When was the last time you came across a website all about aircraft? Chances are that you never have, unless you have specifically searched for one. And that’s despite the fact that there are five million sites dedicated to flying machines.
This is the type of question that a group of internet evangelists hope to raise in churches across the world during a special focus day on April 24. Only the problems with which they are concerned are not those of the aviation enthusiast but how to get the non-believer to view Christian websites? And, even if they did, how to get them to stay long enough to learn something of the gospel?
Focus day
Internet Evangelism Day, to give it its official title, is hosted by the Internet Evangelism Coalition (IEC), an umbrella group of Christian ministries based at the Billy Graham Center in Illinois. Tony Whittaker, UK co-ordinator for the group, thinks that a focus day is much needed: ‘The purpose is to try and enthuse people to reach out to a community. At present most Christian websites are aimed solely at other Christians and are therefore pretty much member only; which, though useful, is not evangelism.’
