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In our last column, Jim talked about his dad’s “missionary training school.” Both of us were blessed by fathers who loved God with all their hearts and were committed to worldwide outreach. My folks served in Ecuador for 27 years with pioneering Christian radio station HCJB. A couple years ago, we uncovered a keynote address that my dad, Robert Savage, had given in 1957 to the Pan American Network Conference in Quito. This excerpt contains insights into technology and missions. I find them even timelier now as we enter an era of increasing dependency on modern technology for spreading the gospel:

“We need to be careful lest we become more concerned with broadcasting techniques than we are with souls. We need to keep personal contact with people constantly, even though we who are in this group dedicate a great amount of our time to a microphone ministry. A missionary station isn?t a monastery where we hibernate.

“The fact that we talk about the Lord and about salvation in front of a microphone three or four times a day is no excuse for not talking to three or four individuals a day about the Lord and salvation. We leave too much to radio. We say, ‘Surely they?ll be tuning in to the programs and get the gospel that way.’ That?s all right, but let?s speak personally to those who are in our vicinity.

“If we don?t have a passion to speak about the Lord to our neighbors, if we don’t have a passion to speak to our employees, if we don?t have a passion for people we might meet on the street, then there?s certainly no magic touch in a microphone.

“I want to specialize in a radio ministry, but sometimes my heart cries out for a ministry of personal witnessing. I’ve had this thought: wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a park-bench ministry? I’d take a few hours each day to go down to the central park, just sit on a bench and speak to everyone who comes along about the Lord.

“We need both. If we’re going to reach every creature in this generation, we’ve got to use modern inventions to the fullest. We have to be wise and astute, alert and ready. But we’ve got to use the time-honored plan of just speaking face-to-face about the Lord. Let’s combine the two, and God will give us the desires of our hearts.” (Robert C. Savage, “Today’s Opportunity in Latin America,” 1957)

I need that challenge from my dear dad, who’s now part of the ?great cloud of witnesses? cheering us on. May we be faithful, not only to our role in global missions, but to our neighbors next door.

Carol Plueddemann is the minister of congregational life and outreach at Immanuel Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Warrenville, Illinois.