UniteBoston

Bridging Divides Across Christians for the Flourishing of the City

Boston’s Christians Use Technology For World Missions

This week, we’re privileged to have a guest blogger, Ken Arnold. Ken is studying at Harvard and the founding director of a new ministry that brings together tech and missions-minded leaders in Boston. It’s exciting to see how influential technology can be in impacting the nations!

“I LOVE this merging of skills and purpose. I would do this daily… with more sleep.”
— Hackathon participant

On November 4-6, 2016, 1,426 technologists, developers, designers and mission workers in 28 cities and 16 nations around the world came together to build technology to support Christian missions, as part of an event called Indigitous #Hack. At our city’s event, 40 people gathered at the MIT Media Lab and formed six project teams to work on challenges posed by missions agencies. Projects included investigating the causes and consequences of youth sexting, configuring a portable router to distribute the Bible and other literature in remote areas, prototyping an app to connect people for spiritual mentoring, facilitating connections between Christians in Metro Boston, assisting people in searching for job opportunities abroad, and developing an information management system for a network of orphanages in Southeast Asia.

We worked late into the night. We worshipped and prayed together. We connected with cities around the world. Some of the things we built may already be in use in the mission field, while others explored an idea that may come to fruition years down the road. But the biggest impact was on our community. Nearly every Boston participant said the best part of the event was connecting with other believers and working with them towards God’s mission:

  • [The best part was] “Meeting friends, coding globally, dreaming about what missions will look like in the next ten years”
  • [It was] “fun to see other Christians come out of the woodwork, especially in a faith-hostile place like Boston where we are all hidden.”
  • “I’d never heard of any event like this that brought together technology and digitally minded Christians.”

What’s next?

  • Let’s do it again this year! This event was possible because of the passionate work of a diverse planning team. Want to be part of it? Let me know: kenneth.arnold@gmail.com.
  • Let’s connect ministry and tech. We’re building a broader community, starting off with a kickoff event one evening in April or May. Details coming soon, sign up for updates or just email me.
  • Share your challenges. What inspires you? What would you like to work on?

For those in other fields of work, what would it look like to gather people together to think about using their work and skills for the Gospel?

Come and join us as we dream with God about changing the world through innovative technology!

A call to participate in the National Day of Prayer

This coming Thursday, May 1st, churches and individuals across our city will be joining together for the Annual National Day of Prayer gathering in downtown Boston. Sheila Donegan, the UniteBoston Journalist, had the opportunity to sit down with Latonya Brown to hear more of the history behind this year’s event.

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We have a rich history of prayer as a nation. The National Day of Prayer was first signed into law by President Harry Truman on April 17th, 1952. He asked that the people of the United States would come together on this day and collectively turn our hearts to God in prayer and meditation. But the call to pray goes back much further than this. In fact, days of prayer have been called for in the United States since 1775, when the Continental Congress designated a time for prayer as the new nation was forming.

In his 1983 declaration, Ronald Reagan said, “From General Washington’s struggle at Valley Forge to the present, this nation has fervently sought and received divine guidance as it pursued the course of history. This occasion provides our nation with an opportunity to further recognize the source of our blessings, and to seek His help for the challenges we face today and in the future.”

As a country, we are celebrating the 63rd year of this event with over 40,000 gatherings across the United States. LaTonya Brown, this year’s coordinator for Massachusetts, told us that this year the focus is on mobilizing and equipping the Body of Christ to pray for sustained worldwide revival, reformation and restoration. LaTonya shared that in Massachusetts, we will be joining the millions across our country as we pray and seek the face of God on behalf of our city, state, and nation. There are currently fifteen prayer gatherings scheduled across the Commonwealth.

There will be two strategic events in the city of Boston:

National Day of Prayer Noonday Prayer Gathering at the State House

Gardner Auditorium, 12pm – 1pm

“That They May Be One” Clergy and Intercessors United in Prayer for Massachusetts

7pm – 8pm

Location: Congregation Lion of Judah, 20 Reed Street, Boston

(Worship lead by Zenzo Matoga)

“There is a move of the Holy Spirit happening across the earth and it is being strongly felt within Massachusettes and New England. We are here to call the body of Christ in our communities to come together and stand in the gap on behalf of our city, our region and our nation.” LaTonya shared. “We hope that all that are a part of the Body of Christ in the Boston and Greater Boston area will join us in this most significant time as we come together as one and lift up the Name that is above all names…the Name of Jesus over our city. May we see His Kingdom come here and his will be done on this earth as we do!

For more information on the National Day of Prayer in Boston and how you can be a part, watch the video below or email: latonya@praymassachusettes.org

United Together, Hand in Hand

Today, Megan Lietz, Administrator at Abundant Life Church and member of the The Greater Boston Minister’s Prayer Summit team, shares her reflections from 10 Days Boston’s Cambridge service. This article was written for and initially published in ALC’s monthly electronic newsletter.
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Photo credit: Lydia Maxwell
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
John 17:20-21 is often quoted as an ideal for us to strive for, but the week of Oct. 4th – 14th, as churches gathered together for worship, we got a glimpse of this in-breaking reality. 

For the 10 days between the Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, churches came together across the greater Boson area to fast, pray, and host collaberative worship services. Each evening was hosted by congregations of a certain ethnic group, tradition, or geographical location that was encouraged to lead the greater Body in worship in a way that reflected their own community. These same churches opened their doors for prayer during the day and gave people the opportunity to participate in local evangelistic outreach. What made the gatherings so beautiful is that they were not the fruit of any single church, but the result of diverse churches working together to worship God in a way that reflected their experience in the Body of Christ.

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Photo Credit: Lydia Maxwell

 Abundant Life was honored to participate in the 10 Days by hosting the Cambridge gathering on Friday Sept. 6th, 2013. We gladly welcomed ministers and laypeople of diverse cultures, ethnicities, and ages to lead worship and prayer.We used a concert of prayer format, small group intercession, scripture reading, musical worship, and personal reflection to lift up the Church, our city, and especially the youth of our community. 

Ministries that participated included A Place to Heal Ministries, Cambridgeport Baptist Church, First Holiness Church, Journey Church, Pentecostal Tabernacle, Rush Memorial Zion Church, Spirit of the Living Word Ministries, St. Paul AME, Union Baptist Church, The Greater Boston Vineyard, and Young Life. It was a beautiful expression of the diverse members of the Body of Christ in Cambridge. As we concluded the night, hand in hand as a sign of unity, there was expectation for what God would do. As we work together, may people know that Jesus was sent by God and encounter his transformative love in their lives.
Please explore the following links to learn more about 10 Days Boston or other 10 Days Gatherings across the country.  

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Photo credit: Kelly Steinhaus


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