Co-Mission: Impossible Made Possible

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Nairobi, meeting with SLM leaders from all over the world. Many told stories of how digital strategies are integral to their plans to reach students. 

Two members of the GDS team recently met with GCM leaders. Their purpose was to collaborate and explore how digital strategies can help them with church planting worldwide. 

Jesus Film Project and Global Digital Strategies are working together to equip people with Next Steps and content strategy training to effectively reach people with content journeys that will lead people in missional gaps to Jesus. 

Over the past few months, “Unlock” gatherings have happened in several places. In Thailand, they focused on using digital strategies to reach missional gaps in secure countries. In Tokyo, they focused on reaching the Uninterested. These gatherings included people from various strategies and regions. 

We are seeing the fruit of working interdependently. 

Students are trusting in Jesus. Churches are being planted. A soldier of a country that is actively hostile to Christianity trusted Jesus through a Digital Strategies team. He has completed follow-up and is being discipled—while still on active duty. People in closed countries are discovering Jesus and getting plugged into house churches. Missional gaps are being reached, and multiplying disciples are being raised up. 

The following articles will give you more examples of what happens when we work together. When we work together, we all win. The mission is accomplished, and God gets all of the glory. Fruit doesn’t come from isolation. It is the result of working together in the power of the Holy Spirit, leaving the results to Him, and praising Him for the fruit He brings.

Together with you,
Cheryl

We are living in a dynamic age. In the digital sphere, our world's populations cross borders every day, picking up blessings and curses from locales far and near. Meanwhile, each precious being exists in its own geographic space and is informed directly by its surrounding culture, family, and friends. In the midst of this, we shine the lights in the darkness. We are compelled by our love of God and our love of humanity to move into these contending and contrasting spaces with an accessible message of grace and love—the true gospel—and to help others do the same!

As an SLM leader in Central Asia it has been a true blessing to be connected to the GDS network over the past six years. Every strategy has its strengths, and often, when we are in one strategy for a long time, we have a solid knowledge of the resources available to us and how those resources can be contextualized to our contexts. But, an invitation to new strategic spaces opens a whole new world of ideas, inspiration, innovation, and instructors.

One of my favorite sources of ideas, inspiration, and innovation is SESA DS leader Melody. With deep humility, she has offered her expertise and encouragement to our SLM movement and me personally, time and time again. Before the pandemic, our SLM teams wanted to organize a DS Winter Project to help equip our staff to add digital outreach to their ministry toolbox. Melody offered all the resources she had from running a similar outreach in her context and was also available to coach me as we brought the idea for the project together. From SESA to NAMESTAN, God sent His help through a leader who generously offered whatever she had for the sake of His name.

Brothers and sisters, we are compelled to collaborate in this Great Commission work. There are simply not enough workers in any strategy to research, create, test, and contextualize all we need to reach every nation, tribe, people, and language! But praise God; this GDS network exists to help us find the help we need on time. Ask our sister Blessy in India for an evangelistic video on almost any topic and she can help you out. Ask Comfort in Ghana about mobilizing hundreds to pray through WhatsApp. Have an idea to make the Jesus Film more accessible for your context? Talk to Jessie in the US! Want to hear about how DS tools can bless all the different strategies in your country? Talk to Francis in Uganda! Online church and digital discipleship? David in Egypt. Ministry to the gaming world? Josh in Australia. Where else could we connect with these passionate digital evangelists and disciple-makers? Only the GDS network!  If you have a question, reach out. You’ll be surprised what you’ll find.

The Great Commission is not a solo mission—it’s a co-mission. We were never meant to carry the weight of reaching the nations alone. The task is too big—the challenges too complex, and the world too diverse for any person, team, or ministry to tackle alone. That’s why collaboration is not just helpful—it’s essential.

At the recent Unlock Tokyo conference, 50 participants from 16 countries gathered to explore how to reach the Uninterested—those who seem disengaged or indifferent toward the gospel. Through the Sprint process, participants worked together to identify challenges, test solutions, and develop strategies in real time. The challenges were similar across different contexts—but the solutions often came from unexpected places. Talking with someone from a different cultural background or ministry experience sparked new ideas and uncovered fresh strategies that wouldn’t have been discovered in isolation.

Ann Li, a Digital Strategies leader from Taiwan, captured this well when she said, “Things just simply won’t work in the fixed way as before. This is an age where we must keep learning and be willing to go with the uncertainty to find new opportunities—and that means working together.” The digital landscape is changing rapidly, and adaptability requires us to lean on each other’s strengths and perspectives.

Toby Palmer from Tandem in New Zealand also gave me something to consider: “If you’re just all feet, how can you draw? We need each other. God has raised all of us up in different ways to be a part of His kingdom. You are limiting your kingdom effectiveness by not collaborating with the Christian community.” The body of Christ functions best when each part brings its unique strength to the mission.

Josh Montzka from Australia reflected on how working together makes a real difference: “You can’t do it all on your own—I’ve tried. You won’t have a meaningful impact in a reasonable time by working alone. So, collaborate with others, create something, and keep improving it. The right people will be there when you need them.” That’s the thing about collaboration—it’s not just about finding the right answers but about recognizing that the people you need might already be with you.

Jonah Liu, on STINT with JCCC, shared a helpful reminder: “Working on a team in ministry teaches you to love people who may be difficult to love or different from you. It helps you see others the way Christ sees them. At the end of the day, we’re here to serve God—and He calls us to love each other and His mission.” It’s not just about strategies and outcomes but about how we treat the people we work with along the way.

Collaboration isn’t always easy, but it’s necessary. Melody, a regional leader in Southeast Asia, put it this way: “People from different countries often face similar challenges, but they may struggle to find a solution on their own. Working with people from different backgrounds and cultures—even just talking with a neighboring country—can bring fresh insights, new ideas, and opportunities to collaborate.” Sometimes, the simplest conversations spark the most creative solutions.

I'm reminded that the Great Commission was never meant to be a solo assignment. The GDS network offers us one great way to work together—encouraging each other, learning from one another, and building on each other’s strengths. When we partner together, we make the impossible possible—not by our own strength but through the collective wisdom, creativity, and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let’s lean into this co-mission together.