Not your Father's Missions

It is amazing to see how far missions has come. This is definitely not your father's missions.

Way back in 1995 I was here in the Philippines doing a missionary internship my school Oral Roberts Unviersity. I had to make a call to the States for some school business. At that time a call to the U.S. cost about $20 for five minutes. The call was made over a trans-Pacific phone line, and you had to have an operater here in the Philippines connect you with an operator in the States before you actually got to talk to the person you wanted to call. The reception was terrible, and there was a two second lag in the connection, so I could hear my voice echo as it traveled to the other side of the world

Now just over ten years later, things have definitely changed. I have recently discovered the Gizmo Project. Using a microphone and headset I bought at a local computer store for about $5, I just made a call to the U.S. for free. I was able to do this sitting here at my desk, on my Powerbook, using my wireless Internet connection. I talked to a friend from Camp Sonshine, MD, Mike Charbonneau, for about thirty minutes. Using the Gizmo Project software, you can call toll free numbers without cost, and Camp Sonshine, MD just happens to have a toll free number. While it was not 100% clear, the connection was pretty good, and we could talk and communicate just fine. Not too bad considering I am on the other side of the world, and it was free.

Free is good.

This is definitely not your father's missions.