Patti and I are very excited to have the opportunity to join Greater Europe Mission in June with theireDOT (electronic Discipleship Outreach Training) ministry.
GEM wants us to begin immediately with the following undertakings:
1) Train GEM missionaries in ways to use the internet to enhance their ministries in Europe. This would involve giving them insights on creating websites, helping them use internet tools to reach out to their communities, and broaden their vision of ways technology can be used to help their ministry.
2) Travel to Europe to teach local pastors in ways that they can reach the younger generation in their area for Christ. I would teach them how to evaluate what internet tools would be best to reach their communities, show them ways to partner with other organizations to enhance their ministry goals, and help them create the tools they need. Patti will be using her gifts in hospitality, cooking & support to make these seminars a success.
3) Discover new ways to evangelize through the internet - especially using Blogs. I have had success in developing Blogs to reach thousands of people each day in English. I am excited about the opportunity to use that knowledge in helping ministries across Europe to reach their language groups for Christ. The Internet is very underutilized by the Church in Europe and this is mostly due to no one being able to teach them of its potential.
4) Research Christian Internet technologies and develop partnerships. The Church in North America has developed many internet tools to reach people. I will be researching which of these internet technologies would be applicable for ministry overseas. Once identified, I will be seeking to build partnerships with the organizations that have a heart to use their tools around the world. This will create a database of useful tools for ministries in Europe and avoid the expense of developing everything from scratch.