Australia Day is a celebration of the diversity we all share in this big, brown land. As Christians seek to reach numerous nationalities and language groups with the gospel, Sydney Anglicans are launching an innovative video-based website for Connect09 to assist this work.

After almost a year in development, Connect09.com will be launched this week. As a central part of the overall Connect09 campaign, the site will provide visitors with everything they need to start connecting with Christ.

Connect09.com features multiple language options, with video "hosts' in English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Arabic " Sydney's most spoken languages " guiding visitors through the site. Text-only options are available in another 25 languages.

The site revolves around a presentation of the Christian message by the video hosts, followed by the chance for visitors to submit any questions about issues that concern them or topics where they need more information.

Connect09 e-vangelist David Horne has seen first-hand the power of the internet to help people think through life's big issues. Over the years he has answered hundreds of online questions ranging across issues like suicide, sexual temptation, racism, death, and assurance of "eternal life'.

"The internet enables real anonymity," David says. "In order to find out about Christianity a person only needs to look at a website or enter an online conversation. They don't need to go straight to church or have an incriminating book lying around.

"So the internet lowers the entrance boundaries to the Christian world."

Having been asked to counsel people through tragedies like marriage breakdowns or the death of a child, David says people are thankful for truthful, empathetic answers to their questions. It is this kind of online interaction that he hopes will take off through the new Connect09 site.

"The internet has become one of the ways that people " especially young people " connect with each other and stay connected," David says. "Real relationships are being forged and maintained online.
"It doesn't make evangelism any easier. Christians still have to get out there and interact with the world. It simply gives new and more far-reaching opportunities to do this."

Anonymity will be important for many as they start their investigation. But connect09.com aims to take people one step further. By entering their postcode, users will be offered a selection of local Anglican churches " a place to meet Christians, ask the big questions, and hear the Bible's answers.

Andrew Nixon, executive director of Connect09, says moving beyond the initial anonymity of the internet is important for those investigating Christianity.

"Giving people space is really important, that's one of the real strengths of the internet. People want the chance to work it in their own time," Andrew says. "But ultimately we need to connect with them personally.

"People want to belong, people want community, and people want acceptance " and all those things are becoming scarcer in our society. In Jesus, we find ultimate forgiveness and acceptance and belonging. Being part of his people and his community in a church is where we live out the reality of that relationship."