WEB EVANGELISM BULLETIN
. . . learning from each other
W-E-B Issue 151 ~ August 07
Every 3 or 4 weeks ISSN 471-0323
News this time...
MOBILE PHONE EVANGELISM
JAPAN - THE DESPERATE NEED
SECOND LIFE
NEW E-BOOK ON WEB EVANGELISM
THE NEED FOR CHILDREN'S MINISTRY
TIPS
LAST CALL FOR GRAND RAPIDS CONFERENCE
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
CHURCH SITE DESIGN
LONGING FOR MORE
COMMUNICATING WELL
MICROPORTAL DEMO IN SCOTLAND
SQUIDOO - BUILDING A LENS
AUGUST IEC NEWSLETTER
TAILEND
"A consultant is someone who takes a subject you understand and makes it sound
confusing"
- Rebecca Katz
"All of us are entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts" - Daniel Moynihan
Our first five items are useful new resources - please blog about them, link to them, make them known...
MOBILE PHONE EVANGELISM
80% of the world's population live in a mobile phone reception area. And 2 billion of
them already own a mobile phone. 1 billion new camera phones will be shipped in 2008.
There is huge evangelistic potential for these devices, including video clips, Short Code
text response numbers, and the mobile web. You can even get a Tshirt with your personal autoresponder text number and preset message.:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/mobile-outreach.php
JAPAN - THE DESPERATE NEED
The needs and opportunities for web evangelism in Japan are enormous. While it is
encouraging to see what is already happening, there is a terrible lack of web
ministry:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/japan-web-evangelism.php
SECOND LIFE
Second Life is a remarkable phenomenon - an 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' virtual
reality world within the already virtual world of cyberspace. A 'Truman Show' construct
of lush colors. And it's becoming mainstream - perhaps at the stage the Internet was in
1995, when major organizations began to realize that the Web was no longer a bunch of
computer hobbyists. They saw it was a serious new communication medium and they should get
with the program. Companies, educational establishments, even national embassies, are now
creating a Second Life presence.
Can we use it to share faith? Why not try? You just need to download some software, and
you can visit. Then share your experiences with us.
http://ied.gospelcom.net/secondlife-evangelism.php
NEW E-BOOK ON WEB EVANGELISM
'Internet Evangelism in the 21st Century' was a conference held at Liberty University
in 2005. All the sessions are online as videos, but now thanks to hard work by Professor
Dan Henrich and team, each presentation has been transcribed into a very readable f.r.e.e
e-book. With no less than 21 chapters from a wide range of web evangelism practitioners,
this is simply a unique and unmissable resource. It's almost as good as being there. The
download is in PDF format, and is big - 60Mb - so you need broadband, or a very long time
on dialup!
http://ie-21stcentury.com/
THE NEED FOR CHILDREN'S MINISTRY
There are two challenging video clips, 'Aim Lower' and 'Reaching Every Child', about
ministry to children. Use them to draw others into children's ministry, or to encourage
your existing youth team. These are high-definition videos (30-50Mb in Quicktime or Mpeg)
- download them by right-clicking the links and saving on your hard drive. (It is not very
obvious immediately that 'Reaching Every Child' is in fact in two parts.)
http://www.logosdor.com/resources/default.aspx
TIPS
- non-techies look away now
AJAX - learn a simple application:
http://www.webreference.com/programming/ajax_starter_kit2/
BLOGGER - how to make the title tag carry the wording of the posting heading, and
therefore create a more meaningful and higher ranking search engine listing:
http://blogfresh.blogspot.com/2005/09/page-title-optimisation-blogger-hacks.html
GOOGLE APPS: a no-pay resource for non-profit groups in US - this will soon be extended
to non-profits elsewhere too:
http://www.google.com/a/npo/
PORTABLE SOFTWARE - here's a useful list of freeware small enough to install and run
from your flash drive:
http://www.portablefreeware.com/
IF YOU USE BROADBAND - do not leave the broadband router with its factory-set default
password, or scary things can happen. Choose your own password. Today.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1415435.ece
SPEED UP PAGE LOADING. Broadband means page loading is no longer an issue, ight? Wrong.
