The first component of the Network211 vision is to “proclaim Christ to all people.” Network211 uses twenty-first century technology to communicate the first century gospel. An axiom of communication is that you must know your audience—their identity, their means of interaction within their communities and without, and their values. As stated in previous lectures, we must understand where they are so that we can take them where they need to be in Christ.

As technology develops, the Internet is becoming the centerpiece in the daily lives of people around the world. Imagine going through today without Internet access, without using your computer or handheld device, and without your cell phone. How would you feel and how productive would you be? What if businesses were forced to operate without technology? Your experiences in the grocery store, at your bank, and at the airport would be vastly different— frustratingly and painstakingly different.

We will begin by attempting to understand why individuals around the world use the Internet every day. People use the Internet for their own purposes: business, news, entertainment, and social networking, but they also use it to discover answers to life’s troubling issues. The issues range from the practical, like how to I change a light bulb, to the profound, such as how to discover true meaning in life. Some individuals use the Internet for personal improvement such as how to learn to play a musical instrument or to learn another language while others will feed the desires of their flesh, which will lead to their spiritual demise.

For many people, their activity in the cyber world is so involved and captures so much of their time and attention that their virtual presence IS their reality. The stereotype for younger people is that they spend multiple hours each day playing video games. Other individuals actively engage on social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I found it interesting that Facebook once suggested an online article revealing seven actions that make people productive and one of the items listed was to stay off Facebook.

The time has arrived for us to recognize that “Internet Users” is indeed a people group and that, as believers who seek to fulfill the Great Commission, we have an open door and immediate access into the hearts and lives of individuals around the world. With 50 percent of the world’s population using the Internet, we have an unprecedented opportunity to impact people instantly as they reach out to find someone with whom they can interact on a variety of levels. This is the “commonality” that we discovered in our examination of missiological strategies. This touches on why people use the Internet.

I submit you to that members of the people group I am calling, “Internet Users” have developed a new mindset, a new manner of looking at themselves and how they fit into society. I call this new identity “Global Individuality.” While individuals participating in the “Internet Users” community will not recognize this label, once they learn of it, they have to admit that it applies to them on some level.

I would describe Global Individuality as the mindset that “I am in control of my life.” I can do anything, with anyone, and be anyone I want to be in a virtual “on demand” world. I am not limited by geography, nationality, religion, economic status, culture, gender, or language. I can create my identity, develop my persona, and promote my personal brand. I am looking for online communities to join so that I can grow in my areas of interest, interact with like-minded people, and have a sense of belonging.¹

I used the word “global” because the Internet User is not limited by location. Online, you are in the cyber world and can communicate with anyone on the globe. You can play video games with someone in Russia. You can “FaceTime” family in Argentina. You can watch a video placed on Facebook by the missionary you support who is in a “sensitive nation.” I have seen a husband so overwhelmed and frustrated by the choices while standing in front of a long grocery store aisle filled with cereals that he video Skyped his wife for help.

You can receive emails from friends in Japan just as easily as you can from your friends in Florida. You can order online from China, South Africa, or Los Angeles. You can watch videos of church services from the International English Service in Jakarta, Indonesia or from James River in Ozark, Missouri. You can follow your favorite sports team be they a professional football team in the USA or a professional soccer club in the English Premier League. The world is just a click away. Access to everyone, everywhere is as easy as using your handheld device. In the real world, people face the limitation of time, space, and finances, but in the virtual world, we are global citizens interacting with others in our “Internet Users” people group.

I use the word “Individuality” because it emphasizes the individual, the person. To me, “individualism” implies that I can stand out among others; be unique in the context of my group. “Individuality” means that I can be whomever I want regardless of my context. In fact, I choose the contexts where I want to be. No longer am I limited by the realities of my actual life, such as nationality, language, social status, or economic status. If I choose, I can present my identity online in one community as vastly altered from my identity in a different community.

