517 00:35:32,163.651434 --> 00:35:36,423.651434 So what happened is we started bringing solution in this space for multiple organizations. 518 00:35:36,423.651434 --> 00:35:50,193.8957771 I remember we were talking to one of these organizations who was running past his conference online, and they were spending a lot of money using these expensive tools, and they were spending about 1, 000 a month for subscription, which is a lot of money for them because it required everyone to have an email ID. 519 00:35:50,193.8957771 --> 00:35:52,503.8957771 But most of these rural pastors, they didn't have an email ID. 520 00:35:52,923.8957771 --> 00:35:55,433.8957771 And they were spending so much money and they were not able to use the tools. 521 00:35:55,453.8957771 --> 00:35:56,353.8957771 So they were so confused. 522 00:35:56,633.8957771 --> 00:35:58,723.8957771 So we said, okay, you know what? We're going to build a tool. 523 00:35:58,753.8957771 --> 00:36:02,433.8957771 So we built an entire tool that was user friendly. 524 00:36:03,64.9569145 --> 00:36:06,149.8579145 platform that was user friendly for pastors who didn't have email IDs. 525 00:36:06,909.9579145 --> 00:36:09,609.9579145 But still had the security coverage that we needed to have. 526 00:36:09,979.9579145 --> 00:36:21,661.6469897 And we made sure that those passes were able to gather online, use smaller internet phones, lighter versions of these products to an extent where we built the entire product in thousand dollars. 527 00:36:22,461.6469897 --> 00:36:25,481.6469897 which an organization was spending 12, 000 for subscription per year. 528 00:36:25,961.6469897 --> 00:36:30,271.6479897 We were able to build that in 1, 000 to bring their costs down by like 90 percent down. 529 00:36:30,351.6479897 --> 00:36:37,310.1617289 And so we were able to do that because we were able to identify where the pain points are and able to build something that's so customized for the local church. 530 00:36:37,340.1617289 --> 00:36:42,715.8156427 Now, how does that work? that's only because we were looking at and understanding people's internet habits. 531 00:36:43,470.8156427 --> 00:36:45,990.8156427 We were able to identify that some people don't have an email ID. 532 00:36:46,160.8156427 --> 00:36:54,900.8146427 Now I can force them to get an email ID or I can try and be a light in that space where I'm trying to be like, I'm going to help you figure out a solution for it. 533 00:36:55,180.8146427 --> 00:36:56,130.8146427 I'll bring a solution for it. 534 00:36:56,130.8146427 --> 00:36:57,840.8156427 And these solutions are very powerful solutions. 535 00:36:58,200.8156427 --> 00:36:59,210.8156427 And so that's one way. 536 00:36:59,210.8156427 --> 00:37:07,971.3718071 And the other way is we were also able to identify, build tools for a lot of these churches who are not able to with their online users at a more closer proximity. 537 00:37:08,491.3718071 --> 00:37:13,251.3718071 And so we had to identify what's the best way we can use digital to optimize this. 538 00:37:13,251.3718071 --> 00:37:18,492.0269992 But while doing all this, we were realizing that 2020, Outcast was a volunteer driven organization. 539 00:37:18,542.0269992 --> 00:37:19,141.9279992 That's before 2021. 540 00:37:19,142.0279992 --> 00:37:21,412.0279992 2021 is when I went into full time industry. 541 00:37:21,412.0279992 --> 00:37:24,182.0279992 So 2020, I had volunteers, and I didn't know how to do this. 542 00:37:24,182.0279992 --> 00:37:33,7.0279992 And so I had to, In the month of August, I introduced something called an Outcast Internship and I called all these people who were sitting at home who wanted to learn about digital and I got them into a workshop. 543 00:37:33,17.0269992 --> 00:37:41,200.5473134 For three months we did this workshop and training, workshop and training and so we used them a way to help out other organizations because there were so many people who needed help. 544 00:37:42,0.5473134 --> 00:37:50,200.5473134 And that entire model of three months internship turned into Outcast Academy with this one vision to raise 300 full time media missionaries by the year. 545 00:37:51,891.9014788 --> 00:37:52,881.9014788 We realized one thing. 546 00:37:53,141.9014788 --> 00:37:58,641.9014788 If we want 300 full time media missionaries by the year 2030, we need to train 15, 000 people. 547 00:37:59,441.9014788 --> 00:38:01,461.9024788 There's a 2 percent conversion rate that is 300 people. 