How 1 Man and $40 Opened a New Country to the Restored Gospel

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By Luke Hanson & Ethan Fausett

For over a decade, Jonah Barnes had a question in the back of his mind: were his efforts as a digital missionary making a difference? Jonah had been putting his money where his mouth was by purchasing Facebook ad space containing messages about the restored gospel. But he never knew if his ads were changing lives, or if they were being lost in faraway Facebook feeds.

Here's how his plan works: Countries like Azerbaijan, East Timor, and Senegal are uncompetitive for advertiser space, leaving ad clicks for sale for as little as $0.005 per click. Jonah realized he could leverage this to spread the gospel to countries untouched by the official missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After crafting his own advertisements, translating them into the country’s native language, and purchasing ad space in the target country, Jonah would receive addresses of interested persons in far-away lands which he would forward to the Church.

(Screenshot of Ad Created by Jonah)

The ads got clicks, thousands of them. But Jonah never knew if they were bearing fruit. In an email, he explained, “For years, we told ourselves that someone might be listening, or might be connecting with the missionaries. And you had to think that way to justify [continuing]. But you knew the idea could work, or SHOULD work, so you kept going. All the other campaigns we’ve [run] were just hopeful messages in a bottle … without [confirmation from the Church], it was always just dreams.”

There were hints that his efforts might be making a difference. Once Jonah ran a long campaign in Dakar Senegal; months later, missionaries were dispatched there for the first time. Another campaign in East Timor followed the same pattern: a flood of clicks and referrals, followed by the advent of the missionaries.

In February 2024, Barnes launched another campaign in Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. The ads offered a free copy of The Book of Mormon, saying that the book helps to strengthen families. Jonah spent USD 39.98. After the campaign, Cardon Ellis, the host of Ward Radio who assists in current campaigns, found a contact in church headquarters who gave them data on Guinea-Bissau’s referrals. With this, Jonah estimated that the campaign yielded about 600 visits to the church website and 27 referrals for the missionaries.

The good news continued. With the help of a tip from a member of the Ward Radio Discord, a social media platform often used by gamers, Barnes tracked down a missionary serving in the Cape Verde mission. Jonah was able to ask the question he’d been wondering about for years: had his efforts made a difference? Did they know the progress of the referrals he was passing along? Jonah received a response.

It was everything he could ask for. The enthusiastic missionaries reported that they were “so grateful for all your love and work you’re doing!...we’ve actually received a lot of [social media referrals] from Guinea, (probably your doing).” They reported that missionaries had recently been dispatched to Guinea-Bissau for the first time ever. They were so new that the Church’s referral management system wasn’t sending the Guinea-Bissau missionaries the referrals, so the innovative missionaries had manually copied and sent them to the trail-blazing companionship.

In early September, two Bissau-Guineans entered a small rented pool in their local village. They were accompanied by two smiling elders from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who baptized them, signifying their covenant to be followers of Jesus Christ and members of His restored Church. These faithful Elders had taught these pioneers after finding them through an online referral. This news marked a turning point, not just for Jonah and his fellow online missionaries, but for the local mission as well.

This news has prompted profound gratitude from Barnes. After years of hoping, the fruits of his digital missionary work were finally visible. Jonah is quick to point out that the real hero, “is the Holy Spirit. He did the work. The missionaries taught them… and Jesus suffered [to] extend them forgiveness. So I’m just one small piece of the story.” Humility aside, he believes there’s a very important lesson to take away from this, “there could be millions of people like them, ready to learn and accept, but they miss out because we aren’t thinking creatively enough. People out there are prepared to receive. We just gotta cast a wider net.”

After hearing of Jonah’s successes in episodes of Ward Radio, several Ward Radio fans have rallied to Jonah in the Ward Radio Discord to learn from and work with Jonah in his digital missionary efforts. These online missionaries have started at least 6 campaigns with their own money, to share the gospel around the world. And this is only the beginning.

The gospel is just beginning to unfold in Guinea-Bissau and has not yet reached many towns, cities, and countries across the world. If you want to participate in the efforts of Jonah and other digital missionaries, start by joining the Ward Radio Discord here.

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The views expressed by contributors do not necessarily represent the position of Ward Radio News. Ward Radio News is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Church) and does not officially represent the Church.