Displaying items by tag: technology

The Gaza Strip recently took advantage of the latest technologies used to produce drinkable distilled water, thanks to Israeli cooperation. Damour for Community Development, a nongovernmental organisation based in Ramallah in the West Bank, brought into the besieged enclave two atmospheric water generators that turn air into water using solar power. The machines are produced by an Israeli branch of a US company that obtained the patent for this device. Arava Institute for Environmental Research in Israel also donated a third generator for drinking water at a specialised hospital for children in the Gaza Strip. The generators are three months into a six-month trial phase to assess their operation and quality. They will not solve Gaza’s water crisis but will raise residents’ awareness of this technology, which can be the solution to clean water. The suppliers of the generators managed to work without dealing with the Hamas-controlled government institutions which do not coordinate with the Israeli side.

Matthew Skirton is from the UK but has spent many years in Moldova. He says that mission agencies have noticed a decline in Christians engaging in cross-cultural, overseas mission. Less than 1% of Christians around the world are actively involved in global missions, something termed the ‘Mission Gap’. Has the Church - in some quarters - moved away from the core belief that followers of Christ are all called to go to the ends of the earth, to every people group, to witness and make disciples? Local mission continues - mums and tots groups, food banks, Alpha and online Christmas carol services. During lockdown the move to online church has seen a surge in people connecting with Jesus’ message. Fewer Christians are taking the leap abroad to where there is little chance of the people hearing the Gospel. A Turkish-speaking pastor in London whose services used to attract fifty people now livestreams to over 1,600 Turkish-speakers from his church.

Covid-19 has plunged the world into an economic crisis and accelerated digitisation in the workplace. Adopting digital technology creates opportunities for millions of new businesses and jobs, but millions without access to technology are left jobless. Unequal access to the internet and technology will impact the unskilled and offline communities in the developing world where connectivity is expensive, slow and unreliable. For example, a vegetable trader in Nairobi may make basic mobile phone payments but cannot sell his produce online because most of his buyers are neither online nor aware of e-commerce. Governments in developing countries lack the funds, and private companies lack financial incentives to invest in broadband for all. The economic crisis triggered by the pandemic will discourage investing digital infrastructure where it is most needed. Pray for the 3.2 billion people who will remain unconnected, those who don't have laptop jobs or access to virtual education or work, to find ways to survive in post-pandemic times.

The following is based on ‘Reflections on Doing Church Online’ by a researcher in digital religion who points out that people are realising that online church can spiritually interconnect us when we are physically separated. Technological social interaction is growing with weekly congregational  rhythms of regular online morning and evening prayers, musical worship (streamed or interactive) throughout the week; there are daily activities for children, regular ‘Sabbath’ breaks from news and digital media; eating meals together as a family, prayer and contemplation connections; assistance for working from home, shared Bible reading, the encouragement of responsible contact with neighbours, and recruiting for all manner of community support. We can pray that pandemic lockdown re-awakens the church to her mission and calling through fresh expressions of church. Many are saying building-centred churches may never recover from low attendance, and thus low collections, compounded by pandemic-related recession. 

For months both adults and children, many of whom are working at home, have spent significantly more time online. Now the Internet Watch Foundation reports that images of child abuse images online have increased by almost 50% during lockdown. In the eleven weeks from 23 March its hotline logged 44,809 reports of images, compared with 29,698 last year. The Government has promised to draw up legislation to reduce online harm. The fastest-growing category of images being removed in recent years has been those generated by children after grooming or coercion. The updated figures are likely to renew the debate about how to keep children safe, after months of parents grappling to limit children’s online activity. There are now growing concerns that appropriate draft legislation will be delayed by the pandemic.

Boris Johnson is expected to draw up plans to phase out Huawei from Britain’s 5G phone networks now that US sanctions have undermined the Chinese telecoms equipment maker’s ability to supply the UK market with exactly what it promised. Digital secretary Oliver Dowden said that GCHQ can no longer guarantee Huawei’s security. Mr Dowden’s department has yet to deliver its conclusions to Mr Johnson, who has said he does not want the country to be ‘vulnerable to a high-risk state vendor’. Huawei has stated that it remains ‘open to discussions’. China's ambassador to the UK warned that if the UK got rid of Huawei it would send out a wider message about its openness to foreign investment. MPs are currently discussing the implications of a potential ban.

Technology is a powerful tool for light and life in this pandemic. A surge in Google searches around the theme of hope and faith plus a phenomenal increase of people searching Christian websites means that more are hearing the Gospel. Global Media Outreach registered a 170% increase in clicks on search engine advertisements about finding hope. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Campus Crusade (Cru) created special internet tools for ministry in the pandemic. Cru’s student page is expected to receive 20 million more visitors than last year, and BGEA’s outreach had 191,000+ online visitors and 11,000 decisions to accept Jesus as Saviour. See also Intercessor Focus: praying for the local church.

The island’s phone-tracking system is an ‘electronic fence’, using existing phone signals to triangulate mobile phone owners’ locations. To ensure users comply, an alert is sent to the authorities if the handset is turned off for more than 15 minutes. More than 6,000 people subjected to home quarantine are monitored this way. Officials phone users up to twice a day to make sure they have their mobile to hand, and to ask about their health. Milo Hsieh is under quarantine. Early on Sunday morning, while he was sleeping, two police officers knocked at his door. His phone had run out of battery; in less than an hour four different administrative units had called. Police were dispatched to check his whereabouts. A text was sent saying that the government had lost track of him, and warning of potential arrest if he had broken quarantine.

A national day of prayer and action for the global pandemic of coronavirus has been organised for this Sunday. The organisers are Archbishop Justin Welby, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Revd Dr Hugh Osgood (the Free Churches Moderator), Archbishop Angaelos of London (the Orthodox Church) and Pastor Agu Irukwu, the Pentecostal representative. They write, ‘This Mothering Sunday we are calling all churches to a national day of prayer and action. At this time, when so many are fearful and there is great uncertainty, we are reminded of our dependence on our loving Heavenly Father and the future that he holds. At 7pm this Sunday, light a candle of hope in the windows of your homes as a visible symbol of the light of life, Jesus Christ, our source and hope in prayer.’ Also churches are looking to livestream services. The Baptist Union hosted an online prayer broadcast, with 2,300 joining in, and has a number of resources online.

Israel’s government has approved emergency regulations to enable the Shin Bet to perform mass surveillance of phones belonging to Israelis who contracted COVID-19. This is not to monitor quarantined people, but to track the movements of those found to be coronavirus carriers, to see with whom they interacted in the 14 days before they were diagnosed. Those who were contacted will receive SMS messages instructing them to enter home quarantine. Netanyahu announced the use of these digital counterterrorism measures, as one of several drastic steps to curb the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. He acknowledged that the digital measures might interfere with people’s privacy, but he argued that Taiwan has successfully used similar means in order to stop the coronavirus spread. Public criticism and warnings by human rights groups mean that authorities must limit these measures to only thirty days.