Fri 8 Dec 2006
Anita, Leader of Agape.pl
Today and tomorrow a bunch of us Campus Crusade types are talking about how we can do a better job helping people grow spiritually via the Internet. God has blessed our efforts at bringing people to a site that explains who Jesus is, and many thousands have responded to Jesus in this way. We have email volunteers that answer visitors’ questions and help these people get connected with a church, but we haven’t done a great job staying connected with them and helping them grow.
Well, some of us in Campus Crusade have done well at this; our ministries in Canada and Poland.
My friend, Anita, leads a Bible correspondence course in Poland, Agape.pl. Every day they get one or two new students, 30% of whom finish a four-lesson course that covers the basics of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Students get new lessons after they complete and discuss the first ones, and all students have their own personal teacher assigned to them. All the correspondence is done by email.
Both our Canadian and Polish ministries use some of the same elements; personal attention from spiritual coaches and opportunities for leadership as you grow spiritually. After a student completes the entire Agape.pl Bible course, quite a challenge actually, they can be teachers themselves. Currently there are about 50 teachers and 500 students enrolled. Our Canadian ministry has many more staff members and volunteers working with it, but they use the same idea.
The challenge we have now with EveryStudent.com will be finding ways we can help our campus staff members keep students engaged in a process of spiritual growth when they can’t meet with them personally. StartingWithGod.com is a site we currently direct new believers to, but we don’t have a solid means of staying connected with someone as they work through the site. We’re praying for a creative solution.
December 8th, 2006 at 5:59 pm
Great!!! I’m sure you will make it all work. The follow-up is also important and it all takes time, but I’m confident you’ll have it working very soon as you continue to launch the Gospel websites!
Blessings,
Carl
December 18th, 2006 at 9:36 am
I have a suggestion. Why don’t you start merging EveryStudent onto a social network where students could easily meet with campus staff and students? This would keep students coming back to the site where campus staff would easily continue to keep students engaged in a process of spiritual growth. Its what students are using these days and would no doubt be an excellent way of sharing the gospel.
December 18th, 2006 at 10:05 am
Sorry typo I meant into not onto.