I was recently invited on a bicycle ride with another brother in the faith and while we only went 10 miles, it was great to have some fellowship and just chat while putting the feet to the pedals. One of the statements that the brother made is that he wishes that there were more believers around him who liked to bike, as he would love to do this as a fellowship activity. I mentioned to him about some groups of believers that I know who do ride, but there were no in his area. It got me thinking, is there a more effective way to combine an activity like bicycling (or hiking, running, etc.) with fellowship?

When I finished that ride, I went to the Sports Tracker website. Having pulled a mobile from the grave, I was interested in getting that software working – and it didn’t before the ride. And then it hit me. Sports Tracker is a social network, and literally, my mobile (and the public rides) would present a means for other believers to connect with me as I ride. It would just be a matter of advertising both to those who use the service, and to those who don’t.

Essentially, I’d just need to ride, and then make sure that my rides are shared publicly with titles that would indicate that those rides were fellowship based. Then, I could use other social networks (online and offline) to talk about the rides. The mental note for me would be to make sure that I turn on Sports Tracker before the ride, so that its being logged. But then, its just about riding and fellowship.

I’m sure that other applications and services could be used for similar. Its just a matter of being creative around some of their abilities. And if you’ve got something that works with a mobile – even in a simpler fashion like sending a group SMS out to your small/cell group a few hours before an outing that some might also want to join – then you’ve made your mobile a catalyst for connecting with others.

I’ll try this and see what happens. In the meantime, have any of you tried something similar with social networking or mobile in order to create a space for fellowship that’s not the usual breakfast/bible study/(gender) group event?

Sports Tracker is available for Nokia Symbian, Google Android, and Apple iOS devices. Its a free download and a free service. For more information, visit the Sports Tracker website.