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Missionaries in ...

2007-08-14T19:17:00Z

Missionaries.in is a free service that gives missionaries around the globe an outlet to share their experiences & photos. Each missionary that signs up receives their own custom page which can be used to keep in touch with their supporters. A great index of missionaries is also beginning and can be accessed with easy URLs like:

www.missionaries.in/guatemala/

www.missionaries.in/ecuador/

Visit Missionaries.in

NeedSharing: Interview

2007-07-23T16:24:00Z

Last week we had the opportunity to interview Titus Blair of the recently launched NeedSharing.org:

What is your web application/service about?

NeedSharing.org is all about people helping people. We wanted to allow people to help individuals directly so NeedSharing.org was created as a tool to help make that happen.

Why did you start this project?

In 2000 I wanted to give to help those in need as Jesus calls us to do (Matthew 25:31-46) but I found it hard to locate people in need on a large scale. I decided then and there that I wanted to create a website someday that would allow me to search for needs of all kinds in all areas of the world and help those people in need directly.

Give us some highlights of your background that have prepared you for this project.

I created the website WeaponMasters.com from scratch in 1998 and ran it until last year when I decided to devote myself 100% to the spreading of the Good News of Jesus Christ. I have always been interested in the Internet and technology every since I was a little kid. When I was 18 I taught computer animation and programming courses at College of the Canyons, Valencia CA and also created a cool computer coloring book for kids which sold on QVC. I had never truly devoted my skills to the Lord until 2006 and now my life is so amazing and I believe I am on a course I should have been on from the first day I became a Christian.

What is the size and makeup of your project team?

There are presently 3 people on the board including myself and 1 Ruby on Rails developer and 1 designer. The developer and designer are both amazingly talented and the developer is also a Christian which is really cool!

What technologies do you use in this project?

We presently use Ruby on Rails and Fireworks for graphics.

Any feature requests from users since launching last week?

Mainly our users want to add the ability to tell friends, watch a need, ask questions to people who are posting need, and flag spam needs. People also want to be able to help people whose needs are from “trusted” (verified) sources like Churches, etc. and this is under development. We want anyone and everyones ideas and suggestions as well as comments so we can build on to the current application and make NeedSharing the best it can be.

Where do you see the project heading in the next 6 months? How about the next 2 years?

Right now we are in upgrade stage and want to add new features to the site every 2-3 months. We are also in marketing mode and are working in a grass-roots marketing campaign to all churches in the USA as well as Christian non-profits. If anyone can help spread the news about NeedSharing.org we would love it! I want to personally thank you Faithable for all you are doing to help us! In the next 2-3 years I see thousands of people helping and being helped at NeedSharing.org!

What is the one thing holding you back from reaching your vision?

This is a good question. I do not believe anything is holding us back and the cool part is we are putting this 100% in God’s hands so His will is going to happen, whether that means NeedSharing.org goes huge or does not. I would say one thing that is a minor holdup is the fact that it is hard to get Ruby on Rails programmers these days!

What is the one thing you are most proud of about the project?

I am most proud of the fact that we actually have the application up and running! We are totally on board with the Get Real philosophy and Agile Development. I also love the actual design of the website and the fact that the cross is our logo! The smiley faces are really cool too and I can not wait to make and wear some “Give Now” t-shirts (see image)!

What would you say to somebody who thinks time and money have no place being spent on web ministry?

I would say that 100% of your time and money need to be spent to spread the good news to all the world. I think in some cases people abuse the non-profit and Christian/Church status to purchase very expensive houses, cars and live a very luxurious lifestyle laying up their treasures here on earth. Christians should not be about storing, they should be about giving and sharing. We want to devote 110% of all of our resources to God’s work. The Bible says it best in Luke 12:23-34 and Matthew 25:31-46.

Other than your own, what are some sites that you visit everyday?

I sometimes visit Digg.com, TechCrunch.com and am looking for the perfect Christian Drudgereport.com. It is hard to find good Christian News and Technology websites but I am always looking, let me know if you find some (www.titusblair.com)!

I want to say thank you again to Faithable and God Bless you all!

Plaid: Interview

2007-07-12T20:38:00Z

Tim Bednar is a good friend of Faithable and a leader in the pursuit towards using the Web to glorify God and impact the Church and the World. Here is an email interview with him about his current project called Plaid.

What is your web application/service about?

