God has called all Christians to reach our world, to share the Gospel and make His name known. But we also have busy lives. We’re full-time students or businesspeople who work long days and don’t have a lot of free time once we get home.
Many Christians have gotten into e-coaching, or online mentoring, for that reason. As an e-coach, you can set your hours and do ministry work in a way that fits your schedule. It could mean taking a few minutes to respond to messages as you receive them. It could mean carving out time each day to read and respond to whatever messages came in that day. But whatever your schedule, if you’re a Christian who is reading this blog post, you have the ability to make a profound impact on the lives of others as an e-coach.
During a recent episode of Indigitous PULSE, we met with Viktor Repasky, a digital missionary in Slovakia, about how he uses digital strategies to share the Gospel and how he works with volunteers such as e-coaches to make a difference.
Starting a digital ministry
Viktor came to Christ when he was in college and then became a full-time missionary two years later. He served in student ministry for a decade but then felt called to launch a digital ministry, which he’s been doing for the last eight years. “God opened some doors where I saw that God is working in the digital world,” Viktor says.
When Viktor started his digital ministry, he knew that volunteers would be vital to its success so from the very beginning, he focused on providing pathways for people to engage in missions on a part-time, voluntary basis. Currently he’s working with around thirty volunteers throughout Slovakia who give some of their time to help with the mission work. “I look at it as the backbone of our ministry. Without the volunteers, it wouldn’t be the same,” Viktor says.
One of the ways in which volunteers engage in Viktor’s ministry is through his e-coach ministry. People who are seeking God or just looking for some help with areas where they’re struggling seek out e-coaches through a variety of websites. Often they want to talk about a certain issue that’s troubling them. The volunteer e-coaches then respond through an anonymous messaging system. Through the course of their communication, the e-coaches get to know the people, walk with them on their journeys, and look for opportunities to help them take their next step toward Jesus.
People of all walks of life serve as volunteer e-coaches. Some are senior citizens who are retired. Some are professionals or students. There is training provided and there are no particular skills needed, aside from empathy and a desire to serve. “The perfect candidate for me is the person who has a heart for the lost. It’s not necessarily about skills,” Viktor says.
You don’t need all the answers
One thing that holds people back from being e-coaches is an idea that they need to have all of the answers. If someone comes to them with a problem, they need to know how to solve it. If someone is experiencing a certain issue, they must have experience with that issue.
But according to Viktor, that’s not the case. “Since we are coaching, the best thing you can do is to learn how to ask good questions, how to care and love people. It’s usually not about the knowledge,” Viktor says.
Another advantage of e-coaching as opposed to talking to someone face to face is the time coaches have to respond. Because coaches don’t need to respond to a message immediately, that gives them time to research the topic, find a good resource, and pray about their reply.
Many coaches find that they have learned a lot and had their faith strengthened through the process. Responding to messages from those they’re coaching helps coaches gain new understanding of biblical topics, issues facing people who matter to God, and causes them to think through questions they’ve never considered before.
Though e-coaches help with specific topics and issues that people want to discuss, one of the most important things they do is lead the people back toward Jesus. “We are trying to use the topic and the questions to share the Gospel and get to a spiritual conversation,” Viktor says.
Many e-coaches become more comfortable having spiritual conversations online and offline by doing it through their online coaching. With the benefit of time and a number of resources available, e-coaches can have those conversations at a pace that is comfortable while reaching out for help as needed.
Become an e-coach
E-coaches don’t need to be biblical experts or psychologists and there are no real skills needed. Anyone who has a heart for people who don’t know Jesus, who wants to help people grow in their spiritual journey, and who can ask good questions can make a profound impact. If that sounds like you, we encourage you to try being an e-coach.
“At the end of the day, it’s about the call God is giving you,” Viktor says. “I want to encourage the people where your heart just jumps, like, ‘Yeah, that’s something I could do,’ then do it. Just do it.”