The Immaculate Conception Parish in Harbin, northeastern China, is making full use of digital technology with a comprehensive evangelization program that is run entirely online. The parish’s team of 10 online evangelizers comprises priests, church workers and students. “I deliberately chose people from various walks of life so we could draw on their collective wisdom and different talents,” said Father Joseph Zhao, the parish priest.
The team spreads the word through the parish’s extensive website as well as instant messaging groups, chatrooms, video casts, blogs and mobile text messages. More than 300 people, including non-Catholics, now receive a text message from the parish every morning containing a Bible verse as a thought for the day. Their efforts are already starting to bear fruit. “One of our volunteers started an online dialogue with two non-Christians and introduced God and the Church to them,” said team member Niu Yanhui. “One of them is going to be baptized soon.”Niu, a 27-year-old office worker, is responsible for moderating a chatroom, producing a daily online breviary, and sharing articles, ideas and discussions with netizens in the evenings after finishing her day's job. She believes that her assigned tasks have helped her strengthen her faith and enrich herself. “Now I see a lot of things in daily life that can be a good starting point for an online discussion. Sharing them with fellow netizens inspires me. It also helps me to improve my weaknesses and it’s even helped me to be more considerate to my colleagues at work.”
“The internet is not the only way to evangelize,” said Father Zhao, “but it’s certainly an important tool for communicating with people and introducing Jesus Christ.”
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