evangelization online€¦ · youths in the world of internet and technology evangelization online...

[MACCRYM]

Youths in the world of Internet and Technology

Evangelization online

Mubilu Magella Moses

[2018]

Know how to evangelize in within this 21st Century global

village using Internet. Reaching out to where people are for

effective evangelization with this GOLDEN opportunity is our

cause in this booklet.

2 | P a g e www.maccrym.wordpress.com [email protected]

Foreword

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in

the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them

to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,

even to the end of the age”

Today we are endowed with such a GOLDEN opportunity to

reach out. Just in 30 seconds your word can be heard by

thousands and thousands of people. We are no longer limited.

Today we can use Internet to communicate social network, chat

and give instant messages, have voice over internet protocol,

some services also let you do video conferencing, such as Skype

and facebook video calling, and twitter. All this is an exposure

for the 21st Century church. How then shall we say the message

was not heard? With us the young having acknowledged that we

are the church today what are we doing with internet? With this

opportune advantage let us evangelize Christ. As evangelizers

let’s influence hundreds and thousands youths who are lost in the

world of internet. Let us discover internet as our gift from God

who through His son is commissioning us to go out and make

disciples for him. Through this hand book try to understand how

best we can use this resource. Thank you!

…………………..

Mubilu Magella Moses

Servant Leader

MACCRY-Ministries


Table of Contents Pages

Introduction 4

What is the world of Internet? 7

Using the Internet to Communicate 7 Social Networking 7 Chat and Instant Messaging 8 VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) 8

Ways to Evangelize on Facebook 9 Blogs 10 Media on the Internet 12 Using the Internet in the Future 12 What is technology? 12

Information Technology 13 Internet on Mobile Devices 13 Online evangelization 13

The church and ICT 17

Meeting People Where They Are 18

Mass media as a means of evangelization today 21


Introduction

The Holy Bible New Testament is replete with examples

of the disciples sharing the good news where people

spend their time. Peter preached the gospel in a public

place and thousands responded. Paul preached the

gospel at the centre of culture and influence in Greece

and influential people responded (Bible, Acts 17:21-34).

In Uganda more and more young people are turning to

the internet to find personal, social and religious

information and ecclesiastical institutions are devoting

more and more resources to improving their presence on

the web.

―The great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ is that

we should take the gospel to the end of the earth through

various evangelistic activities. The Internet has proved

to be one of the most efficient and reliable means of

communicating globally with little or no restrictions,

which Christians cannot ignore. Like other means of

communication, we urge Christians to take advantage of

the numerous opportunities provided by the Internet for

evangelism. Churches should promote computer literacy

programs for members to enhance their use of the

Internet as outreach to many who need to hear about the

gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son

and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I


commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to

the end of the age‖

The globe is in our hands today. With computers and

smart mobile phones and tablets we can reach all the

ends of the earth in a minute and at low cost. Young

people on the earth planet are the most beneficiaries in

this world of internet today.

Catholic Christians today have got the best opportunity

ever to proclaim the risen Lord to the young people

today. ―…..teaching them to observe all that I

commanded you…‖ this is the right time. Did you know

that the youth can miss going to church on a Sunday?

Did you know that youths who are soaked in the world

of internet cannot miss to browse on their internet in a

day‘s time? If Jesus was to appear today He would

commission us to Internet and make him disciples.

Commanding us to teach them, believe me these would

the youths. If he was to instruct us to cast our nets into

the deep, believe me the biggest catch ever would be

from the world of internet. But ask yourself, who would

be netted? Believe me these would be the youths who

day by day find internet their best home.

There are 2 billion Christians in our world today,

compared to 5 billion non-Christians and of course

Christian youths forming the biggest %age. What can


we do to reach them and convey the Christian message

to our contemporaries? Proclaiming the Gospel is not

only a faith issue, it is also of crucial importance for our

civilization. What kind of world do we want for our

children? Little or no presence of Christian voices and

ideas in the media that shape our culture leads to many

distortions and errors about the Christian vision of the

world and society in matters such as faith, Church

history, science, etc. Christian beliefs are badly

defended and oftentimes not even heard. Major public

debates are often blocked in a biased way of thinking,

void of contradiction, as they are distorted or closed to

alternative viewpoints. Christians are the bearers of the

most beautiful message in the world, but unfortunately

our wonderful treasures often remains unknown to the

general public and the dominating mass media. We must

reach people where they are and speak their language.