Plaid is shared communications and ministry tracking software. I optimized it for people doing ministry; it is not designed to manage churches. There are plenty of vendors providing enterprise level church management software. Plaid is designed to be used by ministry teams.

As a communication tool, it is easy to manage contacts, organize lists then email, print or map that list. As a tracking tool, Plaid gives you the ability to create reminders and build weekly agendas to meet the felt needs of your members. We also make it easy to track visitors and help you identify the people influenced most by your service.

It supports how people actually prepare for weekly ministry: ad hoc, just-in-time and most often without support from the church office. Plaid gets things done then it gets out of the way. We do not add administrative overhead to the daunting task of weekly ministry. It is for people who do ministry between events, often from work or home.

Plaid is for teams like youth or children’s ministries. But the free version would be great for individuals teaching a small Confirmation class or leading a MOPS table.

Why did you start this project?

Plaid evolved out of my experience as a pastor for eight years. I never found any software that actually helped me be more productive. In fact, church management software often just got in the way. It just was not designed for me.

Plaid is simple but powerful. It is designed for ministry teams. I created it to help people feel good about their service to the church. We want to make the burden of ministry a bit lighter.

What is the size and makeup of the project team?

We are a small team bootstrapping the project. I handle the web design, product management and marketing. Rob Evans started the development help us build a solid architecture using Ruby on Rails. Now the project is in the hands of Kenny Parnell for the final execution.

What technologies do you use in this project?

We are developing using Ruby on Rails; I have all kinds of wacky ideas for the future, but right now trying to keep it simple.

What are the most requested features from your users?

This project has been in development since May 2006 (the seeds of the project go back a decade). I benefit from my combined experience as a pastor and a web designer. For the beta, I am designing my dream product. I spent lots of time listening the love and hate relationship people have with existing church management software.

I have found that there is an endless list of requested features from our target audience. In my gut though, I know that many of those features actually make the product less usable. My job is to ship a useful tool that is easy to use. We are going after the “consumer” market that need something simple that works. There are plenty of enterprise solutions for this problem.

I see that the most needed features are making managing, sharing and tracking contacts easy.

Where do you see the project heading in the next 6 months? How about the next 2 years?

In the next six months, I am going to demo Plaid as much as possible. My job is to build relationships with ministry networks. Although blogosphere buzz is great for my ego, it will not contribute to the success of the project. I have been talking about Plaid to influencers inside various ministry networks. My job is to blow them away with a Plaid demo and let them spread the word.

In 2 years, Plaid has the potential to be a disruptive force in the church software market. My goal is to build a large company, but also radically change the church software sector.

What is the one thing holding you back from reaching your vision?

The one thing holding me back is having to bootstrap the project. I love my developers and they do great work. I want to pay them instead of negotiating deals based on future revenue or liquidation.

Right now, we are inches away from a product demonstration and beta release. I believe Plaid will blow people away, so once we get some attention, I will be looking for angel investment.

Do you have a business model?

Plaid’s business model is the popular freemium model popularized by 37 Signals and other Web 2.0 startups. Basically, we have several plans including a free version. Our revenue is by up-selling services to ministries that need to track more contacts and more team members.

What is new about our business model is that we are pitching Plaid directly to the ministry rather than going through the church. Our subscriptions are billed monthly because we want to bypass traditional budget restraints. I feel like if Plaid is good enough, people will pay for using it even if their church does not. But this is untested.

Understanding this risk, Plaid has other revenue models. We envision the possibility of a micro-payment model around sending rich communications (HTML email or Flash greeting cards) to your contact list. Since our customers are also buyers of curriculum and other ministry resources, we also might be able to use a sponsor or ad model.

But for now, I’m betting on the freemium business model.

How much traffic or usage do you see on an average day?

Plaid gets few hits, but that is by design. I see about 3-4 registrations for an invitation to the beta a week. I do not see the need to generate huge amounts of traffic yet, but after January 2008, I will say something different.

What is the one thing you are most proud of about the project?

I am most proud of the fact that I have stuck with this. We still have a long way to go; I have missed many opportunities by not rushing a product out the door. By the time we will have product worthy of customers, I’ll have been at this 2 years.

What would you say to somebody who thinks time and money have no place being spent on web ministry?

Great, get out of the way.

