That’s where the hobby started, but at the time, that’s all it was: a hobby. It wasn’t until 2018, five years later, that I had the opportunity to travel to South Sudan with a request to create a video about Emmanuel Christian College. That was when I realized that this hobby could actually be useful in the Kingdom.
The next year, I started my studies and joined a student mission to Lesotho, where I met an amazing missionary, whose passion was mobilizing young people. He directly challenged me:
“Do you know what a great need missions have for video and photo content? Missionaries go to different places and do incredible work, but they’re so far from home that giving feedback is difficult, and often limited to written reports. We need more media missionaries.”
Media missionary. Why had I never thought of or heard this term before? It made perfect sense, using skills, passions, and gifts, not necessarily to evangelize directly, but to be the messenger between worlds. To tell the stories that already exist, to serve those who serve, and to strengthen the Body of Christ across worldviews and continents.
Once I stepped into this role, I was amazed by how quickly I met others in similar positions. Entire ministries were dedicated to storytelling in missions. But even though these organizations existed, the concept and niche were still new, and the struggles were real.
As you can imagine, traveling for video and photography is expensive, the gear, travel costs, and time investment. And then the question arises: who funds this? The missionary being served often can’t afford it. The organizations that support them don’t always have the budget to finance an entire trip. And the content creator themselves can’t sustain the role of a media missionary without financial backing.
Despite these challenges, I was committed. I tried everything I could think of to make it work. I started Media with a Mission, a small photography company aimed at funding my mission trips as a media missionary. But at times, I hesitated, spending months earning money, only to pour it all into a mission trip for a few videos, receiving nothing in return.
My mindset wrestled with the tension:
“I’m the one who spent thousands on cameras and lenses. I spent years reaching my current skill level. I could charge clients x amount per hour, and now I’m just giving it away? All the support that the videos generate goes to the missionary, and I receive nothing but a thank you?”
Yet, every single time I took the step of faith, God provided for the rest. And the value I received from the experience was ten times greater than any financial cost.
Seeing the Impact Firsthand
- In 2022, I traveled to Egypt with a student team led by dia-LOGOS, once again with the role of making videos. After that, I the door opened to travel to Lebanon for media work, where I found a ministry that deeply touched my heart. So deeply, in fact, that I felt led to make it my base of operations.
While there, I witnessed the power of media firsthand. I was present through tremendous struggles, particularly during the war, and my skills became a bridge of clear communication from inside the conflict to the outside world. A raw view of real life that would otherwise be manipulated in the mainstream media. The impact of that was incredible.
Because Lebanon is in the Middle East, it was also easy for me to join short-term missions to Egypt, lending a hand with video work, recording training sessions for pastors and leaving behind high-quality digital resources for future use. I saw firsthand the power of replicable digital materials, and doors just kept opening.
A dear contact and now good friend of mine, Jacques, the same person who first introduced me to dia-LOGOS, had a similar realization: “People in missions are starting to see how invaluable a media person is in every mission.”
Why Media Missionaries are Essential
2. Multiply the Message. A single sermon, teaching, or testimony can now be recorded, edited, and shared globally, reaching thousands instead of just those present in the moment.
3. Give a Voice to the Unheard. Many people living in difficult situations, refugees, persecuted believers, struggling communities, have powerful stories that would otherwise remain unseen. Media amplifies their voices.
4. Create Training Resources. Many pastors and leaders in missions don’t have access to regular training. Recorded sessions, online materials, and video courses can equip them long after the missionary has left.
5. Inspire Future Missionaries. Missions can feel distant or irrelevant to those who have never experienced it. But seeing real footage of God at work in different parts of the world inspires new generations to step up.
Some are called to go, some are called to send, and others, perhaps without even realizing it yet, are called to tell. To bring distant places closer, to share testimonies that might otherwise fade into silence, to document the unseen work of the Kingdom.
It’s a role that often goes unnoticed, yet its impact stretches far beyond a single moment. And for those who find themselves drawn to it, doors tend to open in unexpected ways.