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ASSIST News Service (ANS) -
PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com
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| School children surf the web at a Beijing shopping centre (BBC photo) |
LAKE FOREST, CA (ANS) -- ASSIST Ministries has issued an appeal for North American Christians to become involved in a “friendship evangelism” project with new friends in China and Taiwan.
Dan Wooding, founder and president of ASSIST Ministries based in Lake Forest, California, says, “Over the past few months we have heard from many young people in China and Taiwan, mostly students, who would love to have a friend in North America. Most of them are studying English as a second language. Now is the time to share with them a message of comfort and hope.”
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| Internet cafe in China |
He said that many of these young people now use Internet cafes to correspond from and have embraced this new technology.
ASSIST Ministries, which has been running various pen pal programs from its Southern California base for many years with people all over the former Soviet Union and also Romania, now believes it is the time for China and Taiwan.
“We call the aim of this project 'Love Tucked inside an E-mail,’” said Wooding, who is also a journalist and author. “This is a wonderful opportunity for North American Christians from all ethnic backgrounds, to become missionaries to China and Taiwan without leaving home. The idea of this new pen pal program is to establish a friendship with someone from either of these countries who reads and speaks English and, as part of that relationship, be able to share their faith with them and also learn about their life and beliefs. All of the linkings are by e-mail.
“I truly believe that there are many Christians in the United States and Canada who would love to have the opportunity to help make a difference in the life of a new friend in China or Taiwan and also be a living witness at this critical time in world history,” said Wooding. “Now is the time to act!
“It's like becoming a missionary without leaving home,” added Wooding.
For those who would like to be involved in writing to someone in China or Taiwan through “The Bridge of Friendship” you can enroll via the Internet. Just go to http://www.assist-ministries.com/default.asp and click on the country of your choice (we have no Russians at the moment) and complete the questionnaire found there and either submit it from the site or mail it into the ASSIST office which is PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609, USA. There is a small donation requested for the linking that will help cover the costs of administering the program.