Reviewing Missions-Ready Mobile Devices

As MMM has pointed out a few times in recent articles, not every mobile situation will merit the latest smartphone, or the most consistent of connectivity speeds, or even a connection at all. In many cases, specifically when the #mobmin (mobile ministry) focus turns missional, the attraction for mobile devices takes on a different component:

Is the device generous with battery life (multiple days)
How many SIM cards can it take
How easy is the device to repair
Is there a memory card slot
Is there Bluetooth
Is there a FM radio

As well as several other factors related to security, cost of device and service, and multimedia abilities. You can go to a website such as GSM Arena and in using their Phone Finder page, choose a manufacturer, and then according to the listing here, begin to filter models down to getting to something that works for you (for example, starting with Nokia and a price of no more than $200 USD, here’s the results of a search for available mobiles).

Mobile Advance took at look at a few low-end mobiles (these would be described as feature phones) some weeks back. The devices that were looked at (Nokia X2-02 and Samsung Hero E3213) consider the above points and more – for those persons doing missions work where mobile connectivity is a near-necessity:

My wife and I both needed phones upon getting here. After testing out a few in the stores, we decided to get two similar, yet different models- the Nokia X2-02 and theSamsung Hero E3213. Both cost the same- approximately 64 USD. I thought I’d send on our observations upon using both phones, especially since one of them is the update of the XpressMusic [mobile which was a past recommendation]…

Read the rest of A Comparative Review of Two Mobile Ministry Ready Feature Phones at Mobile Advance

Mobiles like these can be purchased from websites such as Amazon, Expansys, Carphone Warehouse, and Wallmart. Depending on your region, you might also find some smaller local wireless retailers selling these or find listings for some of these mobiles on sites like eBay and Craigslist. Lastly, a good place to find a mission-ready mobile is a pawn shop. Regardless of the place you find these, make sure that you wipe the device completely, then do a full system restore using the accompanying PC/Mac software suite if available.

Once you have gotten the mobile cleaned up, and before you start adding your favorite or needed contacts and apps, take a look at the listing of security and privacy apps listed over at SaferMobile. For many of you in missions, it might not be your mobile that you need protected as much as it is the communications on it, or the lives of those whom you might also let access your device. Take a look at SaferMobile’s listings, then pursue wisdom in your missional mobile activities.

Tuning the Radio

I sat there just to get a few minutes away, and hope that a friend would swing past. I was looking to ask him a question about where he worked. But, in the space where I usually see him there was another gentleman. Similar in age, a bit more fit in appearance. He and I gathered some small talk and then his friend, another man show was slightly older, sat down. He was a friend of the first man, and they were having a connection time. I drew back into my mobile, but listened in on occasion.

The man whom I was looking for soon appeared. He sat down. He was a part of the connection group happening with the two guy already sat down. Being the common person between us, he introduced me to them and we began to talk. These guys were retired, they’d traveled to places and in means I’ve only heard in stories or seen in movies. There was a sense that they enjoyed their years, and look forward to those that come behind them finding their own trails.

At one point, the conversation turned back to technology. But, not mobiles and web, radios. They started in just talking about how they used to have to tune the radio to find a program. One guy looked at me and said, “you don’t know anything about that do you?” I do. I used to have fun turning the nobs, listening for whatever wasn’t too filled with static – and hopefully not a commercial. I found plenty of music that way. These guys weren’t talking about tuning the radio for music though – its was about finding those comics and dramas that sparked their imagination.

Then they started naming shows, The Shadow, and several others of which I’ve heard of, but never had that experience of sitting in a living room, with the family around, just to take in the story together. They talked about how the stories were just audible, just enough sound to make your mind create the scene. And the best stories, how they left you in some sense of suspense and surprise, yea, that was how they remembered having their imagination stroked.

“But, not today,” the last gentleman who came in spoke. “Today, the TV does all the imagining for you. The pictures are made for you. And its so immersive. Now, there’s 3D…” He tailed off. I smiled. It was his generation that gave us these home and personal moving pictures, but now he was pushing back against it. Where it was helpful for connecting, it was detrimental for imagination. Without that imagination, there was no vision for living better. Where there was no vision for living better, there was so solid work ethic.