548 00:38:02,411.9014788 --> 00:38:05,941.9014788 And so I thought to myself, the number 300 came from the story of Gideon for us, you know. 549 00:38:06,391.9024788 --> 00:38:12,694.7944294 And I asked God, I said, God, I understand 300, but why 300? like, what next after that 300 people? I was not very sure about it. 550 00:38:13,334.7944294 --> 00:38:30,616.885591 And very interestingly, I remember coming to a season of my life where I asked GodGod, can you introduce or can you reveal to me what the next step is after I have these 300 people? I was just reading about India, okay? And this is for India specifically, we're raising 300 media visionaries for India. 551 00:38:31,96.886591 --> 00:38:34,446.886591 And if you read Indian context, India is divided into 5 zones. 552 00:38:34,446.886591 --> 00:38:35,916.886591 North, South, East, West, Central India. 553 00:38:36,336.886591 --> 00:38:40,371.786591 And we have multiple states and we have exactly 766 districts. 554 00:38:41,21.886591 --> 00:38:47,961.886591 If you divide 766 by 300, that is two and a half districts per person, per missionary, for digital missionary. 555 00:38:48,621.886591 --> 00:38:54,53.0803848 Now, I thought to myself, say, okay, fine, Why two and a half? Why couldn't it be two or three? I was not very convinced. 556 00:38:54,53.0803848 --> 00:38:56,27.789659 It because I'm, I'm also entrepreneurial in my nature. 557 00:38:56,27.789659 --> 00:38:58,726.9733324 So I'm like, it doesn't make sense for me from a system and structure point of view. 558 00:38:58,917.0939903 --> 00:39:02,747.0929903 But then I read this word which says one will reach thousand, but two will reach ten thousand. 559 00:39:03,767.0939903 --> 00:39:05,67.0939903 I was like, wow, that's so powerful. 560 00:39:05,783.420748 --> 00:39:11,3.421748 so it made sense that if two missionaries take, adopt five districts in digital space. 561 00:39:11,803.421748 --> 00:39:15,313.421748 There'll be 150 pairs of dismissionaries who are adapting all of India. 562 00:39:16,43.421748 --> 00:39:19,13.421748 And what happens, the goal of most ministries is to reach everyone. 563 00:39:19,558.421748 --> 00:39:21,948.421748 But what you have to understand in digital, you have, you can't reach everyone. 564 00:39:21,948.421748 --> 00:39:23,388.421748 You have to reach every hyphen one. 565 00:39:23,848.421748 --> 00:39:29,78.421748 You have to be so specific and so personal, you know, and so by doing this, we are able to help. 566 00:39:29,138.421748 --> 00:39:29,388.421748 Yeah. 567 00:39:29,428.421748 --> 00:39:32,198.420748 Like for example, Jason, you and I are responsible for five districts. 568 00:39:32,378.420748 --> 00:39:35,98.420748 We both are eating, breathing, sleeping, these five districts. 569 00:39:35,418.420748 --> 00:39:36,738.420748 I'm not worried about the other districts. 570 00:39:36,778.420748 --> 00:39:38,108.421748 I'm worried about these five districts. 571 00:39:38,288.420748 --> 00:39:39,588.421748 It narrows down my reach. 572 00:39:39,748.421748 --> 00:39:41,68.421748 It narrows down my understanding. 573 00:39:41,88.421748 --> 00:39:43,468.421748 It narrows down what kind of digital habit these districts have. 574 00:39:43,708.421748 --> 00:39:47,670.4911608 Do you know that there's a district in, North India? It's called the YouTube village of India. 575 00:39:48,545.4911608 --> 00:39:52,435.4911608 Okay, and that village has 3, 000 people living in that village. 576 00:39:52,785.4911608 --> 00:39:53,855.4911608 3, 000 families, sorry. 577 00:39:53,855.5911608 --> 00:39:55,575.4911608 3, 000 families living in that village. 578 00:39:55,895.4911608 --> 00:39:59,875.4911608 Out of 3, 000 families in that village, 1, 000 of them are full time YouTubers. 579 00:39:59,875.5911608 --> 00:40:01,219.9252434 1, Wow. 580 00:40:01,509.9252434 --> 00:40:01,859.9252434 Yeah. 581 00:40:02,173.8617434 --> 00:40:02,957.206102 000 families. 582 00:40:03,17.207102 --> 00:40:04,567.206102 That's one third of the population. 583 00:40:04,777.207102 --> 00:40:08,287.207102 The oldest YouTuber is 85 years old and the youngest YouTuber is 15 years old. 584 00:40:08,507.207102 --> 00:40:10,322.107102 And they use internet and YouTube. 585 00:40:10,712.207102 --> 00:40:13,352.207102 Simply because they have access to internet and they have cheap phones. 586 00:40:13,612.207102 --> 00:40:15,12.207102 Internet is very cheap in India. 587 00:40:15,222.207102 --> 00:40:16,582.207102 Phone is very affordable in India. 588 00:40:16,762.207102 --> 00:40:19,502.207102 So there are people who are doing this and villages are doing this. 589 00:40:19,890.6856212 --> 00:40:22,270.6856212 what's our excuse? To use digital. 590 00:40:22,290.6856212 --> 00:40:24,860.6846212 So we started to say, Okay fine, we are going to be able to do this. 591 00:40:24,860.6856212 --> 00:40:31,685.6856212 We are going to be able to Use outcast Academy to, and so as of now, we've done four batches and we have 52 graduates as I'm speaking. 