[CS-FSLUG] Missionary Contacts Program - Come Help :-)

[Ritchie, Josiah S.]

> -----Original Message-----
> Realize that the US is spoiled regarding Internet access.  Many
> missionaries will, on average, be on dial-up.  Some places might have
> broadband, but it will probably be expensive.  Other places will not
> have access, or at best intermittent access.  Others will have only
> Internet Cafes as their access.

I've heard it both ways. Most of what I hear is that this, for most
areas, is old information and that it has actually improved drastically
of late. I may be talking to the more optimistic types though. :-)
 
> Also think of the average mission agency.  Most have little IT support
> staff, so will be more willing to buy canned products and this leads
to
> some having more MS infrastructure.

I can't in the least disagree with that. :-) I know it to be true. There
are other barriers too like not having a solid non-profit accounting
system. That might be fodder for another discussion though.

> One thing you will want to look into is if there is a way to download
> donor information from the missions' accounting system to the local
> users' contact information program.

What information would you expect to get pulled in? Just contact
information, if so I would have expected the missionary to have made
contact and gather such information before the donation is made. It
would be nice if this could also include information on how much how
often a contact donated I guess. How important would that be?

> > If you have any advice for home ministry for technical missions I'd
be
> > interested in hearing that too. :-) Since I'm working both in the US
and
> > as support, I'm expecting to work hard to raise support. I'm also
having
> > trouble figuring out what I can realistically do as a ministry to a
> > church while my wife and I are visiting with them. I thought maybe a
> > computer ethics Sunday school class or something.
> 
> I'll try to think on this and probably write to you directly.

Thanks :-)

JSR/