Changing Lives has been reaching out for over 20 years now, primarily through our website, along with other outlets. Thanks to those who have been with us from the beginning, when we launched with three stories on the internet. Here are a few highlights of the journey.
1. When we sit down, all we see is a computer screen but there is a lot going on ‘behind the screens’. In our heyday we were getting over 6000 hits per day and our traffic was doubling yearly. That’s over 2 million per year! We found that hard to believe but our trusted ISP owner kept assuring us that it was accurate.
2. We must have had some traction because we found our site the subject of regular cyber attacks from hackers. This started back in the early 2000’s and caused us and our ISP considerable grief. We have also endured personal attacks, some of them quite hard-hitting. We have progressively refined the site to make it more robust.
“Many try to stop me
Shake me up in my mind
They say ‘prove to me He’s the Lord
Show me a sign’.
But what kinda sign can I give
When it all comes from within
When what’s been lost has been found
And what’s to come has already been”
Pressing On. Bob Dylan
3. Overseas buyers have offered to purchase our site and/or urls but we declined. We have also resisted the lure of monetizing the site, holding to our principal of keeping it commercial free. We have never used any paid promos to ‘increase our reach’ and have never made any money from it.
4. For many years, each new recruit in the UK military and Fire service received a specially printed New Testament with an extract of our article ‘Why you should read the Bible” along with our url. This further increased our reach but I believe this has now been discontinued, a sign of the times. Our articles have been used in several other publications and productions.
5. We have responded to thousands of messages from around the world. Some of these have led to long term friendships. Here, I thank my colleague and friend Greg whose beautiful gift of encouragement shone out as he graciously handled much of our correspondence.
6. We have published hundreds of photographs to illustrate stories, mostly from our collective originals.
7. Today, through necessity, we have made our portals more secure. While our ISP guy went on to pursue a career in cyber security, we have reluctantly had to close the virtual doors and windows somewhat. This limits how much information visitors can see, and your ability to comment publicly. You can always contact us privately. Again, a sign of the times, but we do not want Changing Lives to present misinformation nor to become a subway wall for trolls. There are literally thousands of other sites people can visit if they want to join lively debate or promote alternative viewpoints.
Please uphold us in prayer that Changing Lives will continue to be a fruitful branch of the mustard tree.
