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Rosenbaum envisions an estimated 2.2 million evangelical pastors worldwide downloading low-cost or no-cost electronic reference works, training manuals, and sermon-preparation tools. "Only about 350,000 of these pastors and church leaders have any college or seminary training," Rosenbaum says. "Our goal is to get a laptop in the hands of every pastor in those countries—many of whom are new Christians themselves and can't attend a seminary."

Rosenbaum acknowledges that while seminary students are familiar with the latest gadgets, many pastors are less in tune with technology. Missionaries tend to be more familiar with digital content because of their frequent communication with financial supporters and their home organizations, he believes: "We found that even in countries where there may not be running water, someone has an Internet connection."

Others in ministry see e-books as an important future component of global mission work—but balanced with print resources. George Verwer, president of Operation Mobilization, recently worked with the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association to ship more than a million donated books to Christian leaders in poor countries. Although he embraces the new technology, he doesn't believe an electronic book will eliminate the need for a hardcover or paperback. "Print books will still be a vital part of ministry overseas. It won't be an either-or situation, it will be both," Verwer says.

Ministry values and business profitability questions aside, the bottom line is whether we really want to read the newest Philip Yancey title on our laptops. No one really knows—and probably will not know for a while. The only certainty is that we'll continue to explore how it makes the best sense to integrate the gospel with technology.

"There's a whole generation out there that is Internet savvy and carrying around their Palm Pilots," says Hyatt. We have to be willing to be in every format available to reach the world for Christ."

Cindy Crosby regularly covers the book industry for Publishers Weekly, Christian Retailing, and other publications. She is the author of Waiting for Morning, due in July from Baker Book House.

Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Some free Christian classic e-books are available at Previewport.com. Look for titles like Heretics by G. K. Chesterton, The Cloud of Unknowing, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray, The Journal of John Wesley, TheGodOfAllComfort by Hannah Whitall Smith, and Lord Teach Us To Pray by Alexander Whyte. More are available at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

Christianity Today's Wired World area has several articles about Christian using evolving technology including:

Is God.com Dead? | Investors lost faith in iBelieve.com, Lightsource.com was extinguished, and Crosswalk is being run over. What happened to the for-profit Christian Web site boom? (Feb. 9, 2001)

We've Got Porn | Online smut is taking its toll on Christians. What is the church doing about it? (July, 5, 2000)

Mormons, Evangelicals Tangle Over Web Site | Continuing copyright lawsuit against an evangelical ministry that counters Mormon teaching and history (Feb. 9, 2000)

Onward, Christian Surfers! | The Church of England gives marching orders to Christians on the Web. (Nov. 23, 1999)

Who Do Artists Say That I Am? | The many faces of Jesus go on tour-and online.(Nov. 22, 1999)

Church of the Web | More ministries fund Internet evangelism. (June 14, 1999)

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February 19 2001, Vol. 45, No. 3