should missionaries use facebook and twitter?

8/9/2019 Should Missionaries Use Facebook and Twitter?

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Should Missionaries Use Facebook and Twitter?Karl Dahlfred

With the increasing popularity of social media such asFacebook and Twitter, there are lots of advantages formissionaries to use these media for both local ministry,and ministry with supporters in the home country. Ihave been using Facebook for about two years now,and Twitter for one year. There is lots to like but it is acontinual challenge to make them work for me as aministry tool and not turn into an entertaining distraction.

I speak as one who uses both Facebook and Twitter and is continuing to think throughhow best to use them. Facebook and Twitter are not used in exactly the same way, anddepending upon what you want to accomplish, you might choose one over the other. In

general, Facebook is good for connecting people that you actually know, whereasTwitter is good for connecting with people who share common interests. SorenGordhamerʼs article, “When Do You Use Facebook vs. Twitter?” gives a more detailedbreakdown of why youʼd choose to use one over the other. However, for the purposesof this post, I am going to lump Facebook and Twitter because there are a lot ofcommonalities between them.

There is lots of talk about social media being revolutionary but I am not here to tell youthat if you arenʼt using social media, then you should be. If doing stuff on the computeris a real chore for you, or if you really don ʼt like writing, then Facebook and Twitter mightbe more of an annoying burden then a blessing. Also, if you are a missionary working

among a semi-literate people who may not even have telephones, or living out in the jungle someplace with extremely limited or slow Internet access, then you may want toskip the social media revolution for the time being. Facebook and Twitter can be usefulministry tools but they wonʼt necessarily be helpful to everyone in every situation.

In this post I want to take a look at both the advantages and the dangers of usingFacebook & Twitter to help missionaries think about whether these social media aresomething that would be worthwhile to invest some time in or not. But before we get tothe advantages of using Facebook and Twitter, letʼs talk about the...

DANGERS

1. Time ConsumptionOnce you log on to Facebook and Twitter, there is so much to look at that it is reallyeasy to waste a massive amount of time reading and commenting on everyoneʼsupdates, looking at their photos, and discussing current events. Itʼs not that any ofthose are bad in and of themselves, but it is easy for social media to eat up the time thatwould really be better spent elsewhere.

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http://www.dahlfred.com/en/blogs/gleanings-from-the-field/351-should-missionaries-use-facebook-and-twitter





2. DistractionIt is easy to get addicted to checking your email often, but with Facebook and Twitterthe addiction potential is even worse. There is almost always something new andinteresting to read or look at every time you open up Facebook or Twitter. And if youhave some kind of notifier installed in your browser, on your desktop, or on your

handheld device (mobile phone, iPod, etc.), then you keep getting little messages andbeeps saying “Hey! Look at me! I am much more interesting than whatever you areworking on right now.” I couldnʼt deal with it anymore so I deleted the social media add-ons from my browser and took the Facebook and Twitter applications off of our iPodtouch (which is connected via a wireless network at our home). So far, I am happierand more focused without these unnecessary add-ons.

3. EscapismWhen family life or ministry is stressful, it is way too easy to check out via Facebook orTwitter. When I have trouble thinking about how best to put my sermon together orhave some unpleasant but necessary task that I should do, it is way too easy to “just”

check Facebook or Twitter quickly to see if there is anything new. And lo and behold,there is almost always something more interesting to look at, and it is never very quick.My own weakness is to read missions or theology articles that I find on Twitter or to getinvolved in a theological debate on Facebook that doesnʼt always have much directrelevance to my local ministry. Some of that is fine and can be helpful, but too much isescapism and exhibits a lack of self-control.

