Instant communication

Over the past few days we have had direct (skype) conversations with people in such far-flung and separate places as Croatia and Singapore. We get regular Facebook news from our friends in France (our FB friends list is purposely very limited – we don’t have the time to handle more!!). When we had urgent need of a document a couple of days ago, we emailed someone several hundred miles away and the document arrived in our in-box within 10 minutes. There was a similar contact this week with a local pastor in West Africa. We are negotiating for the purchase of a home half-way across the country and are getting continuous feed-back by email and phone, eliminating the need to be on-site and in someone’s office. Yesterday we needed a series of pictures from a mission partner in Europe and the pictures arrived on our computer within half an hour. Just 15 years ago any one of these communications would have required at least a two-week turn-around time to be completed. My! How times have changed!

Sometimes all this instant access can feel rather frantic. Whatever is needed must arrive NOW. If the requested information doesn’t arrive within three hours, we call to find out what is wrong! Our level of expectation (and impatience?) has been raised dramatically. We must be vigilant that such speed does not lead to superficial thinking and reacting. Having time to “mull things over” does have its advantages.

But, in my opinion, these new communication possibilities are among the most exciting things that have ever happened in missions. The cyber café phenomenon has meant that nearly everyone on the globe can communicate with everyone else, even from remote places. There is no longer an excuse for not knowing. If we want to, we can get in touch with our Christian brothers and sisters in Zambia or Bulgaria or Thailand at almost any time. We are no longer dependent only on official media to inform us of what is happening on the ground elsewhere. We can now weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice almost as though we were there, even when we are not. Being part of the worldwide Christian family no longer has to just be a theoretical theological theory. We have the possibility of living out Kingdom participation, our most essential loyalty, in very practical ways.

How exciting! I’m thrilled to be able to be around while this is happening.