Target #5 of Millennium Development Goal #8 is “Make available benefits of new technologies.”
Only 1 in 6 people in the developing world has access to the Internet.
In my term of office as national coordinator of the Western Section of the United States for American Baptist Women’s Ministries my main focus was promoting better communication across all levels of the ministry. In order to do that in the most cost-effective way I encouraged the increased use of technology by our members, from the local groups to the national level. By gradually overcoming the reluctance to learning new tools of communication our relationships were strengthened and our ministry benefited.
It is through relationships that we make a difference in our world and it takes communication to grow relationships.
Providing our sisters in developing countries with access to the Internet can bring them into our world and us into theirs. Relationships will form and people’s lives will be changed.
A few of the Millennium Development Goals are considered controversial in certain conservative Christian circles, but this target of making new communication technologies available has very few detractors. All Christians recognize that our responsibility for the welfare of our neighbors extends to individuals all around the planet.
We know that getting to know the folks next door and across the street makes our local neighborhoods safer, friendlier places to live.
Individuals communicating with individuals and forming relationships that uplift each other and their communities blesses us all, and that includes our world-wide neighborhoods, as well.
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said unto him, “What is written in the law? How readest thou?” 27 And he answering said, “‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.’” 28 And He said unto him, “Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.” 29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said unto Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 37 And he said, “He that showed mercy on him.” Then said Jesus unto him, “Go and do thou likewise.” – Luke 10-25-29,37
This blog post ends our series on the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations as part of the End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign. Millennium Development Goal #8 is “Develop a Global Partnership for Development.” Please visit www.endpoverty2015.org for more information on the MDGs, including fact sheets and updates on advances on this goal.
This blog post is contributed by Jonna Hawker Turek, a past coordinator of the Western Section on the American Baptist Women’s Ministries national board. Jonna is a businesswoman, writer and motivational speaker, and lives in Northern California. You may read more of Jonna’s writings on her blog, “Power Walking with Jonna,” at http://jonnaturek.wordpress.com/.
In Their Shoes: Women Walking with Women Worldwide 