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WELS Multi-Language Publications has officially changed its name to WELS Multi-Language Productions (MLP). This change reflects how the work of MLP has evolved with technology and has expanded beyond printed books to websites, social media, videos, and worship music—all to share the gospel message with people all over the world.
One of the productions from MLP is TELL (Think, Evaluate, Learn, Lead), an English-language online Bible-based training platform developed to bring the gospel to English-speakers around the world. Modeled after the Spanish-language Academia Cristo model, TELL comprises a Facebook page with more than 1.2 million followers, self-led Bible study courses, and deeper studies with a live online instructor.
TELL targets English speakers outside the United States. “We looked at the top spoken languages in the world. Spanish is in the top four; English also is in the top four. If you include second-language learners, English is by far the most spoken language in the world,” explains Nathan Seiltz, MLP director.
Dan Laitinen was called as a full-time TELL missionary and began serving MLP in November 2019. He’s currently producing content and cultivating relationships on the Facebook page. Additional Facebook content is provided by Lutheran pastors from around the world with whom WELS shares fellowship. This helps contribute to the intended global feel and reach of TELL.
MLP recently launched apps for both TELL and Academia Cristo. The apps are android based, with plans for iOS compatible apps in the future. As of March 31, the TELL app had over 14,000 downloads. MLP also released its mobile-first website, tellnetwork.org, to offer an option for those who don’t have enough memory on their phone to download the app. Both the website and the app include three Bible courses; each course has eight to nine video-based lessons accompanied by a quiz. After a user completes the self-led courses, they are invited to participate in a live online class.
Seiltz says that in the next six months he hopes at least a couple hundred people have signed up for TELL online courses, and, God-willing, within two years, people who have taken the courses are implementing what they learned to bring God’s Word to their communities.
Learn more at tellnetwork.org about TELL. Learn more about WELS Multi-Language Productions at wels.net/mlp.
Volume 107, Number 05
Issue: May 2020
