I was considering these thoughts as I was surveying the crowd at the Dallas Mavericks basketball game. Yes, I could respond as a missionary to their spiritual needs and use the Indigenous Principles strategy. But, I realized quickly that I could not do this alone and so I would need to enlist the help of others. The Cooperative Multinational approach would be even more effective because I would be blessed and be a blessing by working in cooperation with other people and their teams.

Again, I asked myself: “How can I tell these people about the love of Jesus? This is an overwhelming task that would take me years to address adequately. Suddenly, the referee blew his whistle because the visiting team had called a time out. Something happened that changed my strategy. In fact, it was so impactful that it might even alter our missiological approach to global evangelism and discipleship. When the referee blew his whistle, the crowd reacted like Pavlov’s dogs salivating at the stimulus. Almost every individual in the crowd reached immediately for his or her cell phone. Some people checked their emails, some searched the Internet, and others took pictures of the athletes or took “selfies.”

When they reached for their cell phones, a voice in my head said, “I got you!” I am the President and Ministry Director of Network211, an Internet ministry. We use twenty-first century technology to communicate the first century gospel. With the aforementioned missiological strategies, I can attempt to “push” the gospel to them. However, a new opportunity has arisen as people go on the Internet marketplace looking for someone to engage them in conversation, to make them feel better about life, and to answer the day’s lingering questions. Instead of “pushing” the gospel to them, they are reaching out and trying to “pull” in someone with an answer.

According to Internet World Stats, approximately 3.8 billion people use the Internet, as of June 30, 2017.⁸ That is over one-half of the estimated world population. Arguably, “Internet Users” is the largest people group in history. The site states that the Internet has reached over 31 percent of the total population of Africa, 46 percent of Asia, 79 percent of Europe, 61 percent of Latin America, 59 percent of Middle East, 88 percent of North America, and 70 percent of Oceania and Australia.⁹ As missionaries, we can employ the Indigenous Church Principles and Cooperative Multinationalism philosophy to address a new people group, “Internet Users.”

Individuals from every continent, nation, economic status, religious belief, gender, political viewpoint, language group, marital status, parental status, and ethnicity go online searching for answers to the dilemmas of life and are seeking to engage someone in conversation. People of different religions, political views, and various motives are readily available to answer them, so we, as the Church, must also be online to tell them about Jesus.

Network211 uses the Internet as a tool to share the gospel. As I convey the vision, mission, and core strategy of Network211, you will see that the aforementioned missiological strategies form the foundation for this prototype of twenty-first century evangelism and discipleship.

The vision of Network211 is to proclaim Christ to all people, build a global community of believers, and work with our partners in ministry. Clearly, the three themes of Cooperative Multinationalism are foundational to our vision. We believe that discovering “commonalities in culture and human nature” are an open door to proclaiming Christ to all people. The “universality of the gospel” means that we can center a global community of believers around Jesus Christ and the Word of God. Finally, “cooperation in ministry” allows us to work with our partners in ministry on a global scale.

The mission of Network211 is to use twenty-first century technology to communicate the first century gospel by helping people discover and grow in their journey with God. Every individual in the world is on a journey called life. While some individuals acknowledge the spiritual aspect of their personal journey, others ignore it. Our goal is to help people discover and grow in their journey with God. As people engage our online communities, they can journey with us where they are so we can take them where they need to be in Christ. Some individuals start with an introduction to who Jesus is while others need a basic discipleship pathway.

The core strategy of Network211 is to implement the vision and mission by taking individuals on a journey with five phases: search, present, connect, grow, and belong. We will consider briefly each phase.

The Journey: Search.

People from all walks of life go online for various reasons: business, news, entertainment, and social networking. They also go online to seek answers for the troubling dilemmas of life.

Internet searching is so common worldwide that the term “Google” is used in daily conversations.

Years ago, I remembered standing on the street corner in Barcelona, Spain, seeking to hand out gospel tracts to people. Most of the visitors to the city were there to attend the Mundial, the World Cup futbol tournament that captivated most of the world at that time. As I stood on the street corner, I did my best to distribute as many tracts as possible because the gospel message must be proclaimed and it would change people’s lives—if only I could get them to receive the pamphlet and read it!

