James & Carolanne

I thought I would post a quick update on what I've been working on lately for those who might be interested.  Be warned, there is some "geek talk" ahead.

One of the cool projects that I have the opportunity to work on these days is the rebuilding of our French and Chinese sites as new Power to Change sites. This not only gets us out of the obsolete software we had previously been using, but also gives us the ability to combine the sites into what we are calling, our supersites. These supersites are essentially single sites which combine the content of all the other little sites.

For example, on the French side we currently have Le pouvoir pour Changer, Femmes Aujourd'hui and Chrétiennes. The first two are evangelistic and the third one is more of a discipleship type site for French Christian women. All three are being combined into one supersite which will eventually be located at Pouvoir de Changer.

The combining of these sites allows us to connect and interact more effectively with our audiences while allowing for more efficient management of the sites. (it takes more work to maintain 3 sites than one) We also benefit from the upgraded interactivity controls available in the newer software platform that runs the whole site. (we are running a highly customized version of WordPress)

We are also doing the same thing with our two Chinese sites. Right now, we have chenggongle.com and chinesewomentoday.com. Both are evangelistic though they target different audiences. We are working towards combining them into a Chinese supersite which will replace the existing chenggongle.com.

Please continue to keep us and this ministry in your prayers. Working in different languages adds additional complexities and potential problems to our already technically challenging work. Please pray also that the Lord would use these rebuilt sites to bring even more people to a saving knowledge of himself.

It is encouraging to know that the Lord has already been using us very effectively. In 2009 we saw approximately 18,000 people indicate to us that they had made spiritual decisions. (either accepting Christ, or rededicating their lives) THAT is an amazing blessing from the Lord, and is the reason I continue to be involved in this ministry.

Please also continue to pray for our support status. Unfortunately, due to harder financial times we have seen a number of people who have had to cut back on their support of us. At the moment, we have pledges for about 25% of what we need to have raised on a monthly basis.