In two years, BGEA’s newest ministry, Search for Jesus, has reached more than 15 million people online through Internet evangelism. Trained SFJ volunteers around the country serve as e-counselors and discipleship coaches, sharing the Gospel and nurturing new believers.
Search for Jesus hosted its first SFJ Volunteers Conference July 19-21 to meet volunteers around the country, share the exciting vision for Internet evangelism and offer additional training.
A couple of volunteers took the time to share their experiences.
Charlotte Angles, TN
Charlotte Angles received an email from BGEA with an interesting link about online evangelism.
“It said ‘Christians like you'” can do this, she said.
Now a year into the ministry as an online counselor and discipleship coach, she said she’s been truly blessed. She knows what it’s like to feel useless, weak or discouraged, and said her own past ups and downs help her relate to those she interacts with online.
A core part of the SFJ ministry is an evangelistic website called PeaceWithGod.net. SFJ volunteers can chat with people around the world who have questions while visiting the site.
Angles, a writer and speaker, was nervous the first time she went online to chat, but said she doesn’t have to be a professional theologian to help someone.
“God wants to use us just as we are,” she said.
She recalls one man she chatted with who didn’t think God would forgive him. Angles encouraged him and pointed to Scripture, and the man committed his life to Christ.
Stephen Asare, Ohio
Stephen Asare moved to the United States from Ghana 10 years ago. He’s married with a 10-month-old son and works as a quality assurance analyst at a bank.
Asare regularly visits billygraham.org to read the daily devotions. He remembers reading about SFJ on the website and started volunteering in June 2012 as a university student.
Because Asare has been around two very different cultures, he can relate to people from various countries. He reached out to one person in Nigeria.
Asare does outreach with his church and occasionally talks to strangers on the street about faith. But he never knows how they will react, and many don’t want to talk about specific issues they might have. Online, it’s different.
“Online, they are reaching out to you,” he said.
Asare volunteers online after work once his son is in bed. His friends were skeptical at first, wondering if people would really chat with him online, but they have seen the overwhelming need for someone like Asare.
“Now they think it’s a great opportunity,” he said.
You have a chance to get involved in Search for Jesus, too! Click here to find out how. Note that some individual volunteer opportunities are currently closed as we process and train other applicants. Leave your information so the Search for Jesus team can contact you when those opportunities reopen.
