My name is Garry Knighton.  I work with the Church of Christ/North in Shreveport, Louisiana and have been with them since 1987.   We are appealing to you because the very fact that you are reading this indicated that you have a heart to see the work of God flourish throughout the world.

    Probably the most important question I could ask you right now is, how serious are you about getting the Gospel out to the world? As the body of Christ, Jesus commissioned us to take the message to the whole world. He did not say how. He just said to get it done... and we have found a way that is working all over the world. Many of you may not feel you can make a real difference, but with this ministry you CAN!

    The internet has opened a whole new kind of communication to the world. While the internet has its trash, it certainly also has it's treasures.

    Our congregation has had a long standing presence on the internet. We were among the first FIVE churches in the world on the internet.. We were the THIRD Church of Christ. It may also interest you to know that the Church of Christ was the FIRST church to post a working web page on the internet. Because of our early history we are listed on the first page of all the major search engines. For any computer wise person, that will tell you of our positioning on the web.

    Church of Christ/North first went on the World Wide Web in 1995 through the diligent work of Vic Phares and Kevin Lovelace. Though these two men are no longer active in our site, they are both very much involved in other areas of internet ministry. Our site is currently maintained by our Webmaster, Al Bateman.

    As far back as we have statistics, our internet site has assisted some 300+ people per day, seven days a week, 52 weeks per year. The traffic has continued to increase and over the last couple of years it has really blossomed. Our current average of visitors per day for the year 2002 stands at about 900 per day, 6,300 per week and 28,000 per month. To put this in perspective, this would be like having 6,300 visitors to your congregation PER WEEK, every week of the year. AMAZING!

    The internet, as it has from the beginning, is continuing to grow. Presently there are about 22,000 English speaking people coming on the internet every day. As you can well see, the numbers alone represent an opportunity for us to get the GOSPEL out for the world to hear... and it CAN BE DONE! Not only CAN it be done... It IS being done. All it takes is someone who is willing to teach it and someone who is willing to SEND it.

    There is a major misconception among churches on the internet. Many churches post a web page giving the location and meeting times of their particular congregation, make a few statements about Christ and believe they are getting the message out. Others write articles on this subject of salvation and suppose that by wading through all that ink the gospel will be preached.  Perhaps it will.

THIS IS HOW WE ARE DOING IT!
    We have all those things on our site... and then some. But, what we have done is developed a presentation of the GOSPEL on a CD (compact disk), that when played, will both visually and audibly teach the student on the other end the saving message of Jesus Christ. It will teach them of a God who became flesh, died on the cross for their sins, beat the grave by His resurrection, ascended back into heaven to work as a High Priest for every believer and is coming again to judge the world and reward the faithful. And then, it teaches what the student must do to fulfill God's offer.

    Jesus made it very clear to each believer living at the time and for all who would follow, that our mission in life was to share the message of the Gospel to the world. According to a statement that Paul made in the Book of Colossians, the early church had completed their mission to the whole world. The Gospel had been preached to every nation in their lifetime. As far as any of us knows, it has never been done since. The internet does not promise to take the Gospel to the "whole" world, but remember that there are millions of precious souls out there with internet access. Among them are more than 220 million English speaking people. That means that nearly half the population of the internet speaks a language through which you and I can communicate.

    Think of the opportunities. As the Gospel CD goes out around the world there will be a potential of millions of people hearing the Gospel. There will be some who reject the message, just like they do when someone personally sits down and shares with them. However, there will be some who embrace it and join in covenant with Jesus Christ. There will still be others who will have the SEED of the Gospel planted within their hearts that may come to life years later. As a result, there will be a need for helpers among our brothers to assist them as they grow in Christ. This will give many of our people who are internet capable the opportunity to work in a teaching and support role through their personal computers. Honestly, there will be no way that our congregation can handle that alone.

    Here is something to remember. When you make the gospel available through the television, radio or newspaper you have an audience within those mediums who can potentially hear the message. It is there, but they did not ask you to put it there. These ministries demand a curiosity on the behalf of the reader or listener to extract for themselves what has been placed before them. On the other hand, with the FREE Gospel CD, they are SPECIFICALLY REQUESTING the presentation. It is almost as if they are asking, "Men and brethren, what must I do to be saved?"

WE NEED YOUR HELP!
    We have asked God to guide us to 365 people or groups, one for each day of the year, in the Body of Christ who would be willing to help us with this awesome task of getting the Gospel out to the world. Presently, it is costing us $69.00 per day on an average to make this message available to those who are ASKING to see and hear it. We have a few funds coming in each month from other concerned individuals and churches. But, it is not nearly enough. It still leaves us $50.00 per day short. So, we are asking you to search your heart and see if you can Take-A-Day in the year 2003 and support this ministry. Over the period of a year this would amount to only $.14 per day. 14 cents seems so very little when compared to the reward of knowing you personally taught 45+ people who ASKED to hear, the Gospel. 14 cents a day from 365 people or groups could help get the message out in places where it might never otherwise go. The internet is everywhere and this ministry is a living testimony of that fact.

    What if you picked your birthday or your anniversary as your day? Not only would it be special because it was your birthday, but it would be a special day because you would know that you were responsible for teaching people all over the world the saving message of Jesus Christ.

    There will be some of you who would like to take a day every month or perhaps several days out of the year. Take a week or a month. Get your classmates together in you Bible school class and share this opportunity with them. Pool your resources and take a few days as a group.

    Each day as we work up the records, we will print a report for that day and mail it to whoever chose that day as their Free Gospel CD Day. In the report you will note that it is divided into two areas: The USA and Out of the USA. There will be a summary of the number of orders for each area and a listing of the City, State and Country where the CD's were mailed. If you take more than one day in consecutive order... two days, three days, a week or a month, you will be mailed a report at the end of that period. You will know what is going on.

    Not only that, but you will be placed on our mailing list, either by e-mail or regular mail to receive our monthly Free Gospel CD Newsletter. This newsletter will help you see from month to month how the ministry is growing and how many people are seeing and hearing the Gospel because of you and other committed souls like yourselves.

    How neat would it be on your child's birthday to say to him, "Son, I just want you to know that there is another gift I gave to the world in your honor today? I paid to have the Gospel sent all over the world for this day just because you are so special."

WE NEED YOUR COMMITMENT SOON
    Below is an enrollment form for the information we will need from you. We need to get these dates filled as quickly as possible if this project is going to work efficiently. If you cannot afford to send in your funds right now, there will be a place for you to check and we will send you a reminder a month before the day or days you pick and you can send it in then.  We really need your help. Ask God. If He leads you to help us financially, please do it. If not, please pray that He would reveal to us those who can help.

May God bless you in your service to Him.