NEW EDOT WEBSITE

You might be wondering “how much work went into this website?”  About 175 hours by one person, not to mention the countless hours spent by others who contributed in multiple ways including GEMStone Media (also a ministry of Greater Europe Mission) who created the design for this website.  This truly was a team effort.

The next question might be “what makes it tick?”  The easy answer is Wordpress with a LOT of plugins.  There’s also a slew of custom code to make things like the menu interactive (based on code from Andrew Sellick), allow the use of special fonts (sIFR), and create the cool country map (February 2009 Issue of .NET Magazine).  We also had to customize many of the Wordpress plugins to fit our needs.  Because Wordpress is free and because the plugins we used are free, we’d like to list them here for you to give credit where it’s due.  Oh, and we also found out that if you have more plugins installed then the ones listed below, you can crash Wordpress….

I’m impressed if you read through the entire list!  This website was a fun project that we hope you enjoy.  Thank you to the whole eDOT team who put aside schedules and other work to help me complete it.  To God by the glory!

FrontlineSMS LogoYou feel the familiar vibration of your cell phone ringing in your pocket.  You pull it out to read the newly received SMS/Text message saying that your fellow church member’s biopsy results show that she is clear of cancer.  You breath a sigh of relief as you have been praying for the results to come in quickly.  You regularly receive updates via SMS from people in your church as it uses an SMS broadcast system that allows members to send out prayer requests, praises, and other announcements.

According to MobileMag.com, Brits send one billion SMS messages per week.  Text messaging is a huge communication tool being used world wide.  Even in areas where Internet connectivity is scarce, cell phones are a regular part of people’s attire and in many areas, text messaging is cheaper than making the actual phone call to communicate the same information.

eDOT has been learning to use the free software for non-profits called FrontlineSMS (www.FrontlineSMS.com) to be able to harness the power of text messaging as a communication tool.  With this tool, we are looking at all the different ways to use SMS like:

  • Broadcast SMS sending for prayer groups, team communications, etc.
  • Auto-reply messages to distribute videos (made especially for a cell phone), retrieve crop reports/marketing pricing in areas where there’s no Internet, messages of hope for those in crisis, etc.
  • SMS interaction with websites including polls, to log information from those distributed in the field, etc.

SMS/Text messaging is one of those technologies that most ministries don’t think about until we talk with them about how it can be used to enhance what it is they’re called to do.  We believe that there will be a greater need for the use of this technology as we move forward and are preparing ourselves to help ministries harness these capabilities.  Want to help?  Contact us and let’s talk!

Missionaries from the 10/40 Window are finding fertile ground for the Gospel in Europe.

Ephesians 6:19  “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.“

Europe hosted 11 percent of the world’s population in 2007; this figure is expected to decrease to 7 percent by 2050.

John 3:16   “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.“

No country in Europe is keeping up with the replacement fertility rate of 2.1; averages hover at 1.4.

2 Peter 3:9   “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.“

While the Gospel has advanced in most countries during the past 250 years, in Europe it has declined.

Luke 19:10   “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.“

Islam claims many more adherents.

Ephesians 3:6   “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.“

Less than two percent of the peoples in Europe actively follow Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:14   “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.“

connectapril2009Planting Seeds in Ukraine

“This trip opened my eyes to the possibilities my
church family has to fulfill the Great Commission in
partnership with healthy churches in other parts of
the world. What a blessing it was to go with a team
from my own church, including my 12-year-old son, Luke!.”
Glen, pastor of Crossroads Church, Albert Lea, Minnesota

Quick View (152 KB pdf) | Print Version (1.9 MB pdf)

connectmarch2009We Won!

“After Courtney shared stories of lives changed
through the outreach, the emotion we felt was
overwhelming, an awesome reminder of
why we’re in Europe.”
Laura, eDOT missionary

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