I do a lot of work with pay-per-click campaigns in my day job and perhaps tend to look at PPC ads more than the average web surfer. I was searching for some photos of the recent tsunami this morning and noticed this pay-per-click advertisement from World Vision:

Help Tidal Wave Victims. 9.0 quake strikes Asia. Help relief aid efforts now. More than 11,000 people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless after a tsunami hit the coasts of six Asian countries. Donate.
http://www.worldvision.org

I thought this was a very compelling use of the medium from a recognized charitable organization (which probably plays a large part in why I (and others undoubtedly) find it so compelling).

While it may not relate directly to online evangelism, I do think it combines some elements which are important in PPC advertising: relevance (current events) and credibility (well-known organization).

It would be interesting to find out how many churches and ministries are using PPC advertising and what level of effectiveness they are seeing.

By the way, if you would like to donate, you can do so here.

I am very interested in storytelling as a method of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. I suppose that is true because I have sensed the power there is when people tell their own stories - of their life experiences, interests, etc., often intertwined with elements of their faith journey. Unlike our traditional evangelistic efforts (tracts, surveys, crusades, etc.), these tidbits of how their faith has impacted their experiences don’t seem forced or manipulative to me.

And so I was intrigued this morning by a quote I read on the Wanderer of the North blog from Anthony de Mello’s book One Minute Wisdom (I actually found this more complete quote at Patti’s Favorite Storytelling Quotes, but I started with Wanderer of the North):

The master gave his teaching in parables and stories, which his disciples listended to with pleasure - and occasional frustration, for they longed for something deeper. The master was unmoved. To all their objections he would say, You have yet to understand that the shortest distance between a human being and the Truth is a story.

Yahoo launched a beta version of a new video search engine yesterday.

John Battelle commented today on the potential importance of Yahoo’s foray into video distribution:

Yahoo is using its power as a major distribution player to feed what it hopes will be a major play in video distribution. It may not seem like a big deal now, but as the web increasingly becomes a native environment for video, it will may well prove to be one of the most forward looking things the company has done this year.

I think this has some potential application for web evangelism, and I’d like to offer some initial thoughts. 

On the way home from work yesterday, I was listening to a news item about a high school senior who had sent a letter to every student in his high school, presenting the simple message of the gospel to almost 3,000 of his classmates at Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was fascinated by the story and reminded myself to visit the website that this high school senior had developed, A Letter To My Friends.

I actually forgot about the website until today. When I visited, I was thoroughly impressed, not only by the courage and boldness of the three friends who had sent the letter (the radio program I listened to either did not mention the other two students or I was not listening well!), but by the strategy which is reflected in their approach.

Here’s what I found at the website (and after reading a .pdf copy of the letter at that website):

1. The three students sent their letter to their nearly 3,000 classmates.
2. The letter, which can be read here, invites recipients to contact them directly - by phone, by email, or by instant messaging.
3. The letter goes on to say that if people don’t feel comfortable contacting them directly, they can still visit the website
4. Upon arriving at the website, it is clear that the site’s primary thrust is an invitation for site visitors to come and investigate Christian community (in the form of their youth group).
5. Even the website’s “How To Become A Christian” page invites those who want to make a decision for Christ to contact the three friends for help in making the decision.
6. The answers to various questions which appear on the “Got Questions?” page invite people to contact them for more help, offering Josh McDowell’s More Than A Carpenter and a Bible for free.

I am thoroughly impressed. The aspect of all this that causes my heart to leap is that they are using media (first their letter and then their website) to invite people to enter into personal relationships with them and then experience authentic Christian community by meeting their circle of Christian friends.

If you’ve read the articles I’ve posted here since recently launching this site, you know that I am a proponent of using modern-day technology to introduce unbelievers to authentic Christian community (John 17:21-23).

Eric Bast, Nick Wall, and Meredith Christopfel have given us all a great example of this strategy.

Wayne Hurlbert at Blog Business World posted an interesting article yesterday about gaining blog readership through writing articles which reflect your passion. Here’s a brief excerpt:

What really enhances the sweep and scope of most political blog writers is their passion. Whether writing posts in support, or diametrically opposed in every conceivable way, to various politicians and their political parties, what is displayed is genuine conviction....Business blogs, legal blogs, technical blogs, writers blogs, sports blogs, and personal blogs often display those important characteristics as well. By doing so, the blogs become must reads....The blogger who cares deeply about his or her subject matter, will also show passion for the topics, in their writing. The feelings flow out of the computer monitor, and affect the reader in countless ways.

