About this website....a note from Bob
From time to time, I am asked the question, "Why do you have a website?" The question is, "What do we hope to accomplish?" This page attempts to answer that question by providing a brief history and an overview of the site's contents.
History of bobyoungresources.com
The initial version of this website appeared in the mid-1990s as an effort to make available to students the syllabi and various resources being used in my classes at Ohio Valley College. At that time and for several years after, the site was maintained as a subdirectory of the OVC website. Little by little, many of the ministry and mission resources which I had developed in my previous ministries, along with material I was continuing to develop, were added to the site. When I left OVC, the website was moved for a short time to the website of a church with which I was working, again appearing as a subdirectory. As the site developed, resources in Spanish were added and the number of mission related items increased.
The website moved to its current domain (bobyoungresources.com) in 2003. At that time, the website was expanded to include family information and pictures, along with personal contact and resume information. Late in 2007, the website was reconstructed with the help of T & S Web Design of Edmond, Oklahoma, and took on its current appearance. Also at that time, a blog was added to the site. The site is classified as religious or religious resources in most search engines.
Over the years, the purpose of the website and the materials provided has become more focused. Today the purpose includes connecting people with resources useful for students, church workers, teachers, ministers, missionaries, and all Christians.
- The primary purpose of this website is to provide written materials related to Christian ministry and missions, including articles, sermons, and other materials. There are also some academic resources and some materials in Spanish.
- A second purpose is to connect resources and needs, primarily connecting US churches and individuals with specific mission needs in Latin America.
Providing resources: ministry, missions, academic, and Spanish
The resources on the site are generally identified as either ministry or mission resources. These include sermons, classes, studies, and articles. Almost all are the writings of the site owner. The academic resources are generally focused in biblical, ministry and mission studies. These resources provide tools for effective participation in the kingdom plans and purposes of Jesus Christ. Never far from my mind as I write and add materials is the challenge to seek and save the lost, to strengthen the saved, and to serve all in the name of Jesus Christ.
The site has included a few Spanish resources almost from the beginning. Recently, the effort to provide ministry and mission resources in Spanish has increased. Work in this area has been challenging because Spanish is not my first language. Fortunately, along the way I have met some Latin American brothers who are interested in having a web outlet for their classes and sermons. While the Spanish resources include many of my own efforts-syllabi, sermons, classes, and articles, I am pleased that Jesus Varela, from Guayaquil, Ecuador, also provides resources in Spanish. It is hoped the number of Spanish resources will continue to grow.
The site provides a few "weblinks" to other web resources, but with the continual improvement of search engines over the past 15 years, the weblinks are less helpful. While links are kept current and broken links are removed regularly, many of the weblink pages will eventually be removed.
Connecting resources with needs
Another purpose of this site is to provide a point of contact for connecting missionary resources and needs, especially in Latin American missions. I describe the goal this way: "We want to connect people and resources, so that people with resources can connect with people who need those resources." We are able to connect churches with needs on the mission fields of Latin America. Especially for smaller churches that desire a project that can be "owned" for a small amount of money, we can provide numerous options. Churches or individuals that are interested in finding and funding smaller mission projects are encouraged to contact us.
Encouraging dialog: Participating in the conversation
The addition of a blog reflected the desire to be part of a larger conversation about spiritual and kingdom things. This area is still developing. I participate in numerous email conversations but few of those conversations occur as comment strings on the blog site.
