In this eQuip interview, our eQuip channel host DJ Chuang used Instant Messaging to chat with with Rob Williams, the Internet Marketing Director and Effective Web Ministry Director for the Global Technology Office of Campus Crusade for Christ.

DJ: Welcome to the eQuip interview, Rob! Tell us about how you got into using web technology for ministry purpose.
Rob: In the late 90's, I was doing ministry with college students at George Mason University there in the DC area.
Rob: The dorms were locked, so we had to get an apartment and rely on freshmen to keep them!
Rob: So one day, I'm sharing the gospel with a guy in his room, and he gets an IM [instant message] from a guy down the hall.
Rob: I then realized the internet could be our foot in the door...but how? That's when I started trying to figure out how we could use technology for ministry.
DJ: Sort of a eureka moment, you might say!
Rob: Yeah, but kind of a slow eureka! It took me a few weeks to start making moves.
DJ: What did you do next?
Rob: Heck, I'm still trying to figure it out!
Rob: I created an email list so that we could communicate with the students, and I started to learn HTML so I could update our website on campus.
Rob: I didn't know what I was doing, but I was on my way to figuring stuff out.
Rob: I wanted to start emailing students articles and such, but had problems getting the permission stuff taken care of.
Rob: After a few months, we moved to Orlando where I worked with Worldwide Challenge to build a photo gallery online for them.
Rob: They gave me training in web design.
Rob: That's when I realized that there was a real need for ministries to have a web presence and there were significant hurdles to do it.
DJ: What were some of the hurdles you saw?
Rob: ministry had to either have someone who could do it, outsource it, or bring someone in.
Rob: I thought, "wouldn't it be great if we had a ministry that could do that for other ministries?"
Rob: After a year at WWC, I switched to do design full time with an office that just did web design for our ministries.
Rob: So I designed web sites for about 2 years then realized, "what if no one comes?"
Rob: Building a site is one thing, getting them to come is another.
Rob: and then, what do we do when they do come?