In an effort to facilitate and create a more user friendly website, I’ve devoted some time for the next few Fridays to explain some of the new features that are on the Oakseed website.  Plus, I’ll spend some time giving you a sneak peak of some of the things that are upcoming.

First, why am I spending some time typing up a technology focused blog?  I firmly believe that God has called myself and called Oakseed to be a voice for the poor and to stand along side the poor so that people all around the world will be able to see the face of the poor.  I believe that once people can see the face of the poor, they will be unable to turn away without helping those that are less fortunate.

Secondly, technology is becoming a great medium in which to have interactive and meaningful conversations with many more people than was possible just a few years ago. 

For this purpose, (and probably now visible to those visiting the Oakseed Ministries website), we have completely rewritten the entire Oakseed website so that it now has a powerful database back-end with an extremely flexible front face.  So what does all this mean for you, the reader of this website?  Well, for starters:

  1. It is now easier to find things on the Oakseed Ministries website with a completelyintegrated search engine that has been specifically designed for the Oakseed Ministries website.
  2. The Upper Room Devotions are posted each Tuesday (around noon EST) so that you can meditate on the weekly devotion at any time, whether at work or at school, home or using your Blackberry on the bus.
  3. Each of the Oakseed Ministries staff has their own blog where they share interesting stories and life experiences.  Get to know the staff here at Oakseed Ministries without having to live in the Washington, DC area.
  4. The new website has an easy-to-use comment system that allows everyone to participate in the discussions and respond to articles and postings.
  5. Plus, when we have special events, like the currently running Essay Contest, we’re able toreceive the essay submissions through a simple form the essay contestants fill out.

We’ve got lots of other things in store.  Once I get these features to a fully tested stage and we’re ready to turn them live on the full site, it will continue making Oakseed.org one of the easiest-to-use and user-friendly ministry website.

Ok, so I told you I had some sneak peaks at some upcoming features:

  • A fully localized version of the Oakseed website.  (That’s right, you will soon be able to read the Oakseed website in Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and possible some additional languages.)
  • The ability to personalize your own version of Oakseed.org
  • Receive notifications when specific topics are being discussed on the Oakseed Ministries website.
  • Plus so much more.

Anyway, if you’re excited about the Oakseed Ministries website and the changes that are happening, please let me know. (benjamin@oakseed.org)  If you would like to become part of the special beta testing team and get early access to some of the new features of the website, I would love to talk to you and get you involved in this exciting program.

Next week, I’ll be talking more about the Oakseed Beta Testing group and how you can get involved.  Till next time, get involved on the Oakseed Ministries website, post a comment, tell your friends, and enjoy your time here.