Synopses & Reviews
Great stories are happening everywhere in the mission field and around the world. Sometimes these stories hit their mark, but more often than not these stories of God at work often stay hidden, are told ineffectively, or miss their audience completely.
This one-of-a-kind handbook from two journalists-turned-missionaries gives practical tips for the rest of us on how to “report” on what God is doing around the world. You don’t need an expensive camera or an all-access pass to find and tell a great story. You just need a few trade secrets and the right questions to ask: “What is God up to? How can I get in on it?” The authors write with a special eye on and for the Christian missions world to help bloggers, missionaries, and world-travelers effectively report stories of God’s work around the globe. From fundraising to newsletters to “Missions Sunday” presentations and everywhere in between, this book will help energize the Church for the Great Commission. Like the gospel writer Luke (a reporter in the Bible!), we need to give careful, detailed, credible accounts of what God is doing. And let His work speak for itself!
"e;The idea of journalists training missionaries to be storytellers is unique and can change the face of missions. Great stories engage people and can energize the church to more impassioned prayer and even more sending and going. I applaud Jim and Lincoln’s work."e; - Jerry B. Jenkins
Review
Every once in a while a truly monumental idea comes along, something with the potential to actually change the way the church does the work of the kingdom.
Go Tell It hearkens back to a concept as elemental as the parables of Jesus: Tell a story.
Forget bells and whistles and exclamation points. Don’t gush adjectives and adverbs. Just tell me what happened, in that place I’ve likely never been, to that person I’ll likely never meet. Reach my heart and soul with truth as universal as my senses and my emotions.
Go Tell It is as accessible as the easiest how-to, but profound, profound, profound. If it doesn’t trigger a lump in your throat and propel you down the road to action, please get out of my way.
Jerry B. Jenkins, novelist and biographer, owner of Christian Writers Guild
The best news journalism, the kind that wins Pulitzer Prizes, grips the gut, puts us on the edge of our seat, makes us put down the coffee cup. It’s storytelling too powerful to forget. We talk about it at work, on the train, over dinner. And the best journalism has always been a catalyst for change in the U.S. and around the world. This book reminds us that the stories of God’s work in the world are no less gripping.
We've just been telling those stories badly—or not at all. Journalists Jim Killam and Lincoln Brunner will get in your face and in your heart and get you wanting to pick up your pad, pen, and camera and go get the news—the kind that makes us care, pray, give, and maybe go into all the world (or across the street).
Michael Longinow, professor of journalism and journalism department chair, Biola University
Go Tell It addresses a deep felt need that has continually frustrated both missionaries and donors alike: how to reveal the inspiring work of God and the difficult and courageous works of missionary-storytellers. If you’re a seasoned missionary building a new field team or you’re beginning to raise support to join one, these insights will help you accelerate breakthrough in areas of creativity and ministry collaboration.
Christopher Lucey, executive director, US Center for World Mission, Pasadena, California
The reports of journalism’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, and Jim Killam and Lincoln Brunner prove it! These two veteran communicators have given us a much-needed volume on applying time-tested journalistic principles in our lives and ministries. Go Tell It provides practical help to missionaries, church members, students, and anyone else who wants to create accurate and compelling accounts of what God is doing in the world. It will help you avoid the common communication blunders that can seriously undermine your credibility . . . and your ministry. This book will even serve as a solid refresher course for working journalists! I recommend it highly.
Stan Guthrie, Christianity Today editor at large and author, Missions in the Third Millennium
Jim Killam and Lincoln Brunner have made a significant contribution to the telling of the greatest story of all—what God is doing in our world—in this practical and helpful book. Too often mission stories are embellished or not told at all, and there is a great need for truthful telling and encouraging news even when it comes from very hard contexts of ministry. Jim and Lincoln provide a great road map for missionaries and those who tell the story of what God is up to. I will recommend this book to all of our staff in ReachGlobal.
T.J. Addington, senior vice president, EFCA, leader of ReachGlobal
Synopsis
Will you tell the world what God is doing?
Whether we do ministry in a faraway country or a nearby neighborhood, we experience the work that God is doing in lives of people around the world. Yet when we try to communicate those stories to our friends at home, we often fall flat.
How can we share what God is doing in a way that evokes the excitement He deserves?
To experienced journalists-turned-missionaries Jim Killam and Lincoln Brunner, the answer is straightforward: We need to be reporters gathering information responsibly and crafting stories of God’s goodness.
The next time you are challenged to answer the question: “What happened on your mission trip?” or even: “What is happening in your ministry?” . . . be prepared to answer well. Go Tell It will equip you to tell a compelling story that allows others to see God’s work in the world.
About the Author
JIM KILLAM is a journalist and teacher. Currently he's with ReachGlobal, the world mission agency of the Evangelical Free Church of America, and reports stories of God's work around the world at www.reachglobalnews.org. He also does freelance writing and photography for several publications.
Go Tell It is his third book.Prior to pursuing missions work, Jim spent 17 years as Student Publications Adviser at Northern Illinois University, where he advised and taught hundreds of students at the Northern Star, one of the top daily college newspapers in the United States. Prior to that, he worked 10 years as an award-winning reporter and editor at three daily newspapers. Jim and his wife, Lauren, live in northern Illinois. They have three married children and a granddaughter. www.jimkillam.comhas been a journalist for more than 30 years. Over the years, that heading has included the titles of reporter, writer, editor, photographer, videographer and designer. He's worked for daily newspapers, magazines, websites and more. For 17 years he served as faculty adviser for the Northern Star, the daily student newspaper at Northern Illinois University, where he also taught journalism classes. Currently he's a freelance writer/editor and a part-time missionary journalist. Jim also is a passionate nature photographer. He and his wife, Lauren, live in Illinois and have three married children and a granddaughter. This is his third book.
LINCOLN BRUNNER is a missionary journalist working as a writer, editor, photographer and videographer to cover stories of God's work worldwide. He currently serves with ReachGlobal, the international missions arm of the Evangelical Free Church of America. Before that, he served as founding editor of a world missions news website, Called and Sent Magazine. In his previous careers he worked as an editor in the industrial trade press and also as a reporter and editor for two daily newspapers in the Midwest. Lincoln and his wife, Ann, have three daughters and live in Wisconsin.
Table of Contents
Foreword by David Aikman
Introduction
1. If God Says He Loves You, Check It Out
2. Crossing the Line
3. The Unvarnished Truth
4. The Story
5. Interviewing
6. The Scenes
7. The Pictures
8. The Movies
Conclusion: Risk and Reward