People are using the Internet to discover answers to their life questions. An example of this is found in the Muslim world were individuals go online to learn about Jesus. In the book, Living among the Breakage, Duane Alexander Miller shared a quote from a respondent to a survey about how Muslims are coming to Christ:

In a closed society, there is a limited amount of information that Muslims could get access to about Christians and rumors and pseudo facts about Christianity were (and still are) widely held (Bible has been changed, Christians worship 3 Gods). However, from the privacy of one’s home or from the ease of a local internet café Muslims can search and try to find out for themselves whether it is true or not. Also, they can ask Google and not have to face the shame of asking a friend about their quest for truth.²

This is an example of the “Global Individuality” mindset in action and it is active in the “Internet Users” people group in virtually every country and territory in the world. The Internet empowers people with the opportunity to question, dream, search, research, and go beyond their physical, social, and religious limitations. This presents the Church with an unprecedented open door into the hearts and minds of people who are searching. We must maximize this opportunity by engaging them where they are, journeying with them, and taking them to where they need to be in Christ.

The target audience for Network211 is the individual. “Global Individuality” brings people to the Internet marketplace so that they can seek answers and exchange ideas.

Network211 is there with them, ready to engage them about the love of Jesus Christ and to join them in their spiritual journey. Over 30 million people from 244 countries and territories have visited one of our websites. This means that over 30 million individuals were seeking and found us. We did not broadcast our evangelism content like the Super Bowl so millions of people could watch it simultaneously. Instead, one by one, we answer people who are searching, seeking, and visiting one of our sites.

Our focus is the individual. Some ministries create materials to equip others to teach.

Other ministries do the training of people to minister to a target audience. Network211 leverages technology to get the message of Jesus Christ in front of individuals worldwide via their computers and handheld devices. Arguably, this is the most cost effective missions endeavor ever.

The mindset of “Global Individuality” within the “Internet Users” people group creates an unprecedented opportunity to present the Good News to individuals on a global scale. The most frequent entry point into “The Journey” with Network211 is when individuals Google matters pertaining to their heart—common life issues in most cultures. They go online seeking answers for the dilemmas of life. Network211 offers two main evangelism sites that address the issues commonly searched: www.JourneyAnswers.com and www.WhoJesusIs.com.

JourneyAnswers.com presents thirteen life issues that are relevant in most cultures: anxiety, brokenness, confusion, death, depression, emptiness, fear, guilt, hopelessness, illness, love, and shame. Individuals use a search engine, like Google, and type their life issue.

Network211 buys advertising words, which plays a major role in our website addresses moving closer to page one on the search engine. The seeker finds our site and makes a visit by viewing our content.

A video will begin that states the life issue and reveals that Jesus Christ is the answer to the problem. We invite the viewer to pray a salvation prayer and to indicate their response by clicking a response button and writing to us. When the person clicks a button, we call that an “evangelism response” because it is a response to the evangelism presentation. When viewers write, we call that a “discipleship connection” and we then call them an “Inquirer.”

The website has an anchor article plus supplemental video testimonies, articles, and Bible verses. Also, it offers a “free gift,” which is a series of lessons the viewer can receive that addresses the topic at hand. We have discovered that this feature is very popular, as people desire more content and having it “pushed” to them via email.

Network211 started Project 10Million and launched it officially on October 15, 2008. The goal was to make 10 million gospel presentations or visits in ten years. As the team was comprised of missionaries who were learning the Internet, we really did not know how long it would take to fulfill this ambitious goal. Yet, we prayed and asked the Lord to complete it in ten years—one million visits a year for ten years. We praise the Lord that Project 10Million was completed in five years on October 14, 2013.

Project 10Million then became Project 100Million. We praise the Lord that as we approach the ninth anniversary of the launch of Project 10Million, we have seen over 30.1 million visitors from 244 countries and territories, over 1.4 million evangelism responses, and over 260,000 discipleship connections. Again, these are individuals who are seeking and finding Christ as their answer.

At the Network211 Board of Directors meeting in September 2017, it was reported that of the 29 million visitors, at that time, 6.2 million were from Eurasia, 5.2 million from Latin America and Caribbean, 5.2 million from Asia Pacific, 4.4 million from Northern Asia, 4.1 million from Africa, 2.6 million from North America, and almost one million from Europe.