The digital revolution has changed the world we live in

and the Church must find new ways to proclaim the

Gospel.


What is the world of Internet?

The internet is the physical network of computers all

over the world. The foundation of the internet began in

1969, when the US Department of Defense created ARP

Anet, a project to allow military personnel to

communicate with each other in an emergency.

By 2012, the number of internet users worldwide

reached 2.4 Billion—about one third of the world's

population. The internet is the largest Wide Area

Network (WAN) inexistence. This has become a global

village with a global culture.

Using the Internet to Communicate

The internet isn't just about finding information. It's also

about connecting with friends, family, and people you've

never met before. Today, there are many different ways

to communicate online, including social networking,

chat, VoIP, and blogging.

Social Networking

Social networking has become one of the main ways

people keep in touch. Below are a few of the most

popular social networking sites: Facebook is used by

about one billion people. If you have family or friends

that live far away, you can use Facebook to keep up with

their lives. You can also share things you've found

online that interest you. Twitter lets you share brief

messages (or "tweets") with the entire world, or with


just your circle of friends. By following people with

similar interests, you can discover new things that you

wouldn't have found otherwise. LinkedIn is a site that

you can use for business networking. It allows you to

connect with other people in your field and find out

about new job opportunities.

Chat and Instant Messaging

Chat and instant messaging programs allow you to have

conversations with your friends or just write them a

quick note. Two examples are Yahoo! Messenger and

Microsoft Messenger. Some sites, such as Gmail and

Facebook, allow you to chat within your browser.

VoIP

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), allows you to

have telephone service through your internet

connection. Some services also let you do video

conferencing, such as Skype and Facebook Video

Calling. Many of these services are free or very

inexpensive, and some people use them as a replacement

for a landline, or just to save minutes on their mobile

phones.

Ways to Evangelize on Facebook

With hundreds of millions of people on the social

network, shouldn‘t Christians use it as an evangelism

tool?


1. Share your testimony

Tell people what having a relationship with God means

to you. Using too much ―Christianese‖ turns people off.

Keep it simple

2. Be positive

Try to make sure your status updates are positive. Post

things or people you are thankful for. Or even name

some of the ways that you have been blessed recently. If

you do not have something nice to say, do not say it.

Positivity, like negativity, is contagious.

3. Get out of your friend wall

Go out of your way to find old classmates or colleagues

and friend them. Then you can start building

relationships and share the love of Christ.

4. Let the word talk

A good idea is to post encouraging scripture verses.

This will re-awaken the people you are friends with on

facebook. You simply let the word talk; it will find a

fertile ground, someone who at that time will need it.

Liken this to someone who found 100,000/= when

he/she less expected it. Look at at the joy a person will

have to generate on finding that money. The word of


God to someone who needed it will simply bring new

life.

5. Make it personal

Develop a rapport with someone, show them you care

for them and then you can lead them to Christ.

6. Give thanks

Try daily to show your thankfulness to the lord. Post His

word to give hope, peace and encouragement to your

friends on facebook.

7. Watch your posts

Pray for people on facebook, share your testimony and

even post devotionals.

8. Show that you care

Do not post overtly religious snippest. Posters seem to

forget that people do not care how much you know until

they know how much you care. Start using FB to

convince people that they matter.

9. Offer prayers for healing


Pray for anyone who posts a need or a sickness. Pray

with them right there through facebook. I type the prayer

out as if I were laying hands on them.

10. Keep it real

Last but not least, humble yourself and be honest. Do

not try to be someone you are not. Always show a

Christ-like image as you live, learn, laugh and post.

Note; develop a discipline while on net. Have a plan of

what you want to communicate before you login.

Otherwise you will be diverted by those cunning

messages of course which will not be Christ centred.

