Harvest Online ::: News

RIVERSIDE, Calif., Nov. 17, 2006—Using the latest internet and podcast technology to impart the message of the Gospel to people around the world has long been the hallmark of Southern California pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie, and now his messages are available for viewing through the latest mobile phone technology as well. Unity in Values, a leader in Christian mobile content, recently launched the first-ever mobile channel to provide young Christians with entertaining and relevant faith content and Laurie is among the initial group of pastors whose messages are featured in three-minute bites.

Called the Mobile Word (www.themobileword.com), the youth-oriented Christian BREW application is available across North America through Alltel Wireless. The Mobile Word currently features four "mini-messages" from Laurie which will be refreshed on a monthly basis.

Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie is excited about the possibilities the new Mobile Word content will provide. "There are 200 million cell phone users in the U.S., and a large percentage of the U.S. population identifies themselves as Christians, so this tells us there is a huge audience of people that will be encouraged by the messages of faith available through mobile technology," said Harvest technology director Paul Eaton.

A recent article in the Washington Post echoes this sentiment about the potential spiritual effectiveness of mobile phone technology. "Cell phones actually might be well suited for spiritual communication. Carried everywhere by their owners, they are the most intimate piece of technology many people own." (Nov. 5, 2006)

Greg Laurie is senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., one of the 15 largest churches in the U.S., and is founder of the Harvest Crusades, large-scale evangelistic events that have drawn more than 3.4 million people to arenas and stadiums in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 1990.

Laurie's daily radio program, A New Beginning, airs nationally and overseas, and his weekly television program, Knowing God with Greg Laurie was this year named "Best Television Teaching Program" by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). In addition, Laurie is the author of a number of books, including the Gold Medallion Award-winner The Upside Down Church and Losers and Winners, Saints and Sinners.

Unity in Values, the leader in Christian mobile content, is a Christian organization dedicated to the promotion of the values needed to maintain strong, unified families through the world's most popular communication device, the mobile phone. Available through wireless carriers, Unity in Values has a series of compelling services, including mobile video, ringtones, wallpapers and applications, to help young people pursue a life in Christ and helping ministries spread the Gospel.

Media Contact:
Laura Swickard McGowan
Laura@lauramcgowan.com

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