I remember as a kid praying as a family for the Raths and Millies, two missionary families who were friends of my parents serving over seas. Though we prayed for them on a regular basis, we almost never knew how they were doing or what life was like on a day-to-day basis. I remember our family receiving only a handful of letters from them over the years.
Of course, that’s no fault of the missionaries. Back then (25 years ago), I think it cost about $5 to send a single-page letter from Papua New Guinea (about $11 in today’s money), there were no phones, and any communication was a major undertaking.
The Internet has changed all that.
Today it’s not unusual for me to get an email from the pastor of the church in Haiti that my church has partnered with or connect with my friends in Kenya on Facebook. When we send people from our church on a short-term missions trip, it’s pretty much expected that they’ll post daily updates to the church blog.
This month is missions month at OurChurch.Com. We’re focusing on helping missionaries living overseas and people going on short-term missions trips use the Internet to communicate with their friends, family, and supporters more effectively.
As a part of that we’re looking for people who have served as missionaries or taken missions trips to write guest blog articles here describing how their use of the Internet enhanced their missions experience.
We did this last year, and I thought the guest blog articles were fascinating. I just loved reading the first-hand accounts from missionaries. The articles provided some great ideas and insight to others doing missions work.
- Blogs for Missions
- “Impact” Makes an Impact
- Going on a Short-Term missions Trip? You Gotta Blog!
- God at Work through the Internet in Africa
- Using the Internet to Promote Missions in Tibet
- Internet a Blessing and Challenge for Missionaries in Slovakia
You can write about how email, a website, blog, online giving, Facebook, or other Internet technology impacted your missions work.
We’ll be publishing guest blog articles all month, but the sooner you can submit a draft the better. Here’s more info on how to post a guest blog article.
If you know someone who could write about missions and the Internet, please share this article with them.
Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com
Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.
An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.
Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication.
3 Comments
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Hello,
I would like to write about an incident with a spirit called ‘Llorona'( pronounced Yo-ro-na, the Weeping Lady) known to a lot of people in southern Mexico, and how the Lord pastor delivered a lady from its influence thru a ministry, if your site supports such testimonies.
Frank, I don’t think that fits with the topic of the impact of the Internet on missions or even more broadly on the topic of ministry and the Internet which we cover here.