Know exactly why you are logingin. Mind beware of

what you will see while on net. There is everything!

Everything, good and bad. Beware!

Blogs

Today, the average user has the ability to shape the web

by adding to it. If you have knowledge or interests that

you're passionate about, you can create your own blog

and share your thoughts with the world. There are many

sites like blogger.com and wordpress.com that let you

create a blog for free. You don't need any web design

experience—most of the technical stuff has already been


created for you, and you can choose a predesigned

template that has the look and feel that you want.

Media on the Internet Mass media refers to communication devices, which can be

used to communicate and interact with a large number of

audiences in different languages.

TV, radio, and the internet used to be completely

separate things, but that's no longer true with today's

technology. You can now watch TV shows on your

computer, and you can connect to the internet on many

TVs and DVD/Blu-ray players. In addition, you can

listen to online radio from all over the world, thus

granting you greater access to a more diverse range of

media.

Using the Internet in the Future

The internet is always changing, and the ways in which

we access it will also continue to change. Current trends

will become more common and integrated into our

everyday lives. In addition, we'll see many technologies

and devices in the future that will allow us to use the

internet in new and exciting ways.

What is technology?

Technology is comprised of the products and processes

created by engineers to meet our needs and wants.


Information Technology

Information Technology allows us to send signals

around the world. Examples: Television, Internet,

satellite, GPS, cell phones

Internet on Mobile Devices

With tablet computers and mobile phones, it's possible

to have full internet access, allowing you to check your

e-mail and browse the Web away from home. To do

this, you'll need a data plan, which adds an additional

monthly fee to your mobile phone bill. Data plans are

also available for laptops and e-readers.

Mobile data plans are often referred to as 3G, which

means it's the third generation of wireless standards.

Many companies now provide 4G (fourth generation)

data services, which allow you to have broadband

speeds on your mobile device.

ONLINE EVANGELIZATION

Should evangelization be Online?

“Companies that are not selling through Internet by

2007 will probably become extinct,” an industry

observer once said. As dramatic as it might feel,

although exaggerated, but there are some truths in it.


Consider this: around 25 % per year. 81% of small

businesses that have an online presence during last

year‘s holiday season reached new customers, leading to

an increase in sales and profitability according to a

survey conducted by Harris Interactive. Thirty

percent of small businesses with a web presence and

fewer than 20 employees now generate more than 25%

of their revenue online claims Gartner research.

If this does not convince you to have online

evangelization, below I pointed out 10 more reasons

why you should do so.

1. New Evangelization.

Internet has created a new evangelization platform,

which by its explosive growth and sheer size already

changed our perception of traditional way of

evangelizing. In fact, like any other company that sales

profitably online, Catholic evangelization ministries

must take the advantage.

2. Internet a global village

In order to make a sale you need visitors to come to your

shop. On the Internet, your shop could be only a click

away from your prospective customers. Internet has


become a global village. With proper marketing your

Internet storefront can have more buyers than you ever

can get. Let evangelization be your retail shop where

you would want prospective customers to meet you.

Then I say internet will just be the best for it is where

everyone is heading.

3. Ministry‘s image.

Whether you sell products or services online or not, in

today‘s world you have to have a corporate presence on

the Internet. Otherwise, as you must have noticed that

people simply don‘t take your business or mission

seriously if you tell them that your company or ministry

does not have a website. A nice corporate site definitely

increases the image of a company or ministry especially

if it has great product or service related content to go

with. Where is your ministry bill board?

4. Make information more easily available to the

evangelized.

Just a couple of years ago, ministries used to move from

place to place spreading the word of God. Things have

changed since then. Today you can reach out to

multitudes of people in a matter of couple of hours,

publish on your site and share with the whole world.


5. Ability to do evangelization 24 hours.

The biggest advantages of online evangelization are that

the word of God is made available for whoever wants it

24 hours a day year round. This is full time

evangelization ministry with no limitations of space and

time. You just need to be there. This also counteracts the

false education that goes through 24 hours a day year

round.

6. Low start up costs.

Building a web site does not require big investments.

