Recently, I came in contact with a ministry our church supports and went to their website. What I discovered was a really old website in need of help. They do great stuff in rural Haiti but their website didn’t match the quality of work they do in the field.
So I decided to build them a new website.
I didn’t email them first. I didn’t ask permission. I did something a little unusual.
I just started. Here’s what I did:
Start with a Plan
The first thing I did was grab their logo from the old site and built a WordPress theme around it.
I’m not a great web designer, but after toying around for a weekend I was pretty happy with what I came up with. My plan was to create something I thought was a decent upgrade to their old site and then offer it to them no strings attached. I didn’t want to spend too much time, but I spent about 3-4 hours hammering out the theme and staged a proof-of-concept online.
So, I sent an email to the ministry’s President, Dan, explaining that he may-or-may-not be interested, but here is a link to a redesign of your website and I’d like to know your thoughts. Essentially I said:
If you like it, it’s yours!
Then I waited.
[Jim Lee’s Astro City, “Samaritan”]
Have a Helping Hand
Dan’s reaction was one word in length:
Wow!
He went on to explain that he had personally designed their original site in Front Page several years ago and was responsible for maintaining its content. The cumbersome nature of Front Page had actually kept him from keeping the content up-to-date.
Dan then commented that a lot of people offer their services saying, “Whatever I can do, just let me know.” The net result – they don’t do anything. He really appreciated someone taking initiative, doing something and then offering it as a gift. I think we’ve lost sight of this.
Service itself is a gift, offering to serve isn’t.
He decided to move forward. I helped them get the site setup on their servers and copy content from the old site to the new. I spent about another 5-6 hours setting it all up, getting content moved over and making tweaks here and there. The cool thing is the relationship I now have with Dan is worth way more than the time I spent on the website!
Dan is much happier on the WordPress platform and has taken the opportunity to get into other social media. He set up up a Twitter account and Facebook Page which is linked to by a WordPress Widget on the website. That is a huge win and opens them up to a much larger potential audience.
You can see the end result at www.haiticheri.org.
Have the Right Questions
I’m not trying to toot my own horn and show what a great guy I am. I enjoyed tinkering with the website. I was hopeful they would like the end result. But, I had to keep in mind they may not like it or already have plans for an upgrade. My point is that most ministries lack technical expertise. Often they don’t even know what to ask for or who to ask.
But we do, and that’s valuable.
Those of us in the technology field have a lot to offer small ministries. What other tangible ways we can invest our time and technology talents up front to ministries who need it? God only knows what the impact will be for His kingdom and eternity.
Daniel Decker says
Well done John. That is outstanding and a perfect example of servant initiative (taking initiative to be a servant). Hopefully you are leading by example, an example that others make the margin (time) in order to follow.
Thank you!
John Glisson says
Thanks, Daniel. It’s one of those things that sort of happened on a whim when I saw the state of their old website. I agree with you about the margin. I don’t always have time to do stuff like this! It’d be cool to see other “random acts of kindness” happen. I’d love to hear those stories!
I guess since this is out there in the public, my heavenly reward may be toast, but who knows?! 🙂
Eyvonne says
Thanks for this. I’ve been considering offering technical expertise as a ministry but haven’t solidified the best way to do that yet, and maintain my work, family and church obligations. I’m a network engineer by profession and have a background in web development. I agree with you that MANY small ministries are in desperate need of technical help.
This is a great tangible example.
John Glisson says
Like Daniel said above – finding the margin can be tough. I trust that when God opens the door that he will provide the time too.
Peter says
I appreciated this article as well. I did this for our current church before we became members. The site was very out of date and nobody really knew how to update it. Add in that it was a static HTML site and it was even harder to maintain and have it look good. I don’t mind doing it for some groups/people as long as the people for whom I’m doing it don’t mind that I’m not even close to a professional. Thinking of whether or not we should set up a website for our troop’s charter organization, but I just don’t know enough about them to say for sure. Might be enough to add an “About the Charter Org” page to our troop site.
