Monday, December 5, 2011

The End of Texting; the Beginning of Impact

A lot of people have asked why I dropped my texting plan from my cell phone service.  I wasn't going to announce this, but then after some thought, I decided that just maybe I could let someone else know about the opportunity of giving that God showed me.

You see, God has placed on my heart the unreached people groups of the world.  What does this have to do with dropping text messaging?  Hang with me...  Without going into the full story here--though I'd be thrilled to share with you in person--God has shown me the deception I was living under and also taught me a lot about generosity.  While He is still preparing, pruning, and providing for me to begin being obedient to His global mission call, He showed me ways I can make a difference right now, from where I'm at.  In one respect, He has brought many people groups to us!  In fact, we have a young man from India visiting as a student and attending Compass.  India has been on my heart since learning about the persecution there in April.  This led to Him speaking to my heart to sponsor a child through Compassion International.  It is $38 a month to provide resources to a child so they can attend school, church, and other meaningful activities for physical and spiritual wellness.

So I made the commitment to do so and began searching for areas I could cut back to be a sponsor.  With the advance in Apple's iOS and all the other avenues of communication we have, I decided the $20 per month that cellular providers outrageously charge for texting was a good place to start.  Only a handful of my friends/family use some other device or haven't upgraded, so it really hasn't been too big a deal so far.  If someone is so insistent to communicate by message rather than voice, there's still Twitter, Facebook, email, etc.  It's fine.  A minor inconvenience for a major influence.  Another place I'm cutting is my Netflix service.  They doubled their rates recently, so I'm halving my service.  That's $9.  Finally, I cut the "premium" tier of my U-verse bill, which let me get the Red Zone Channel.  $5 there.  That's $34 total...just about the cost of my sponsorship.

I looked for a couple months for a child, but it was so overwhelming, I kept putting it off.  How could I choose?  Finally, I found a link on the site that said "let us choose for you".  Yes please!  I set the parameters of a boy in India who had been waiting the longest for a sponsor.  I received an 8-year-old boy named Vijay, who lives in northern India.  Google Earth can't quite pin down where he is; the closest I can focus in is 1000 km away.  I just finished writing my first letter to him.  I pray these resources will cause him to know Christ one day soon!

There's been several jokes that I was being snobby about only using Apple's iMessage, and while I do know they were all in good fun, I assure you, I had no such motivation.  And if this post causes you to consider getting in on God's global mission, in this small way, this is something you can do NOW!  Want to know more?  Let's get together!  Holler at me on Twitter, Facebook messenger, email, or iMessage.  Just don't text!  :)