Inside this issue

User Profiles...................... 2

Sync Research .................. 2

Design Process: Part 1 .. 2

Design Process: Part 2 .. 3

Testimonials ..................... 3

Bio. of Sync Team............ 4

Relevant: 21st Century..4

Pilot 1 & 2 ........................... 5

Content Development ... 5

Sync Overview…….…….. 6

Sync Video

https://bit.ly/syncdemo3

The Opportunity

Discipleship is helping people follow Christ who then make other Christ followers or disciples. We are told to train these disciples to go, baptize and teach new disciples to obey everything He commands in the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 4:19; 28:18-20). Every disciple is commanded to become a disciple maker. Will you join us to change the world?

However, seven characteristics of the empty self hinder disciple making:

1. Inordinately individualistic (not concerned about broader community)

2. Infantile (controlled by food, entertainment and consumer goods)

3. Narcissistic (preoccupied with self-interest and personal fulfillment)

4. Passive (withdraw and live vicariously through others, including TV)

5. Sensate (let visual and electronic images do our thinking)

6. No interior life (quest for celebrity status, image, pleasure, and power)

7. Hurried and busy (frenzied pace of life to suppress pain & emptiness)

The church often refuses to admit we are in a war for the hearts and minds of people. As a result, it often fails to mobilize and train men and women to advance the kingdom of God. (J.P. Moreland, Love Your God With All Your Mind, NavPress, 2012, 101-107, 220)

Christ and Apostle Paul used small groups as a primary means to form disciples. But in our world, many can’t easily form a group because of their empty selves and mobile lives. Millennials, in particular, avoid formal organizations like the church because they judge it to be too narrow and inflexible in its doctrinal teaching. They tend to be comfortable in a neutral environment as they explore and communicate in a digital world.

The objective of Sync with God is to fill this connection gap. Its purpose is to facilitate discipleship by providing relevant lessons about life in a comfortable small group among those who seek answers—in an environment; where they can share and challenge each other as they search for truth under the leadership of a mentor.

What is Sync with God? Sync with God is a 501(c)(3) ministry whose purpose is to use 21st century technology to create a discipleship experience relevant to the Millennial generation (18-34 years old) and other ages who think like Millennials.

We developed a concept of a mobile progressive web app that serves as a portal to a virtual small group experience under the leadership of a mentor in studying Scripture and understanding its relevancy to the lives of small group members.

Mark Pomeroy December 2017

Discipleship for the 21st Century

User Profiles

Our team did initial user profiles, roles and stories for Sync with God.

Users

1. Browser (Casual Encounter)

2. Investigator (Intentional Involvement)

3. Enrollee (Initial Commitment)

4. Group Member (Willing Joiner) (Friend)

5. Group Leader (Experienced Leader)

* 6. Mentee (Desired Connection)

* 7. Mentor (Available

Trusted Confidant)

8. Administrator

(Knowledgeable Techie)

* Reserved for Designated

Individuals

There is much discussion in design circles today about an “empathetic”

product design process, which means that the design process should be

done with the user in mind rather than features (Understanding the user’s

lives and how we can make it better). This seems intuitively obvious but

most design processes start with a list of features that can be sold to the

user. A totally different perspective.

Sync with God was started not by app developers, but by people who

spent their life in discipleship ministries with young adults. We

understand the benefits of exploring ideas in small groups in coffee shops.

We understand the value of helping people see that studying

Scripture together is about its relevance to their lives today, not just

learning old Bible stories. We understand that they need to meet in a

comfortable space to share and challenge each other because “as iron

sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” We understand that they

seek mentors (guides) to help them find the right paths, and not just tell

them the path to follow. We understand that in today’s busy world, they

can’t always gather together in one physical space. But they always have

their cell phone with them. And where do they “live’ today? ...in the world

of mobile digital communication. That is where we must meet them!

“When you are a missionary and try to reach a people group

like Millennials, besides knowing the gospel, you must know

their language and culture. Today, the language and culture

of the 21st century is the smart phone.” (Author Leonard Sweet)

Sync Research

Design Process: Part 1

We contracted Brandon Knicely of

Third Drive in Dallas (an expert in

innovation research) who did

innovation research for Sync by

asking Millennials, who were in

learning groups of some type and

who were regularly in Facebook

groups, what were the most

important yet underserved

features of an online group

experience.

The research showed mentoring

and guidance as the top needs of

Millennials, among others:

• Mentoring and guidance

• Be able to communicate how I’m feeling. Gauge the experience and needs in the group (i.e. Ask questions and easily gather and present group input.)

• Learning and educational content

• Temporarily hide one’s identity to respond to sensitive questions

• Minimize the effort to schedule meetings and video chats for group follow-up

2

Testimonials

“After 23 years of youth

ministry, I had not seen

any training material that

was clearly biblically based

and methodical, yet was

able to clearly teach and

connect the fullness of

God’s story until I read

through the Sync with God

material.”

Dan Jester, President/Founder

Apprentice Ministries International

(youth pastor for 25 years)

“Dan, I didn’t see God’s

bigger picture from the

Bible until I began reading

the material from Sync

with God. I feel like God

loves me in a more

personal way, in a way that

I had not felt before!

Thanks for showing me

this and let me know when

I can have it in my phone

so I can daily read more!”

