Technology on the Mission Field

Now here's an interesting link to read, Technology on the Mission Field, by Weston Leibee. I found this article in a magazine produced by Charity Christian Missions. I'm not sure how we ever got signed up for this magazine, but I've enjoyed the challenging articles over the past few years.

Is technology a missionary's friend, or is it his foe? When I am able to send a message to family via laptop and satellite phone from a remote village, or 'sit in' on a board meeting in Pennsylvania from Ghana via international conference calling, it seems like a friend. When as a returned missionary, it makes me feel about two decades behind the times, it seems like a foe.
Missionaries aren't the only ones caught up in the drama. How is technology affecting the senders? What about the potential future missionaries that are being raised up and trained? What about the short-term workers? Is technology helping or hurting the cause of world missions?... (read the rest here).

I believe the author leaves the reader with a balanced approach to technology, and some good questions for helping keep that balance, as applicable to short and long term workers.

Am I planning on taking my laptop to Peru? Yep. Things are such that it would be best to check in at work while I'm away. In that sense, my laptop will be a friend (I probably wouldn't have been able to totally drop my work and travel to Peru otherwise). It will also allow us to post pictures on the ministry team blog for family and friends back home. This is my first mission trip taking along a laptop, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out, and if/how it effects my perspective. I like how the article ends..."Let us make wise choices so that an unbiased observer could accurately describe our relationship with technology as using and not abusing."

I guess that's the heart of it. Technology is a means, not an end. Mastering technology, having the best, knowing all the jpeg, i-pod, wi-fi lingo doesn't amount to a hill of beans in eternity. Souls are what matter. If technology is frittering away our time, or creating barriers to our witness, then it is being abused. If it is extending the reach of the Gospel and opening doors to transform lives, we should make effort to harness it for the Kingdom.