And so the conversation switched again, as it did several times in that hour or two that I sat there with them. These men, men how married and lost, fought in wars and strove for better lives in peace, were tuning my radio. I couldn’t be sure that I’d ever have their perspective towards the value of analog or “simpler” technologies. But, I could see how they appreciated moments enough to be sure that I got to hear what about the former media was good to hold onto, and not lose as we do move forward.

On Twitter recently, Gordon Marcy and I had a brief convo where I was asking about the value of broadcast communications (TV, radio, etc.) compared to participatory communications (web, mobile, and social). He alluded to the trust relationship that people have with broadcast communications compared to participatory. There’s not much tuning needed with those, there’s a reputation that’s assumed when those channels are used. But, with web, mobile, and social, there’s some tuning needed. People are still looking for what makes the channels necessary, valid, worthwhile. And if they are worthwhile, does that mean worth making things better for consumers or advertisers? Who’s imagination gets stroked to improve life around them?

It is a jump to say that web, social, and mobile are good enough. They are in some respects. But, when they take over the imagination or abiltiy for people to connect the dots themselves to see the depth and beauty of this faith, then maybe its not as valuable. Maybe, at that point it needs to be tuned a bit differently. And when it is, to be open to the signals coming as well as the signals going. We’d like to have this work for the Kingdom yes, but only if the Spirit compells, not if we wedge them into this.

A Few Steps to Becoming A Better Mobile Minister

In some recent conversations with clients/friends, I was asked if I would check out a few pieces of mobile software that were looking to be utilized for a few different mobile ministry projects. I used to not mind doing so, but this time I did. A few pieces of the software that I was being asked to investigate/review were core to the goals of those projects. In addition, the persons asking that I’d take the time to investigate those mobile applications had seen in projects or used similar mobile devices to the ones which would be utilized in those projects. They’d essentially be relying on my disconnected use of the software on a device and platform they had little familiarity with in order to roll out a solution that they felt met the needs of their project.

I battled several moments with these requests – not the least because they were being asked in the (usual) “please do this as soon as possible” tone. As I poured over how I would respond to the latest of these requests – I started wondering how it is that those who are forwarding efforts utilizing mobile devices and services could take steps to being servant-leaders of the technology. If you will, how could they take steps in their home usage to make strides to being equipped and knowledgable when in the field?

The first thought was that folks have to become more knowledgeable about mobile devices. Not just about the devices they can afford, not just about the ones their carriers sell, but about the ones that are prominent on the field to which they’d like to pursue mobile ministry opportunities. The easiest way to do this is to take sites such as GSM Arena and PDA Database and just getting associated with the manufacturers of various mobile devices. Look at the device that you own, the carrier and the manufacturer, and then compare that to similar models from the same carrier and manufacturer on those websites (these are two of the largest datasets for mobile devices online).

Second, at least in respect to the mindset of knowing what you are talking about when you refer to the device or service’s effectiveness on the field, is to purchase a similar mobile device to what would be on the field. For many of you reading, this means getting a second or third GSM mobile made by Nokia, RIM (BlackBerry), or any of the many Android licensees or purchasing at the very least an Apple iPod Touch in order to test non-cellular-based applications. These devices cannot be items left in your drawer either, you’ve got to use them regularly so that you know their positives and negatives. Load them with applications, burn through the battery with multimedia and Internet, and even share content with others. Get to know the device and any services you wish to run on it before making the decision to use that device and/or service in the field.

Side note: doing #2 with GSM mobiles is simple. You can purchase a prepaid SIM card from any grocery/convenience store or gas station, or use services like Truphone, MaxRoam,Simple Mobile, Net10, and others to get a taste of what its like to use the device in a manner that’s similar to that of non-contract markets/users (pre-paid; using multiple platforms, international services for testing roaming, etc.).

Third, you have to get over the affluence that is marketed all around you in mobile and chart a path that looks like those you want to serve. Remember when Jesus, after his final meal with the disciples , rendered himself as a servant and washed the disciples feet (John 13). Besides breaking protocol (he was technically the host of the meal), he also demonstrated that there are times in which you have to break with social norms in order to demonstrate the fullness of your message. This might mean that you have to get away from the family plans, bundled services, or even smartphones that you cary right now. If you want people to pass content from one mobile to another via Bluetooth or memory cards, then you have to make a practice out of doing it in your day-to-day mobile life. Do you want people to utilize a mobile learning curriculum, then you also need to be teaching and leading groups from it. For you to lead effectively, you’ve got to have some understanding of what your efforts will cost those whom you are serving.

