Main YWAM Page, or to YWAM Communications, or to Main News Digest PageINTERNET BROWERS LOOKING to learn more about the occult are instead finding a warning not to dabble in the unknown, when they visit a popular web site run as a low-key witness.
The spooky looking graphic of lightning breaking over a haunted house welcomes visitors to the occultism pages featured at the Ichthus Connection, which has drawn French speakers from across Europe.
But then they are warned that "not everything is as good as it seems" and led to the testimonies of people caught up in everything from witchcraft to numerology. There are pages explaining different aspects of the occult, and articles on how to break free from their influence.
The Ichthus Connection is run by Youth With A Mission as part of a low-key attempt to bring a biblical message to the growing cyberspace community. "There has always been a certain tradition of occult interest in the country, and New Age thinking is expanding," said Jean-Christophe Cailleau, who oversees the project.
"When one of the staff was looking for information about the occult on the web she found tons of sites, but none from a Christian point of view. We realized that something needed to be done."
YWAM workers gathered a mini-library of articles on the occult, and gained permission to extract books by Christians formerly involved for "Occultism - witnesses tell their story". They designed the site with non-Christians in mind, so that the average web surfer would not be put off. The site features prominently in the top results when a general search for French-speaking occult sites is made.
"Some of the French Christian sites seem to be a little too orientated to those in the church; many regular people can't relate to them or are put off by them," said Cailleau. "We wanted to be a little more subtle, to try to bring the sort of Christian message to the net that might develop ongoing contacts with people."
The softly-softly approach has led to some unusual contacts since the site was launched a year ago. One apprentice witch wanted to hear more about "bizarre things", while a French student wrote: "I am very interested in black magic and would like to explore the possibilities of it giving powers to a simple individual like me." Someone else asked for a love potion.
"We have had lots of questions, even insults from some people, but have also heard from people who are genuinely interested in our point of view," said Cailleau. "We feel like we are giving some users of the net a whole new point of view on these topics."
The Ichthus Connection intends to tackle other controversial topics - like homosexuality and suicide - in a similar style. "It's a way of touching people without them feeling invaded.They know they can read the material any time they want, and always come back to it. It also needs less people working at it; a web site is a 24-hours-a-day testimony."
The Ichthus Connection - http://users.skynet.be/ichthus
Return to: December 1998 News Index Page
Main YWAM Page, or to YWAM Communications, or to Main News Digest Page