592 00:40:31,685.6856212 --> 00:40:33,755.6856212 There's one batch going on in the next room behind me. 593 00:40:34,235.6856212 --> 00:40:42,403.6078541 And so we have 52 graduates and out of 50 to 47 are in full-time ministry serving in different organizations and remaining are serving by vocational in different organizations. 594 00:40:42,433.6078541 --> 00:40:47,975.1135789 And they're being a huge answer because you have to understand in digital ministry, it is not enough to have. 595 00:40:48,639.1135789 --> 00:40:49,659.1135789 The heart to serve God. 596 00:40:50,469.1135789 --> 00:40:52,159.1135789 You also need to have the skill to serve God. 597 00:40:52,714.6097139 --> 00:40:59,30.7398607 Does it make sense? And so what we are doing is we're, calling out people who are passionate about serving God, especially through digital space. 598 00:40:59,180.7398607 --> 00:41:02,240.7398607 And we're helping them with the skill to do make that a reality. 599 00:41:03,680.7388607 --> 00:41:08,790.7398607 And many organizations hire people who finish this course because they need people like this in their team. 600 00:41:08,790.7398607 --> 00:41:10,470.7398607 And that's changed the way they do ministry. 601 00:41:10,470.7398607 --> 00:41:12,850.7398607 And so that's the birth of Outcast and Outcast Academy. 602 00:41:13,250.7398607 --> 00:41:14,180.7398607 Oh, thanks for sharing that. 603 00:41:14,180.7398607 --> 00:41:21,532.3686934 You know, really resonate with the concept of having a heart for God, but not necessarily having the skill for the digital space. 604 00:41:21,542.3696934 --> 00:41:25,595.4283944 And I'm thinking of a lot of people and missions that I know, they have that. 605 00:41:25,595.4293944 --> 00:41:29,805.4293944 They've got many other skills that are leading them to do amazing things throughout the world. 606 00:41:30,245.4293944 --> 00:41:37,945.4293944 But perhaps they're hearing you and they're saying, you I really need skill in the digital space, or we need to begin to upskill people in the digital space. 607 00:41:38,405.4293944 --> 00:41:54,445.9716281 Could you share a few insights with us? Like what are, some of the trainings that you do with Outcast? What are some of the basic skills that someone needs in order to do digital ministry well? I'm going to do a three minute workshop for y'all, for those who's attending this right now, right? It's a very simple thing. 608 00:41:54,445.9716281 --> 00:41:56,695.9716281 I'm going to help you understand what is media. 609 00:41:56,905.9716281 --> 00:42:13,749.6949173 If you understand this, of course you, I can't explain the whole thing on, digital, the entire process on, a podcast, but I can tell you in this, if you understand this well, you can do digital ministry very well, right? What is media? I'm going to use an example someone invite in India, inviting another person for his wedding. 610 00:42:14,129.6949173 --> 00:42:14,369.6949173 Okay. 611 00:42:14,369.6949173 --> 00:42:15,139.6949173 That's the example. 612 00:42:15,449.6949173 --> 00:42:17,269.6949173 So let's say Jason, I want you to come to my wedding. 613 00:42:17,859.6949173 --> 00:42:21,79.6949173 So if I send you a text message, so we know there are five sense organs. 614 00:42:21,549.6949173 --> 00:42:21,849.6949173 Okay. 615 00:42:22,189.6939173 --> 00:42:22,939.6949173 Five sense organs. 616 00:42:23,369.6949173 --> 00:42:28,49.6939173 And in media, in advertising, we use these five sense organs, but we also add another sense organ plus one. 617 00:42:28,59.6939173 --> 00:42:30,789.6939173 I will tell you that later, but for now, we'll focus on these five sense organs. 618 00:42:31,219.6939173 --> 00:42:32,869.6949173 So let's say I want Jason to come for my wedding. 619 00:42:33,209.6949173 --> 00:42:36,914.5949173 If I send a message to Jason and say, Hey, Jason, can you come for my wedding? Okay. 620 00:42:37,391.361584 --> 00:42:38,411.361584 He's going to see the message. 621 00:42:38,421.361584 --> 00:42:43,95.3284897 The probability of him coming to my wedding is probably 10 to 20 percent because he just saw it. 622 00:42:43,525.3284897 --> 00:42:48,145.3284897 But let's say I called him and say, Hey, Jason, I sent you an invite on my, on WhatsApp or an iMessage. 623 00:42:48,425.3274897 --> 00:42:49,755.3279897 Can you please come for my wedding? I'm sorry. 624 00:42:49,755.3279897 --> 00:42:51,625.3274897 I'm not able to make it to meet you. 625 00:42:52,35.3274897 --> 00:42:57,365.3284897 And so the possibility of him coming to my wedding is 20, 25 to 30 percent because he saw it and he heard it. 626 00:42:57,990.8095375 --> 00:43:01,980.8095375 there is hearing and seeing, but then now what happens is, let's say I go and meet Jason. 627 00:43:02,460.8095375 --> 00:43:08,80.8085375 When I go meet, let's say we meet in a public space, the environment around has a perfume, right? Like there's a change of environment. 