Reaching out to share hope in the mission field of the internet

Sharing Hope

Beginnings

In the summer of 1997 I was working with a friend who spent a great deal of time in internet chat rooms.

"Not for me!" I told him. "I've got far too much to do to chit chat all day!"

Little did I know what the Lord had in store for me! That same summer I picked up a book that offered a "Chat with the author" session on the internet. I planned to go to this session to learn more about the subject of the book. But I never made it to that chat session. God had something far greater in mind for me. You can read that story here.

I worked in the Christian chat rooms for a couple of years. I'd done a lot of freelance writing in the 1980's, so the written medium of chat was a natural for me. I was able to lead a number of people to the Lord through this medium, and to offer hope and encouragement to many more. I was often asked for practical tips and suggestions for working in the chat rooms, and later developed the Chat Room Ministry section on one of my websites to meet this need.

As I worked with the lost and hurting people I found in chat rooms, I wanted to offer them some of the hope I'd found. I created my first website, On Patches and Bears, as a referral library for some of the items I'd written. Eventually that website became Care Nurse, an evangelical website targeting nurses which is my profession. 'On Patches and Bears' remains there as well, in a sub section. I've never been able to find time to get the bulk of the items I've written online, so 'On Patches and Bears' has much potential for growth.

House of Hope was originally set up on the Care Nurse site. But in December of 1999, events happened that changed my life. As a result, in January of 2000, God led me to begin a women's ministry that he has blessed beyond anything I could have comprehended. We a wonderful leadership team there, and have seen lives changed in such positive ways.

God's provisions

Maintaining all this becomes expensive. As I pondered how to finance everything, I've trusted the Lord and he has provided just in time every time.

But I felt a need to reach out to my community and I worked on a plan that would do this and possibly provide a means for income as well through advertising support. The first issue of River Valley Web newsletter was published on August 9, 2000. I had hoped that River Valley Web would provide some advertising support to finance my web ministries, and open more doors to share my faith locally as well. However, River Valley Web never really caught on. I've moved a few of the pages of River Valley Web that needed to be preserved to my Care Nurse site here.

Yet, God never leads us into something he has no purpose for. River Valley Web was my training ground. It was there that I learned how to publish a weekly newsletter faithfully, and many other details about the business end of it.

I began to look for other means to keep the web ministries going. God put me in contact with some wonderful teachers in how to develop websites and in web business management. In June of 2001, I launched Allergy Nursing Newsletter, and as I published the newsletter each week, I soon had a growing database of items on AllergyNursing.com.

The first sponsor God sent me was National Allergy Supply, a family-owned, Christian company. I've been able to fellowship with them in the Lord as well as maintain a business relationship.

God has used AllergyNursing.com to supply needs for web ministries as well as to meet some of my own personal needs. One of the "perks" is that as I research to make sure I've providing accurate and up-to-date responses to the allergy questions I receive from the website, I develop my knowledge and skills even more.

As the 21st century dawned, I began having more difficulty keeping up with the websites. Vision problems that I used to be able to manage have now slowed me down considerably. So if you notice that this site needs maintenance, please just overlook the dust and make yourself at home anyway. I'm glad you stopped by.

One of the things I wanted to do as my own vision faltered was to reach out to others who also struggle with strabismus (turned or crossed eyes.) In June of 2004, I started a new blog (yes, yet another site that needs maintenance, but much more easy to maintain than a traditional website).

Eyes Apart: Living with strabismus shares more about my vision problems and journey, and offers hope and help to others who also experience this.

"Eyes Apart" is used as an example in the Gospelcom.net's Internet Evangelism Day (May 7, 2006) "Blogging for evangelism" page. It's syndicated on this website here. Or you can see it on the Internet Evangelism Day website here.

We are blessed!

God blesses us in trials and he blesses us in prosperity. Whatever the need or situation, he is our sustainer and hope.

As he sustains us, he enables us to reach out to share our blessings with others. Let's share the hope he has given to us!

God bless you.

Sharing Hope,
Lois