Australian Programmers Develop Evangelism App
Tom and Michael (nicknamed Harro) are just two ordinary guys who work together. Their lives first crossed in second grade and today they are good friends. Besides their love of field hockey, Tom and Harro enjoy their jobs. At first glance, they appear to be everyday computer programmers, working with code and shooting hoops every so often as they collaborate new ideas. Yet there’s something different about these guys.
Tom and Harro serve as missionaries for Cru Australia. They work in the technology department at the national mission center in Melbourne. What they do each day helps people come to Christ because of their behind-the-scenes work.
During lunch one day, the rest of the office is talking excitingly about Tom’s and Harro’s latest innovation, but the young men humbly ignore the attention, sitting in the lunchroom playing games against each other on their mobile devices.
The new tool they just released is an iPhone app to help people share the gospel. They took the most widely used booklet for understanding who Jesus is, and made it available through the iTunes store. Also known as the Four Spiritual Laws, Knowing God Personally is the perfect tool for helping people understand how to have an intimate relationship with God.
It’s big news for Cru, but for Tom and Harro it’s just another day of spreading the same Good News that has transformed their own lives. Harro says, “some people suggested we should put a price tag on the application to make it more desirable. I really wanted it to be free and accessible to anyone. The gospel is free! It’s a free gift.”
Harro’s argument was immediately embraced. People can download the colorful Knowing God Personally application free of charge. “It’s a God thing because we didn't advertise it,” Harro says with a grin. “We placed just one wallpost on Facebook and it took off from there. The first week the Lord allowed us to have 350 downloads from 31 countries.”
“I was very excited when we got the approval from Apple to make our application available,” says Tom, grabbing his mug. He is going to visit another good friend of his, the coffee machine. “I think what I enjoy most about my role is that it’s not pointless.”
As missionaries, Tom, Harro and the rest of the tech team are using their skills to make a difference—an eternal difference. Please pray for them as they continue to partner with others to create innovative tools in order to reach this generation.
“I love sharing Christ directly with someone and we get to do that often in our role here,” says Harro. “But I also get to use my skills to share the gospel more widely than I could ever do in person.”
