When God builds a website, expect the unusual. EveryStudent.com is a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ and has become a highly successful web evangelism ministry.

It was started by Marilyn Adamson, a former atheist, stay-at-home Mom and technology outsider.

A perfect candidate for the assignment.

I met Marilyn at the Global Christian Internet Alliance Conference held recently at the Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center, located near Santa Cruz, California.

Our conversation took place on a porch overlooking a panorama of stunning redwoods.

Marilyn, where did the idea for EveryStudent.com come from?

I spent one full year writing an evangelistic article. I worked on it constantly.

At the end I said, ‘OK God, I think you want me to write evangelistically, but we’ve got to find a way to be more productive than one article a year. Two weeks later our campus ministry started some print media campaigns. They asked me to come on and be a writer for them. It was great timing. My youngest daughter had just entered grade school so I had some free time. So I did that for a number of years.

Over time, I developed a number of messages. Later on, the webmaster thought we should throw some of them up on a website to see what would happen. We did and the ministry started out of that. I eventually hired that webmaster and we’ve worked together for fifteen years.

Campus Crusade appears to be adapting it’s evangelism practices to the emerging technologies.

Campus Crusade started in 1951. For sixty years there has been a particular way to go about evangelism. Basically, we shared a Four Spiritual Laws booklet with people and asked for their opinion on it.

Our culture has shifted and that approach is not as acceptable anymore. So our staff and Christian students involved with us are constantly looking for new ways to share the gospel.

The web is an excellent place to experiment with new evangelism techniques. When Christian students find us, they say, ‘Oh my gosh, this is great. Why didn’t we know about this site?’ They’re ready to go with it.

How is it going?

When you count all the sites, in all the languages, we’re seeing 250 decisions for Christ a day.

Have you made any personal connections with the students contacting the ministry?

Yes, several have become really dear to me. One student wrote and said, ‘I think I need God but I don’t know how to find him.’

I received the email and wrote her back. It turned out she has had two abortions. She was drug and alcohol addicted. And just felt like her life was going in the wrong direction. She had no idea what to do. We dialogued for a while, and eventually she accepted Christ. I never said anything to her about the drugs because I know God changes lives. I’ve seen that so many times. I was just helping her get to know Him better.

She emailed me one day and said, ‘Well, I’m going through the DT’s. Have been sick to my stomach all day. I have the shakes right now. I got into this myself, but I’m not getting out of it alone. God is getting me through it.’ She just went cold turkey off all the drugs. We stayed in touch. She married a Christian and had a baby about six months ago.

I’ve been reading some of the critical articles written about you by atheists and others. Even though you understand their thinking, does the pain of their words sting?

No. Not really. When I was an atheist, I had the same mindset. I thought, ‘Why are these people so foolish as to believe in God?’ I learned that you had to challenge Christians in their thinking in order to get to a point of realizing, you know, I have run out of arguments.

I really don’t mind the attacks. I chuckle at some of them. There have been some zingers, like, “Are you even trying?” or, “I read your article and my eyes were bleeding.”

People go crazy. They can come across as belligerent, but it gets kind of humorous.

When you treat them with respect and love, they show you there is something very genuine going on. God turns them around.

A few moments ago we heard Campus Crusade President Steve Douglass say, “Jesus may ask you to put down your net in an impossible, unreasonable place.” Pioneering an Internet ministry can be an overwhelming task. Have you ever wanted to give up?

I relate to Jeremiah to be honest. Sometimes it can get discouraging. It’s so easy to reach people online yet some people don’t have the vision for it. It’s easy to get discouraged.

God has kept me motivated. I work from home and some people say, ‘You must be so disciplined.’

I’m not disciplined. I’m just motivated. Philemon 6 motivates me. “And I pray that the sharing of your faith may promote the knowledge of all the good that is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Isn’t that cool?

Yes, it is Marilyn. You’re an inspiration to many. You be encouraged. And may God continue to bless your ministry at EveryStudent.com.

It was a headline with all the right stuff. Need for Online Missionaries Rises as Web Outreach Booms.

A passion for the Great Commission.

