Author: Friends Network

3 Things to Do When Troubled Times Hit Hard

3 Things to Do When Troubled Times Hit Hard

One day I was teaching in a discipleship school. I got an emergency phone call. The country we were working in was not friendly towards Christians. The police had come and arrested many of my friends. My family and I were under threat. Trouble had 

Powerful Analogies for Reaching Your Hindu Neighbors

Powerful Analogies for Reaching Your Hindu Neighbors

You love Jesus and want to tell other people about Him. Maybe you have even shared your faith with many people in your own country or from your own culture. That’s great! How do you begin to reach your Hindu neighbors? Would it be better 

Keeping Your Ministry Secure in a Rapidly Changing Age

Keeping Your Ministry Secure in a Rapidly Changing Age

We all depend on the instant modes of communication the Internet provides us today. As missionaries, we can quickly connect with new donors, send updates, and collaborate on projects. We can even share our faith online. Is this safe?

After you have been on the field a while, you start to see that the hyper-connected world can be a double-edged sword. If you’re not careful online, it could mean the end of your mission in the country that you serve in.

As rapid changes occur in the online world, we, as missionaries, need to be quick to learn and adapt.

Changes Are Happening

Last year I wrote two articles on security for Missionary Life. 2 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR EMAIL AND INTERNET SECURE ON THE FIELD and Social Media Tweaks and Tips. Those are both good articles and the principles found in them are worth paying attention to. Over the past year, some things have changed. The information in those articles needed an update, so C. Anderson asked me to write a new article on this.

Before we begin looking at the issue of online security in-depth, let’s take a step back. We need to ask the question, “What has changed?”

2 Major Changes

1) Greater Understanding of How Social Media Uses Our Information

Companies profit from selling our personal data. They use this information to encourage (manipulate) us into buying products as well as changing our beliefs. These platforms are even used to influence who we vote for.

2) Increasing Restrictions on Missionary Activity Worldwide

Countries formerly closed to the gospel are becoming even more so. These nations actively use technology to track down missionaries. Technology is being used in an attempt to put an end to the underground church. Those doing this are getting more and more skilled.

These two changes combined could lead to much greater hardship for the modern missionary.

Social Media Firms like Facebook and Instagram sell information to governments. Some are required to give access to do business there. GPS technologies on phones track the location of underground churches. They discover several people meeting together in the same location. Your entire social media history is scanned when you apply for a visa to go into that closed country.

Ways to Be More Secure

What can we do? Can we even do anything? Here are a few suggestions to tune up your online security.

1) Get Rid of Google

The very idea of this seems impossible. Our lives are so reliant on Google’s services, and most of them are free. Google is one of the world’s wealthiest companies. Have you ever wondered how this is possible? If a company is making money selling a product but you don’t know what it is, it’s very likely that you are the product.

Google poses threats to missionaries on the field in restricted-access countries. They may be required to release your sensitive data to the government of that country. It’s time to de-googlefy your life. Where can you start?

  • · Change your search engine – Use DuckDuck Go.
  • · Get off of Gmail. It’s a security risk not only for you but for everyone you write to. Pay for Fastmail or use ProtonMail behind a VPN.
  • · Don’t use Google Maps or at the very least turn off location tracking.
  • · Don’t store your images on Google Photos. They use advanced facial recognition software to find out who is in your photos and where they were taken.

2) Use Jumbo

Jumbo is an app that can help you become more secure online. It’s safe and highly rated.

You start by downloading the app and signing into Facebook, Google, and Other Social media platforms through the app. It will guide you through making your settings on these sites more secure. It can even archive old Facebook posts, block targeted adds and delete all your search history on Google. This is a good intermediate step if you are not ready to leave Google and Facebook entirely.

3) Signal not WhatsApp

Though in my previous article I recommended WhatsApp as a secure messaging app I now recommend Signal. WhatsApp is now owned by Facebook which has a poor record of protecting its user’s data.

The messages passed from user to user may still be secure and encrypted. It is likely that the metadata associated with those messages is available to companies and governments.

