A New Possibility

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• A New Possibility

A global movement of visual story for the kingdom
of God
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Why Do We Need a Movement?
People live into stories too small (sports,
celebrities, political parties, private fears
and pain) People everywhere need hope People need
to find life in the Greatest Story of all
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Why Do We Need a Visual Movement?
The world is increasingly visual
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Isn't visual media only a dominant influence in
developed nations? Not any longer.

• Over 39 countries, even those that lack running
  water, have their own version of American Idol.
• Teens in rural Swaziland watch 1 to 2 hours of TV
  a day. Jerry Springer is a favorite.
• Many countries are leapfrogging over landlines
  and wired Internet to wireless devices. From 2000
  to 2007, mobile phones in Africa jumped from 15.6
  to 200 million.
• More than half the worlds population has a cell
  phone

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The language in which the 21st century world
communicates is the language of .
visual story
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For 1500 years the church preached. For 500
years the church has printed. Today we must
portray Jesus and His kingdom in stories.
Visual story must penetrate everything we do in
Christian missions. The success of the expansion
of the Church will hinge on how well we
personally demonstrate and visually portray who
Jesus is and what impact He can have in our
lives. Paul Eshleman, founder of the JESUS Film
Project
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We believe it is vital to
Help Gods people connect and communicate in new
ways
Identify, encourage and equip a new generation of
visual storytellers
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Visual Story A Definition
Combining narrative and visual media in
communicating the message of Christ and His
kingdom.
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Visual Story includes . . .

• Theater
• Television
• Computer
• Cell
• Graphic Novel
• Painting
• Design
• Flannel graph

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What Kinds of Stories Are Needed?
We believe seeking people will respond to stories
that engage, inspire, challenge and ultimately
evoke a desire for Christ. Some stories will be
subtle and will provoke. They will raise
questions rather than answer them. Other
stories will be direct and seek to provide
answers to the spiritual needs of the viewer. In
all cases, a visual story should go beyond simple
entertainment.
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A Vision Achieved
When Gods people consistently create and share
visual stories in culturally compelling ways with
every person on the earth so people can
experience life-change through Jesus a movement
will have occurred.
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A Vision
Feature films released, captivating audiences,
revealing the kingdom, in every continent in the
world High school kids using iPods showing clips
that speak to their peers at there level of
need An energized, connected, Christ-centered,
visual story community of 100,000 that share
ideas, projects, resources, best
practices Christians ready to respond regarding
the hope within them through an authentic life,
biblical truth and visual story that connects
with people around them Stories are shared that
inspire people to live lives of integrity,
humility, compassion and justicefor Christ and
His kingdom
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A Vision Pathways
A Christ-centered visual story movement will
occur when The Church embraces the visual
storyteller in her midst Innovators and early
adopters connect to influence the early
majority We understand that story is at the heart
of God, culture and the biblical narrative We
yield our lives fully to the caring, holy Creator
who is bringing all things to an astounding
close The body of Christ synergistically works
together on new tools and strategies
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Visual Story Network Who We Are

• The Visual Story Network is a coalition of
  missional and creative Christians working
  together to fuel a global movement of visual
  story for the kingdom of God.
• We sensed a need for a global, missional and
  strategic concerted effort
• It began with a handful of organizations

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Visual Story Network What We Do

• Advocate for the need for visual story
• Provide opportunities to connect and collaborate
• Equip Gods people to create and use visual story
• 4. Promote best practices and products

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Support and expand ministries that train and
equip local believers to produce and distribute
contextualized stories. Sharing of best
practices and products at a global level. A
wave of new models of effective visual story use
at community, city, country and continental
levels.Uncover and expand new methods of
distribution to get kingdom stories into the
homes and hearts of non-Christians.Helping
creative Christians become more missional and
missional Christians become more creative
BIG opportunities before Gods people
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Evangelism Process Communication Roles


Mass Media Radio, TV, Print, etc.
Interpersonal
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Call to Action
Organizational Evaluate your organizations
ability to connect and communicate in a visual
world Find visually oriented partners
(www.visualstorynetwork.com to start) Think
beyond fund raising in your use of visual story.
Think in terms of outreach, discipleship,
leadership training (OneHope) Develop your
organizational and personal visual story
toolkit Encourage the emerging visual story
teller in your midst
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Call to Action
Personal Live fully into your own story with
passion and abandon Become a story teller and
story user Be able to connect with the stories
that are popular in current culture