Seeds for Tomorrow
- Doug Keesey
- Oct 16
- 5 min read
On Tuesday, October 14th, we hosted our second annual banquet where we celebrated what God is doing through OneMessage.tv and shared our vision for the future. If you were not able to join us for the event, we'd like to share this brief overview.
This quote from Warren Buffett shares the idea that it takes investment now in order to see results later. That's certainly the case with OneMessage.tv. There are oral learners in unreached people groups who are seeing and hearing God's Word in ways they can understand today because we had donors who believed in this ministry six years ago when we were little more than a seed.
What is OneMessage.tv?
The Need
In 2019 when we were working on our very first project, we learned that another mission organization had been working for 25 years to translate just the New Testament of the Bible into the Emberá-Chamí language for an indigenous people group in the mountains of Colombia. When they finished, they distributed the Bibles to the Chamí people. They were very grateful, but most just took the Bible and set it down somewhere in their houses and never pick it up again. As our missionary friend shared this with us, we were confused. The missionary continued to share that most of the Chamí people do not read! They are "oral learners."
Oral learners make up 70-80% of the world's population. Who are oral learners?
someone who is illiterate
someone who has low education and may not understand deeper spiritual concepts when trying to read the Bible
or someone who comes from a culture that either doesn't read or that prefers to learn from storytelling or other oral-visual means
And the challenge of reaching oral learners with the gospel is even greater when you realize that almost 90% of the resources used for evangelism and discipleship are aimed at people who read. So clearly there is a big gap that needs to be spanned in order to reach a huge percentage of the world's population.
That's why OneMessage.tv produces a library of video Bible stories, starting with the Creation story and going through the Resurrection of Jesus. We use the local indigenous people as the actors and narrators in the videos so they can see God's Word come alive in their own context – their scenery, their clothing, their faces, and in their heart language!
Hear what Mary Deche has to say about reaching oral learners near Mombasa, Kenya.
The Process
We try to target people groups whose percentage of evangelical Christians is 2% or less and who have little to no church planting activity.
We find mission partners who already have "boots on the ground" working with these people groups. We often meet these mission partners through "God connections" and introductions from other pastors, missionaries, and friends. We meet with them and begin the planning process that frequently takes up to a year before we actually begin the project.
Then we travel to the country and start video production. The mission partners help us find creative locations, culturally relevant costumes, and willing actors. We then record the video Bible stories and the narrations.
After production is done, we return home and begin the editing process, laying out the narrations, shots, special effects, and music using computer editing software.
Once the videos are completed, they are used by our mission partners, pastors, and missionaries in many different ways:
They can be shown to individuals on a cell phone.
They can be sent to people in other villages using WhatsApp.
They can be shown using portable solar-powered video projectors.
They can be seen on a YouTube channel that we create for each separate language when we complete a video Bible story library.
Watch one of the finished videos below. This is the story of the Crucifixion of Jesus in the Swahili language.
The Results
Since 2019, OneMessage.tv has recorded 240 video Bible stories in 12 languages on 3 continents. We have produced videos in Colombia, Kenya, and Thailand.
And in 2026, we have plans to work with new people groups in Bangladesh, Guatemala, Somalia, Cambodia, and Kenya.
All of this is due to the seeds that have been planted years ago by our generous donors!
One of the results of those seeds that were planted is Thomas Lolmakar. Thomas is a pastor and church planter among the Samburu tribe in the village of Wamba, Kenya.
The Samburu video Bible story library was the very first language that we completed 4 years ago. Thomas began using these video Bible stories in March of 2025 and uses them for evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. See more of Thomas' story below.
The Samburu video Bible story library exists today because our supporters gave faithfully so many years ago. The videos are still providing the shade of the gospel to many people in the Samburu tribe 4 years later, and will continue to do so for years into the future.
The Question
In Romans 10:13-15, the Apostle Paul says, "But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?"
This can be summed up this way: How can they believe in Jesus if Goers aren't Sent?
Not everyone can be a Goer. We may have jobs that won't allow us to travel or maybe we have physical or financial restrictions. But together, we can all be Senders.
Will you become a Sender?
Will you plant a tree today so someone else can have the shade of the gospel tomorrow?
You may be able to become a monthly supporter of OneMessage.tv with a gift of $250 or $100 or some other amount each month.
Or you may be able to give a large one-time gift. Others may only be able to give a smaller amount.
We always say that one time gifts are great, and we have received many generous gifts this way. The only problem with one-time gifts is we eventually have to ask again. If you are able to make a monthly donation, it helps us to plan going forward because we know that you are with us each step of the way.
Please click on the button below to support OneMessage.tv today.
You can also recommend a grant to ONEMESSAGETV INC. to the advisor of your Donor Advised Fund (DAF) by using our EIN: 83-4259927. Or you can donate through your bank's online bill-pay or you can simply mail a check to us at:
OneMessageTV Inc.
PO Box 304
Ball Ground, GA 30107
(770) 800-6410
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