Global Media Puts the Gospel Into Many Hands

It’s just a piece of plastic and thin metal, encased in a cardboard sleeve. But when a DVD with the message of the gospel gets put in the hands of hundreds of thousands, it has a powerful impact.

That’s the main goal of Athletes in Action’s Global Media office, headed by Terry Bortz. Through its DVDs created in conjunction with major world sporting events, Global Media is getting the message of God’s love, forgiveness and redemption to audiences worldwide, told through testimonies of athletes across the globe.

Their main ventures are The Prize: Chasing the Dream, created for the soccer World Cup, and Struggle and Triumph, produced for the Olympic Games. While these games occur regularly, the films are only produced every other year since the cost is so great for filming, production and distribution. By purchasing the rights for footage from the Olympics and other sporting events, the films have a longer shelf life.

“The most important thing is that we utilize the best athletes in the world who are Christians and put them on a film that will be broadcast or viewed around the world,” says Bortz.

The key to success is the partnerships forged globally. Bortz says the International Sports Coalition, which encompasses many Christian sports ministries, is a major partner and represents nearly every country on the globe. The Christian Broadcasting Network is another major player, helping get the 26-minute films broadcast on secular and gospel stations worldwide. AIA staff members around the globe help with contacts to key athletes who would provide good stories for the films.

The simple discs pack a powerful punch, with testimonies and action footage throughout, and each DVD offers multiple translations. The Prize features 42 languages, while Struggle and Triumph is in 36 languages.

“You can hand this to nearly anyone in the world and be reasonably confident they’ll be able to view it in their language or something very close,” says Bortz. “Our goal is just to use media to reach the world for Christ.”

And it’s happening. Through chaplains at the various games, AIA programs at U.S. colleges or AIA staff in various countries, the DVDs are being replicated in staggering numbers. At least 500,000 copies of The Prize (2010) have been distributed, and 400,000 of Struggle and Triumph (2008) have gone out so far.

The future holds much promise for Global Media. With technology advances abounding, the office seeks to integrate social media and improve Web presence to put the media messages into the hands of more seekers. The office dreams of the day when a larger staff and additional funds raised would allow them to branch out beyond the two videos currently produced and target the message to various sports.

By Teresa Young, AIA Communications

Pray for:

• God to continue to use the DVDs produced by AIA to open doors for evangelism and bring people into a relationship with Him
• Athletes to be bold in telling their testimonies on the DVDs
• Additional AIA staff to be able to expand production of films
• Funding to support the production of these evangelism tools

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