The best demonstration of mobile ministry is the act of living through that grace in your own life. Take these steps in mind when looking to make mobile technology a focus in ministry efforts. Yes, this means that you’ll have to make decisions such as using lower-end mobiles, or getting by without the security of a contract and device insurance. But, if this is what your target audience is doing, aren’t you better able to serve them by speaking from their experience?

Can You Minister/Work with What You Don’t Know

We said a bit of something on Twitter in the past week which may have come across as prideful and arrogant:

Am at the point of instituting a policy: we don’t train you on items located in your user manual/user guide for your mobile… If you want to know how to use your mobile for specific roles, we got you. That’s *using* your mobile.

This came after a semi-heated exchange with one of our clients where we declined taking on a training opportunity for a product where the persons asking for training were asking for items that were clearly stated (a) in the user manual and (b) in the help section of specific applications. Our position was if you cannot be bothered to do your part on knowing the basics of a product you’ve purchased/been tasked to work on, why should we be bothered with taking the time to develop training/workshop materials on the items that are right there in the box?

I’ll speak to the reciprocal of this with a conversation we had with an educational facility in the same week where our focus wasn’t on “training the tool” but on “training the role.” In that conversation, we were again adamant about not teaching the tool. In a context such as that educational facility, it doesn’t help people to simply learn a tool, especially when its software and constantly changing. On the other hand, if they know how that and similar tools function towards specific roles of work, then you can not only speak towards the tool, but also give a wider and deeper grounding towards the activity.

And so that brings us towards mobile devices used in ministry settings: are you trying to utilize mobile (in any form) in a ministry setting, but you have little to know knowledge of mobile? What are you doing to get “up-skilled” in mobile to alleviate that weakness? Are you even interested in increasing your knowledge and understanding of mobile and the facilities that spoke from it (software, psychology, history, etc.) so that when you do utilize mobile that you aren’t teaching the tool, but are teaching towards a sustainable activity?

We prefer to do role-based teaching. For example, the upcoming iPad Session for Digital Disciples Charlotte and iPad for Minister’s Workshop speak specifically towards using tools in a specific context, grounded not in preferred applications, but behaviors that can usually translate across applications (and even devices). Yes, the name of the class prefers a single device, but this could qualify for any tablet or connected computer, and as such the lessons speak towards behaviors which ask that the attendees need to know may of the basic functions of their devices.

Is it true that some people don’t like, can’t read/understand, or don’t have time for the manuals that come with devices or the help features? Yes. Is it also true that in such a position that we are demanding a point of base accountability? Yes. To have a tool and not take the time to get associated with it before requesting specialized help demonstrates a kind of wisdom and understanding that makes for a more fertile ground to build sustainable behaviors from.

We write this to encourage you to consider carefully your approach to mobile. You can’t minister with something you don’t know. Take the time to purchase the device, use the application, and then investigate the resources already produced for it when you come to those harder-to-understand moments. That way, built yourself up towards the knowledge of what you are trying to do. And then when you do ask for assistance, time can be taken in shaping the point of what you’ve got already, not putting into the fire a point that’s not existing (starting from scratch). It takes longer, and you don’t always get the desired result, but you end up with a body of knowledge that’s more ready to turn into the work of the ministry, rather than be mired in a series of behaviors that don’t efficiently move you forward.

2 GCIA Presentations from Cybermissions

Cybermissions has recently posted two of the presentation segments from this year’s GCIA Conference.

The first is titled Mobile Training and Discipleship. This goes about 10 minutes and talks about biblical and theological training as it can be done on mobile platforms.

The second, Mobile Technology: Issues With Implementation, goes about 11.5 minutes and talks through some of the technical issues that influence the effectiveness of applying mobile in ministry contexts. It also includes some tips to getting started with mobile, audio, and video.

