Having been on the road for the better part of the past seven days, the news queue here has been a bit on the shrinking side. We’ve been keeping things going on Twitter (@mobileminmag) and engaging in some smaller conversatoins there. Here’s our attempt to get you caught up with where MMM.

Apps and Challenges

For example, in one aspect of the past week’s trips, Brett (one of the contributors here) and I got a chance to connect and talk about how we’d like learn better cross-platform development techniques for some of the content that we own or read. We got into talking a bit not just about apps, but things like QML, HTML5, and even the mobile web server. Being on an edge of mobile use, we’re finding that its not just a matter of having access, but there’s sometimes when ownership and accountability needs to also be a part of the pie.

That goes into the Kiosk Evangelism project that MMM has been a part of and some of the challenges there. As a project, its going through a leadership transition. Some of the questions though influence practices and understandings. For example, if creating a mobile-tuned service (such as the digital library component of Kiosk Evangelism), does it make sense to go native with an app, or use the browser and possibly something like Modernizr to create a UI that plugs into several systems an scales well. Does such a UI need to also be offline-context-sensitive, and if so how?

There’s also the challenge of owner rights. Church Mag recently opined about jail breaking and it caused me to go back into the archives a bit and relook at just how free we are to customize devices or interfaces. Certainly, there’s a challenge all around if you want to do something right.

Some are better than others with challenges. I’m always impressed at the energy and execution behind Logos and YouVersion and their latest projects serve as a solid measure of encouragement. Of the many support and feature updates for the application and service, I’m impressed the most with how YouVersion is paying attention to how we hear the Word. Audio and native language features ring most relevant for a lot of folks. Logos has released Vyrso which is basically a reader that goes beyond just Bibles. Through that system, I wonder how many budding authors will take up the challenge towards creating content that empowers and reveals the impact of the Gospel? Seems like as good a channel as any to do so.

Events and Movements

On the other side of happenings, there are several events and movements happening that all have something to do with how we approach (or at least view from our perspectives) mobile ministry.

The Uplinq Conference recently concluded. We attended this last year and had a great time as a part of the WIPJam Panel talking about opportunities and challenges for mobile developers. This year, the conversations started on mobile and there was a lot of innovations presented in mobile and blended reality computing.

Due to scheduling, we cannot attend this year’s Muther Hackathon, but we certainly want you (or your dev team) to get out there to it. If you would like passes, shoot us a message or tweet as we have a few free ones to give away.

MMM will be at the ICCM conference in Indiana in a few weeks. We’ll be speaking on a session about mobile ministry, actually breaking down that sketchnote that we’d posted here last week. We’d love to connect with you if you are going to be there.

And don’t forget about the Carnival of the Mobilists. Though its now on a once-per-month posting queue, the selection of articles that makes it to each Carnival seems to get better and better. This month No. 249 is being hosted over at Francisco Kattan’s site. Now that I’m not in my car or in front of folks for a few hours, its definitely something that will enter my rested reading time.

MMM Team and Role

Personally, I’m having fun with a new mobile (the Nokia N8) and some of the challenges around using it with my personal approach to mobile. That part has been fun, but its also led to finding some nuggets that would be valuable here.

Our team has taken some heavy shots personally and spiritually lately. Its been an honor to keep them lifted in prayer, but having been sick last week definitely showed me just how fragile all of us can be.

What is MMM’s role? We point to what’s happening. Unfortunately, we’re also finding that people sometimes need help with finishing what they started or just telling their message in a manner that’s able to be heard. To some extent, we are a media initiative, and to another, we’re just some hands and feet to some parts of the Body that want to move forward with a pure and honest depiction of the Gospel in their contexts.

That makes for a wide and deep role for us. And honestly, one that a single person has trouble with, let alone a small team. If you’ve been interested in getting involved with helping us share the stories of faith and technology, get in contact with us. If your heart is in other areas, and you’d just like to know how we can be supported, get in contact with us.

We’ve got some house-cleaning to do on some of the pages here we know – and we’ll get to those items in time. In the meantime, there’s a Body using this tech that’s asking for the road that isn’t techie or overly theological. We’re helping to cut a trail, rambling on about what we find as we do 😉