IN THIS EDITION

• Reaction to the Tsunami Disaster
• NRB Internet Evangelism Boot Camp
• Internet Evangelism for the 21st Century - New Workshops Announced
• Gap in Church use of Technology
• Future of the Internet
• Experiencing God Online
• Internet and Culture News & Trends
  

WorldLINC ministry has created an evangelistic web site, www.whendisasterstrikes.org, that organizations who want to present a gospel opportunity to seekers can link to easily. Web visitors can submit prayer requests, view articles that share a biblical perspective on why God allows disasters like this to happen and give to trusted organizations.

Other Resources

• Christianity Today, More from CT
• Gospel Communications
• Religion Journal
• American Tract Society: When Disaster Strikes tract (also available as an e-tract):

For the last few years, NRB has been holding Boot Camps (5-hour targeted workshops) in advance of the annual NRB convention. Last year marked the first year for a Boot Camp centering on Internet Evangelism and NRB has invited the IEC to hold one again this year.

Robby Richardson (www.gospelcom.net) is coordinating the boot camp. Richardson says "The Internet has matured into a full-fledged communications medium and there are exciting opportunities around the world to utilize this medium for evangelism." The boot camp will offer an overview of some of the issues of using the Internet as an effective means of sharing the Gospel as well as look at tools that can make the task easier. Speakers include:

• Greg Outlaw: www.Allaboutgod.com
• David Bruce: www.Hollywoodjesus.com
• Sterling Huston: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, www.billygraham.org
• Allan Beeber: Campus Crusade for Christ, www.worldlinc.org and www.evangelismtoolbox.com

The Boot Camp is included in the registration cost for those attending the NRB Convention that begins the evening of February 12. Please contact Robby Richardson if you have any questions.

Six new workshops have been added for the Internet Evangelism for the 21st Century conference to be held April 1-2 at Liberty University, Lynchberg, VA. New workshops include:

• Rowland Croucher (Australia): "Evangelism on Usenet Newsgroups"
• Steve Knight (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) along with D.J. Chuang, Stephen Shields, Will Samson and Nick Ciske: "Reaching the Connected with Blogging"
• Nick Ciske: "Podcasting and Internet Evangelism"
• Todd Smith (Liberty University): "The Church, Evangelism and Interactive Virtual Reality Worlds"

At least two other workshops are being planned: "Using Chatrooms and Internet Evangelism" and; "Reaching Women on the Internet." Workshop leaders are still to be announced. More information on all the workshops may be found in the Workshop Schedule section of http://ie-21stCentury.com. Each of the 19, 1.5 hour, workshops will be video and audio taped and offered, technology permitting, through live streaming from the conference website. At the very least, visitors will be able to stream the audio version and download them as a "podcast" for later listening.

Visits to the web site are increasing from a variety of nations: USA - over 1,000; Canada - 52; U.K. - 18; Singapore - 14; Russian Federation - 13; Germany - 11, Australia - 16, India - 11 and many others from countries such as Israel, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, New Zealand and Oman! A total of 1,310 unique visitors and 974 reloads!

One of the key aspects of Internet Evangelism for the 21st Century is it's location on the wireless Liberty University campus in Central Virginia. The conference will be held in the newly renovated Campus North facility that hosts LU's School of Law and LaHaye Student Center.

Special affinity groups will meet over lunch on Saturday. Groups planned include: Blogging; Web Follow-up; Convergence; Unreached People Groups and; Women.

For more information email Dan Henrich or visit the web site.

Agape Press Story
Ellison Research Report:

FUTURE OF THE INTERNET

A wide-ranging survey of technology leaders, scholars, industry officials, and analysts finds that most Internet experts expect attacks on the network infrastructure in the coming decade as the Internet becomes more embedded in everyday and commercial life. They also believe the Internet will have "the least impact on religious institutions."

Pew Internet Report

Baptist News Story
Experiencing God Online