628 00:43:08,270.8095375 --> 00:43:09,740.8095375 And then I'm having a perfume of my own. 629 00:43:09,750.8095375 --> 00:43:11,750.8085375 Everyone has a unique perfume of their own. 630 00:43:12,30.8095375 --> 00:43:15,757.1746208 So let's say he sees me, I shake his hand and I give him my wedding card. 631 00:43:15,777.1746208 --> 00:43:17,157.1746208 So there's, he touches the card. 632 00:43:17,607.1746208 --> 00:43:21,77.1746208 He's of course around me so the environment, the smell factor is there in it. 633 00:43:21,427.1746208 --> 00:43:22,457.1746208 And there is C. 634 00:43:22,672.608335 --> 00:43:24,702.608335 But if I give him the card, there's fourth sense organ. 635 00:43:24,702.608335 --> 00:43:26,562.608335 That means he touched the card or he shaked my hand. 636 00:43:26,892.608335 --> 00:43:27,982.608335 There's four sense organs used. 637 00:43:28,302.608335 --> 00:43:31,912.608335 If there's three sense organs used, it's about 40 to 50 percent that he'll come to my wedding. 638 00:43:32,362.608335 --> 00:43:35,652.608335 But if there's four sense organs used, it's 60 percent that he will come to my wedding. 639 00:43:36,352.607335 --> 00:43:37,542.608335 But here's what gets interesting. 640 00:43:37,982.608335 --> 00:43:41,120.8031113 Let's say I invite Jason out for a meal and say, hey, let's have dinner together. 641 00:43:41,400.8031113 --> 00:43:43,520.8031113 While having dinner, I tell him, hey, listen, I'm getting married. 642 00:43:43,520.8031113 --> 00:43:44,520.8031113 Here's my wedding card. 643 00:43:44,870.8031113 --> 00:43:46,510.8021113 So now there's change of environment. 644 00:43:46,810.8031113 --> 00:43:47,690.8021113 There's taste. 645 00:43:48,370.8031113 --> 00:43:51,840.8031113 There's hearing, there's seeing, there's touching, there's everything involved. 646 00:43:51,850.8031113 --> 00:43:52,880.8031113 Five sense organs used. 647 00:43:53,130.8031113 --> 00:43:55,720.8031113 Now, the possibility of him coming from a wedding is 85%. 648 00:43:55,730.8031113 --> 00:44:03,270.8021113 Why? Because I've done every possible thing to make sure that Jesson comes to my wedding, right? Now, if Jesson doesn't come to my wedding, he's going to feel bad. 649 00:44:03,270.8031113 --> 00:44:12,127.3500667 I'm not going to feel bad because I did everything in my power to do it, you know? But what I'm trying to say is, the more sense organs you use, the more you're able to get people's attention. 650 00:44:12,787.3500667 --> 00:44:15,737.3490667 In digital, you have to add one more sense organ, that is emotion. 651 00:44:16,137.3490667 --> 00:44:21,589.5659563 So what happens is can always use only two primary sense organs, that is seeing and hearing. 652 00:44:21,699.5659563 --> 00:44:24,509.5649563 That's the only two in digital space that we are aware of. 653 00:44:24,789.5649563 --> 00:44:28,299.5649563 But what we miss out is the emotion factor. 654 00:44:29,29.5639563 --> 00:44:31,639.5649563 So imagine me telling the story, say, Jason, please come for my wedding. 655 00:44:31,709.5659563 --> 00:44:32,359.5649563 I'm getting married. 656 00:44:32,789.5649563 --> 00:44:33,489.5639563 That's one thing. 657 00:44:33,569.5639563 --> 00:44:42,79.5649563 But imagine if I say the same story, saying, Jason, if you hadn't invited me to church, I wouldn't have found God. 658 00:44:42,119.5639563 --> 00:44:44,462.8982896 And without God, my wedding wouldn't be possible. 659 00:44:44,972.8982896 --> 00:44:47,792.8982896 You have to understand, I went into Jesson's emotion right now. 660 00:44:48,172.8982896 --> 00:44:52,510.1530982 I've, told him that he had a big role to play in the reason why I'm getting married. 661 00:44:52,800.1530982 --> 00:44:55,270.1520982 Now Jesson feels responsible enough to come to my wedding. 662 00:44:55,470.1520982 --> 00:44:59,830.1530982 And that's advertising, right? You have to understand, it's a thin line between manipulation and advertising. 663 00:45:00,730.1520982 --> 00:45:02,750.1530982 This story which I told about Jesson is the truth. 664 00:45:02,850.1530982 --> 00:45:03,800.1530982 It's not manipulation. 665 00:45:04,340.1530982 --> 00:45:05,970.1530982 It's just that I'm, elevating the story. 666 00:45:06,40.1530982 --> 00:45:07,535.0530982 I'm elevating the, the story. 667 00:45:08,771.7197649 --> 00:45:10,691.7197649 That's why if you see, when you watch a movie, you cry. 668 00:45:10,901.7197649 --> 00:45:11,561.7197649 You get emotional. 669 00:45:11,751.7197649 --> 00:45:13,501.7197649 Because they're elevating that scene to you. 670 00:45:13,761.7197649 --> 00:45:15,411.7197649 And so, emotion plays a big role. 671 00:45:15,411.7197649 --> 00:45:24,51.7197649 So in digital, if you use the sense organ theory, the more the sense organ you use about somebody, the more you can welcome them to your church. 