Lausanne World Pulse – WORLD PERSPECTIVES – The Twenty-first Century Roman Road–Signposts along the Way
By Tony Whittaker
Church Sites–Another Missed Opportunity
Church websites outnumber other Christian sites by about five to one. They therefore have huge outreach potential. Sadly the vast majority of church sites are written in churchy, insider language mainly for their members. Few have built on a foundation of user-friendliness to outsiders. However, those who do are finding success. “Week in, week out, more visitors turn up at our church on a Sunday because of the website, than anything else,” said a church leader in Kingston (UK) which uses this insight.
A church website is an extension of its public face to the community. Its primary role is to demonstrate that visiting the church could be a positive and friendly experience. View a seeker sensitive church website paper. Church website resources can be found at http://ied.gospelcom.net/church.php.
Needs in Unreached Countries
Many web users don’t speak English. Outreach sites for these non-English speakers are tragically few. In Japan for example, English is not widely spoken, yet most households are wired for the Internet. Furthermore, it is a country where few people are likely to know a believer personally, visit a church or see Christianity as having any relevance to them. The potential for outreach to Japan is enormous, yet there are almost no Japanese evangelistic sites. Pray that God will call individuals and teams to work in other languages.
Across Africa and Asia, we see similar potential. Current usage statistics can be found at www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/geographics/article.php/5911_151151. An article on forty-three hard-to-reach countries and the potential for web evangelism can be found at http://aibi.gospelcom.net/missions/cybermissions_target_nations.htm. Some European countries also have tiny percentages of believers, often lower than typical “mission field” countries. For the first time, non-Christians in these countries have an anonymous and relatively safe place to ask questions.
Mission Web Integration
There are many situations where a local outreach team could integrate an evangelistic website into their strategy using a locally-oriented “entry page” that is added to an existing larger outreach site. EveryStudent.com is working with local teams to achieve this in a campus context.4 PowertoChange.com has participated in multi-media localized campaigns in major Western cities. But few have used this approach in a local non-Western context. Teaching computer use also has outreach potential.5
It’s only beginning! “You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” said Al Jolson in the first talking movie. We are only at the start of understanding and using God’s harvesting strategies for the digital age.
Endnotes
1. http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/99percent.php
2. http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/bridge-strategy.php
3. http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/case-study.php
4. http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/locality-teams.php
5. http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/teach-it.php
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Tony Whittaker is editor of the Web Evangelism Guide and accompanying twice-monthly newsletter, Web Evangelism Bulletin. He is part of SOON Ministries (a branch of WEC International) which produces outreach literature in English, French, Fula, African-Portuguese and Swahili. |