“Implications of Facial Recognition Software?” Brigada Today. Takes a look at the missionary implications of facial recognition software and search capabilities. Doug asks how long it will be before these techniques are used to screen potential visitors at the borders. More worrying to me is whether these technologies will be used to identify missionaries entering [...]

When I’m asked “how many unreached people groups are left”–I hesitate, and then usually say: “it depends.” And laugh. It’s a hard question to answer. It’s virtually impossible, really. We have lists, but the lists are debatable. Here’s why. The technical definition of an “unreached people group“, the result of a meeting held in Chicago [...]

“New Ways for New Days,” by Dr. Winston Crawley, written when the IMBConnecting was the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board. Here’s a blast from the past: an article written in 1957 that highlights some of the strategic challenges involved in evangelistic strategies and methods that can scale to engage large populations. A friend pointed it [...]

“Piper, Frost, and Hirsch,” Ernest Goodman, MissionsMisunderstood.com. Excellent post, well worth the read. Any confusion, uncertainty, delay or even willful disobedience on our part is not going to deter God’s plan–which is a g…

In China, the number of seniors (65+) reached 119 million, or 8.87% of the country’s 1.3 billion (Yonhap). A legislature report projects that by 2042 a third of the country will be elderly. Now, the ratio of workers to seniors is 5:1; by 2030, it will be 2.5:1. Elder care will be a huge issue [...]

“Moving out, on and back“, Economist. Investigates new patterns of immigration in the wake of the economic crisis. Unskilled labor is being cut. Governments are looking to encourage immigration that will be “most useful” to their economies. The bottom line is less migration, but Chinese are headed abroad. The article also notes patterns in “circular” [...]

The BBC has a photocollage on the economic impact of Bangladeshi ferries. It’s fascinating to read. Bangladesh apparently has one of the largest water networks in the world. There are numerous missions that are devoted to seamen (and, I suppose, seawomen). The ferrymen of Bangladesh would be a “sociopolitical group”. Is this a business-as-mission opportunity? [...]

“Torture in Bahrain aided by Nokia Siemens,” Bloomberg, link. Interesting reading for those who work in restricted access settings. Will make you want to be very leery of sending SMS messages with a cell phone. Clearly any government with the cash can and does buy and install mass surveillance software, which can be targeted on [...]

Update 4:51pm 8/21: It’s going to be Scenario D, which I (and many others, including Stratfor) thought most unlikely to happen this fast. Events in Tripoli are moving far faster than I had thought really possible! It appears rebels are now in the city of Tripoli, and while Gadhafi has not been captured, his son has. [...]

Vision and imagination
Leadership/planning
Money/resources/strength/openness
Structure/community/boundaries
Accountability/learning/adaptation
Work/execution
Scalability/multiplication/reproduction
Anything else?