To start with, pages are often graphic rich and bloated. Secondly not everyone has
broadband. And some broadband is relatively slow anyway. Here are guidelines for speeding
pages up:
http://developer.yahoo.com/performance/rules.html
FIREFOX USERS: 15 cool tips to improve your browsing:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/15-coolest-firefox-tricks-ever.html
GRAB A COLOR: find any color from within a graphic?
http://www.pic2color.com/
CSS MENUS - "navigation is the key to surfing the Web, and in this collection of
ready-made solutions Rachel steps us through horizontal and vertical menus, drop-down,
fly-out, and tabbed navigation systems. Learn the basics of styling lists as menus, and
soon you'll be creating drop-down menus from pure CSS - and making sure they're as
accessible as possible!"
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/1574/
EXCEL SHORTCUTS FOR SMALL MOVEMENTS: For either the horizontal or vertical scroll bar,
click a scroll arrow (at the end of the scroll bar) to move one row or column. To move one
window up or down one screen height or width, just click outside the scroll box on the
scroll bar. Movement will happen based on where you clicked. If you click below the scroll
box on the vertical scroll bar, the window will shift down. If you click to the right of
the scroll box on the horizontal scroll bar, it will shift right.
LAST CALL FOR GRAND RAPIDS CONFERENCE
1 September is the booking deadline for the Internet Ministry Conference 19-22
September in Grand Rapids, USA. Check the valuable lineup of speakers.
http://www.internetministryconference.org/
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
VIDEO CLIPS - the Alpha organization recently ran a competition for a video clips to
promote the Alpha concept. The winner and shortlisted clips are displayed here to view or
download:
http://www.aboutlife.com/alphaviral
ENGLISH TEACHING - large collection of English as a Second Language (ESL) tools and
resources for students, teachers, learners, and academics:
http://www.usingenglish.com/
Consider also having a mentoring relationship online with someone learning English,
through a linkup site such as:
http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/
http://www.worldfriend.net/e_home.html
Please tell us if you find these useful, or know of other such link-up systems. Read how
this is being used for Taiwan:
http://www.assistnews.net/STORIES/2005/s05080037.htm
using Studio Classroom:
http://studioclassroom.com/h_whoweare.php
AUDIO PODCASTS - stories of conversions through dreams around the world:
http://dreamsandvisions.podomatic.com/
THE MISSION MANDATE - I am struggling to find a good not-too-long explanation of the
biblical command for worldwide evangelism. Something that would be a good introduction,
perhaps for a new Christian who has not previously engaged with the subject. If you know
of such web-pages, please write:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/feedback
CHURCH SITE DESIGN
Digital Web Magazine writes on Stonebriar Community Church Redesign, by a Christian web
designer:
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/stonebriar_redesign_project/
UK's Evangelical Alliance are now using our Church Site Assessment Tool within their
site:
http://www.eauk.org/media/resources/church-website-assessment-tool.cfm
If you want it for your site, here's the code:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/churchdesign-syndicate.php
We have a copy of 'Finding Common Ground' by Tim Downs to give away. Add this content to your site, send us your postal address (before the end of September) and your name may be randomly chosen!
LONGING FOR MORE
"If you want to build a ship, don't summon people to buy wood, prepare tools,
distribute jobs, and organize the work, rather teach people the yearning for the wide,
boundless ocean."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
"If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, also we
should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world."
