2016 was a big year for Indigitous. We saw exponential growth in the movement, started a new global hackathon, and more. God has blessed the Indigitous movement. Here are some of the big moments of 2016.
January
January 20: Ali Llewellyn hosted Indigitous SESSIONS: How Can I Build and Sustain Local Communities for the Kingdom. Ali discussed how to find your place in the body of Christ and how to build local communities that will last.
February
February 3-March 24: Indigitous launched Indigitous STEPS, an 8-week training series aimed at providing pathways for the digital specialist who desires to use his/her unique skills for the Great Commission. If you missed it, you can get much of the content in a 4-part email series.
February 9: Mike Shaw hosted Indigitous SESSIONS: What Is SEO. In a world where there is no shortage of Web content, how do you get your content noticed? Mike Shaw shared how to get found by the right audience so you can provide them with the tools, products, and services that they need.
March
March 19: Thirty-five people met in Gondar, Ethiopia for Indigitous #Gondar for an event that focused on how to influence the current generation in Ethiopia with the message of Jesus Christ, create a learning environment for one another, and inspire local church leaders and youth in Gondar on using digital strategies for evangelism and discipleship.
March 22: The first official Indigitous Leadership Team formed, made up of Ken Cochrum (VP of Global Digital Strategies at Cru), Simon Seow (Indigitous Chief Catalyst), Aaron Thomson (Digital Strategist at Cru), Nicholas Skytland and Ali Llewellyn (Co-founders of Quite Uncommon), Liam Savage (Design Strategist for the Innovation Team at OneHope), and Jeremy Lukens (Indigitous.org Content Manager).
April
April 4-7: Indigitous joined 138 missions organizations at a media in missions conference in Southeast Asia. Leadership Team members Simon Seow and Liam Savage gave talks on innovation in missions. The idea for a Gospel Resource Hub was born (coming soon).
April 16: Jonah Jala started the first Missions X Tech meetup in the Philippines, bringing together around 30 Christian technologists in the area to work together as a local Indigitous community.
April 29-May 1: Approximately 50 people gathered in Sao Paulo, Brazil for Indigitous Sao Paulo. Those in attendance met to create and adapt digital strategies that are tailored to a Brazilian and South American context to better make Jesus known in the region.
May
May 14: Twenty-five people gathered in the Philippines for Indigitous #Cebu to network, learn, and collaborate on missional projects.
May 14: That same day, 50 gathered in Ethiopia for Indigitous #Dire Dawa to explore ways for digital evangelism and discipleship to grow God’s kingdom in eastern Ethiopia.
May 16: Harar, Ethiopia saw a gathering of 35 people for Indigitous #Harar, the third Indigitous # event in the country this year.
June
June 17-19: Eighty-four people passionate about bringing the unchanging Gospel to a changing world gathered in Nigeria for Indigitous #Lagos. The theme was raising digital technologists in the area that will help the Nigerian church use digital strategies for ministry.
July
July 20-25: RedeeMedia reached 1,000 people in Ethiopia with film and photography exhibit.
July 22-24: Seventy people gathered for Indigitous Mexico City, the second Indigitous Classic conference of the year, to learn, network, and create strategies for using social media, digital content, and other tools to proclaim the Gospel throughout Mexico and Latin America.
September
September 17: Jeyanti Arulkumarasan of Oikos.com joined the Indigitous Leadership Team.
October
October 1: We saw forty join together in Ecuador for Indigitous #Quito, a one-day Indigitous # conference aimed at equipping people for digital ministry in Latin and South America.
October 3: After getting a lot of user feedback, Indigitous unveiled new messaging that more clearly defines the value and purpose of the movement: “Using our talents for God in the digital space.”
October 14-15: Indigitous Johannesburg brought 80 Christian technologists, strategists, and creatives to South Africa to take on the theme of “moving from information to experience.”
October 29: Argentina hosted 90 people for Indigitous #Buenos Aires, the third Indigitous event in South America this year.
November
November 4: Indigitous.org surpassed 3,000 registered members. That may not sound like a lot, but consider that when the website was re-launched in March 2015, there were only 130 members. That’s a 2,207% increase in 20 months.
November 4-6: Indigitous #HACK took place in 28 cities across 15 nations. 1,426 participants took part in 14 missional challenges and coded for 67 straight hours. (View the Final Report).
December
December 14-16: The Indigitous Leadership Team met and attended the WIN Summit in part of our ongoing efforts to improve Indigitous.org and make it a platform that better serves users like you. You will hear a lot more about this in 2017!
Merry Christmas from Indigitous!
So what were your favorite Indigitous moments and memories for 2016? Share them in the comments below!