672 00:45:24,251.7187649 --> 00:45:26,941.7187649 The more you can invite them to know more about Jesus. 673 00:45:26,941.8187649 --> 00:45:29,231.7197649 The more you can In fact, that's what a lot of organizations do. 674 00:45:29,271.7197649 --> 00:45:30,421.7197649 They don't know how to say it. 675 00:45:30,821.7197649 --> 00:45:36,271.7187649 And in digital, this is the formula that we use, and I think you should just use it, and it'll probably change the way you do ministry. 676 00:45:36,271.7197649 --> 00:45:37,278.3864315 For Yeah. 677 00:45:37,278.3864315 --> 00:45:37,868.3864315 So good. 678 00:45:37,888.3864315 --> 00:45:41,44.6106583 I mean, I really love the, skillset that you're sharing with us. 679 00:45:41,44.6116583 --> 00:45:47,513.1466514 You know, when we're doing digital, there's the visual, there's the audio, and then there's the heart that we want to connect with. 680 00:45:47,893.1466514 --> 00:45:50,653.1471514 So thank you for just like unpacking that for us. 681 00:45:50,879.5554935 --> 00:45:53,99.5554935 We're going to have to begin to wrap up this interview. 682 00:45:53,109.5554935 --> 00:46:00,589.5554935 Before we do, what future trends do you anticipate will shape the next phase of Christian digital media initiatives? Great question. 683 00:46:00,609.5554935 --> 00:46:07,867.2198951 I think, when it comes to digital in the way forward, I think we need to understand that the way we consume content is changing. 684 00:46:08,437.2198951 --> 00:46:18,437.2213951 For example one of the briefs that Netflix gives right now to the, one of their writers is saying, Hey make sure that you're dumbing down the content that you're putting on Netflix. 685 00:46:18,457.2213951 --> 00:46:24,18.5384038 The reason why they say that is because most people Are scrolling through their phone while watching the TV show. 686 00:46:25,128.5384038 --> 00:46:27,648.5384038 So what happens is they're consuming two pieces of content. 687 00:46:27,778.5384038 --> 00:46:28,848.5384038 We're obese with content. 688 00:46:28,848.5384038 --> 00:46:37,568.5384038 That means we want more and more content, right? And we are in a time where we, have you ever scrolled through Netflix just for half an hour, not sure what to watch. 689 00:46:38,438.5384038 --> 00:46:39,923.5760316 That's because we are, obese with content. 690 00:46:40,147.6821086 --> 00:46:44,923.8784287 that's the habit that is developed by us is we are scrolling and we're watching a TV show at the same time. 691 00:46:45,243.8784287 --> 00:46:46,153.8784287 And this is a future trend. 692 00:46:46,153.8784287 --> 00:46:48,243.8784287 That means people are multitasking. 693 00:46:49,63.8784287 --> 00:46:51,453.8774287 If this is a digital trend that's happening at home. 694 00:46:52,28.8784287 --> 00:46:55,228.8784287 Understand it's happening at church, understand it's happening. 695 00:46:55,228.8784287 --> 00:46:56,338.8784287 When your sermon is being preached. 696 00:46:56,908.8784287 --> 00:46:57,718.8784287 Now you have two things. 697 00:46:57,817.3238723 --> 00:46:58,927.3238723 you can say, Hey, it's a bad thing. 698 00:46:58,927.3238723 --> 00:46:59,647.3238723 Don't use your phone. 699 00:47:00,217.3238723 --> 00:47:03,285.271968 Or you can try to understand that this is a human behavior that's changing. 700 00:47:03,555.271968 --> 00:47:06,556.271968 How can we use it to our advantage? Right? And that's one thing. 701 00:47:06,588.5667526 --> 00:47:12,168.5667526 trend as I see going forward is people are going to consume multiple sources of content at the same time. 702 00:47:12,813.5667526 --> 00:47:25,103.5662526 Like for example, have you ever been in a place where people are vacationing while taking an office meeting? You know, we live in a time where people do two things at the same time because time is not in our favor for some lot of reasons. 703 00:47:25,433.5662526 --> 00:47:28,943.5662526 So we want to be able to have fun while we're also getting our work done. 704 00:47:29,193.5662526 --> 00:47:30,813.5662526 So we're trying to do two things at the same time. 705 00:47:30,813.5662526 --> 00:47:36,563.8950508 So look at a digital trend that is getting you used to the idea that people like to do two things at the same time. 706 00:47:36,853.9950508 --> 00:47:39,813.9950508 Or multi centric uh, you know, tasks that is, that we're focused on. 707 00:47:40,273.9950508 --> 00:47:42,153.9950508 And the next trend is of course, AI. 708 00:47:42,183.9950508 --> 00:47:45,313.9950508 The AI boom is already yesterday's trend. 709 00:47:45,413.9940508 --> 00:47:54,233.9940508 And I believe that if the church does not take advantage of this place, we can really, really miss out on a huge bandwagon and huge opportunity. 