Designed to help churches, ministries and individuals discover the potential of the Internet for sharing the Gospel, Internet Evangelism Coalition (IEC) initiated a worldwide focus day on Sunday 24 April 2005, called ‘Internet Evangelism Day’ (IE Day).
Already, bible colleges and local churches are being encouraged to include within their church services and other meetings a short program on or near April 24. The IE Day site – www.InternetEvangelismDay.com – offers materials, resources and training information for a successful program. Some items include downloadable PowerPoint presentation, video clips, dramas, testimonies of people who came to know God through online ministries and even lessons on how to make effective church websites.
The current situation of most churches is that they have websites acting like online noticeboards for members but IE Day team hopes that more than just ministering to believers, Christians can utilize the fast-growing Internet to reach the non-believers. Dr. Tetsunao Yamamori, International Director of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, said in a news release he supports IE Day because he believes online outreach is an innovative response for today’s high-tech world. He added, “It is possible to evangelize one billion people through this medium.”
Internet Evangelism Day is endorsed by renown Christian organizations and denominations internationally. The executive members include: American Tract Society, Billy Graham Center, Brown Governance, Campus Crusade for Christ, Christian Broadcasting Network, Christianity Today, Evangelism Explosion, ForMinistry.com, Gospelcom.net, Mission America and Willowcreek.
In addition, IE Day has also received endorsement from well-known individuals such as Dr. D. James Kennedy, President and Founder of Evangelism Explosion International. Reverend Ted Haggard, The President of the National Association of Evangelicals in the United States has also given his endorsement to IE Day. He said in a news release from the IEC, “Evangelical Christians must take advantage of this information superhighway. Internet Evangelism Day will help focus our efforts on effectively using this tool.”
“It’s an exciting challenge,” says IE Day coordinator Tony Whittaker. “The potential of the Web is enormous.” He encouraged ministries currently not involved in web evangelism to investigate how they might integrate Internet ministry into their outreach activity.
[Source: Assist News]