One of Dan’s contacts

Design Process: Part 2

The idea is to wrap all these means of communication (learning

management system, video conferencing, online chat, file sharing,

journaling, note taking) into a single web-based, app platform that is

mobile, can operate on any device, on any operating platform, and is easy

to maintain. It would be a portal of already proven and supported

components built into this one app. These component apps would be

proven technologically but widely used and accepted in the marketplace

to make onboarding easy and intuitive.

Will this change a Millennial’s world? Absolutely. All the written learning

material will not only be relevant, but also compelling to the user. Here,

one can dig into the answers he/she seeks, along with help from others

they know and trust who are available anytime and anywhere. This is a

place that one can live in readily and comfortably.

The Sync with God team has spent years studying and trying out the

technologies for mobile delivery of this live group experience. We have

engaged a team of great content developers and instructional designers to

make the content sparkle, but, most of all, life changing.

And we can win this generation for Christ…with your help! 3

SYNC with GodDiscipleship Model

Virtual Small Group

Personal One-on-One

Mentoring

Mentee

Mentor

Small Group

Leader

Virtual

Small

Group

Bio. of Sync Team

John Ward—CEO

• Business executive, pastor, elder, mission-driven strategies

• eLearning consultant, leader of international non-profit ministry to faith-based groups

Mark Pomeroy—Founder

• Networker, writer, discipler, missionary, Christ For the City

• Promise Keepers staff, college ministry, marketplace outreach

Brad White—Leader of Technology Team

• 20+ years programming, managing, directing & coaching software development

• Experience in banking, engineering, retail, video and multi-media software

4

Creating a Culture of Discipleship

John Ward

Mark Pomeroy

Bryan Biggers—Leader of Content Team

• Former megachurch small groups coordinator

• Instructional designer and manager of information technology at Christian college

Donny Claxton—Videographer

• Filmmaker, graphic artist, novel writer, iPad book writer

• Former press secretary to Alabama governor and communications director for Dallas school district

Larry Witherspoon—Fundraiser

• Created leading-edge broadcasting IPTV platforms for under-served, urban communities

• For 25+ years, merged traditional radio, television, internet broadcasting, mobile, and social media (22 niche channels)

Brad White

Bryan Biggers

Donny Claxton

Larry Witherspoon

Being Relevant, Compelling and Life Changing in the 21st Century

Training 60 people of all ages in gospel communications Oct. 6-7 (LifeChurch, Sioux Falls, South Dakota)

Finally, a discipleship environment for the 21st century Millennial

and others that facilitates learning and sharing where they live…

all in one place!

The pilot has two phases: Pilot 1 and Pilot 2.

Pilot 1: The first pilot will be a basic functional app with all the developed content but without functional video conferencing, journaling, and integrated chat features. Links to those features will open in another window. It will simulate the experience but navigation between the functional elements will not be seamless. We will select participants from existing small groups, including Millennials, in churches and other faith-based groups. These groups understand the discipleship purpose and component pieces. They provide feedback on these two issues: (1) Does the studied, online material provides a robust, relevant, compelling and life changing discipleship experience for new or lukewarm Christians? (2) Does the mobile app concept address discipleship in a meaningful way to effectively meet small group needs?

Pilot 2: We will make modifications based on Pilot 1 feedback and integrate the software component pieces into one seamless navigation experience as identified in Pilot 1. Participants in Pilot 2 will confirm their Pilot 1 interests were addressed. We will include a new set of pilot groups from churches, universities, mission agencies, and secondary Christians with the same characteristics as those in Pilot 1 but with a fresh perspective.

• We developed five lessons with engaging. multi-media content so each online small group member can learn about the relevance of Scripture and the presence of God in the 21st century.

• Do the necessary design iterations based on the feedback.

• Use the feedback and testimonials from the pilot groups to show the concept and impact of Sync to prospective donors for fundraising.

• Use the results to refine the platform and introductory lessons for release.

The Release & Initial Target – Churches, schools, missionary groups, universities, parachurch groups. These groups would pay a subscription fee.

5

Pilot 1 & 2

Leader of Content Team

Mattson Media, LLC to provide expertise, guidance and mentorship for the

instructional design and development of multi-media elements for the

Sync with God online hub: Visual Design Guide; Video Production:

Interactive Elements; Explainer Videos. Five pilot lessons as follows:

1.1 Viewing The World Differently

2.1 Living By Faith

3.1 Community

4.1 Relationships

5.1 Influence: Interactive Game/Choose your own adventure

Estimated one-time Sync costs:

• Sync progressive web app: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $150k

• First year content development w/media: . . . . . . . $125k

• Second year content development w/media: . . . . .$150k

Total: $425k

We can’t lose this generation! Will you help us reach them?

Screen shots from these videos: http://bit.ly/syncdemo2 http://bit.ly/synccontent

Steve, Karen, Tim, Mark, Julie, Aaron

Sync with God

Sync ties together the ministries of connectedness, mentoring, and group support within a Biblical framework. It provides a supportive, caring experience for those whose busy lifestyles require a 21st century method to facilitate the discipling process.

Members can be accessed on demand. They only need one app on any device to engage and share with each other. For the generation who long for deeper relationships and meaning, we're creating Sync.

Mark Pomeroy mark@cfci.org (402) 617-4959

Sync with God

Attn: Mark Pomeroy

4036 S. 17th St.

Lincoln, NE 68502

Mark Pomeroy

Lincoln, NE Missionary