There are many low cost tools available today, which

can help you create sites from very scratch. Many

business portals allow you to build web sites from

templates.

7. Your physical presence could be in any location.

The World Wide Web allows you to do business from

any part of the world. Your physical location, except for

few cases is not that important since you conduct your

evangelization online. The world needs us but with our

physical presence we are limited.

8. Go global

Thanks to Internet you can instantly become a global

evangelist and an international preacher. In fact, you


don‘t have to invest large sums of money to become

this. You only need to be there! Go global and reach the

ends of the earth with Jesus on your side, for He

promised to be with you till the end of time.

The right determinant of e-evangelization success is the

same like any off line evangelization. You have to have

a great idea, you have to have a plan and you should

have belief in it and your ability!

Take your evangelization online now, before the

children of God get malnourished because they lack the

word of God. To St. Paul, ―how will they know if you

do not go……?‖ In out times the necessity is to go

internet evangelization.

The church and ICT

Pope Francis

He's called the Internet a "gift from God." But he's also

warned that the abundance of data and digital

stimulation we all consume each day can amount to a

kind of "mental pollution" that harms our relationships

and shields us from the real pain and joy that comes

with human interaction.


Meeting People Where They Are

"The Pope has to get the church to open up and connect

and meet people where they are," says Jason Deal,

executive vice president of strategy at the Catholic

media firm Aleteia USA. "He can‘t do it door-to-door."

'The Pope has to get the church to open up and connect

and meet people where they are.'

And whether the pope likes it or not, the next generation

is a digital one. The best he can do to foster that

generation, rather than alienate it, is give people fair

warning about the moral traps technology presents, then

smile for their selfies.

Technology is a resource the church must wisely

steward to accomplish the Great Commission.

I believe technology is a resource that we can use for

God‘s glory. Here‘s three ways technology enables the

church‘s mission.

1. Technology Enables Communication

Through Facebook and Twitter or through a church

blog, I can easily communicate directly with the people

in my congregation, throughout the day and week.


Technology allows a greater sense of community that

doesn‘t demand proximity.

For example, I have a full-time job with Life Way, so I

am able to pastor a church by preaching, meeting with

the staff, and leading a small group in my home.

That‘s all I can physically do. But I can pastor my

church all throughout the week through social media and

digital technology.

Technology enables the congregation easily to have

direct communication with me, and I can have

communication with them on a broader and a clearer

scale. Ongoing communication through technology

helps the mission of the church. In fact, as I told

Leadership Journal only half-jokingly, pastors who

aren‘t on Twitter need to repent.

2. Technology Enables Community

Technology allows a greater sense of community that

doesn‘t demand proximity. Proximity isn‘t required for

community. For example, you can sit next to each other

week after week and never talk. But through technology,

people in our church are praying for each other thanks to

our church Facebook page.


Sometimes they already know each other, but at other

times they meet one another through Facebook.

Social media is where younger generations are

interacting. It's the new marketplace. It may be unnatural

for past generations, but it is how community for

younger people is now started and developed.

Use technology in your church to enable

communication, community and discipleship.

Through social media, a new attendee can connect to

other church members before he or she ever has a

chance to meet at a church gathering or a small group.

Of course, true community requires feet and faces and

not just electrons and avatars. But those electrons and

avatars can be tools to bring people into closer

community with feet and faces.

This is a big shift in how we interact, but we have to use

it if we want to enable community for the sake of the

mission of the church.

3. Technology Enables Discipleship

Our church has an app where people can actually access

the sermon outline, and people use their phones or iPads

to follow along and take notes. Technology enables


members and attendees to enhance their discipleship

experience at church.

During certain series, we have encouraged our people to

tweet questions in the middle of services, and we try to

answer them.

All of these are tools to enhance discipleship.

Technology, though, is not the goal. The goal is to

enable the church‘s mission to make disciples of all

people groups.

There are unintended side effects of technology that are

both de-personalizing and dehumanizing. But there are

some wonderful benefits of technology that enable the

mission of the church.

Use technology in your church to enable

communication, community and discipleship.