Well, that’s a bit harsh, but at this point I have little time to sell the web to leaders who do not get it. With Plaid or as a freelance designer, I try to work with people as passionate about the web as I am.

Other than your own, what are some sites that you visit everyday?

I read about 250 RSS feeds daily. But the sites I enjoy are: Google, Gmail, Basecamp, From Where I Sit, Buzz out Loud, TWiT, LifeHack, Smashing Magazine, and Found | Read.

NeedSharing

2007-07-09T15:43:00Z

Needsharing is a new non-profit marketplace between those with item-based, time-based or money-based needs and people who want to help. Simply click “I need help!” to post your need or click “I want to help!” to view the list of current need requests.

Visit Needsharing

PrayAbout.com: Interview

2007-07-03T01:37:00Z

Greg Gibson at PrayAbout.com was kind enough to participate in an email interview with Faithable.com this last week. Here is some insight into this Web 2.0 venture:

What is your web application/service about?

PrayAbout.com helps people connect worldwide by praying for each other. Members can receive email alerts when people respond, alerts when people they “subscribe” to post a request, and light virtual candles to help highlight important requests.

Why did you start this project?

I believe in the power of the web to build community. There are so many suffering people out there who can benefit from the support, encouragement and prayers of others.

What is the size and makeup of the project team?

Me, one full-time engineer and a handful of contractors spread world-wide.

What technologies do you use in this project?

Ruby on Rails, MySql, AJAX (Prototype), Subversion, Trac, Capistrano, Rake, Ferret, Mongrel, Apache.

What are the most requested features from your users?

God’s personal email address ;)

Where do you see the project heading in the next 6 months? How about the next 2 years?

Groups, multi-media (pictures, videos, etc.), SMS, IM, RSS in the next 6 months. Next 2 years: content syndication, who knows?

What is the one thing holding you back from reaching your vision?

Being able to explain how the candle lighting system works in a clear, concise manner. It’s a bit confusing.

Do you have a business model?

Yes, but that part of the business is in stealth mode, I’m afraid.

What is the one thing you are most proud of about the project?

Speed to launch! We started coding the second week of April and were live by May 1st! Ruby on Rails is speedy!

Other than your own, what are some sites that you visit everyday?

Alexa.com (for stats on other sites), Google Adwords (for getting members), Joyent (our hosting provider)’s admin tools, and, of course, eBible.com.

Part II: Ways anyone can minister online in just 5 minutes

2007-06-29T21:07:00Z

Anyone with 5 minutes and access to the Internet can do ministry online. You don’t need to be a programmer or designer or know anything other than the good news of Jesus Christ. This is part II of a series on ways to get you started doing 5 minute online ministry:

Volunteer to answer questions from seekers and new believers

Global Ministry Outreach is an exciting ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ International that has 41 outreach websites. I was talking to Walt Wilson who heads up GMO the other day and I was very encouraged to hear about the Internet Ministry going on there. They follow the Campus Crusade model of “WIN. BUILD. SEND” and to this point the focus has been on evangelism (win) with the next large focus being discipleship (build).

Every 35 seconds they receive a decision for Christ from these websites and expect 1 million decisions this year. And this isn’t just about reading the 4 spiritual laws and clicking a button – the whole ministry is based on connecting each seekers or new believer with one of hundreds of trained, online volunteers worldwide to answer questions, follow up or connect them to a local church. Sign up here and you could soon be taking 5 minutes here and there to change lives over the Internet.

Make an online loan that matters

My wife and I are completely enthralled by the world of microfinance/microcredit and the transfer of wealth to developing countries. If you want to know more I recommend picking up a copy of Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty. Kiva.org is using the web to one-by-one connect entrepreneurs in developing countries with those of us who have $25 or more to lend interest-free to help them grow their business and lift them and their families out of poverty. It is working. I have seen our first loan repaid and Margaret from Tororo, Uganda used her $500 to buy essential commodities in large quantity—sugar, salt, bread, cooking oil, washing soap, toilet soap, rice, baking powder, baking flour, matches etc. Not only has the loan helped her better provide for her and her nine children, but it has helped her village because people do not have to travel to surrounding villages to get items not before available.

This summer we have quite a few weddings to attend and the plan is to give Kiva gift certificates as wedding presents to each couple. The only thing better than extending a helping hand to someone in need is to get friends and family involved, raise awareness and multiply the work that God is doing through websites and organizations like Kiva.

