A challenge to expand our vison of the power of mobile ministry

Mobile Ministry: Is it technical, dramatic or spiritual?

A book review by W. Stephen Keel-  www.kioskevangelism.com

Speculation regarding best practices for mobile ministry is rampant. Learning from someone on the ground could be the best source of meaningful insight.

Fr. Castor Goliama, a diocesan priest of Songea, Tanzania has provided me with more insight than I expected to receive. His December 2010, book release, “Where are you Africa? Church and Society in the Mobile Phone Age” is focused on Africa and specifically Tanzania, but it may very well shape the discussion of mobile ministry for remote poor people globally.

Mobile ministry buffs are almost always techies. They are turned on by gadgets and innovation. The warp speed advances of mobile technology makes looking at the latest model or feature tantalizing. Castor Goliama has issued a call to look at the spiritual realities influenced by this exciting technology. His writings have forced a course correction for at least one technophile, me.

The major myth that I have been forced to abandon is the idea that the cell phone surge was caused by the economic benefits to cell phone users. Two years ago I read that poor families in India were experiencing 15% increases in household income within the first 30 days of owning a cell phone. I have quoted this statistic many times. While it may be true in India where the government has kept the cost of minutes at or under $.02 USD, tariffs in Tanzania and other African countries have become a tax source where normal tax collection is difficult or impossible. A family earning $1 USD a day may end up spending up to 40% of their household income on 40-cent-per-minute minutes. Rather than benefiting them financially, they are frequently going without food to talk on the phone. Apparently, only about 15% of cell phone users actually use them for commercial purposes.

Fr. Goliama shows us that people endure this economic hardship for a more valuable benefit, the knowledge that their family members are safe. This is a penetrating insight. The rural poor are not wallowing in the latest tantalizing tweet. They are probing for comfort that their loved ones are OK. 

The title of this book provides signature insight.  The rural poor do not have the luxury of indulging in social niceties. The standard question, “How are you?” takes too many expensive minutes to answer. It has been replaced with the far more efficient question, “Where are you?” The answer provides instant insights to a family member tracking the well being of a daughter or wife.  When minutes are astronomically expensive, users resort to ring code to communicate. 1 rings from mom means, “Call me now.” 2 rings may mean, “I am fine.”

The need to examine ministry standards in the light of regional realities is truly underscored by this important book. Western media producers frequently attempt to sensitize themselves to potential cultural mistakes in the content they produce. While this is a dearly needed discipline for media production, spiritual mobile ministry, according to Fr. Goliama, is influenced by a far more significant question. How are people actually using their phones and how can the church influence these use patterns to build the kingdom of God?

I have been working for several years to promote mobile ministry, largely from the comfort and security of my wonderful home in Virginia. Despite repeated trips to countries that I would serve, I had to read this book to learn something that is not immediately obvious. I and most of my fellow techies have been impressed by the shocking growth of mobile phone subscriptions in very poor countries.  I have occasionally wondered how these poor people could afford even the least expensive cell phone. Fr. Goliama unraveled the obvious truth. They can not afford cell phones and they do not own cell phones. The ratio of cell phones to cell phone subscriptions in Tanzania is 1 to 60. One person owns a cell phone and 60 people use their cards to access that one phone.

As world planners anticipate smart phones for the majority of the earth’s population in a very few years, a vast sea of people are pinging each other with unanswered rings. This begs an answer to the question, how can the church use mobile technology to reach these people?

Goliama has done us a great service. The first part of the book explores in depth communications and cultural relationships prior to the cell phone. The historical role of radio, hand or solar-powered media players and outdoor movie sessions is discussed in depth. The middle part of the book focuses on how the phone is being used and how it is redefining personal relationships and political activism. Viral musical ringtones have actually influenced elections. The book concludes with a look at theological implications manifested in the brave new mobile world. It is decidedly Roman Catholic theology with an emphasis on social responsibility as contributing members of communities as opposed to our being individuals seeking our best possible personal rewards on earth and in heaven. It also seeks to ask hard questions about the very nature of “church”.

What am I doing differently having read this book? 

I am changing my perspective. While I  remain interested in the proliferation of inexpensive bandwidth and the portability of file formats between cell phone models, I am now praying for spiritual insight into how what happens on the phone actually builds the kingdom. I want to leverage the ways that phones are actually being used. One speculation has arisen from my prayers for insight. I am now interested in seeing indigenous evangelists being given cell phones instead of bicycles.  While he could use a bicycle to get out to meet people, a phone could bring as many as 60 people to him. He can provide them with a chance to know that their family is safe and tell them about the safety to be found under the shadow of the wing of the most high God. I will be testing that idea on a pastor from Kenya this evening.

My hope is that “Where are you Africa? Church and Society in the Mobile Phone Age” will make me a more profitable servant as I meditate on the lessons I have learned from reading it. Could it be possible that your vision of mobile ministry could be expanded too?