Thanks for the inspiration.
John Glisson says
Go for it! I’m glad my story encouraged you. Thanks!
Tony Alicea says
John this was awesome. I worked at a Christian web design company for many years so I know what it can be like to work with ministries that don’t know exactly what they want. I bet I could have blown more people away by taking this approach. Great job dude!
John Glisson says
Thanks, Tony. It would be an interesting business model!
Lee Bezotte says
Well done man! The world would seriously be changed if more people just took the initiative to bless others instead of waiting for an appeal.
If you see a need, meet it. Great stuff!
John Glisson says
“If you see a need, meet it.”
Love that…
Joey Costanzo says
That made me feel good just reading it….Nice work John!
John Glisson says
Aww shucks. 🙂
Dan Merrefield says
We’re the organization that was the beneficiary of John’s generosity, and I’m the “Dan” guy he mentions. We were so surprised by John’s offer when it was accompanied by the web site prototype. I especially liked John’s observation: “Service itself is a gift, offering to serve isn’t.” That really hits the nail on the head. To be honest, sitting on the other side of the fence, it is easy to become a little jaded when people offer to help. We tend to take a “we’ll see” approach when people offer to help, because people so often just don’t follow through with their good intentions. John’s offer came with credibility as it was clear to see he had already sacrificed his time and applied his talents to the offer. It was a pleasure to work with him, and I learned a lot through the process. I can confirm that we built a valuable friendship along the way. We are grateful for John’s creativity and devotion to Kingdom building. May others follow his lead. To God be the glory!
John Glisson says
“To God be the glory!”
That is the bottom line! Dan and Haiti Cheri do awesome work for the people of Haiti. Hopefully the new website will help them get their message out to more people to come alongside the work Haiti Cheri does.
dewde says
Great thoughts, Dan! Thank you for sharing.
peace | dewde
Yohan Perera says
Well done John. Once I redesigned a web site for a church free of charge because their existing web site needed some help very badly. That Pastor was so excited after I presented him the new site.
Glad to see a web giant like you taking the same initiative and spreading the message around. Proud of you brother…
John Glisson says
That’s really cool, Yohan. It’s cool how you saw the need and went after it for the church.
Not so sure about the “web giant” but thanks for the props! 🙂
Trevor Taylor says
—Dan then commented that a lot of people offer their services saying, “Whatever I can do, just let me know.” The net result – they don’t do anything.—
That is so true. If you want to help. Just do it. “Be doers of the Word.” (James 1:22)
John Glisson says
I think my application of that scripture here was to follow that little tug to do something – I didn’t have a word from God or anything, just a desire to help out where I could. A lot of times we don’t follow those small urges to pitch in. We can’t always take on more and more, but we can do more than we think!
dewde says
John:
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. Your ministry to me over the years has been a true gift. Glad to see that gift spread around!
peace | dewde
John Glisson says
You’re welcome…but this article wouldn’t exist if you hadn’t nudged me to write it!!! 🙂
Chris, your influence (read leadership) extends further than you realize!
Jared Folkins says
Dude, thanks so much for the inspiring read John. My approach to ministry is also similar but a lot of time I feel alone because people are so good at “talking the talk” but like mentioned, never actually doing the work. Thanks for letting your actions (and your article) speak here, totally needed this encouragement today.
John Glisson says
LIkewise! Your words of encouragement are greatly appreciated!
Nicolette Beasley says
That’s a brilliant point. Simply offering help takes no effort at all and helps no one. Thanks for being a catalyst!
John Glisson says
I think most people offer with the best of intentions – but then don’t follow through on their offer. It puts all of the responsibility on those in need of help to “take them up on it.” I’m glad that Jesus didn’t say, “I’m here if you need me, okay?” Nope, he invaded our world as a servant and paid the ultimate price for it. Now I am feeling convicting myself! Yikes!
I am so grateful for grace!