Connections

I’m pretty excited about being able to communicate with you through Connections. And I’d like to start by saying that I have greatly enjoyed attending the national and regional conferences, meeting so many of you and sharing with you the growing media resources that are available to you. I’ve been blessed by hearing your stories of open media doors and the blessings to your centers that have come as a result of you building relationships with your local media partners and donors.

These quarterly communications will offer the opportunity for us to stay in touch – with resources from the national office to you, and information on how to make them work for your center. With this first media update I’d like to start from the beginning, if you don’t mind, and gradually unfold resources, user guides and creative ideas in the coming issues.

Why Media?

Media is important because it carries the message. Whether the method used is a beating drum or HD television, packaging and delivering a concept to an audience has long been explored and valued.

Even Jesus used media. He didn’t exactly carry an iPad or upload to YouTube, but he did utilize the means available around 30 A.D. He would climb a hill and teach from the vantage point of a natural amphitheater, where rocks would reflect sound rather than absorb it, or row a boat a little way out on a lake, creating a stage, with his microphone consisting of soundwaves being naturally amplified over water. He knew the value of media and used it to his advantage.

We have the same goal; to deliver this same message Jesus preached – the message of hope and healing, salvation and redemption – to the listener. And it just happens to be that we live in an era where electronic media is at our fingertips.

A Bit of History

Nearly ten years ago, we built our first recording studio here at our local center in Minnesota, and began offering pre-recorded student testimonies to the local radio stations. We sensed God’s favor and timing on this venture as the doors flew open in front of us. Those were long, pressured work hours – as you are all so familiar with – but the excitement of the message going out on the airwaves and the sense of expectancy that God was up to something new and fresh carried us through those early difficulties. Within that first year, He repeatedly impressed on our hearts that we were like that story in the Old Testament where the lepers were outside the camp, having found bread, and being instructed that it would be a sin to keep it to ourselves.

It wasn’t long before we found that by adding Teen Challenge USA tags and contact information to the end of each testimony, the network doors began to open, and through continued prayer and God’s favor, The result: people across America are hearing via thousands of radio stations, and now television, that Jesus Christ is the answer to drug addiction and that Teen Challenge is the place to go for help if they or a loved one are addicted.

So much has happened in such a short time, that it is best summed up by simply encouraging you to step into the media waters. Working now as part of the TCUSA team, we are re-packaging nearly everything we produce – radio, television and other – and are placing it online for your use. You simply need to add your local phone number and email address to customize it for your center’s use.

We are continually uploading new media resources, building the stockpiles already online, and in the coming months we’ll be creating detailed user guides to accompany all of the resources. In the meantime, please contact me with any questions. I want you to know that we are committed to being of service to your local center to help facilitate customization and relationship- building with your local media sources. Here’s my contact information: lynette.scherber@mntc.org  612.238.6216

NRB Impact Award Nomination

The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Awards Committee has announced that Teen Challenge USA is a finalist in the 2012 Media Awards.

Teen Challenge USA joins Focus on the Family, Hope for the Heart and Life Issues Institute as the four finalists in the Radio Impact Awards category. In all, the NRB has 16 categories for which it presents awards for, including in the areas of television, radio and the Internet.

The NRB 2012 Media Awards will be presented to the recipients at the Awards Reception on Tuesday, February 21, as part of the NRB 2012 Convention & Exposition at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Getting Started

It’s easy to get started. Here’s step ONE:

In order to gain access to the online materials, you’ll need to fill out LICENSEE information on page1 and 2 of the Media Permissions Form (find online @staff.teenchallengeusa.com/psas) and fax it to Lisa Bornert at: 417.581.2195. (This form was a generous donation by an IP attorney from a major firm. It legally protects both Teen Challenge and the students, and creates a paper trail of media use in the event that a student should decide no longer to circulate their story.)

Here is the media site:

Type into your web browser:      teenchallengeusa.com/donuts

username:      donuts

case-sensitive password:      (Lisa will email you when she receives the signed media permissions form)

In the coming issues we’ll be announcing new resources and network media partners, welcoming centers who are customizing media, and discovering creative ways to use the online resources. We’ll also give timeline guides and tips for customizing an Audio Christmas Card and offer a question/ answer column.

Teen Challenge programs across the country are reaping the benefits of promoting their local center through media. We invite you to join them.