Source: St. Francis Magazine, August 2013
As Christians, we confess that all human history takes place under God’s sovereign control, including the advance of the gospel and the growth of Christ’s church.
Seemingly unrelated or random events are actually orchestrated within God’s eternal plan. The impact of gospel communication to the Somali people via the Internet is a case in point.
Somali involvement with the Internet extends back to its early days. In 1997, journalist and author Michael Maren estimated that Somalis posted more messages on the Internet than all other African nationalities combined. A conservative global estimate of Somalis with Internet access would be 3,000,000. The vast majority of Somalis in the Diaspora use the Internet daily to stay in contact with their relatives in the Horn of Africa.
Somali was one of only 11 African languages recognized by Google in 2006. At present, there are well over 300 Somali-language websites. A BBC report said, “Facebook has taken off in Somalia since Islamist militants al Shabab fled the city several months ago, loosening social restrictions and making the streets safer. New accounts have grown by 50% in the past six months, and there are now more Facebook users than estimated Internet users in Somalia, thanks to mobile phones and computer sharing.”
» See also an article recently posted by Joshua Project, Using Facebook to Reach an Unreached People.