As I begin my adventure it is important for me to prioritize and refine my ideas. My starting point is an easy choice, to develop a site explaining our 501c3 Christian non-profit, Reconciliation Resource Ministries. (www.ChristCares.org - hopefully functional by Oct.15). We plan on having our new fundraising materials by then. This Fall we are also sharing that Internet Ministry will be one of the main things we will be doing. I've mentioned it on and off for the past couple years but now we are actually making it an important part of my work week. I'd appreciated your prayers: 1) that our current supporters will catch the vision and continue to support us as we make Internet ministry a major component of what we do, and 2) that the Lord will raise up new individuals and organizations to support our efforts.
Instead of listing all my ideas, I'll take one focus area a week. Feedback will be important as we refine the ideas. We also want to start forming a team/community of those who might want to help out in some way.
Lets start by listing some ideas of how to reach out to the Chinese community. Soon there will be more Chinese on the web than Americans. I've been preaching at the South Suburban Chinese Church on a regular basis for about 15 years. I've developed a true love for the people and a deep respect for the culture. Ideas:
www.FreeEnglishLessons.org
Since China is closed to open witnessing, an effective strategy to share the gospel is to go to China and teach english and then look for opportunities to share the gospel. I have a friend who just returned from China doing this and another friend who is in process of raising support for this. It takes thousands of dollars for each missionary sent.
What if a few thousand dollars were invested in developing a website and advertising in China?
We could set up different courses (by age and by level of English knowledge). Volunteers could grade tests and write cirriculum. A selling point for this program could be that everyone who signs up could have an (American or English speaking) tutor that they could chat or email (& soon video IM) with on a weekly basis. The volunteers could have an email address from www.freeenglishlessons.org in order to keep a level of anonymity. Witnessing would take place on a couple of levels. 1) We can have limited advertising on the site and fill it with Chinese (witnessing) banner sites so those who are actively seeking God would have an easy path to follow. 2) More importantly, the relationships that are built by the weekly tutoring will provide many intentional witnessing opportunities. This would work with other cultures as well, next week I'll be sharing this idea with a national pastor from India.
www.YaoMingFanClub.cn Sport fan sites. Yao Ming is the most famous athlete in the world! He probably has OVER A BILLION world-wide fans. What if we banded together and made one of the best unofficial fan sites? (in both English & Chinese) ...
I also have www.yao.cc , www.yaofans.org , www.yaomingfanclub.info , www.yaostore.com , www.sportstars.cn , www.hrockets.com . I really think my nitch will be in developing indirect witnessing websites. There are many ways to witness through a "fan" site but I must move on due to my limited time.
www.fun.org.tw and www.fun.cn.com . Most people who come to Christ do so while they are young. Child-like faith is more natural as a child. A site with lots of games, crafts, coloring, etc. A lot could also be done in a fun way on Chinese culture, language, and history. There are many Chinese parents in America who are looking for ways to keep their culture alive for their children.
www.ChineseSpaceProgram.com . There is a lot of interest in this now.
There will be many book reports and search engine requests for this. There are many ways we could develop an indirect witnessing site through this.
www.GodLovesYou.cn . This could be a direct witnessing site. As long as politics are avoided, it should not be censored. It may be wise to have a mirror .tw or .org site in case of possible censorship. I use to own "godislove.cn" , my domain registra made a mistake when I renewed it and told me it was successfully renewed when in fact it was dropped. Because another Christian organization picked it up I don't think I will persue anything.
www.Chinaministry.org . This could be a site where we:
1) Develop a community for those who would like to help with these and other Internet outreaches to Chinese people.
2) Develop resources for Chinese Christians. Also list current Internet resources available for Chinese outreach.
3) Strategize and possibly find a Chinese Christian who: a) has a passion to serve God b) is web literate c) who lives in a 3rd world country so that he/she could help us with our endeavors in a significant way for a couple hundred dollars a month.
I also have www.ChineseTeens.cn (& www.chineseteens.info as a mirror "backup" in case of censorship.
www.shopchina.cn , and
www.chinesefamily.cn (& www.chinesefamily.info as a mirror "backup" in case of censorship. ) any ideas?
Please pray:
That God will send the people and resources for the witnessing projects.
I am praying that poeple will see the need to support full time Internet Missionaries. It's a strategic time and a strategic method. I have been on a part time salary for almost a year now and if God doesn't provide quickly, I'll take it as His will for me to be a "tent-maker" and do the Internet witnessing as I am able to find time after work and family.
I want to do His will, whatever that may be. I don't know how, but since I feel God's leading in this endeavor, I believe he will provide in an unexpected and bountiful way.
If you or someone you know would like to help, please contact us to get further information:
Reconciliation Resource Ministries
223 W. Memorial Drive
Chicago Heights, IL. 60411 usa
*1(708)709-0469
Scott Reese: Pastor/Director
WebEvangelist@gmail.com
We need both financial donations and volunteers. I'm praying for a special gift of about $3,300 to help launch our Internet Ministry endeavors (Chinese and many other ideas). Any amount would be deeply appreciated - (We are a 501c3 non-profit, so it would be tax deductible). We need volunteers for the various aspects of these (and other) projects. We need your thoughts, ideas, and input as we prioritize our endeavors. We also need people to help spread the word for these endeavors.
PS: The Internet ministry conferences that I attended are putting much of the conference materials online on their websites. I'll see what all they put up and add anything I got out of the conferences that is not posted. www.webevangelism.com and www.gospelcom.net . Also since I still don't know how the blog/net search spiders work let me add: Internet Ministry, Web Evangelism, Chinese ministry, Chinese Christians, how to do internet ministry, christian volunteers, volunteer to teach English, Internet Evangelism, Church, PCM volunteers, billy graham, outreach, media ministry.
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