Answer – Winter 2017

One thing we can all count on is that God is always moving and this is especially so when we start to get comfortable. I am not sure you are ever completely comfortable in ministry but things were going smoothly late last year when the Lord encouraged us to seek more conversations and opportunities to share the Gospel. As we started thinking about where those could come from, an email came in from Matt Rich. We had never met or spoken to Matt but he found Need Him Global through talking to other ministries.

Matt is the Executive Director of ChatNow. This is a Christian internet ministry based in the UK for the past five years. Their desire was to offer live chat from their web site giving their many visitors the ability to ask questions about Jesus and Christianity anonymously. The UK is only 7% Christian and other parts of Europe are even more dark. The goal was to offer a place where people not as familiar with Christianity could explore faith and feel safe and in control. They needed a partner that could help answer those online chats and meet people lovingly when they most needed it.

Each organization did its due diligence and we started meeting via Skype to discuss a partnership. We quickly realized that God was answering prayers he had put on our heart as well as one he had given to Matt.  They were getting online traffic that Need Him and ChatAboutJesus were not and together the reach was that much greater. They were also getting conversation from countries that we did not get much from such as Iran, Pakistan and Malaysia.

We launched ChatNow with our volunteers in November and saw over 8000 conversations in the first 30 days coming from 125 different countries.  We share a desire to have more people hear the Good News and talk with people in dark places that are searching for God. This is an ideal partnership for Need Him Global as it drives gospel focused conversation into Echo for our volunteers to engage at no additional cost to the ministry.

Matt is thrilled because the thousands of visitors to their web site each week now have a chat option for live conversation. Matt said, “we have been welcomed with open arms, we have been encouraged by their willingness to partner with us in this work by giving us access to volunteers without requiring payment, which we wouldn’t have been able to afford to pay! They have been helpful, attentive, desiring the best for us and for our partnership together in the Gospel.” We celebrate when God brings people together to serve and build his kingdom. May God receive all the glory!