Communication and community

I love the spontaneity of younger children. They will say most anything. We are so fortunate to have 11 grandchildren—and we expect more. Inshalla. We have more time with the four who live in the same town as we do, and we are blessed that they go to the same church as we do. With the rest of the grandchildren we have to experience many events and funny stories via various media instead of face-to-face, and we are thankful for the technology that is available to us.

When we lived in West Africa we were so far in “the bush” that it took an air letter (some of you don’t even know what that is) from the states 2-4 weeks to get to us. Our address was simply our name, Diabo, Upper Volta—no postal codes, nothing else. If one of our colleagues in Ouagadougou, the capital city, needed to get a message to us, they would send someone on a moped one day—about a 7-8 hours trip on a moped—and we would send the return message back the next day.

 When we left Burkina Faso in 1987, the only direct real-time outside communication with the rest of the world was our short-wave radio and one radio station from Ouagadougou—FUN! I returned to Burkina Faso in 2008 with two Operators from our company to conduct a SERVE conference in Ouagadougou. Our conference was sponsored by the Ouagadougou Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian-Burkinabe Alliance. When we left in 1987 we were working with the poorest of the poor, and when we returned 21 years later we were working with some of the wealthiest business leaders in the country.

Our host had agreed to give us a vehicle with a driver so that we could go out to the area where we lived for several years. It was only a 3 hour drive compared to over 4 when we lived there—the difference was not better roads, but a maniac driver! We departed before sunup so we virtually had the entire day to spend in the villages where we lived. It was a huge joy to see so many friends and former colleagues (all Burkinabe, as there are no expats living in that part of the country now).

Unfortunately, most villagers still experience the physical hardships of living in a drought-stricken and poverty-ridden area of the world. However, the spiritual situation is a blessing—there are churches in 75 villages in that area. The biggest change was that some villagers have mobile phones—even though there is no electricity anywhere near that (more on that in another post). Occasionally, I receive a phone call or text from one of the pastors in this remote corner of the earth. I am simply amazed at all the communication tools that are available to us today.

I have been convicted lately—not to get a Facebook account—but to use the tools available to build Christian community.   Our deacons have recently started having an accountability partner. For a month at a time each of us is paired up with another deacon, and we are responsible for phoning, texting or emailing each other. It has already helped us to build a stronger community among the deacons.

 How many times have you told someone in an email, on the phone or in a text that you are going to pray for them? Why don’t you just do it immediately instead of telling them what you are going to do? Pray for them on the phone. Write a short prayer via text or email. All these acts of kindness and love demonstrate Christian community; they are quickly done, but they reap a huge return on your investment.

 While you are thinking of other ways to use your technology, don’t forget about snail mailing hand-written notes. “A handwritten note can be one of the most important things you do to distinguish yourself from others” (DaleCarnegieTraining.net). Statistics show that thank you notes are opened far more than any other snail mail or email.

 Look around you—what is the condition of the community in which you live, work, play, and worship? What are you doing about it?