The World is Smaller . . .

The world is fast-changing, and so is missions for that matter! It took Hudson Taylor 5 1/2 months to get to China by boat. Amy Carmichael was in India for 56 years without ever going back to the States. Elisabeth Elliot received letters from Jim ("snail mail" of course) via a banana truck and sometimes the mail fell off the truck or was stolen. She writes, "One of my recurring dreams was of going into a dimestore. That became to me almost a dream of paradise - to be able to wander freely among the displays of vegetable parers and shining pots, dishcloths, notebooks, Scotch tape, nail files, the little ordinary things that made the difference between a civilized life and the life around us" (These Strange Ashes). Elisabeth Elliot was a missionary in the early 1950's. The World has changed!

This week, because I'm a cool sister ;-), I ordered my brother and some friends a large, pepperoni pizza from Domino's with my Vonage phone and had it delivered to them. I dialed 7 digits (586-4040) exactly like I would've from Clarks Summit, gave them my parents' address, paid with a debit card and chatted with the guy on the phone about the approaching winter storm, as if I were there. He had no idea I was ordering the pizza from Germany! (I don't think he would've believed me, so I didn't bother telling him.)

Today, I got an e-mail from Hewlett Packard offering free shipping, so I ordered a bunch of print cartridges and, for no charge, had them shipped to my parents, next-day delivery, so that they can bring them over when they leave Sunday to come visit me. Unbelievable. That's 50% faster than having them shipped to Germany. Somehow I can't imagine Elisabeth Elliot squatting on the ground in her hut, balancing a laptop on her legs, ordering a crate of office supplies from OfficeMax.com - but I bet she would've loved it! I wonder what life is going to be like for missionaries 50 years from now!