Mobile Ministry Magazine

In the earlier years of MMM, we had this series called "If Paul Had A Blog." What was really interesting about this series was looking at the effect of the technology that we use now on the missionary journeys that Paul experienced.

Since its been a while, I wanted to take another look at this. And given the attention that smartphones and mobility have taken with a more mainstream audience, we can get a glimpse of just how indepth technology is today, and some of the challenges that could be had.

First thing to note, Paul would have had a mobile phone. Probably not the N95 that I get to carry around, but something along the lines of the Nokia 6210 Navigator. This device has a few things that would have been beneficial - at least until a shipwreck or three - GPS with a built-in compass for Nokia Maps, ability to access the web, and a camera that had the ability to not just send text of what he was experiencing and whom he was thankful for, but images as well.

Now, he would have had to do all of this on a prepay system because there would be no way that a person could move that much across various countries and have a contract, it would just be a hassle in dealing with the billing.

He'd have the ability to use something like Nokia nviNe in order to allow others to keep up with his journeys. The really interesting part about this would be that we could see where he would be shipwrecked, and then when he gets a new mobile and starts up the service again, we can see that break in action and begin to keep him in prayer or launch a search.

Now, it would also be of his benefit to create sermons that could be uploaded and shared to places like YouTube, Flickr, Ovi, Facebook, or MySpace. He'd also have the benefit of being able to keep tabs with the latest policy changes happening from Rome with SMS alerts (if he was willing to sign up for an SMS service from Rome that is).

I would be interesting to see also how Paul would teach the use of this tech. He speaks on his ability to speak many languages to the Corinithians, but always emphasized the need to make sure that the Body was best served with whatever was brought to the table.

The more I think about it, the mobile tech tools of today present an easier means for us who are missions minded to be like Paul. Sure, we might not travel the world, nor need everyone to know what we are doing. But we can create lines that intersect with the lives of others, and then allow the technology to better accent or even encourage the lives of those who might not get a chance to see us in person.

I wonder if the Body is looking to go back towards doing this in various applications? It would be pretty interesting don't you think?

Labels: blog, camera, maps, mission, mobility, multimedia, Nokia, Nokia Maps, SMS, tech