There are indeed many ways that one can consider ministry as an effort that can be augmented by the use of mobile technology. In that ream of thought, we usually consider things such as meditative content, evangelism, and on the fringes, educational pursuits. But, what if the mobile minister were also able to deliver healing as a part of that demonstration of Christ’s love? What then would mobile ministry look like if it were not simply speaking a word, but actually diagnosing the illness and putting forth accepted medical practices for rendering healing? What then would mobile ministry look like? I think a report shared to us from NBC News makes it about as plan as can be:
[from the transcript] reporter: dr. eric topol has long been one of the world’s foremost cardiologists. he has now become the foremost expert in the exploding field of wireless medicine. and this explosion, he says, is about to make our health care better and cheaper. watch what he does with his cell phone .
>> we’ll just pop this is phone into it like that.
>> reporter: he shows how simply his modified iphone produces a cardiogram for a patient.
>> so you just put your fingers on it. there you go. and in a second — you know, in the first or second it stabilizes.
>> reporter: the device was approved by the fda in december and is now sold to physicians for $199. topol tells his patient he just saved a $100 technician’s fee.
>> so are we close to using this to say i’m going to diagnose you and prescribe four or five apps instead of four or five medications?
>> well, these days i’m actually prescribing a lot more apps than i am medications. you can take the phone and make it a lab on a chip . you can do blood tests , saliva tests, urine tests , all kinds of things. sweat tests through your phone. this is a powerful device.
>> and we’ll just have you hold that on there like that.
>> reporter: topol ‘s patient, ron thompson , is dealing with several significant heart issues.
>> you saw that on a phone. didn’t you just — weren’t you just amazed the first time you saw that?
It might sound a bit amazing, and a bit far-fetched. But, this is the present of what mobile devices can do. Is this the kind of mobile ministry that you put forward?
We’ve piggybacked on the discussions happening around the web in respect to mobile health. And certainly, there’s a lot that’s being discussed in respect to using mobile devices and services at the point of diagnosis and prevention. However, one of the aspects of mobile health that we’ve rarely talked about is the idea of wellness.