For the missionary living abroad, there is the added temptation to “go home” viaFacebook when language, culture, or ministry are difficult. When you have a “what-on-earth-are-these-people-thinking” moment, it is very easy to escape home via Facebookand “spend time” with people who understand you much better. While staying

connected with family and friends from home via Facebook is a good thing, doing it toomuch can be a way of avoiding the hard work of learning to love and understand thepeople around you. It is more important to be invested local and incarnationally, and tounderstand the issues that people are talking about locally than to stay current onsports, politics, and church issues from “back home”. I am not saying that missionariesshould stick their head in the sand about what is happening in their home country, butrather we need to ask ourselves, “How much do I REALLY need to know about thisissue? How important is this? Is knowing about this, and engaging my mind and heartin this issue going to aid or distract from the ministry that I am called here to do?”

4. Assuming that “Everybody” Uses It

There are lots of people using Facebook and an increasing number of people usingTwitter, so it can be easy to assume that everybody is on it, or if they are not, then theyshould be. Most of the missionaries whom I know, and most our family, friends, andsupporters from the U.S. are on Facebook. However, here in Thailand there is only asmall minority of Thai people who use email, Facebook, or Twitter. Most of them arestudents or more wealthy and well-educated.

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The majority of Thai people whom I meet on a regular basis donʼt do email, Facebook,or Twitter. They know about the Internet and many have used it at some point but theyare not “connected” and many probably care less whether someplace they go has wifior not. This is not a value judgment, but merely a statement of fact. To “connect” withthem, I need to go visit them or give them a call on the telephone (if they have one).

There are a handful of Thai whom I keep in touch with via email or Facebook, butwhether or not I have an “online presence” makes very little difference to the majority ofpeople whom I am here to minister to. And face-to-face or on the telephone is usuallybetter for real communication anyhow.

Despite all of the above dangers that need to be watched out for, I have found a lot ofadvantages to using Facebook and Twitter as part of ministry as a missionary.

ADVANTAGES

1. Staying Connected with Supporters

A regular prayer letter is probably still the most important way for missionaries to stay incontact with supporters but a few shorts updates per week on Facebook can givepeople a greater sense of being connected with you and your ministry. At the very least,a Facebook update from a missionary is a reminder to people that you still exist and arenot just “out there somewhere” in missions land, inaccessible except by machete andLand Rover.

It is easy to give just one or two sentence nuggets of info in a Facebook update to letpeople know what ministry activity is happening that day, to share a prayer request, orto tell people something that you praise God for. Bits of info about the local culture,language, or religion of the place where you are living can be a simple educational tool

to help people understand more about what your life and ministry looks like. If you postBible verses, testimonies, or links to articles on missions or theology, this can be a wayto minister to those who are praying for you, giving back to them something of benefit inappreciation for their partnership with you in your ministry on the mission field. Whetherregular Facebook updates really help people to pray more remains to be determined. Iwould optimistically like to think that it does.

If you donʼt like the idea of logging on regularly to post little updates, you can evenschedule them in advance with a free application like HootSuite. In one sitting, you canwrite updates for an entire week or month, selecting when you want them to appear.Spacing them out increases the likelihood that they will be read and not just skipped

over as people drink from the fire hose of information that comes at them on thecomputer everyday.

2. Build New Connections for MinistryMissionaries on home assignment (furlough) can meet a lot of people while speaking atvarious churches and other Christian groups but it is very difficult to follow-up on most ofthe relationships started at one-time meetings. However, via Facebook or Twitter you

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can connect with people you have met, and there is greater opportunity for conversationand interaction in the future. You have a convenient way to find them, and they you.People who are interested in missions, or are even thinking about becoming amissionary themselves, can keep up with you and ask questions about missions as theysee you sending short updates on Facebook or Twitter. I have had a number of people

contact me through Facebook with questions about missions. Most of them I had met atsome point, but not all of them did I remember.

3. Increased Blog ReadershipAn increasing number of missionaries are writing blogs, sharing stories and testimoniesfrom their lives and ministries abroad. However, those blogs donʼt always get read,especially if they are not updated regularly. While the best way to get your blog read isto1) write relevant content,2) post regularly (once per week is a reasonable goal for many people), and3) tell people that you have a blog,

you can also pull a lot of people to your blog site by linking it together with Facebookand Twitter. In Facebook, I use an application called Networked Blogs thatautomatically pulls in new entries from my blog and posts them on my Wall. Manypeople who would be unlikely to visit my blog site regularly will read a blog post byfollowing a link from Facebook or Twitter.