710 00:47:54,533.9950508 --> 00:47:57,13.9950508 And I think this is what I would really encourage the church to see. 711 00:47:57,43.9950508 --> 00:48:03,678.9950508 How can we use AI tools to empower us? I'm not looking at it as a threat and I'd really encourage a lot of people. 712 00:48:03,708.9950508 --> 00:48:15,118.9950508 For example, one of the things that we've been talking about is tech, you know, in the month of December, a friend of mine named Karan, he's a pastor and he calls me and he says, Ricky, I have many IT professionals in my church. 713 00:48:15,598.9940508 --> 00:48:16,478.9940508 I want to do something. 714 00:48:16,478.9950508 --> 00:48:21,493.6053501 I feel like I, I use them for, you know, very menial tasks in the church, but they want to serve God at a larger capacity. 715 00:48:21,763.6053501 --> 00:48:36,148.6053501 What can we do? And so Karan came home and we spent some time and we started to decide talking and we invited another friend of ours named He's a tech entrepreneur and we three sat together and we said, you know, we need to encourage tech entrepreneurs and tech professionals to do something for the great commission. 716 00:48:36,178.6043501 --> 00:48:37,628.6053501 And this is when the idea came in. 717 00:48:37,628.6053501 --> 00:48:45,98.6053501 And because, you know, what's so interesting is when missionaries went into different cities and states, one of the things that they did is they helped them and empowered the community. 718 00:48:45,958.6053501 --> 00:48:56,719.0732821 So how did they do that? They built churches, they built hospitals, they built schools, they built places of gathering and places of, and solutions for those places, right? they played a big role in bringing solution. 719 00:48:57,289.0722821 --> 00:49:01,938.7701987 And today, building a hospital or a school looks like building an app that's going to save the community. 720 00:49:02,528.7711987 --> 00:49:04,758.6711987 Building an app that's going to make a change in their life. 721 00:49:04,898.7711987 --> 00:49:05,238.7711987 Community. 722 00:49:05,238.7711987 --> 00:49:21,131.7647078 But what does that look like in the church space? It looks like getting tech entrepreneurs to probably start thinking, saying, What can the church do for this particular community through the tech space that could change the way they do life? For example, I live in India, and for us, we're technologically quite advanced because I'll tell you, we have two major technologies. 723 00:49:21,131.7647078 --> 00:49:22,51.7652078 One is we have UPI. 724 00:49:22,461.7642078 --> 00:49:28,601.7652078 UPI payment is the fastest internet payment, which a street hawker and a vendor will also have it. 725 00:49:28,631.7652078 --> 00:49:31,181.0718201 And also somebody fancy store will also have it. 726 00:49:31,521.0718201 --> 00:49:33,871.0718201 Everybody uses internet payment in India. 727 00:49:34,501.0718201 --> 00:49:35,481.0718201 Everyone has access to it. 728 00:49:35,831.0718201 --> 00:49:39,391.0718201 Second thing we also have is we are delivery system is super cheap and super fast. 729 00:49:39,411.0718201 --> 00:49:43,321.0718201 So if I order something, if I order groceries, it'll reach me in six minutes. 730 00:49:43,751.0718201 --> 00:49:47,81.0718201 So if I order something, by the time I make the payment, it's at my doorstep. 731 00:49:47,491.0718201 --> 00:49:49,371.0708201 That's how fast delivery system is in India. 732 00:49:49,741.0718201 --> 00:49:57,1.0708201 Now, these are daily habits of people, right? So if we build tools that is empowering the church, so that is Christian in principle. 733 00:49:57,801.0708201 --> 00:50:00,141.0708201 Does it make sense? When we started a hospital, it was Christian. 734 00:50:00,141.0708201 --> 00:50:00,741.0708201 In principle. 735 00:50:00,741.0708201 --> 00:50:02,631.0708201 When we started a school, it was a Christian in principle. 736 00:50:02,781.0708201 --> 00:50:06,411.0708201 It was not that, oh, I, I, by you coming to a school, I'm going to make you a Christian. 737 00:50:06,411.0708201 --> 00:50:10,271.0708201 No, we are going to just be Christians and you're gonna see our lifestyle. 738 00:50:10,271.0708201 --> 00:50:11,441.0708201 We're gonna present the gospel to you. 739 00:50:11,591.0708201 --> 00:50:13,901.0708201 It was never with an intention that, oh, I want to convert people. 740 00:50:13,901.0708201 --> 00:50:14,831.0708201 That was never our intention. 741 00:50:15,41.0708201 --> 00:50:17,951.0708201 Our intention was always to say, Hey, listen, city needs a school. 742 00:50:17,951.0708201 --> 00:50:18,886.0708201 We are gonna build a school for the city. 743 00:50:20,46.0708201 --> 00:50:21,246.0708201 And I'm gonna be who I am. 744 00:50:21,252.5476707 --> 00:50:22,332.5476707 I'm called to love God. 745 00:50:22,332.5476707 --> 00:50:24,252.5476707 I'm going, I'm called to present the gospel to people. 