Walt Wilson is the Founder and Chairman of Global Media Outreach, an internet evangelism ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. The following are my notes from his keynote address at yesterday’s Techvangelism ‘06 conference (whether or not I specifically attribute something to Walt, they are still his thoughts — what follows is largely a straight transcription of my notes without any added thoughts from me, except where specifically noted).

Walt began his speech with a reference to Matthew 24, especially verses 3 and 14. In verse 3, Jesus’ disciples ask Him what the world will be like in the end time: “As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’” In verse 14, Jesus gives part of His answer to that question: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Walt believes that Jesus was speaking to a future generation when He said these words — He saw the digital generation.

Colossians 1:16 says that Jesus created all things, including invisible things like bits. We are the first generation to hold in our hands the technology to reach the world. But does the church have the strategy to use the technology effectively? We tend to hold on to old models.

83 countries (46% of all the countries in the world) do not currently allow Christian missionaries from America (largely because of politics), but others can.

Everyone is now our neighbor - geography has been eliminated. (Note from Frank: Is this true? If face-to-face community is still important, it requires geographical proximity).

The new generation gets messages in images, not words. (Note from Frank: what about the claims of Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg about the importance of words in persuasion, though?)

According to George Barna, 67% of Americans are conducting spiritual searches on the internet. And 1/3 of every community in America is in crisis. The market comes to us because of crisis. People put aside their intellectual arguments and look for relationship in the privacy of their home. The internet is amazingly intimate and amazingly anonymous. (Note from Frank: Is this a good thing? Does it encourage a shallow evaluation of the claims of Christ?)

Walt referred to a time frame (which unfortunately I didn’t catch) in which Barna says the U.S. population grew by 25 million, but the Protestant church in America declined by 4 million. There are 200 million unchurched in America - now the largest post-Christian nation in the world.

Walt went on to talk about one of their websites: StaciStory.com. Staci was a 16-year-old vibrant believer who died in 2005 from Viral Myocarditis. The website is a story of her life and a compelling presentation of the gospel. Word about the website has been spread almost entirely through social networking (blogging).

Future communication will be much less text-based and more more story-based.