Other reports for that meeting included:

• In the “Arabic Speaking Nations” list, we reported 1,835,610 visitors, with 61,890 making an evangelism response, and 8,629 writing to begin a discipleship
• In “Nations with Least Number of Christians” we reported 1,250,156 visitors, with 64,991 making an evangelism response, and 8,936 writing to begin a discipleship
• In “Top Ten Most Dangerous Countries for Christians” we reported 654,745 visitors, with 21,876 making an evangelism response, and 2,448 writing to begin a discipleship

Individuals from around the world write us and make a “connection.” Within 48-hours, response teams, called “1-2-1 Connectors,” contact the person with a biblical answer to their request. We have learned that many Inquirers are surprised when a real person responds and provides a caring personal remark and a scriptural answer. Our Connectors lead the Inquirers to our online discipleship pathway called “The Jesus Path” and to our online discipleship content, which we call Global Christian Center (GCC) and will soon transition to “JourneyOnline.” It will feature content to help Inquirers apply God’s truth to their daily lives.

In a “Global Individuality” mindset, Inquirers will write and be very open in revealing their life issues, often in detail. Surprisingly, people often share freely with people they do not even know. In fact, one woman wrote, “Because I don’t know you, I feel that I can trust you.” Here are some examples of what people write to us:

• “I have never been truly loved and feel that God has never loved me either! I have been used, abused, beaten, raped and discarded by most the people in my life! Those that didn’t treat me like this, and made me feel the love of family and friendship, have left me in passing away or finding true love of their own! I am empty and alone and feel worthless!” (Woman, USA).
• “I was struggle with a past abortion, because this child was not needed by anyone, I do not need anyone myself, and now I think how much he was already, how old he would be, would have become my support, and I’m a murderer, it was a boy, I There’s nobody to talk to, the children do not listen, To provide them for nothing, at work I have no friends with anyone, I do not know why, everyone shuns, the boss offends. And God is silent. I have no way out. I’m going to sleep and ask God for a quick death, I’m tired of enduring, everything hurts” (Woman, Ukraine).
• “My dad is a Muslim and my mum a My dad is not taken care of me because am a Christian. What should I do” (Woman, Ghana).

Also, they will tell us about their victories. Here are some examples:

• “I am trying to find God, but I don’t know where to start searching, my love told me to type into google ‘who is jesus’ and pick the first site that grabbed me, it was this one. I don’t yet believe, I don’t know how, but I want to” (Man, United Kingdom).
• “I found this page open on my cell phone, just after my young son was playing with my I have taken this as a revelation that it is time to give my life to God and it is He who guides my steps. Thank you very much” (Woman, Panama).

Years ago, a young lady from New Zealand was at the point of suicide and Googled her life issue. She found Journey Answers, viewed the content, clicked a button, and wrote to us. She interacted with the same 1-2-1 Connector for over three years. She told her story of neglect, sexual abuse, and her regular cutting of herself “because it made me feel alive.” It was due to the interaction with the 1-2-1 Connector that she gave her heart to Jesus. She wrote that our ministry saved her life and taught her to walk in her new Christian faith. She enrolled in a Bible college with a double major and started a ministry to the deaf in her church. A simple Google search led her to Jesus, to a community of faith, and to a new life in Christ.

This testimony shows the subsequent steps that we take with our Inquirers. We will lead them to “Grow” with our online discipleship content that we will call “JourneyOnline,” direct them to “Belong,” and we lead them to a local church in their village, town, or city. The phase we use to help people discover and grow in their journey with God is that we move people from “searches to churches.” We praise the Lord that over 19.5 million individuals have viewed Journey Answers in fourteen languages.

The second major Network211 evangelism resource is called “Who Jesus Is.” Like Journey Answers, this site offers a video and an article. Over 6.8 million individuals have viewed this site in ten languages. It provides biblical answers to the question, “Who is Jesus?” and has proven to be effective. Our plan is to increase content on this site so viewers can gain an even greater understanding of who Jesus is.

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1. Seth Godin’s book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2008), provides insight as to the importance of communities in society today.

2. Duane Alexander Miller, Living among the Breakage: Contextual Theology-Making and Ex-Muslim Christians (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2016), Location 2495 of 6506. Kindle.