Mass media as a means of evangelization today

Acts 17 in the New Testament speaks about Paul going

into Athens, the bustling capital of the ancient world.

Paul is amazed to see that the city was full of idols. Yet

Verse 21 comments:

All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there

spent their time doing nothing but talking about and

listening to the latest ideas.

St. John Paul II saw the internet as being like the ‗new

Athens‘, new marketplace (cf. Redemptoris Missio,


37c), a ‗global village‘ to be won for Christ. Like Paul,

our challenge is to become witnesses for Christ in this

strange new world, to enter into dialogue with the digital

culture.

I f only to be able to reach our young people and an

increasing percentage of people of all ages, we need to

be present in this new Areopagus. Nowadays, people are

spending huge and increasing proportions of their time

in this virtual world. I believe many of us, if not all,

keep our mobiles with us all the time. Many keep social

networks open throughout the day in a distinct browser

tab or app, so much that for them it is becoming

increasingly the place where they live their lives. When

they go to bed at night most of them check their phones

one last time before placing it on their bed stand. What

we call the real world of face-to-face seems often dull

and uneventful to them and their secondary existence.

Therefore social media has become the nervous system

of our new culture, in which more and more people are

expressing and exploring their identity, picking up and

discarding their values and attitudes, expressing their

feelings and prejudices, befriending and unfriending

each other, measuring each other‘s status and

importance, relevance and appearance.

If our young people and people of all ages are living in

this gigantic network, then we, as people of faith need to


be in there, interacting with the inhabitants of this world,

with the men and women who dwell in the social media.

Mass media as a means of evangelization today

When we speak about new evangelization in the Church,

we more often than not think of the so called ‗real

world‘, but billions of people live in the social networks.

These have been described as among the biggest

countries in the world – and they are countries with no

barriers.

For example, more than 1.2 billion inhabit the world of

Facebook. The majority of these people may never enter

a Church, but if we are to respond to the Gospel

mandate given us by Christ to „go out to the whole

world‘, then we must include the digital world and

proclaim the Good News there also. Our challenge as

evangelizers has always been to reach out and encounter

people wherever they are - and increasingly that means

going online.

We used to ask ourselves, "What do we need to tell

people?" Now we also have to ask ourselves, "What do

people want to hear from us?" and ―How do people want

to hear from us?‖ They no longer want to wait for the

evening newscast, or the morning paper, or even the

Sunday homily. If we do not go to them, they will go

elsewhere.


When our parishioners need information, they will seek

for it and find it. When they need guidance, they look

for it and consult their social networks. When they need

community, they connect to it.

In this year‘s MESSAGE FOR THE 48TH WORLD

COMMUNICATIONS DAY, Pope Francis speaks about

‗Communication at the Service of an Authentic Culture

of Encounter‘.

The Internet, in particular, he says, ‗offers immense

possibilities for encounter and solidarity. This is

something truly good, a gift from God‘. The Holy Father

is telling us that ―today the social networks are one way

to experience this call to discover the beauty of faith, the

beauty of encountering Christ‖. We should encourage

this encounter through technology and social media. For

the record, social media requires technology, but they

are not the same thing.

Long gone are the days when to connect to the Internet

you had to fire up a modem and wait for the connection.

Now we are always on. We are the Internet. Yes you

heard that right. We ARE the internet. We are no longer

living in a world where you had a producer of content on

a website and a number of consumers. Through social

media we are the Internet.

Each one of us is a consumer and a producer on the web.

Our lives, real lives if you will, are creating content for


the social networks to consume. Actions on these

networks are extending our lives.

The Holy Father states that ―the digital world can be an

environment rich in humanity; a network not of wires

but of people.‖

The challenges facing the Church in the digital culture

and the need to effectively communicate the Word of

God to today‘s generation are that we need to learn the

language of social media, which is conversational and

interactive; to speak in a style that is accessible to a

generation accustomed to 15 second commercials and

140 character texts or ―tweets‖, who prefer content that

allows them to respond, comment and feel that they are

interacting with someone that genuinely cares.