- C. S. Lewis
How many books or films really create in us a sense of spiritual longing? Often it is
the writers who are not avowedly Christians who do it best. Redemptive stories that make
you think, without necessarily giving answers, can help start many people off on a
spiritual journey:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/gray-matrix.php
Christians and the arts: 'Relevance Faith and the Arts':
http://relevantmagazine.com/pc_article.php?id=7378
Seek out some of Paul Gallico's tender and sensitive writings from the 50s. They are widely available second-hand (Amazon and AbeBooks) for pennies. Try Robert O'Brien and Richard Adams too. Treat yourself. Nice. Enjoy.
For the world of film, check:
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/
http://www.movieglimpse.com/
http://guide.gospelcom.net/offsitelink?b07feb-movies (10 most redemptive films of 2006)
http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/parallel.php
...and the excellent new book (review next time):
The Art and Soul of Cinema
Tony Watkins (Damaris Books)
"Christians have come a long way in finding creative ways to use even mainstream films
to reach out. The thinking goes like this: If our unchurched friends will be talking about
a movie at the watercooler on Monday, we should join the conversation, not simply bash the
film while citing chapter and verse."
http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2007/003/2.67.html
COMMUNICATING WELL
WRITING - Web Copy That's Easy to Scan: "As much care and love as we might put into
crafting captivating copy, the honest truth is that most visitors won't actually read it.
In reality, they'll probably scan it for a second or two to see if it's what they're
looking for, and move on if it's not..."
http://www.wilsonweb.com/design/danwilson-webcopy.htm
THE TECH EFFECT: Technology is changing the way we preach. Is this a good thing?
http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2007/003/1.28.html
THE MESSAGE OF VISUAL MEDIA: "Why the method of our communication might matter as much
as its message", says Brett McCracken
http://www.faithvisuals.com/help/articles/themessageofvisualmedia.html
...other articles by Brett:
http://stillsearching.wordpress.com/my-article-archive/
ANIMATION TRAINING: Rox35Media will shortly open a new website specifically for
animation training, with a first session in Sydney during October. They already do
worldwide training sessions on Christian cartooning and comics. (Pray for team leader Nate
Butler's wife Susan, in hospital with poor reaction to a first session of chemo for
ovarian cancer.)
http://www.ANIMAX35.org/
MICROPORTAL DEMO IN SCOTLAND
Richard Searight will be demonstrating his community-based microportal system 2Day.ws
in Glasgow: "If you are in the Glasgow area 23-25 August, do come and see me at Nexus on
our stand RI-124 or even better come to my lecture on Practical Website Evangelism to Your
Community which is on Friday 1.30-2.15 in the Morar Seminar room."
http://www.nexusscotland.org/event.html
http://www.2day.ws/
SQUIDOO - BUILDING A LENS
Squidoo is a system which builds a simple single-page website or 'Lens'. It's run by communication guru Seth Godin. The intention is that people with expertise in a subject create a Squidoo Lens as a starting point to other sites and resources. It's somewhat like a blog system, but without the multiple pages.
It is no doubt deliberate that although you can include links to other websites, you have to know how to hand-code the HTML to achieve this. Some ministries have created short Squidoo lenses, and report that this draws useful numbers of people to their other resources and may also enhance their link popularity.
I've tried it - by making a short Web Evangelism resource. If you are a Squidoo member,
please can you give it a star rating:
http://www.squidoo.com/webevangelism
It would be ideal for creating outreach pages too, such as a hobby-related 'bridge
strategy' webpage. Please tell us if you do. The downside is that
you have no control over the Google Ads displayed on the site. This is probably safer if you
choose a totally secular topic, than build a lens for Christians.
http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/hobby.php
See Seth Godin's short e-book on using Web 2.0 things like Del.ic.ious and Squidoo to
promote your website:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/files/FlippingNOpro.pdf
AUGUST IEC NEWSLETTER
Check (and why not subscribe to) our sister newsletter from the Internet Evangelism
Coalition:
http://www.webevangelism.com/index.php?id=89
TAILEND ô¿ô
"Some people have a way with words, while other people ... uhhh ...... thingy."
Painting a picture in one minute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdbxuVbj4dM
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