The sizzle of global media.

An urgent need.

The article was a call to make believers aware of the astounding number of people searching for God online, 80 to 90 percent outside the U.S.

Through the power of Internet technology, search-engine optimization techniques, and chiefly, the working of the Holy Spirit, online spiritual seekers are flocking to the ‘electronic’ front door of the church in unprecedented numbers.

Who will answer the call?

25 reasons to help you consider getting involved in online missions

1. Two million people are going online every day to seek help with spiritual issues like loneliness, addictions, suicide, abuse, divorce, hopelessness. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” (Matthew 9:37)

2. God has created a network to reach these searching hearts that are saying, “Please tell me about Jesus.” The Apostle Paul said, “By all possible means (the Internet) I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22)

3. Technology has made it possible to travel anywhere in the world without ever leaving home, even to the 64 countries, or about one-third of all nations, with “high or very high restrictions on religion.” (2009 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life) “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)

4. You have a love for the lost and have always wanted to become more active in personal evangelism.

5. You don’t have to leave your job, take a vacation, go to seminary or raise thousands of dollars to share the Bible, pray, or conduct personal ministry with real people.

6. Any Christian using the Internet can do it — students, teachers, stay at home moms, pastors, business executives, farmers, doctors, soldiers.

7. Training is not difficult and can be done online from home on your own schedule.

8. You don’t have to know who is open to the gospel. Discipleship websites such as LookToJesus and iChristianLife.com and mobile sites share the basics of Christian growth, in multiple languages and then these new believers and seekers come to you ready to take the next step or with questions.

9. The ministry is personal and can go “very deep,” as evidenced by these actual responses:

• “How can I know that God loves us?” M., Philippines
• “I need Jesus so desperately. Indian hemp has taken over my life and I don’t know what to do. I believe it is only God that can rescue me from this bondage. I hope to hear some advice from you.” E., Nigeria

10. You don’t have to be quick on your feet or an expert in evangelism. You will have access to outstanding resources to help you respond like 226,018 Bible Questions Answered! and Search the Bible.

11. You will guide new believers into doing online Bible studies individually or encourage them to join a weekly online small group Bible study. When possible you will get them connected to other Christians and local churches.

12. You will have the privilege of praying for those who are struggling and others who haven’t yet learned how to pray.

13. In your lifetime you would never be able to physically impact the amount of people you can reach online. (submitted by Amanda Sims from LifeChurch.tv)

14. You will join a community of workers doing online ministry from all over the U.S. and world…exchange online evangelism techniques, share stories of God at work and pray for one another.

15. You will be encouraged by personal testimonies from fellow online workers:

• “We see bits and pieces of struggles that people are going through and then think, “Wow this is who God is entrusting to me.” It has really helped me to see a bigger picture in life and do more in other ministries also.” Fred
• “I really feel so blessed to have this tool every day. What could I do that’s more important than this? And I do it while eating raspberries in the comfort of my kitchen while a load of laundry is drying. Amazing, so amazing.” Margaret

16. It’s a way to balance out recreational uses of technology with redemptive ones.

17. It’s safe! No one sees your e-mail address and no one can send you spam. It only takes a few minutes a day to respond to an email inquiry.

18. It’s one of the most cost effective evangelism approaches ever developed. It will enable you to help churches that have been forced to reduce giving to missions and missionaries due to the current economic crisis. (See the Barna Group report.)

19. You will deepen your own understanding of foundational truths and strengthen your confidence for talking about your faith with others.

20. The world is increasingly online and you believe the future of ministry must include some form of digital missions to stay relevant.

21. You could be the catalyst for getting an online missions program started in your church.

22. Your pulse quickens at the idea of partnering with media ministries using cutting-edge technology to share the gospel worldwide through video, text, and mobile phones, in multiple languages.

23. It concerns you to know that if Christians aren’t online to answer the questions of spiritual seekers and to tell them about Jesus, they are vulnerable to false teachings and other destructive forces.

24. The digital “Roman road” has been built and will soon connect everyone on earth, making it conceivable that you are in the generation that will complete the Great Commission.

