By Laura McKillip Wood
Good News Productions International’s initiative to share 1 billion gospel invitations around the world over the next seven years grew out of a day of prayer and fasting late in 2022.
On that day, staff worldwide signed up to pray in 15-minute increments around the clock for 24 hours. Those who prayed specifically asked God where he was leading them with the blessings he had provided.
When GNPI president Mike Schrage heard the only time slot not taken was 1:30–1:45 a.m., he hesitantly agreed to take it. Before bed, he prayed, “God, if you want me to pray, wake me up.” At 1:20, he awoke with a cramp in his leg and knew God was waking him. He viewed a video prayer guide GNPI had created for the occasion and used it to focus his prayer.
During his prayer time, Schrage felt God was inviting GNPI to launch a new global initiative that would use prayer and media to invite many to Christ. Through a series of interactions with the executive leadership and board of GNPI, all became convinced that God was asking GNPI to trust Him to provide the needed funds and to begin a new plan for spreading the good news to people who had not heard it. In the subsequent weeks, GNPI received a significant estate gift from longtime supporters that was incredibly affirming and helpful for such a plan.
The initiative, Mission15, challenges participants to commit to praying for people around the world who have not heard about Jesus, ideally for at least 15 minutes a week from now until the end of 2030. The project also asks people to give $15 monthly so GNPI can create media to share 1 billion gospel invitations around the world over the next seven years. Mission15 also asks people to share their faith with 15 people in that time frame.
Schrage said there are 8 billion people in the world, and 6 billion of them either do not follow Jesus or have never heard of him. Many of these people do not have access to the gospel, but most of them have access to media—and that’s GNPI’s specialty.
Ziden Nutt, then a missionary in Zimbabwe, founded GNPI in the 1960s after being challenged to make culturally relevant media resources to share the gospel. Since then, GNPI has been providing Christ-centered media to people around the globe. GNPI works with nationals who know best how to create biblical media that people in their own cultures will find relevant.
Mission15 is growing in popularity, Schrage says. Churches that hear about the initiative have come to GNPI and asked to be involved.
“It resonates with people,” Schrage says. “It feels like something sacred that’s been given to us to steward.”
He explains the idea using the parable of the sower, in which some of the seed landed on fertile ground. Schrage sees that ground as a representation of the hearts of people who will respond to the gospel because of Mission15 media. Prayer, he explains, prepares those hearts to receive the seed of the gospel through media.
He stresses that this is a global effort. Many Christians in Africa and Asia have limited financial resources, but they pray earnestly. That backbone of international prayer is being complemented by North American financial resources and prayer to enable Mission15 to make a global impact.
The media GNPI creates takes many forms, and GNPI monitors it for effectiveness. For example, if GNPI helps create a virtual worship service that is watched by 800 people, they can track which of those folks stayed to hear the call to action at the end. They then count those as invitations to the gospel. GNPI hopes to send out 1 billion such invitations across platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok by the end of 2030.
GNPI sees Mission15 as God-sized in its goals, but God-ordained at its core.
To learn more about the work of GNPI and Mission15, and to participate in the initiative, visit their website.
Laura McKillip Wood, former missionary to Ukraine, lives in Papillion, Nebraska, and writes about missions for Christian Standard.
I would like information on joining your mission as a Missionary Disciple