One of our favorite free web tools is Widgetbox that helps people create widgets that you can place on your own webpages or blogs. When you “mashup” Widgetbox with Kindle, you can easily let your blog readers or Facebook visitors know about your personal or group’s prayer requests.

Below is a sample of a prayer widget created using Widgetbox for the Quest College Ministry.

How To Create Your Own Prayer Widget

1. Create a free account at Widgetbox.com
2. Choose the “Make a Blidget” feature
3. Copy and paster your personal or group page URL from Kindle when asked for “Your Blog URL”
   1. Examples are like “http://kindlejoy.com/users/show/74″ or “http://kindlejoy.com/group/Questcollegeministry”
   2. Click “Continue” and your widget will be generated.
   3. Follow the Widgetbox instructions on how to place the widget on your webpages, including Facebook and MySpace.

If you are new to all this, let us know and we’ll help you get started.

One of the original motivations of creating Kindle was to help our small group centralize our prayer requests. While emailing prayer requests is the usual way many small groups communicate their prayers, it’s not necessarily the best way to manage prayer requests. Over time, we forget what we may have prayed for in the past, and to find them usually means searching through one’s email inbox.

We developed Kindle as a way for small groups to easily record and track their prayer request history - essentially helping a group keep a prayer journal. With a journal, small groups can review their past prayer requests and see how God may have worked in our lives.

Do you have a story of how keeping a prayer journal has helped build your faith? If so, let us know how. We believe there are powerful stories of God’s faithfulness in all our lives, and sharing those stories brings us all closer to God and each other.

We just added RSS feeds to group and personal pages. Right now, you can access the RSS feed through your browser, and we’ll be adding an RSS icon link on the pages shortly.

Some ideas for using Kindle RSS feed may include:

• Adding your prayer group feed to your RSS reader such as Google Reader, Netvibes, or your customized Yahoo home page
• Share your prayer group feed on your Facebook or MySpace profiles using applications like Simply RSS
• Use your RSS feed to create a widget to place on your website or blog using free online tools like WidgetBox

Want to link to Kindle’s home page or to your prayer group’s page? Here are a few simple buttons you can start with. Simply right mouse-click on the image you want, save it to your computer and upload it to your blog or website. Then, link the button to our home page or to your prayer group URL.

Now you’re helping spread the word about Kindle and your prayer group.

We’ll be attending the 34 Degrees Conference this weekend, and Kindle will also have a table there showing our site on laptops to attendees. If you’re a small groups leader or want to equip yourself to become a leader, then consider attending the conference this Saturday, November 17 at Bel Air Presbyterian. And stop by our table to learn more about how Kindle will help your small groups share prayer with each other.

Update: 34 Degrees website has been taken down.

Last weekend, Kindle helped kick-off our church’s - Bel Air Presbyterian - three week sermon series on prayer. We want to thank Pastor Mark Brewer and his staff for the opportunity to give the Bel Air congregation a first look at Kindle. During our development, the staff at Bel Air has given us valuable guidance and we’re blessed to have their support. Thanks again, Bel Air Pres!

If you are on Facebook, then join our Kindle group and meet other people following what’s going on with Kindle. Hope to see you there!

Welcome to Kindle, where we are focused on sharing prayer. We are currently under development on our beta release scheduled for fall 2007.

Stay tuned to this blog where we will share the latest news and developments at Kindle. It’s also a place where we want to hear from you, so please feel free to leave your comments.