4. Discussion with Other MissionariesMissionaries often face issue of language, culture, and ministry that are not shared bythe people immediately around them or by people back home. However, there are othermissionaries out there who have “been there, done that” and can share helpful advice orexperience. Facebook and Twitter can be places for missionaries to connect and to

exchange information and ideas about living and ministering abroad. I donʼt want to

reinvent the wheel if I donʼt have to. Also, a word of encouragement from anothermissionary can be just the thing that you need to hear because you know that theyunderstand the ministry or cultural situation that youʼve run into. Via Facebook andTwitter, Iʼve had some really interesting discussions with other missionaries aboutpreaching, language study, church buildings, snakes, and other topics of interest tomissionaries in this part of the world.

5. Keep up with Current Missions IssuesFacebook and Twitter can be helpful for getting any idea of whatʼs going on in theworlds of sports, politics, movies and so on, but I like to use them to read up on

missionary issues and theology that will be helpful to me in my ministry. Questions oftheology, strategy, and contextualization are being continually examined and writtenabout by missionaries and missiologists around the world, so there are always new bitsof information and new perspectives to be considered. And by following some Christianpublishers and ministries, Twitter can be a good place to hear about new book releasesas well.

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Some controversial issues in the church back home will show up on Facebook or Twittereven though they are currently irrelevant to oneʼs local ministry situation on the missionfield. However, issues from home often show up on the mission field sooner or later.Missionaries need to be somewhat knowledgeable about what is going on in the churchback home so that they are prepared to interact with other missionaries on the field and

also with supporting churches when they go on home assignment (furlough). In themid-19th century, the tiny missionary community in Bangkok had a split because ofdisagreement over Charles Finneyʼs teaching that a Christian could achieve perfectobedience to God in this lifetime. Even 150 years ago when communication was muchless advanced than now, the big trends in the church at home made it out to the missionfield eventually. Seeing news of such issues on Facebook or Twitter can function as aearly warning sign that something significant is coming down the pipeline. And if it landson your doorstep, you can no longer ignore it.

In the final analysis, Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media can be helpfulministry tools depending on how they are used. Some missionaries may find them to be

great but others may conclude that they are a harmful waste of time.

FOR FURTHER READING:

“Should Christians Be on Facebook?” (R.C. Sproul Jr. - Ligonier Ministries)http://www.ligonier.org/blog/should-christians-be-facebook/

“When Do You Use Twitter Versus Facebook?” (Soren Gordhamer - Mashable)http://mashable.com/2009/08/01/facebook-vs-twitter/

“How Often and When do You Check Your Twitter and Facebook?” (Vijay - MsiGeek)http://www.msigeek.com/3633/how-often-and-when-do-you-check-your-twitter-and-facebook

“Facebookʼs “In House Sociologist” Shares Stats on Users Social Behavior (JustinSmith - InsideFacebook.com)http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/02/27/facebooks-in-house-sociologist-shares-stats-on-users-social-behavior/

Facebook Usage Statistics (Facebook.com)http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

“The State of Twitter: Who is using Twitter, When & How” (Mark Clement - Think Again)http://markclement.typepad.com/markclement/2010/05/the-state-of-twitter.html

You are free to reproduce and distribute this article, provided that you do not alter the content

and retain the author’s name, and web address at the bottom of the page.

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http://markclement.typepad.com/markclement/2010/05/the-state-of-twitter.html

http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/02/27/facebooks-in-house-sociologist-shares-stats-on-users-social-behavior/


http://www.msigeek.com/3633/how-often-and-when-do-you-check-your-twitter-and-facebook















http://mashable.com/2009/08/01/facebook-vs-twitter/

http://mashable.com/2009/08/01/facebook-vs-twitter/

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/should-christians-be-facebook/

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/should-christians-be-facebook/

should missionaries use facebook and twitter?

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