Jon and Jen Quast Learning Language and Culture of Paraguay 
In the jungle, the mighty jungle…there is no electrician. There is no power company. There is no gasoline. There is no Sear’s made refrigerator that comes with a Sear’s warranty so you can call the guy to come fix it when lightning strikes and fries it. There is no grocery store or restaurant that you can buy food at while your fridge is out. There is no city filtrated water. There is no walmart to buy a light bulb socket when the solder joints on your old one break. There are none of these people. There is just you Mr Missionary.
Enter our Missionary Technology Tips class. Why do I say it is uncomfortable for me? Many things in life I have a basic knowledge of. While I may not be an expert in certain things, I at least know enough to get started. Not electricity. It is funny for me to listen to two electricians talk. Nothing sounds further from English. I think I can pick up more of what is being said in Greenlandic than I understand electrician. All that to say I am so thankful that God has given New Tribes Mission a man who all he has done his entire life is look for ways to solve missionary technology problems. That same man is teaching our class right now.
What have I learned? A lot to be honest. You should see the pictures of Jen and I soldering a halogen light bulb to a wire to be able to run off of DC power. Check the pictures out by clicking here. We also spent a great deal of time talking about and designing water filtration systems. How about an outhouse? Did you know that they can be designed to be odorless? And what about refrigerators? Do you think that you have an energy efficient refrigerator? I know what to do to get one that is 11 times more energy efficient than the leading US brands. Oh yeah, and it runs on DC power. Those are two helpful things to have in a fridge that is running on solar panels :)
Coming up in our class we are going to learn how to design and assemble a solar electric system by ourselves. Missionaries 50 years ago did not have the technology we have today, and they got along fine. But I bet you ask any retired missionary if he would have liked to be able to use a computer for language and culture files instead of paper that is going to mold after a couple of weeks in the rainforest, and any missionary would say we have some great tools available to us today.
When all is said and done, we have to remember that Missionary Technology is only a tool to help reach unreached people groups. Technology is not the answer. Only the power of God can change lives. Only the Word of God can penetrate the heart. But we must take them the message. From solar panels to computers, these things can all play a part in expanding the reach of the gospel
