"Hello, Bangkok"
Deborah Dunn
After sending some homegrown church families overseas as missionaries, the elders at Damascus Community Church in Boring, Oregon, wanted better communication than just monthly prayer letters. How about a phone call during the Sunday evening service? Though it sounds outlandish, the idea has proven entirely practical. It took a bit of wiring between the telephone mouthpiece and the sound system mixer board in order to let the congregation hear both sides of the conversation. The moderator asks questions from cards submitted in advance by the audience, and the missionary responds. On several occasions, the people have even sung "Happy Birthday" to the family listening on the other end. Initially, times were prearranged by letter two months early. Now the date of the next call is set at the end of the phone call itself. How expensive is it? A call to the Bob Watt family in Thailand cost $42.14 for 25 minutes. Calls to closer countries such as Mexico and Austria have run less. At Damascus, the investment is viewed as worthwhile. As one church member commented, "We tend to forget about people unless we talk to them one in a while. The phone call reminds us of what they were like when they lived here. Knowing that what we're hearing is happening right now helps us relate to the lives and experiences of our missionaries." And on the other side of the world, missionaries are encouraged as they struggle with language study, adapting to a strange culture, or just plain homesickness.
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