Take 5 minutes and make a loan that matters.

Fourthbook

2007-06-28T19:05:00Z

Fourthbook.com is Web-based Church Management Software that was built from the ground up for the web and is free to try. It includes a Contact Management System, Financial Recording, Email Lists, Reports, Forums, Events Calendar and Shared Resources/Files.

Visit Fourthbook

Ways anyone can minister online in just 5 minutes

2007-06-27T01:43:00Z

Anyone with 5 minutes and access to the Internet can do ministry online. You don’t need to be a programmer or designer or know anything other than the good news of Jesus Christ. Here are some ways to get you started:

Pray for someone you’ve never met

Go to PrayAbout.com right now and find people who know Jesus and some who don’t. Many are desperate and aren’t sure where to turn or if pray works. You can read their story and pray for them and even respond with some encouragement and wisdom.

Go to Operation Mobilisation and view their up to the minute prayer news from around the world. They are an amazing organization that really has a heartbeat on the local Church across the globe and do a good job of communicating it to everyone. Pray for the country you have visited for vacation or maybe even a short-term mission. Pray for the country your sponsored child lives in.

Go to People2Pray.com and register for an account. Then you can connect with others that you know (and don’t know like PrayAbout) and pray for each other. We are called to community and to bear the burdens of our fellow brothers and sisters – this is a tool that helps you to do it.

Actually you can forget all the fancy websites above and just open up a good old fashioned email :-) That’s right, do a quick scan of your address book and see who God puts on your heart to pray for and then do it. Give them an email to let them know you are thinking about and praying for them.

Answer questions with Godly wisdom

Have you been to one of the many Q&A websites out there? People post questions about anything and get back great answers and silly answers. How about giving people some Godly answers?

Check out one of the sites below and look for their questions on anything from abortion to doing business (aka you don’t just have to look in the Religion and Spirituality sections). There you will find people who have questions that you can answer. They may not be perfect answers but you can use eBible.com to pull scripture from and look up topics to help ensure you are pointing them towards Jesus.

Help other people study the Bible

Now this one may be a bit biased cause we created the site … but I can’t not mention it because you can minister to yourself and to others at the same time. Go to eBible.com and sign up for an account. Now start searching and following links to other Bible passages and then “Save” or bookmark them. Don’t forget to add topic tags and notes because this is a very cool way to build up the database of information around the Bible. Try and provide personal insight and relevant application to the passages with your notes and people will see these and be ministered to as they read and study the Word of God. But here is the catch … so will you! Taking 5 minutes to read even 1 passage a day and make a note and some topic tags for it is a great way to minister to others and to yourself.

Post your other ideas as comments and maybe we’ll turn this into a blog series :-)

Youversion

2007-06-27T00:16:00Z

YouVersion was announced today but is only at the prototyping stage. It will be an “online Bible that allows users to associate video, audio, images, text, tags, and links to other websites with any verse or series of verses in the Bible. Each piece of contributed content can be labeled as public or private, so the application can be used both as a personal study tool and a public expression of user-generated commentary.”

Visit YouVersion

Faithable Web Search

2007-06-22T06:40:00Z

Search the best of the Christian Web! Use the same Google search engine we have all come to know and love to search only the best Christian websites hand selected by the editors at Faithable. Also search Christian blogs, sermons, jobs and forums.

Visit Faithable Web Search

Kiva

2007-06-21T16:04:00Z

Loans that change lives. Anyone can lend as little as $25 to an entrepreneur in the developing world to help lift them out of poverty. Microfinance is a justice revolution and Kiva is a site (created by a Christian couple) for average people to get involved today.

Visit Kiva

OpenBible Topical

2007-06-16T18:16:00Z

Mashup of the Yahoo! and ESV Bible web services that pulls topics from the web and associates Bible verses with them. Vote associated verses up or down for a topic to help improve the quality.

Visit OpenBible Topical

MinistryCamp Job Board

2007-06-15T18:35:00Z

Christian job board with RSS feed and free ad placement until August 2007.

Visit MinistryCamp Job Board

LightsTogether

2007-06-14T23:33:00Z

Create and maintain a website for your ministry group or church. Social networking for Christian individuals, groups and churches.

Visit LightsTogether

YouthRoots

2007-06-13T23:31:00Z

Online community where youth leaders create a “digital youth room”.

Visit YouthRoots