• 20:21 Library
• Lessons from the Front
• From the President
• For Your Information
• Faces at GMI
• Worldwide Perspectives Map Set
• <Summer 1996 GMI Info>
• <Subscribe to GMI Info>
• Index of GMI Info newsletters

Lessons From The Front

In the process of developing the 20:21 Library, GMI undertook a significant research effort to better understand how to design a mission information system that training institutions in the Two-Thirds World would find beneficial. Here's a taste of the valuable comments Christian leaders around the world expressed to us about computers in general and development of the 20:21 Library CD in particular.

• I can't use the CD if I don't have a computer. Most of us don't yet have a computer. Many of us who do, were given an old ("used teabag") computer that is incapable of running modern software.
• If I get a computer, a CD drive, the 20:21 Library, and train our people how to use it, then something soon breaks and it all becomes worthless. Local technical expertise to keep the computer system running is woefully lacking.
• I'm too busy ministering to people; I don't have the luxury of time to spend interacting with a computer. In terms of software, one size doesn't fit all. If it's going to be designed to meet our needs, we need to be involved in the design discussions from the very beginning.
• Information that stays locked up in a computer isn't worth much. Computers and CDs are great for shipping and storing large collections of information, but if I'm going to use the information, it's got to be on paper. In order to study it and use it in teaching, I need to be able to print it the way I want, copy it and distribute it to others in printed form.
• What information do you have that would actually help me? If the information isn't in my language, I can't understand it. If the information is not about my region of the world, it doesn't matter much to me. If it wasn't written from my worldview (written by someone from my continent, for instance), I don't put a lot of trust in it.
• It doesn't do me much good to see in your CD-ROM bibliography that there are some books and journal articles I badly need, if there is no reasonable way to actually acquire a copy of the materials themselves.
• We're excited about the Internet, but few of us have reasonable access to it. For many of us who do, the on-line connect charges still make it too expensive for any kind of serious research.
• We understand that you have a valuable research product, but if you charge "American" prices, we can't afford it. Our library and research budgets are quite small and shrinking.
• Will you train us to effectively use the software?
• Will you still be around next year to help us? Or is this your one-time effort to make yourself feel good and "accomplish your mission?"

Comments like these make all the difference in the world to GMI. We do not have all the answers, but we are striving to meet real needs, not just create products that look good to us.

From The President

We are deeply indebted to those who helped us determine how to design and develop the 20:21 Library to better meet the needs of the Church around the world.

So it is with grateful hearts that we acknowledge those who served as "test sites" for early versions of the CD. They hosted GMI staff, gave us their honest feedback, and improved both the product and our people.

• Serampore College, India
• United Theological College, India
• South Asia Institute for Advanced Christian Studies, India
• Hindustan Bible Institute, India
• All Nations Christian College, England
• Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, England
• Organization of African Instituted Churches, Kenya
• Nairobi Association of Theological Librarians, Kenya
• Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology, Kenya
• United Bible Societies, Kenya
• University of South Africa, South Africa
• Billy Graham Center, USA
• Columbia International University, USA
• International Conference on Computing and Missions, USA
• American Society of Missiology, USA

Thank You!

For Your Information

CONFERENCES

International Conference on Computing and Missions (ICCM) June 7-11, 1996 in Abilene, Texas. Theme: "Building Bridges of Collaboration." Sessions include: World Wide Web Production and Management, Computer Assisted Missions Education, Computer Assisted Management of Missions, Communications, Local Area Networks, and much more.

An Information Specialist Consultation will be held for missions information specialists, librarians and researchers on June 6-7 immediately prior to the ICCM conference. Topics include: "How to organize ourselves into a Global Missions Information Network" and "How to maximize access to existing resources in mission-related research centers."

For either conference, contact Tom Dolan, Abilene Christian University, ACU Station, Box 83871, Abilene, TX 79699-8371. Phone: 915-674-3706; E-mail: Dolan@Bible.acu.edu

E-MAIL COMMUNICATIONS

If you can't come to ICCM, you can become a remote participant! To receive reports on each ICCM'96 session, posted during the actual conference, send e-mail to hub@xc.org with only the following words in the message: subscribe ICCM96

A new electronic conference was recently begun to help international Christian researchers keep updated on research work in progress. To join, send e-mail to hub@xc.org with only the only the following words in the message: subscribe Lausanne-Research

Brigada is a large and rapidly growing family of e-mail-activited Internet "conferences" that link those with common interest in reaching the least reached peoples and cities of the world. Send e-mail to hub@xc.org with only the following words in the message: subscribe brigada

MAFnet provides e-mail connectivity for Christian organizations working in remote locations with limited telecommunications access. MAF also offers MAFxc, linking the global Christian community by providing e-mail conferencing among all on-line services, as well as an e-mail forwarding service. Contact Paul Lay, P.O. Box 3202, Redlands, California 92373-0998; Phone: 909-794-1151; Fax: 909-794-3016; E-mail: Play@maf.org.

SCHOLARSHIPS

The 20:21 Library of Mission and Evangelism Resources on CD-ROM (described elsewhere in this newsletter) is available at greatly reduced prices via scholarships for Christian organizations and educational institutions in special financial need. Contact Harold Britton, GMI, 7899 Lexington Drive, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80920. Fax: 719-548-7459; E-mail:

Perspectives Map Set

Together with Meg Crossman, the editor of the new Worldwide Perspectives book, Global Mapping has created a new map set to help you visualize the world Christian movement.

This set of twelve full-color maps on overhead transparencies include visuals on Israel as a strategic land bridge between continents, the breakdown of colonialism in the "25 unbelievable years," global poverty, the extension of the evangelical world from 1790 to the present, Ghana as a single geo-political country vs. a multiplicity of languages and peoples, nomadic pastoralists, mega-cities of the world, plus many more.

Leaders and participants in the accredited Perspectives course (a 15-20 lesson course offered through colleges and churches worldwide) will find this new map set particularly valuable.

Faces At GMI

Greg Rebuck -- Database Programmer and Anaylst

For two years Greg has been with GMI working on the 20:21 Library and the African Proverbs Project in data processing and data conversion. Originally from the San Francisco area, Greg is a graduate of California State University at Hayward with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a minor in French. He and Virginia, his wife of four years, have a busy household with three children from three years to ten weeks old. The Rebucks are members of First Baptist Church in Castro Valley, California.

Harold Britton -- Vice President, Communications

Last April, Harold left the successful landscape, architecture and construction firm he founded 22 years ago in California, to devote himself to mobilizing the Church for mission. Here at GMI he works full-time developing our relationships with ministry networks around the world, to give people access to strategic mission information resources. Harold, Gwen and their two sons are active members of Woodmen Valley Chapel where they lead a multi-ethnic Bible study group and coach other leaders.

GMI Info -- Spring 1996