The presentations can be heard/seen/downloaded in AVI, Windows Media Player (small and large screen sizes), QuickTime, and MP4 (MPEG 4) formats. Visit the Cybermissions website to view these and other presentations.

May is Digital Outreach Month

News Release: “You have an incredible gift at your fingertips – literally. Your keyboard,” says the team at Internet Evangelism Day. They claim there is growing potential to share the good news online in a variety of ways. Christians can investigate these options during May, which has been designated Digital Outreach Month. At its center is the worldwide annual focus Sunday, Internet Evangelism Day itself, on May 15.

“You do not need to be technical,” says Tony Whittaker, IE Day coordinator. “There are many simple yet fulfilling ways of being salt and light in cyberspace.”

On May 15, IE Day is partnering with several major publishers to offer free e-book downloads of Christian titles which are normally pay-for. These cover web evangelism, social networking and other areas of effective communication.

“This is a great opportunity to explore digital evangelism. I encourage Christians everywhere to take advantage of these free downloads to learn how to effectively share their faith in the digital world,” says Naomi Frizzell, Chief Communications Officer of The Lausanne Movement.

IE Day encourages churches and other groups to focus on digital evangelism during May, at any level they choose. As a minimum, IE Day can be featured in a church bulletin, so that members can investigate its resource website. Alternatively, focus spots can be created during meetings using IE Day’s free downloadable video clips or PowerPoint, or even perform a drama sketch that relates to online evangelism. Two new video-clip resource sites could be showcased live by projection, to demonstrate how to add an evangelistic video to Facebook with one click. These videos can also be downloaded to a mobile phone to share face-to-face.

IE Day’s site includes pages on using mobile phones for evangelism, creating ‘outsider-friendly’ church websites and introductory videos, social networking, how to blog or build a website, and much else. Explore www.IEDay.net to learn more.

Dimensions of Mobile

This has been one academic week with two talks about MMM and mobile ministry in university settings. In both sets of talks, there’s been the setting of expectations around mobile as it relates to ministry and media. So far, they’ve poked a few thoughts.

Stealing a bit from the second talk, mobile seems like a three iterative layers of communication: there, I described it as speech (communicate to interact), tweet (communicate to broadcast, not necessarily targeted), and text (communicate with intent to re-engage). With mobile, there are layers that we use it, and many people sit (stop) with the first. Its that second layer that many of us are seeing more and more, and the third that we have the most problem with. For the most part, communicating with intent to be re-engaged is a bit much.

These layers also seem to play their part in matters of faith. Speech (prayer, small groups, etc.), tweet (sermons, mailings, larger-group teachings), and text (conferences, fellowship, communion, etc.). Simplified, but maybe you can see what I am looking at here. Mobile has its space in which its usable, and others where it facilitates something bigger. The key is understanding the difference, and then going forth (whether in ministry or addressing culture) from there.

Due to the various perspectives (faith) of the audiences that I’m speaking to, I see this as a better route to talk about mobile ministry and digital faith efforts. What I’d probably want to do here is become a good deal more informed towards what’s happening in other faiths in respect to mobile and web (of the latter, its a ton). Those perspectives can help, and at the same time will have a viewpoint unique to their faith cultures.

Interesting thoughts to end the week aren’t they? Poke us if you have any insights, or would like to have us speak to your class/group. There’s much more to explore at this intersection, and from there we can send and receive – and occasionally pull something out that is in a different space that what you might be used to thinking about.

BibleTech Presentation – Mobile Ministry: Definition, Contexts, And State Of The Body

Unfortunately, funds and life have prevented MMM from being present for this year’s BibleTech Conference. There is always a lot of interaction, fellowship, and techie talk that happens, and I’m totally sure that by this point, I’d be recharging my mobile for the 2nd time in the day.

Mobile Ministry: Definition, Contexts, And State Of The Body happens to be a timely topic seeing that now many ministers and ministries are seeing that mobile is where they need to be and asking questions of where in ministry mobile fits. This talk recenters the context of mobile around the term mobile ministry, and then points to where mobile has been demonstrated in a ministry context.

In some respects, this presentation answers why MMM was started in the first place (to answer the question of what the Body is doing in mobile). And as such, gives the focuses to mobile ministry areas which might have been addressed, but maybe not as strongly because of the youth of this tool/channel.