For Pope Francis, that is the new way of evangelization

and doing pastoral work by being present in the lives of

people. The way we interpret the Holy Father‘s apostolic

exhortation Evangelii Gaudium can be nothing short of

fully utilizing the potential of social media: to be present

in people‘s lives and to share both their joys and

sorrows.

There is a temptation to see evangelization in the social

media as simply bombarding people with religious

messages. Pope Francis encourages us to go beyond this.

He challenges us to think about how we can effectively


encounter people and witness to them in, and using, new

media.

He asks: ‗Can we be available to them, hear their issues

and problems, engage with their questions and doubts

and their search for truth?‘

He continues in a beautiful passage: ‗May the image of

the Good Samaritan who tended to the wounds of the

injured man by pouring oil and wine over them be our

inspiration. Let our communication be a balm which

relieves pain and a fine wine, which gladdens hearts‘.

He urges us: ‗Let us boldly become citizens of the

digital world… in order to dialogue with people today

and to help them encounter Christ. The Church needs to

be a Church at the side of others, capable of

accompanying everyone along the way‘.

In conclusion, we have to keep in mind a number of

principles to guide us in our presence in social media:

Be positive and joyful. Remember that it is the ‗Joy of

the Gospel‘ that we are communicating, so, as Pope

Francis says: no ‗funeral faces‘.

Remember ‗Ubi caritas et amor‘. Fill the internet with

charity and love, always giving rather than taking.

Continually seek to broaden and reframe discussions and


seek to include a sense of charity and solidarity with the

suffering in the world.

Have a broad back when criticisms and insults are made

– when possible, gently correct misunderstandings and

errors. Pray in the digital world. Establish sacred spaces,

opportunities for stillness, reflection and meditation

online.

Establish on-line connections, relationships and

communities. The Church has always been about

‗gathering‘ together in the name of Jesus Christ – but it

was never said where we must meet.

Educate our young to keep themselves safe and to use

the Internet responsibly. Witness to human dignity at all

times online.

We are well-aware of the pervasive prevalence of

pornography on the Internet, which can ‗pollute the

spirit‘, destroy and degrade human sexuality and

relationships, reduce persons to objects for gratification,

draw millions into the co modification and

commercialization of sex, and feed the monster that is

human trafficking.

Last but not the least, be missionary, be aware that with

the help of the internet, a social media message has the

potential to reach the ends of the earth in seconds. In this


regard, let us foster and call forth charisms in younger

committed people who understand the power and

potential of the social media to bear witness.

That is our challenge and our privilege as Christians.

Freely we have received the joy of the gospel, so now let

us freely give it to others.

Therefore, at this moment in communication technology

is boundless opportunity for evangelization, if we are

willing to speak and listen. The back-and-forth digital

communication that is spreading like wildfire across our

dioceses is our chance to bring the gospel to millions of

Catholics. We have to be in the digital conversations.

And we have to listen, too.

Did Jesus ask His disciples to write the Bible? From

what I know, He commissioned them to ―go out…‖ just

as the Church learned how to use the book and film to

proclaim the Good News to the ends of the earth, so

today we must teach ourselves to learn these new tools

to help people find the faith in their ordinary days and in

their times of need. Thank you for listening today, and

for your willingness to be missionaries on the digital

continent.


Trying to analyze the statement; ―Go, therefore, make

disciples of all nations…‖ it looks to me Jesus knew

there would a time when we would go digital. People

are interconnected now more than ever through social

media and the World Wide Web. The potential for

evangelization through this medium is almost limitless

and many are yet explore all of its potential.

The Pope noted; I believe that it would be foolish of the

church and its members not to make use of this valuable

resource. Through the medium of social media one can

spread the gospel through videos on everything from

conversation to apologetics. Likewise the church can use

social media to spread powerful and possibly life-

changing articles which open the eyes of people to the

truth or spark an interest to learn more.

Through social media the Roman Catholic Church has

the potential to promote the gospel by promoting

Catholic books, rosary, and more. Social media catches

the eye of the world if used correctly and many Catholic

groups are doing just that.

evangelization online€¦ · youths in the world of internet and technology evangelization online...

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