Lost in Translation

This picture above comes from Google Earth, which has to be one of the coolest (free!) programs out there. You can spin the entire globe and then zoom in to see satelite images of specific cities. My brother-in-law was even able to see his car in the church parking lot!

This brings up a discussion about the missionary and technology. How should we use technology? Should we even care about it as missionaries? Should we wait until a technology is so tried-and-true that we're forced to use it?

I tend to want to try new technologies before many other people. Not for any other reason than that I enjoy it, and I've actually found some good uses for it. Someone may suggest that each mission agency should tell its missionaries what technology to use. The problem is that it's changing so fast that they could never keep up sufficiently. Instead, if various missionaries innovate and then share, we can all learn.

How could Google Earth be used in missions? Well, it certainly makes a country's geography come alive. I was looking through the streets of Paris, Tokyo, and Lima just last night. Imagine using images from it in a missions conference. Imagine having students explore your country of ministry. Or missionaries could just use it to get a bird's eye view of the next church they're visiting.

Until next time, keep innovating!