In June 2021, Indigitous launched a new podcast called CoffeeTalks. Hosted by Jonah, Simon, and Ann, the series featured live conversations with interesting people from all over the world — people who are passionate about Jesus and using their digital footprint to share the Good News.
Next year, those conversations will take place in a new format. But before then, with the Christmas season upon us and the New Year looming, we thought it was a good time to reflect on the last 20 episodes of Indigitous CoffeeTalks. Recently Jonah and Simon got together and reminisced about their favorite moments from the podcast series.
“Most of the things that really struck me were those that just did something with what’s in their hand. And at the same time being able to appreciate that there are things that the Lord is doing around them,” Jonah says.
Just as with Moses using his staff and cloak in Exodus 4 because that’s what he had in hand, we’ve seen so many people do the same. Developers have used their coding ability to create evangelistic websites and apps. People have used Facebook pages, TikTok videos, and calligraphy to draw people to the Lord.
“We’ve had the privilege of stewarding these stories,” Simon says. “When I look through all the different episodes and the people who were featured, I could not imagine the breadth and the depth of what God is doing through young and old in creative ways.”
Passing The Torch
Jonah fondly recalls the episode where Mike Latsko, who serves with Vision 5:9, talked about his career in missions and his excitement for a new generation to take up that work and make great progress with innovation and new technology.
“With him talking about passing the torch to the younger generation, I could sense his heart of surrendering to God and being open to what God is doing in missions,” Jonah says. “Hearing his hope for the future of missions left me really encouraged.”
“He also highlighted so well this urgent opportunity we have to use digital to engage the unengaged,” Simon says.
Learning On The Fly
Jonah also recalls the episode with Din Ragumtong, a missionary in Thailand who recently launched a digital strategies team. As a new team, they lacked a lot of knowledge and tech skills, but saw that as an opportunity to grow. “I was amazed that even with the seeming lack of tech skills, I saw that whenever you have the heart to reach out, the technology can just follow,” Jonah says.
Din and his team has learned as they’ve gone, shooting videos, managing social media pages, and creating content all while learning what works and what doesn’t. “He has been leading his team to learn about videos and creating content just because of that desire to share the Gospel,” Jonah says.
A Young Mom Finds Her Place In Missions
One conversation that stood out to Simon was with Bituin, a young wife and mother in the Philippines who uses her calligraphy to offer spiritual encouragement. Through the art on her Facebook page, the Creative Encourager, Bituin shares words of encouragement through Scripture and living a Spirit-filled life.
“What struck me is that sometimes we just think that it’s the digital people who need to be engaged. But Bituin is a young mom creating in simple ways with the gifts that have been written into her story,” Simon says.
An Encouragement To You
Over 20 episodes of CoffeeTalks, we were able to hear a lot of exciting stories about the ways that people are taking simple steps of faith with whatever is in their hand. But there is so much more going on in the Indigitous network and beyond. “What are the stories that are untold, or not told to us?” Simon asks.
Simon hopes that listeners to those CoffeeTalks have been inspired to try a strategy that was discussed or something new. “As you listen, you also have the opportunity to go and make a difference,” Simon says.
Jonah also hopes that the conversations have helped model different ways that people can use their gifts and interests for God’s mission. “What are these things that encourage you to use your skills for God? What are these desires that God has put in your heart?” Jonah asks. “This might be a space for you to think about what God’s leading you to do. Pick a person or story that you think could be a model or an inspiration for how God can use you.”