Today, people go on the Internet marketplace in search of answers to their personal issues and looking for someone to present them with answers. The Network211 strategy to present the gospel begins with engaging people on the issues that are important to them. In other words, engage people where they are and then take them to where they need to be in Christ.

An immediate question arises: “How do they find your sites?” The short answer is that we are a Google partner. We leverage Google by purchasing advertising words, combined with many factors such as organic searches, so that our evangelism sites move towards page one in a Google search. When our website appear closer to page one, the more visitors we will engage.

The Journey: Present

When people are searching for an answer, we must present our message clearly and concisely. They are looking for an immediate response that will encourage them to interact with our content while we are seeking a depth of engagement so that we can discuss spiritual matters. So, we leverage their need for immediacy by moving quickly to the core of our presentation—the message of Jesus Christ.

The Network211 strategy to present the gospel is to move the focus of the interaction to Jesus Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to take over. We present the Truth, the Holy Spirit cuts to the core being of the viewer to bring life, hope, and conviction of sin, and the viewer is encouraged to respond by clicking a button and writing to us. Unlike my days of standing on a street corner in Spain, we do not have to do whatever we can to gain the attention of people passing by. Instead, that have come to our site, they are seeking solutions, and we have an opportunity, an open door to their hearts and minds, to present the Truth of Jesus Christ.

The Journey: Connect

One component of our strategy that continues to surprise our site visitors is that we want to engage them in conversation. We encourage them to write to us and we respond, ideally within forty-eight hours. Our teams, called “1-2-1 Connectors,” respond to the “Inquirer” by addressing their issue with a biblical response. They are not counselors but rather spiritually mature believers who provide answers to life’s issues from God’s Word, the Bible. Inquirers often reveal their inner most secrets and heart-felt prayer requests. They admit that they would not share openly with us if we were in the same room, but they feel a sense of security and even anonymity online.

The Network211 strategy to present the gospel continues with engaging individuals at their point of need and providing them with the Truth of God’s Word. Our 1-2-1 Connectors are trained to lead the Inquirers to our online church and then to direct them to a local church in their village, town, or city—whenever this is possible.

Keep in mind that we interface with believers as well as unbelievers on our evangelism sites. Frequently, believers are searching for answers on life issues—such as depression, love, and even how to commit suicide. We have an open door into their lives to remind them of the love of Christ, to encourage them in realizing that life is indeed worth living, and extending hope. Salvation is an ongoing process, as “we are saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved.” When we speaking into the lives of believers and encourage them to continue their journey with Christ, we address the middle position: “we are being saved.”

The Journey: Grow

Our interaction begins with most people at the point of helping them to discover their journey with God, which we call “evangelism.” Of equal importance is “discipleship,” as we seek to help people grow in their journey with God. Our 1-2-1 Connector response teams direct individuals immediately to “The Jesus Path,” our online discipleship pathway. Then, they lead the individuals to Global Christian Center, our online church. This site includes 6,000 articles, including videos and audio content designed to help people grow in their relationship with the Lord. Also, we provide Global Friend Link, an online life group in a social network format, like Facebook, so new believers can enter a community with other believers and focus on Jesus Christ and what He has done for them.

Soon, Global Christian Center will become “Journey Online” with a focus on being an online community of faith where individuals can learn to apply God’s Word to daily life. The components of Global Christian Center will remain such as a weekly video service, podcasts, and articles. However, the focus will be on personal discipleship.

The Network211 strategy to present the gospel leads to discipleship so that individuals around the world can grow in their relationship with the Lord. This addresses the Internet searches of people who are seeking answers to life’s dilemmas and who need a more in-depth response as to how God will journey with them.

The Journey: Belong

The Network211 1-2-1 Connector teams are trained to request the Inquirer’s contact information and, with permission, forward that to a Pastor so that he or she can be directed to a local church. The Network211 strategy to present the gospel directs individuals to a local church where they can enter into a community of faith and grow spiritually as a member of the family of God.

The core strategy of Network211 is to help individuals discover and grow in their journey with God. The five phases are search, present, connect, grow, and belong, the essence of which is captured in the phrase “searches to churches.” This is an opportunity of such magnitude that we must capitalize on it and use it for God’s glory.

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8. Internet World Stats, “Internet Usage Statistics,” accessed August 24, 2017, http://www.internetworld
stats.com/stats.htm.

9. Ibid.