Web Evangelism

Just before the Twin Towers collapsed on September 11, 2001, a woman prayed for the very first time: “God, please save my son, and he doesn’t even have a baby yet, so please spare his life!” Her son, an NYPD police officer, was called to the World Trade Center that awful day. As he followed his crew into one of the buildings, his captain called him back to help get more equipment. In that short time, the tower collapsed, and he was spared while the rest of his crew was killed.

That started a three-year journey for Shoshy—after all, her prayer had been answered. But what now? She visited a church near her but saw no life in the Christians there: they were just going through the motions. She stopped attending. She then received notice that her estranged husband had passed away. He had written her several times before, telling her he had “gotten saved” and was praying for her. As an inheritance, Shoshy received a Bible from him. She started to read, but she had many questions.

One night, she watched a history show on TV about famous executions. Near the end of the show, the host said, “Now for the most famous execution of all” and Shoshy heard for the first time the story of Jesus and His death. At that moment, the Lord convicted her of her sin. If Jesus really was God and had died for her sins, she had to find out more! A few weeks later, the movie “The Passion” came out, and she went to see it—five times! She couldn’t stop thinking about what Jesus had done, but she still had many questions.

She turned to the internet and started searching for answers about Christ. She found an evangelistic website where she read articles and was directed to a chat room where she could talk to someone about her questions. A believer named Rosie became a major influence in Shoshy’s life and pointed her to Christ. After three years of questions, searching, and God’s leading, Shoshy placed her faith in Christ during one of the chat sessions with her mentor.

This is just one of many stories of how the Lord has used people, technology, and, of course, His Word to bring souls to Himself. An evangelistic website (or section of a local church website that focuses on the gospel) can be a powerful tool in the Lord’s hands. People are searching for answers online. Countless people are “Googling” Jesus, faith, truth, John 3:16 and other spiritually-relevant keywords. It’s our belief that there is a great harvest of souls ready to be reaped—people who might never set foot in a church building or who have been turned away from traditional churches for various reasons.

The next several Why We Web articles will look at the power of a website in reaching the lost. We will discuss some tips on presenting the gospel on a website, and also look at some things to avoid. The Lord took great care in presenting the truth to the people around Him. He was sensitive to their needs, their environment, and their situation. We, too, need to be careful in the way we approach the multitudes online. Are we turning them away before they even get a chance to see who Jesus really is and what He has done for them?