Markus (Montenegro), a crewmember in his third year serving in Logos Hope’s bookfair, is helping boost the work of his home church from afar, via the internet.

Before he left the Balkans, Markus had hopes for his small church to connect with a wider public through online platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube; but lack of resources made it impossible.

“I have a background in Information Technology and I’m a guy who spends a lot of time on the computer, sharing things on social media,” Markus says, “So I thought: ‘Maybe we can use this for something good and reach more people?’ But we didn’t have the equipment or someone to record our services.” An American friend was working in Montenegro as part of a communications ministry. He volunteered his skills to help the church get online. Markus recalls, “We started using Facebook and got 1,000 viewers, so we decided to expand to other media.”

With the coronavirus pandemic halting regular gatherings, Markus is glad people in lockdown can 'attend' his church's services through the internet. And since he is unable to serve the public in Logos Hope’s bookfair for now, Markus has some extra time to help out – across a seven-hour time difference. From on board ship in Jamaica, he moderates the church’s social media pages. Uploading Bible verses and sermons to a growing audience has inspired Markus to post more articles as outreach.

“It’s really encouraging for me to be part of this ministry, because we don’t have many people,” he says. “People don’t come into the church because they fear being judged, but one Sunday we reached more than 8,500 people online – that's amazing in a country with a population of just over 600,000!”