Through the Silicon Valley of Death
As an eight-year veteran in the dot-com world, we are not strangers to business failures. We've seen voluntary pay cuts, road shows for capital, stock price roller coasters, and lay-offs. We've learned about the difficulties of surviving in this sphere. And we've mourned the companies -- and friends -- lost when others weren't able to get that last necessary round of funding.
This week, the hammer fell very close to home. Christianity.com, our partner since March of this year, who was responsible for handling all of the technical infrastructure for publishing our site, has run into trouble raising new capital. We should note that Crosswalk.com will continue whether or not Christianity.com does. From the beginning, we have had responsible contingency plans in place that will allow us to continue operating our site and all of the services that we provide to our loyal 1.6 million visitors each month.
Crosswalk.com’s position on the Internet is actually stronger than it has ever been. We were able to respond to the Sept. 11 attacks within one hour as we fulfilled our mission to equip readers as they apply their faith to their lives. During those difficult times, we provided an online prayer center, created a completely new home page, directed viewers to forums and chat rooms for discussion, posted prayers and comments from Christian leaders, and sent an email to all of our users. Later, emails from Berlin to Australia and Vienna to Indonesia were sent to us thanking us for our ability to deliver a timely Christian worldview, and rapid access to online prayer in response to these terrible events.
During our coverage of this tragedy, we worked side-by-side with Christianity.com to serve our readers. We are disheartened by the difficulties that our partner has faced. The Christianity.com mission is grand -- and much-needed: Build a simple publishing tool that enables Christians, churches, businesses and ministries around the world to easily build web sites, share content, integrate resources, and generally web-enable the church.
The staff at Christianity.com is wholeheartedly committed to serving Christ, and to using the Web in a way that honors Him, to change the world. Because of their service, blind children had a chance to see, hungry families were fed, people with leprosy were cured, children of prisoners had a chance to go to camp, victims of the September 11 tragedy were given hope. They have done their job well and we'll miss their vision, their risk-taking, and their camaraderie. Best of all, God is still very much alive and well on the Web and at work in Crosswalk.com. We trust that He is guiding and leading our friends to their next vision, to the new work He has prepared for them.
The Crosswalk.com Staff
Originally published December 07, 2001.