This metadata includes information about who is messaging who and how frequently. It includes information about who is in what groups together. That information alone can be a security risk. (Think back to the underground church being compromised by GPS location information).

Signal protects your metadata – in fact it doesn’t even have access to it. Signal also has a great feature – it allows you to set a timer to autodelete messages in a chat. This is extremely helpful in case anyone gets access to your phone.

4) Its time to delete Facebook

Consider completely deleting Facebook, if you are working in a restricted access nation! At the very least, you must be completely aware of what it means for you to use it. Note: As missionarylife.org and dmmsfrontiermissions.com (my two blogs) we are seriously considering a change to a different platform for our insider groups. Watch for this in the next few months!

Facebook as a company has one of the worst track records. Information is gathered about your interests, your likes and your friends. Then, it is sold to third parties to create ads that target you directly. Facebook has been used to spread lies, hate and fear – manipulating national elections worldwide.

Facebook Messenger IS NOT SECURE. Messages sent by messenger ARE NOT END TO END ENCRYPTED.

I recommend you leave Facebook unless you are using it to have a business presence online. Do not use it for communications regarding missions or communicating with supporters.

5) Consider an iPhone

For years I badmouthed iPhones. Now I have an iPhone. Yes, I know they are more expensive! But the value of the information that we leak to Google and other companies is much more. (You can also usually pick up an older or used iPhone fairly easily.)

Apple primarily makes its money by selling devices. They don’t make money selling your personal data. Apple has a strong data privacy policy. In fact, they refuse to unlock iPhones even for the FBI.

They are much more likely to protect your personal information from the governments of closed countries you may be working in.

Switching to an iPhone may be the only convenient way to totally disconnect from Google services.

6) The Border Crossing Wipe

Wipe phones and devices when you travel across international borders!

Yes, this is very inconvenient. It is worth the trouble. More and more closed countries are requiring people to unlock their phones when entering or leaving.

They may ask you to unlock it and they may even take it away for some time, possibly downloading the entire contents of your device. In this day and age, the best option is to wipe your phone.

  • Remove all sensitive conversations.
  • Delete Signal.
  • Delete your email app.
  • Remove any app that could compromise your security.

You can re-download and sign in to your apps and services when you are safely in the next country you are traveling to. This may be the single most important thing you do. The potential for your security to be compromised by a direct search of your phone may be much higher than by any other means.

Don’t Give in to Fear

Navigating the online security risks that face today’s modern missionary is challenging.

Here’s my final bit of advice. Do everything you can to be wise and secure your online presence, but don’t give in to fear! Fear will stop you from being effective more swiftly than your online exposure ever will. Be wise, be smart, and trust that God will allow you to serve in the nation for as long as He has called you to be there.

Note: If you work in a secure access nation, be sure to use the form below and indicate that to us. We will be careful not to send you our normal course promotions and will remove anything sensitive in the titles of emails to you. If you are in a super-sensitive situation, however, it may be best to only access these blogs online and then delete your history or use a VPN.

A New Year’s Exercise for Those God Calls Friends

A New Year’s Exercise for Those God Calls Friends

How does God see us? Often, as highly motivated missionaries, we view ourselves in terms of our work/ministry. Success or failure in that area is a big deal. He Calls Us Friends Jesus said to his disciples, “I no longer call you servants because a 

Social Media On The Mission Field-Tweaks & Tips

Social Media On The Mission Field-Tweaks & Tips

“Missionaries arrested and jailed” were the newspaper headlines. What caused this? Unwise use of social media on the mission field. This headline referred to a group of short-term missionaries. These missionaries were working with an organization I provide training for. The girls suffered quite a 

2 Ways To Keep Your Email and Internet Secure on the Field

2 Ways To Keep Your Email and Internet Secure on the Field

The topic of internet security can be a daunting one that we stress and worry about. In other circles, it can be totally neglected. My goal in this article isn’t to fill you with more fear about the topic of internet security. Neither will I tell you that you can keep on as you are doing, and you don’t have to worry about it. Instead, I will give you some guidelines and information. I hope these will be helpful in beginning to consider this. A more secure online presence will create a long and fruitful cross-cultural ministry.

