Since early 2011, more than 36 million people worldwide have visited the evangelistic website, PeaceWithGod.net, part of BGEA’s Internet evangelism ministry, Search for Jesus. The site explains the Gospel in simple terms and gives people a chance to respond to it. More than 7 million people have done just that, indicating a decision to commit their lives to Christ.
But there’s a lot more to the story. This global outreach wouldn’t be possible without hundreds of trained volunteers, including one who took his online ministry with him when he moved abroad.
As a former soldier and longtime physician, Bob Milton doesn’t like to sit still.
After six years in the U.S. Army and more than 50 years as a general practitioner, he retired, but didn’t want his skills going to waste.
So what did he do?
First, he went through training to become an online volunteer with BGEA’s Internet evangelism ministry, Search for Jesus (SFJ). Then he and his wife moved to Ecuador where Bob plans to become a medical missionary.
It’s the perfect pairing.
“I think I am blessed beyond measure to be able to do this,” he said about his work with SFJ.
For more than three decades, Bob, now 81, ran his own practice in northern California. He loved it, but by retirement, started looking for something that was “full-time serving the kingdom of heaven.”
SFJ, he said, “exactly fit with the talents I’ve been blessed with.” He’s spent decades meeting people’s physical needs, but now he can speak into their spiritual needs, too.
In the past four years, more than 400 people around the U.S. have decided to make SFJ their personal ministry, going through intensive training to become a volunteer and serve in one of three ways.
Bob serves as a chat coach, making himself available online so that PeaceWithGod.net visitors who want to talk can start an online chat conversation with a live person. Bob prays with people online and answers their spiritual questions, always pointing them to Jesus Christ.
And because of his schedule, he’s able to volunteer during times that others can’t.
He started out volunteering in the early morning hours, when most other volunteers—scattered across the U.S.—are still asleep.
“Not very many people want to take that time slot,” he said.
He has since changed his hours, but still volunteers first thing in the morning. And although volunteering as a chat coach requires only a couple of hours each week, Bob makes time to chat seven days a week.
He joined the SFJ team in January 2013, and in the past few years, has chatted with a lot of people online.
Some get off topic or come to Bob with negative comments, but “when you have a person accept Jesus through this process, it’s wonderful,” he said.
Bob also serves as a Gideon, sharing the Gospel with people in person, and distributing Bibles to schools, hotels, hospitals and doctor’s offices. He’s also given Bibles to police officers and military personnel.
Through Gideons International, Bob gives away a lot of New Testaments, but doesn’t always know how people will use them.
“I believe chats are the same way,” he said.
He tells hundreds of people about Jesus, but isn’t always privy to the effect it has on them. Still, he’s confident God is using him online and finds joy in sharing life-saving news with people around the world.
“You never know when something good will come,” he said. “The Word is out there … and it doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Bob moved to Ecuador in July, and once he gets his medical license there, he plans to provide free medical care to orphanages, expatriates and locals. It’s also a great way to share his faith, he said, adding that many people there define themselves as Christians, but “not many of them have a personal relationship with Jesus.”
It seems he has his job cut out for him.
You, too, can share the Gospel right where you are. Join the Search for Jesus team.
