There are those in the blogosphere who see blogging as a way to reach the unreached. Maybe it is, but I don't see evangelism--or even reform--as blogging's most effective use for believers.
The Internet is nothing more than an information conduit. Blogs give anyone with web access the chance to publish information. The failure of many blogs is not considering the audience that is reading them. Successful publishers know their readers and tailor their content to those people.
(This blog is actually more a vehicle for me to update friends and family on our life since we're hours away from them. But as you see, I branch out into other areas [such as opinion] on posts like this. So, no, this isn't a perfect--or oft-read--blog. It wasn't intended to be.)
I feel that, instead of hoping to reach the unreached or foment major change in a movement, believers should focus more on harnessing technology to update other believers on how to pray for their needs.
Most recently, we've seen the Leonard family harness blogging to help us pray for missionary John Leonard. This strikes me as the most useful application of blogging for believers. In nearly real-time, Christians around the world can know how to pray for this man, who was shot several times at his church in Brazil.
Other missionaries have seen that they can break free from the traditional (and likely outdated) prayer letters that hang in the back of churches. Instead, they can blog (or even e-mail) current needs.
Whereas in the past, we might find out in February that a missionary wanted us to pray for the Christmas program that the local mayor was coming to, now we can find out before Christmas and pray specifically for that request before and during the event.
Websites and blogs are not nearly as expensive or slow to produce as print communications and slideshows. Through sites, such as those by David Hosaflook or Rob Howell, we can get a much broader feel for a ministry we might otherwise not visit.
It also allows missionaries in closed countries the chance to communicate about their work, as Andrew has done with SpreadingHisWord.org. A couple years ago, he had the vision for some of the thoughts that have been building in my mind for some time now.
Posted by JRC at July 17, 2005 10:32 PM | TrackBack