746 00:50:24,252.5476707 --> 00:50:25,2.5476707 I will present the gospel. 747 00:50:25,182.5476707 --> 00:50:30,372.5476707 It's their choice if they want to receive that gospel or not even the church in the tech space needs to be doing. 748 00:50:30,377.5476707 --> 00:50:33,12.5476707 And that's where we build this conference called Hallowed code. 749 00:50:33,372.5476707 --> 00:50:40,272.5476707 Hallowed code is something that we are doing in Hyderabad, India, in 15th of June with this, with a desire to empower tech entrepreneurs. 750 00:50:40,622.5476707 --> 00:50:53,489.2133373 to start thinking of what are the next level or next line of tools that we can build as an entry point at the same time as a solution for different places which is facing different challenges in today's day and age. 751 00:50:53,509.2133373 --> 00:51:07,372.5466707 And so our prayer is that we are able to raise more and more people who can be tech based missionaries who are dreaming because as leaders and pastors, we are not thinking from that end because we have no exposure there, but somebody who's from the tech space. 752 00:51:07,787.5466707 --> 00:51:10,347.5466707 He will have a much better opportunity. 753 00:51:10,347.5466707 --> 00:51:14,400.880004 And so if we empower them, we see a huge opportunity of people coming together. 754 00:51:14,400.880004 --> 00:51:15,360.880004 And so that's that intention. 755 00:51:15,370.880004 --> 00:51:15,910.880004 That's our heart. 756 00:51:16,130.880004 --> 00:51:18,30.880004 And that's a huge trend that we see coming forward. 757 00:51:18,567.5466707 --> 00:51:19,307.5466707 Oh, that's so good. 758 00:51:19,307.5466707 --> 00:51:32,363.6756425 I love that vision of, asking the question, you know, how can we add value to our community where we are, you know, like that concept of taking that paradigm that missionaries used to have of, people need healthcare, so let's build hospitals. 759 00:51:32,703.6766425 --> 00:51:40,793.6766425 What is it that people need today when there are hospitals in those communities? And the tech space is clearly one of those spaces that the church could really add value. 760 00:51:40,793.6766425 --> 00:51:43,113.6766425 And so I think that challenge really resonates. 761 00:51:43,653.6756425 --> 00:51:43,973.6756425 So. 762 00:51:44,818.6756425 --> 00:51:46,638.6756425 Ricky, people are listening. 763 00:51:46,918.6756425 --> 00:51:48,58.6756425 They're getting inspired. 764 00:51:48,68.6756425 --> 00:51:54,548.6756425 If they're at this point in the podcast and they're still listening, they're most likely very interested in learning more. 765 00:51:54,838.6756425 --> 00:52:02,885.9454758 So what are some ways people can connect with you and your ministry online? And are there any resources or events that you can point them to, to encourage them to join you? Absolutely. 766 00:52:02,885.9464758 --> 00:52:04,673.2281945 So three things I will point you to. 767 00:52:04,763.2271945 --> 00:52:07,963.2261945 One is definitely our website, please visit outcastnow. 768 00:52:07,993.2271945 --> 00:52:08,253.2271945 com. 769 00:52:08,253.2271945 --> 00:52:12,123.2271945 You can get all our information about that place, what we do, our heart, our vision. 770 00:52:12,633.2271945 --> 00:52:16,313.2261945 Second thing is you can visit us on Instagram because we're regularly updating on Instagram. 771 00:52:16,313.3261945 --> 00:52:20,686.8593475 We're, We're letting people know the latest trends and what's happening and that's outcast. 772 00:52:21,306.8593475 --> 00:52:21,616.8593475 in. 773 00:52:22,106.8593475 --> 00:52:26,66.8593475 And if you want to email me, you can always email me at ricky at outcastnow. 774 00:52:26,96.8583475 --> 00:52:26,386.8583475 com. 775 00:52:26,796.8593475 --> 00:52:31,241.8593475 But here's the thing, we do two major events other than you know, our academy. 776 00:52:31,421.8593475 --> 00:52:39,134.7278283 One is Hallowed Code, that's one thing that if you are in India and if you feel like this is some place that you want to be stepping into, this is an opportunity for you to step in. 777 00:52:39,504.7288283 --> 00:52:41,114.7278283 The other thing we do is something called Zero. 778 00:52:41,114.7288283 --> 00:52:48,268.0631616 Zero is a digital missions conference that we do in India, which happens every year starting The goal is still 2033. 779 00:52:48,668.0631616 --> 00:52:52,138.0631616 The goal is to make the gospel accessible to everybody in India. 780 00:52:52,318.0631616 --> 00:52:56,728.0631616 And I think it's everybody's right to get access to the gospel and that's a vision of zero. 781 00:52:57,28.0631616 --> 00:53:00,998.0631616 And I hope, you know, if you want to know more about all this, it's all available on outcastnow. 