July 30, 2007
For almost a decade, Bob and Jan Towell have been heading up the WEI Internet teaching ministry. As volunteers, they have worked night and day and have supported the ministry out of their own pockets. Now, they need an additional $300 to $500 a month to expand the ministry. You can contact Bob at Bobtowell@aol.com or Jan at JRTowell@aol.com.
Bob writes, “WEI’s Internet Program has grown from a curiosity to a substantial part of WEI’s teaching ministry, so the Towells will report news of the program as space allows.
“Since January 2007, the number of people requesting WEI’s Introductory Lesson has doubled over what it was in 2006. The increase is due to the Internet advertisement that WEI started purchasing in November 2006. As a result, the number of new students has doubled, and WEI’s Internet teachers have been stretched to the breaking point.
“This brings us to the second part of the exciting news. The Lord has also increased the number of Internet teachers. We attended the Red River Family Encampment June 23-26 and made an announcement before one of the speeches. This resulted in 22 people seeking us out to volunteer as Internet teachers, and we were able to show them the mechanics of Internet teaching on our portables.
“WEI’s advertisement is the Internet equivalent of a Yellow Pages ad. An anonymous supporter has been contributing $100 a month for the ads. In the past six months, the ad has resulted in over 800 more people requesting WEI’s lessons, twice as many as we have been reaching via search engines, recommendations of friends, and local advertising, the only forms of advertising WEI’s Internet Program has used previously.
“The $100 a month has proven that Internet advertising is effective. But $100 a month is not enough to show WEI’s ad all day long—only 3 or 4 hours each day. The registration rate could probably be doubled again if the ad were shown 24 hours a day.” — Bob & Jan Towell
