Word-on-the-web inspiration for internet evangelism day 24th April 2005

Church Army’s word-on-the-web ministry is no stranger to spreading the good news on the internet, which is why we welcome the fact that Sunday, 24th April has been earmarked as the first annual Internet Evangelism Day. In churches all over the world, Christians will be encouraged to find new ways of using the internet to communicate the Christian message, as well as supporting ministries that already have an online presence.

This first Internet Evangelism Day will be a significant milestone in highlighting the importance of the internet in God’s work worldwide, but of course internet evangelism is nothing new. word-on-the-web has been online now for a number of years, sending short challenging Bible studies each day, 365 days a year, to almost 7,000 subscribers in over 100 countries round the world. These studies are sent completely free of charge and have been written by people such as Luis Palau, rock bands Delirious?, thebandwithnoname and yFriday, singer Sue Rinaldi, writers from organisations such as Girls’ Brigade, Boys’ Brigade, YFC, YWAM, Salvation Army , and also a number of bishops.

In our non-book culture, people may not work their way through a two-month Bible study booklet; they may not even feel comfortable in a church - but they will regularly check their email.

word-on-the-web’s founders, David and Alison Booker – both of them Church Army officers now working in Leicester – have fond memories of the beginnings of this pioneering ministry back in October 2000:

‘The day the email with the first reading went out we really wondered what the response would be. We’d prayed, talked it through, and really believed it could work. It took a while to help those who were allergic to email and computers to understand what we were trying to do, but finally we were given the opportunity to try the idea out. Having convinced people to let us have a go we hoped the risk would pay off!

‘All these years later, it’s amazing to know the daily notes go to around 7,000 people, not just in the UK but around the world. More important than the simple numbers are the stories that number represents. Almost from day one a steady drip feed of emails came through from people thanking us for the project. Some had drifted away from church; others had been thinking about faith and had found us on the web. Through the daily emails they found an opportunity to glimpse God and many moved towards him.’

One of word-on-the-web ’s writers, the Rev Dr Rob Frost , echoes the Bookers’ enthusiasm for the project:‘ Word-on-the-web is an accessible, approachable and appropriate way in which Christians can relate to God's word for everyday life. In a generation which is increasingly computer literate it's exciting to see that God's word can be imparted in ways that most people can now relate to. I think it's great!’

Danny Brierley, Head of Oasis Youth Action (the youth division of Oasis Trust), adds: ‘Oasis commends word-on-the-web for making the Bible's timel ess truth so acc ess ible to today's IT-literate generation for whom the web is not new technology, but simply part of everyday life.’

Of course the most encouraging comments are those that come in regularly from word-on-the-web’s users. These include this email from a 24-year-old subscriber: ‘I went through a period of not picking up my Bible or even praying. In a search of the web I came across your site, and at first I just read the devotionals every so often. Eventually I started to feel like praying again, and now I take some time each morning before work to read the verse and notes and pray.’

And there’s this message from an enthusiastic teenager: ‘I love this website! I started going 2 the local youth club and became a Christian there. They gave me a leaflet about your site and I checked it out and signed up for the daily emails. It was such a big help and taught me so much about God, and yesterday I was baptised along with 4 of my friends from the church!’

An important part of word-on-the-web is New to Christianity, an online course for new Christians , or those who want to know more about the Christian faith - which could be described as the Alpha of the internet. It is aimed at new Christians (possibly as a follow-up in evangelism) or those who are spiritually searching and wish to explore Christianity. It consists of six weeks’ worth (42 days) of short daily emails that introduce people to Christianity.

Evangelist chip K, of thebandwithnoname, is a big fan of New to Christianity: ‘This stuff rocks! A basic, crash-course in what it means to be a pursuer of Christ, condensed into a format perfect for today’s internet generation. I highly recommend it.’

As well as New to Christianity and the daily Bible studies, there is also the word-on-the-web website which contains up-to-date film reviews, interviews with Christian musicians, Christian CD reviews, a monthly competition, and much more.

word-on-the-web is currently run by Project Administrator Ruth Walker, who has been with the project since day one, and Editor Andrew Wooding, who is on his third year with word-on-the-web. To subscribe to the free daily email, visit www.word-on-the-web.co.uk and click the ‘Signup’ link at the top of the page, where there is also a link for ‘New to Christianity’. And don’t forget to spread the word about word-on-the-web on Internet Evangelism Day.

For more information on how word-on-the-web can be used with your youth group or church contact Ruth Walker on 01332 748241 or email theteam@word-on-the-web.co.uk

For more information on Internet Evangelism Day, please visit www.internetevangelismday.com