Two Approaches

There are two major approaches to dealing with internet security on the field.

1) The High Tech Approach

This approach uses special software and services to hide our online interactions. In certain situations, it may serve you well to learn to use some of these services. Though they are ‘high-tech’ many of them are not any harder to learn to use than Gmail. This approach includes using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). These hide your internet activity. They use special secure email providers which based in other countries. So, they have no obligation to share your data with governments.

2) Tall Grass Approach

The second approach is to ‘hide in the tall grass’. This means that you use mass services for email

internet security
One approach is to hide in the “tall grass.”

and communication like Gmail or Yahoo. With this approach, you would also limit your open communication about ministry. The safest way to talk about missions is really not to talk about it at all! Governments that spy on internet traffic could notice someone using Virtual Private Networks. They may also find it curious that you are accessing a rarely used secure email provider. Though they may not be able to see what you are accessing, they may be more likely to investigate. These services are typically used by people who want to hide something. This, however, is changing in some developing countries. More internet users are becoming aware of data privacy concerns. Many have begun using these services.

Research more and decide which approach is going to work best for your situation. Some factors to consider may be:

– the level of scrutiny that you receive as a cross-cultural worker

– the number of internet users

– the level of government surveillance

– internet usage trends.

Email

Missionaries love their email! Over the years people have adopted some hokey methods while trying to secure their email. They have added *s and @s in their b@ptisms and their chri*ians and done all sorts of other ‘creative writing’. We live in a day and age of artificial intelligence and advanced search algorithms. This makes those approaches of little help. If a government has access to your emails nothing is going to stop them from deciphering them. You have two choices. You can adopt the first approach of using a secure email provider. Or you can use a well-known email service and avoid openly talking about missions.

Virtual Private Networks

VPNs are powerful tools. They hide your internet activity from your internet service provider. and from the government. They create an internet ‘tunnel.’ This makes it look like you are surfing the internet in another ‘open’ country. You can access your email and browse communication websites and social media websites. You can view my blog without allowing your internet service provider (ISP) to see what you are viewing. VPNs aren’t hard to use but you have to pay for many of the best options. Some VPNs operate as a browser plugin that secures only what you open in the browser. Other VPNs are an application on your computer or phone. They secure all internet traffic so your email programs like Outlook will be secured as well.

  • High Tech Picks: StrongVPN, ProtonVPN
  • Tall Grass Pick: Don’t use one but limit your browsing

MailChimp And Newsletters

Communication is important. We want to keep our supporters and prayer partners informed. That’s why sending newsletters is so important. There is a super safe way to send newsletters. Have somebody back home print out and mail them the old-fashioned way! But many of us want to use MailChimp or other modern services. Here’s how to be smart about using them:

2 Quick Newsletter Tune-ups

1) When you create a contact list in MailChimp click on ‘Settings’ from the pull-down arrow next to the list. Then click on ‘Publicity Settings’. Under ‘promote my campaign’ select ‘No, my campaigns for this list are not public’. Then scroll down and uncheck the box next to ‘Activate the archive list for this list’. This will keep your campaigns from being accessed and searchable online.

Or, you can choose a paid service like ConvertKit (what this blog loves using- and has an affiliate link for). None of your broadcasts will ever be public.

2) When you create an email to send out make sure you delete the social share bar. It is in the default templates showing logos of Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. This will prevent your subscribers from posting your email publicly! Many people add a special line in their email. It says, “this newsletter is not to be posted on the internet or shared on social media.”

Safe Journeys On The Information Highway

The internet is a powerful tool. It can be a potentially dangerous one to missionaries. If you are serving in a closed country, be careful. These governments want to restrict access to the Gospel.

My prayer is for wisdom for you to discern which plan of action is best for you. Do all that you can do to secure your communication but don’t give into fear or worry. Trust that The Lord will keep you in the place He needs you for as long as He needs you there!

In a few weeks, we will be posting another blog especially related to Facebook and Social Media. If you found this helpful, keep checking back for that one too!