111: The Power of the Little Red Sticker
A year ago this week, 1,600 of us from 65 nations were gathered at Ridgecrest for the New Wineskins Global Mission Conference! Our theme of One Mission encouraged everyone, young and old alike, to pray into how God was calling them to Be the one, See the one, and Share the One True God! We passed out little red stickers with this 111 theme to help attendees easily remember this call to be the one who shares their faith, to see the one whom God is putting in their path, and to share the One True God until all have heard the Gospel message!
However, no one foresaw how impactful these little red stickers would become in helping the 111 vision for missional evangelism to catch on around the world. The vision is so simple - so easy to remember and share with others. The red sticker is small enough to fit on the back of a phone or stick on a laptop. It serves as both a reminder to us and a conversation starter as people often ask what the 111 stands for.
As I prepared to leave for my mission trip to Rwanda and Kenya last April, I felt the Lord prompting me to order and pack 3,000 of our red 111 stickers. My trip itinerary included attending Gafcon IV, joining my church’s mission team in Gahini, Rwanda, then traveling on to Kenya to lead a Mother’s Union evangelism conference in Mombasa. I wasn’t scheduled to speak at Gafcon, and I wasn’t going to be interacting with 3,000 people, so I wondered what the Lord had in mind for distributing these 3,000 stickers!
Jenny speaking at GAFCON
Through what I can only attribute to divine providence, I spoke not once, but twice, from the main stage at Gafcon IV and was interviewed on The Pastor’s Heart livestream show where I shared about the 111 vision. By Friday, 1,300 stickers were distributed to attendees from 53 nations.
Then, God led me to share the 111 vision again with the Kenyan women. I spoke about my personal journey with our daughter Kelly’s rare syndrome and mental health challenges and how God “sanctifies our suffering”, empowering our stories of redemption to touch the lives of others. This led to a spiritual breakthrough among the group. Another 1,650 stickers went from my backpack to the backs of people’s phones and journals. I somehow distributed another 49 stickers as I traveled back to Nairobi and on my return flights. I had one left in my purse that I gave to my hairdresser, who had been praying for my trip and wanted to hear all about it, when I got home!
The Diocese of Mombasa now has another 111 lay evangelists equipped to share their faith in their local communities.
After my trip, I received an email from The Rt. Rev. Nason Baluku, a Ugandan bishop, who has requested several thousand stickers, writing this testimony:
“Greetings from South Rwenzori Diocese in Uganda. It was a joy to interact with you in Rwanda during the Gafcon IV conference. where my wife and I received the red 111 stickers from you. After receiving them, we had to hang them on our clothes where they could be visible to everyone. I am happy to mention to you that the more we moved during breaks and on our way and stay at the hotel in Kigali, everyone that we came across got interested in the message on the sticker. We had the same experience as we traveled back to Uganda especially at the Uganda-Rwanda border as we went through the immigration process.
I must confess that I regretted why I never took more from you so that I could give them to others that had not had access to you to have the same. Indeed the red 111 stickers are a short and wide means to reach out for Christ. Please keep up the red 111 stickers and I appeal to everyone to have access to them. The United States is very far from where I live and serve! How I wish I had access to a number of copies of the red 111 stickers distributed to thousands of evangelists in my diocese.”
One of the women on the Mombasa conference team, The Rev. Josphine Ngahu, took the training back to All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi where she trained another 51 cell group leaders.
These little red stickers are helping us to continue to live into the One Mission conference theme and scripture from Malachi 1:11: “My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets." We will be praying for you as you discern how you are called to Be the one who shares the faith, See the one whom God has put in your path, and Share the One True God. We’d love to hear your stories about how the 111 vision has impacted you too, and can provide the red sticker image to you upon request.
Jenny Noyes is the Executive Director of New Wineskins Missionary Network. She is a passionate speaker, networker, and evangelist. You can contact Jenny here.