25. The Matthew 28 mandate, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,” doesn’t leave anyone out.

All nations must certainly include the nations and people that can be reached online.

Internet evangelism doesn’t replace other methods of sharing the gospel. But, let me assure you of four things as you pray and consider online missions. (1) If you have a heart for the Lord and use the Internet, you can be an online missionary. (2) You will touch real lives. (3) The Spirit will help you respond. (4) God will bless you.

Question: How are you using the Internet for ministry?

On a trip to Houston, I met Patty Shull, a staff representative and online missionary for Global Media Outreach (GMO). GMO is a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ presenting the gospel online 24/7.

Internet evangelism, or evangelism without borders, is gaining ground as strategy for building the Church globally.

Patty gave me the opportunity to experience online evangelism live for the first time.

We met in the cafe of a Marriott near the Astrodome. WiFi made it possible for Patty to log into her network. Four email contacts were waiting. GMO’s online missionaries may respond to as few as 1-2 emails per week or 1-2 per day.

Meet Ellie

One of Patty’s emails was from Ellie in Arlington, TX. After visiting a GMO website, Ellie reached out to Patty to ask, “Are Jesus and God the same?” Right to the heart of it, I thought. Patty had been through GMO’s extensive online training process. She was ready. After giving Ellie a warm greeting, Patty answered her question with an elegantly simple metaphor.

Most exciting, was seeing Ellie’s indication that she had prayed to receive Christ. Patty asked if I would like to pray for Ellie. I know there’s a lot of talk about whether online ministry is real and persona. Well, that’s praying with Patty for Ellie felt real and personal to me. Patty said she would follow-up with Ellie again later.

World-wide ministry

In 2009, 66 million people like Ellie visited GMO’s 100-plus Web sites to search for information online about Jesus and the hope He brings. Of these, more than 10 million indicated a decision to follow Christ.

In addition, nearly 2 million people initiated discipleship and requested more information about Jesus and Christianity through GMO’s 4,000 online missionaries.

GMO has compiled some of the riveting responses, they’ve received from searching people, in their book, “Where The Search Leads To Life, Jesus 2020.”

“I go round in circles with God because I have had severe rejection from people and Christians, and felt traumatized with my Dad coming and going over the years. I find it hard to know deep in my spirit that Father God sincerely truly loves me unconditionally, and will never leave me or forsake me. Please help me and love me, and e-mail me.” Joanna, Cornwall, UK

“I am surrounded by Muslims who will kill me if they find out that I pray prayers on your website and ask Jesus into my life. Please pray for me. I do not know a single Christian. You are my only contact.” Male, Afghanistan

“I am a disabled Marine, wounded in Iraq, and I want to get right with God. Can you send me anything that will help me get to know Jesus? I would be thankful.” U.S. Military Veteran

Your invitation

Building off of the 2009 momentum, GMO is poised to touch even more people’s lives throughout 2010.

The fields are indeed white to harvest, yet the laborers are few.We need more online missionary partners.

Walt Wilson, GMO Founder & Chairman

The first step of getting involved is always the hardest. Here’s five reasons to take that step toward online missions:

1. GMO believes the Great Commission can be fulfilled by 2020 and that it can happen in this generation through the use of emerging communication technologies. Getting the details on how this mission can be accomplished is worth the investment of time, in my view.

2. It’s going to take thousands of churches, online missionaries and ministry supporters working together to accomplish this goal. God may be calling you to get involved.

3. The cost of the program is minimal. For only ten cents, the gospel can be shared online to each person. Each dollar presents the gospel to 10 more seekers. Your church determines the size and extent of your involvement in this Great Commission effort.

4. GMO can help you encourage, train and equip your congregation to share Jesus with others online and more consistently in your own communities.

5. I’ve been thinking about Ellie and my new missionary friend Patty, ever since taking that first trip to the online mission field. The experience was transformative. I’ve decided to do what I can to help GMO as they stay on the cutting edge of emerging technologies, using them to reach the world for Christ. It would be great to partner with you.

Question: What do you think of the idea of an online missions program?