Research phase

The Joshua Project says about 3.4% of Indonesia’s population identify as evangelical Christians—that’s almost 10 million people, more than all the evangelicals in the UK plus Australia.

Yet the evangelical church has very few written resources to train and equip believers. If the church in Indonesia is to survive opposition and persecution these believers must be discipled. For them to share the gospel effectively with their neighbours (234 million Muslims) believers need to be grounded in the truth.

Seminaries and Bible schools could train only small numbers and in reality Indonesians are unlikely to read books. They are fascinated with technology and social media. 

Smartphone ownership has skyrocketed from about 14% of the population in 2013 to more than 70% today. Smartphones could be used to equip evangelical Christians to grow in their faith and to communicate the gospel to their neighbours.

70% ownership of smart phones

The Idea

Our OC colleagues have developed a phone app to open the door to biblical and theological courses for small groups. A course works when two to seven “learners” meet face-to-face with a group “facilitator.” 

At the meeting each person opens the app on their own phone. All the phones link via Bluetooth—no internet access is needed. The app then provides a synchronized learning experience.

There are short instructional videos, the group reads Scripture, they answer discussion questions. Periodically they are tested through poll questions, and are challenged to share what they are learning with others outside the group.

After successfully completing a multi-week course, learners are enabled to become facilitators for new groups they form themselves, so the discipleship process is multiplied.

In this way, the app draws upon fruitful practices from disciple-making movements in order to train these believers in non-formal groups that stress accountability, interaction, and the application of what is learned.