I think that’s an important thing to keep in mind if you’re wanting to start a niche site which uses the bridge strategy to engage unbelievers in conversation. Choose a topic about which you are passionate, and you will find yourself writing more frequently and in a more engaging style. This can only serve to bring more people to your site as you get a reputation for having fresh, opinionated content.

I’m generally not one to talk about how the Lord spoke to me or told me to do this or that. I tend to believe that He speaks to us through the Scriptures, through giving us godly wisdom, etc. But there have been a few times in my Christian life when I can say that He gave me special insight into a question I was facing. He didn’t speak to me in an audible voice, but more often than not, he brought what seemed to be disparate circumstances or disparate thoughts together in my mind and heart in such a way that new insight was gained.

I say that because something like this happened to me a few days in regard to internet evangelism.

Daniel Terdiman writes today at Wired.com about using technology similar to podcasting to make video for iPod available on demand.

If we use video on a church’s website (in conjunction with profiles of people with specific interests and life experiences of interest to unbelievers), it shouldn’t be too far a reach (once the technology is more mature, of course), to start thinking about making video feeds available for people to view on their iPods.

Thanks to PaidContent.org for the link.

An interesting tidbit from Pandia.com, which incidentally looks to be an interesting resource on search engine marketing:

There are probably not many that are familiar with the new search engine for finding material online that can be used without paying royalty or clearing copyright issues. With a Creative Commons license you can allow others to copy, distribute, quote or develop what you have made available online .... Since September a beta version of a Creative Commons Search Engine has been available that lets you search for just this kind of thing. The results pages display symbols signifying which kind of license applies to the different hits.

From the latest version of the SitePoint Tribune email newsletter:

Nielsen Net Ratings reports that kids aged 2-11 years old are leading the growth of Web pages viewed at home. Pageviews made by this group in the last year have increased by 36% on the previous 12 months. 

The report also demonstrates the differences between the online viewing habits of boys and girls. The site that attracted the largest growth in pageviews by girls was MSN Messenger (an increase of 381%). For boys, entertainment sites lead the way—DisneyChannel.com page views were up by 230%.

As a parent of a nine-year-old child, I am always reticent when it comes to targeting kids directly without their parents’ permission, even with the gospel, because I think doing so is often counter-productive. On the other hand, I’m sure there are appropriate online evangelistic efforts directed at children. The data cited above would suggest that the church should be thinking seriously about how to use digital means to reach children.

Anyone know of any good examples of digital outreach to kids? Feel free to cite such examples in a comment to this post.

I’m capitalizing on an announcement in the blogging world today to write a bit about the potential of blogs for internet evangelism.

MSN Spaces, the new blogging service from Microsoft, was launched yesterday. At the same time, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO, told Mike Wendland of the Detroit Free Press that “"Blogging is huge. It brings together the three biggest Internet trends: communicating, sharing and socializing. It started with e-mail and instant messaging and music sharing, and it’s getting bigger each day.”

Following on Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s recent call for a $100 PC, Solar PC is announcing a sub-$100 PC which can be run from a solar panel or car battery, or even be human powered (with a bicycle-based generator).

The related Global Education Link project, referenced in SolarPC’s November 20, 2004 press release, has a goal of distributing one million SolarLite computers to schools in poor countries.

I remember a few years ago teaching a course on web strategy for churches for the denomination with which my wife and I are affiliated. Prior to the first session, I wrote some notes on the whiteboard, including several passages of Scripture which I felt were relevant to the discussion I was hoping we would have.

When some of the session participants saw what I had written on the whiteboard, one of them snickered to his neighbor, “I wonder what the Bible has to say about websites.”

True, the Bible doesn’t have anything to say directly about websites. But it does have a lot to say about outreach! And if the purpose of our websites is to reach unbelievers, then we would do well to heed the principles of outreach which the Scriptures give us.

My core philosophy of internet evangelism revolves around a passage of Scripture in John 17:21-23.