782 00:53:00,998.0631616 --> 00:53:02,978.0631616 com and you can get all the information there. 783 00:53:03,378.0631616 --> 00:53:03,928.0631616 Fantastic. 784 00:53:03,968.0631616 --> 00:53:05,328.0631616 I'll be sure to put that in the show notes. 785 00:53:06,258.0631616 --> 00:53:08,488.0631616 Ricky, this has been such a good conversation. 786 00:53:08,518.0631616 --> 00:53:10,148.0631616 I've found it very insightful. 787 00:53:10,638.0631616 --> 00:53:14,598.0631616 Are there any final thoughts that you'd like to leave with our audience before we close off? For sure. 788 00:53:14,598.0631616 --> 00:53:19,659.1361338 I'm, first of all, I'm very excited have this opportunity to talk and share my heart. 789 00:53:19,689.1361338 --> 00:53:22,339.1361338 I'm very grateful Jason, for you doing this. 790 00:53:22,399.1361338 --> 00:53:23,639.1361338 I really appreciate you doing this. 791 00:53:23,659.1361338 --> 00:53:29,919.1361338 And second thing is as a creative entrepreneur, as a creative missionary, as a creative minister. 792 00:53:30,969.1361338 --> 00:53:34,719.1361338 One of the things that we tend to take for granted is the idea of collaboration. 793 00:53:34,829.1361338 --> 00:53:44,109.1361338 And something that challenged me in the last few seasons was collaboration is not a cheap word for free work, right? And so we said, okay, you know what, we need to change our attitude. 794 00:53:44,209.1361338 --> 00:53:46,209.1361338 We need to change our attitude to contribution. 795 00:53:46,919.1361338 --> 00:53:49,459.1351338 The early church people brought whatever they had from the table. 796 00:53:49,459.1361338 --> 00:53:52,259.1351338 They said, I have gold, I have wood, I have silver, let's do something. 797 00:53:52,769.1351338 --> 00:54:01,757.4694671 And I think the idea of contributing towards different people's needs walks in life can actually make a massive impact for the Great Commission. 798 00:54:02,247.4694671 --> 00:54:04,157.4694671 Instead of us trying to say, Hey, let's collaborate. 799 00:54:04,537.4694671 --> 00:54:07,387.4689671 And it then comes in logos and egos and all these kinds of things. 800 00:54:07,387.4689671 --> 00:54:11,117.4694671 But, but when we're talking about contribution, I hear, I love what you're doing. 801 00:54:11,157.4694671 --> 00:54:12,917.4694671 I believe it's going to make a difference to the Great Commission. 802 00:54:12,977.4694671 --> 00:54:16,437.4694671 I'm going to give this from my side, from my, you know, I'm going to help you here. 803 00:54:16,527.4694671 --> 00:54:17,167.4694671 I'm going to help you there. 804 00:54:17,177.4694671 --> 00:54:18,257.4694671 I think that posture. 805 00:54:18,817.4694671 --> 00:54:20,467.4694671 has changed the way we do ministry. 806 00:54:20,467.4694671 --> 00:54:22,137.4694671 And so that's my final word. 807 00:54:22,137.4694671 --> 00:54:27,713.8694671 If you are somebody who believes that you can't do this alone, if you want to do it together, I know collaboration is what we talk. 808 00:54:28,212.5319671 --> 00:54:30,32.5319671 But I believe contribution is more powerful. 809 00:54:30,512.5319671 --> 00:54:30,992.5319671 Wonderful. 810 00:54:31,52.5319671 --> 00:54:35,792.5319671 I love that challenge of contributing to a singular effort together. 811 00:54:35,792.5319671 --> 00:54:48,762.5319671 And so with those final words, thank you for all the time that you've given to this podcast, to our audience, the value that you've added and the thoughts that you've left with us as we consider the digital space as a space for the Great Commission. 812 00:54:49,102.5319671 --> 00:54:50,872.5319671 And so Ricky, thank you for your time. 813 00:54:51,72.5319671 --> 00:54:52,82.5319671 Truly appreciate you. 814 00:54:55,89.1073503 --> 00:54:58,479.1073503 But I hope that you enjoyed this episode of the Lausanne Movement Podcast. 815 00:54:58,839.1073503 --> 00:55:05,259.1073503 If you liked this episode, why don't you take a moment to give us a rating and review? And give us a shout out on social media. 816 00:55:05,939.1073503 --> 00:55:13,929.1073503 next week, we'll be back with another episode that we hope will inspire you to accelerate global mission within your own space. 817 00:55:14,649.1073503 --> 00:55:15,609.1073503 Until next week. 818 00:55:16,59.1073503 --> 00:55:16,479.1073503 Cheers.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Digital Mission: Fulfilling the Great Commission in the Digital Age with Ricky George

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

All Episodes

Digital Mission: Fulfilling the Great Commission in the Digital Age with Ricky George

Stuff You Should Know