New Tools for Effective, Community-Transforming Evangelism
Christianity created Western civilization. Western technology now offers Christian missionaries new opportunities to bring the gospel to third world communities.
In an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald (December 31, 2007), we learn of several new developments.
If Christian missionaries adopted these new tools as part of their local ministries, they would become important people very fast. They would attract the next generation of leaders locally. Here are two examples from the article.
PEER-TO-PEER LENDING Whether you're distributing music or books, auctioning off unwanted household items, wanting to bet on a horse race or looking for a soulmate, the internet can put you in touch with someone who is interested in what you have or are.Kiva takes that idea and applies it to the established concept of microfinance - making small loans to the working poor to help them establish or expand businesses.
So, instead of giving a donation to an organisation such as Oxfam to distribute, peer-to-peer lending lets you invest small amounts directly in a particular entrepreneur - such as Mohamad Marah in Kabala, Sierra Leone. With his $US200 loan, Marah has been able to expand his garment business, buying three extra sewing machines. So far he has repaid half the loan. More than $US15 million has already been lent through Kiva - and the default rate is claimed to be just .23 per cent. http://www.kiva.org. . . .
GUERRILLA WI-FI Having a wireless internet system set up at home is becoming increasingly common. However, tapping into the internet while out and about is still very hit and miss - and where it is available is often nose-bleedingly expensive (Telstra "hot spots" cost $14 an hour while Optus slugs users about $12 an hour).
Meraki is an internet start-up that aims to change all that by providing cheap - or free - wireless networks. Meraki sells a remarkable device call the Meraki Mini for $US49. Plug it in to your internet connection and it will instantly provide shared access to other users up to 50 metres away.
Put several Merakis together in a neighbourhood (and perhaps include a few of the more powerful versions that cover up to 350 metres) and they will instantly form a "mesh" network, giving internet access to anyone in the area. These "guerrilla" networks are beginning to spring up in cities around the world, driven by people for whom internet access is a social-equity issue. Do internet service providers like this Robin Hood-style behaviour? Not at all. Can they do much about it? Er, no. http://www.meraki.com.
Combine this with a free CD-ROM on how to start a small business. The CD-ROM would have a copy of the free open source imitation of Microsoft Office: Open Office. www.OpenOffice.org There would also be translations of training materials on how to use Open Office to launch a business.
The CD-ROM also should include author-authorized translations of materials dealing with successful business management. To get the ball rolling, I hereby authorize anyone to translate and give away (in any format), royalty-free, my economic commentary on the Book of Proverbs, God's Success Manual.
If legal, this CD-ROM will include a translation of the Bible.
If possible, the ministry would include a website in each language where local businessmen can get more materials.
If there were an on-line mentoring program, such as the U.S.-based SCORE (www.score.org), this would be ideal. One of the screening factors for any local to get access to the free membership-based mentoring program would be an agreement to pay for his membership by donating one hour a week to mentoring, beginning one year after he sets up a business. If cultural standards require separate-gender mentoring sites, set them up.
With programs and tools like these, evangelism could become self-funded locally.