View the Presetation (or scan/share the QR Code). The meat is in the notes (viewable by toggling the “slide view” (Ø) symbol at the bottom right of the screen). Per our usual BibleTech presentations, the information in the presentation is designed for consumption and mobile interaction.

(Abbreviated) Live Presentation via Qik

Blame a few folks for thinking that it was possible, and me for taking it further than my hardware and experiments usually go. But here’s an attempt to do this presentation via Qik. You can see the live presentation below, or visit http://qik.com/arjwright and then click on the video noted Live. If you have the Qik app, you should be able to interact with the video stream there.

This is being done over a Wi-Fi connection and using the lower-resolution front-camera of my Nokia N97. I’ll do what I can to keep this interactive, but I’m also really, really experimenting here. If it fails, BibleTech again gives some lessons learned and applied.

As for the rest of BibleTech, catch it on Twitter (#bibletech) and we can chat about what’s next in mobiles for Bible studies and other ministry endeavors along the way.

Tomi Ahonen Mega-Post on Becoming the Next Millionaire Mogul in Mobile

Tomi Ahonen has been quoted several times on this site as many of his insights have contributed to the understanding and application of mobile technology in the digital faith arena. Suffice to say, when he puts an idea down, it’s worth reading, rereading, and making steps to adjust.

Such is how I feel after having read his latest 20K+ word article about the mega-opportunity in mobile. Thankfully, Ahonen speaks in more than monetary terms. And given the insights he and several others in mobile share, the opportunity in mobile for great gains is just a matter of capitalizing on the opportunity. Here’s a snippet of the article:

MOBILE IS BIGGEST ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY (EVER)

Now, that is a massive statement, isn’t it? I mean, biggest? Ever? But before you jump to your next task on your to-do list, please consider just this fact. One industry on the planet has to be it. All others pretend, but factually, one of the thounsands of industries does truly have to be the biggest economic opportunity of any one time. Earlier on in the past century it was oil. Created the oil barons and billionaire oil sheikhs. Late in the century it was personal computers. Made Bill Gates the wealthiest man on the planet. At any one point in time there is one industry which is the best to be in. (and yes, even if biggest at one point in time, is not guaranteed to be ‘of all time’)

Today that is mobile. Mobile has become a Trillion dollar industry. Not the biggest industry on the planet, but one in a very rare category to pass the Big T of a Trillion. Television is not that big (has never passed half a Trillion dollars in annual revenues). Computers are not that big. Radio is not that big. The internet is not that big. Cinema is not that big. Newspapers is not a Trillion-dollar industry. Neither is air travel, credit cards, advertising, music, pharmaceuticals, hotels, videogames, the coffee industry, etc. Imagine if you were there to be one of the big ‘barons’ of one of those industries when they were in ‘hypergrowth’ stage, you’d have retired rich today with probably universities, airports or even cities named after you…

Read the rest of How You Became Next Mogul in Mobile (and a Millionaire) at Communities Dominate Brands. Also, you might want to add a cup of coffee or tea and a sandwich for this one (the reply from Martin Geddes, then Tomi’s reply).

For something a bit shorter, but packing a similar punch, check out this interview of Tomi Ahonen over at Mobile Zeigeist.

Southern Seminary and QR Code Project

It is always great to see experiments like this from TechSMO. Especially when they can garner additional readers to offline media.

This was a recent project that I did with Southern Seminary. It’s a “tech edition” of one of their major publications The Towers. We used a QR code as the cover graphic and the articles are all themed around the importance of technology. Once scanned, the QR code opens a related video that is optimized for mobile phones. Turns out this was one of the most popular editions they’ve done.

Some of you have talked about using QR codes for bulletins or other print media in your communities, have you taken the jump? And if so, what has been the response?

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Mobile Ministry Magazine

Asking questions, presenting approaches, and experiments at the intersection of faith and mobile

Tag Archives: mobile

Reviewing Missions-Ready Mobile Devices

A Few Steps to Becoming A Better Mobile Minister

BibleTech Presentation – Mobile Ministry: Definition, Contexts, And State Of The Body

Southern Seminary and QR Code Project