July 18-24, 2011
Editorial
Editorial: Using the Internet as a powerful tool for evangelism
Translated by Lydia Ma
Words are symbols that have withstood the test of time because they have carried important information down the ages without losing the original meaning and intent of the writer. It’s precisely because words are so powerful that human lives have been changed so significantly in the past 1,000 years or so since the Bible was circulated.
In 1875, when Rev. Thomas Barclay came to Taiwan and began a mass education movement, he taught the people to read the Bible and Taiwan Church News through learning POJ.
In more recent times and with the invention of other forms of media, photos and videos have been added to written reports as important means of communication. For example, communications ministry now includes many modes of communication other than print media, including motion pictures, radio, social media, etc. Many ministries actually use a combination of these modes to get their messages through and share the gospel with others.
Taiwan Church Press launched its internet ministry in early 2011 with the unveiling of “Taiwan Church News Network” (TCNN). In many ways, TCNN’s debut is not surprising because communication is no longer limited to print media. There is another mode of communication that can reach more people in a shorter timespan – Internet.
TCNN was created partly because we knew there were some powerful qualities or aspects of Internet media that cannot be translated or captured in print media, such as sound, video footage, and breaking news. So, TCNN was created to supplement the existing print newspaper.
To make better use of TCNN and boost its immediacy, future reports on the site will no longer be restricted to articles reported on Taiwan Church News. We will be adding local news from all parts of Taiwan also and as they become known.
For communication ministries to continue impacting and changing lives, we must expand our ministries to include the “www” world in which we live in. TCNN is only a beginning and we covet your prayer and financial support because we have very limited resources. We hope that with your support, TCNN can grow up strong and be an effective tool to share the gospel.
For more on TCNN, please go to www.tcnn.org.tw