The “product” MMM sells is the knowledge and underanding of making sense out of the points which connect mobile and faith activities. That’s not something easily bottled, that is, unless its sold as glue and not as the bottle. Now, to sell glue, you have to identify what things need to be present in order for that stickiness to take place. You’ve got to be able to say on your label what surfaces it works best on, where not to put it, and probably some hazard information in case someone misuses the glue.
For us, that means we aren’t so much as building apps and services, as much as we are identifying those points where devices, services, and experiences come together for a specific environmental condition at the intersection of faith and mobile technology. Unless folks already see that these two areas collide, they won’t be able to discern how best to glue them together. That’s how we get the term mobile minsitry, we are looking at this intersection of two areas that have some common points (communications, sociologiy, etc.) and what happens when they collide and both those common and uncommon areas get challenged.
The other day, I responded on a post for a developer at LinkedIn. The post didn’t identify a specific need for the developer, but did mention much about the organization (the usual HR boilerplate stuff) and then some toolsets/skills needs for the position. I made several assumptions about what they are looking for ending with a statement that perhaps they are looking for something less oriented to building and something more like glue. Now, I was corrected, and in that correction was detailed the specific need for that position, but it still came across as looking for glue, not someone to make sticks.
When it comes to mobile ministry, part of that identifying what it is you are offering (our case) or what you are looking for (the folks we tend to attract) is making this distinction between building and sticks. Sometimes, you might solely be on the side of building, and therefore a specs sheet of programming languages accompanyed with certain products might be the key. Other times, and usually what we see more often than not, is that people are looking for the glue. How does mobile stick best with wherever they are? Whether that’s reformatting videos, adjusting to the appearance of mobile on the ministry scene, or introducing less friction to a reiteration of a product, its more about the glue (what happens in between the points), than the sticks (the points)..
I’d wager that many of you have been using sticks like glue and wondering why you haven’t seen the successes you’ve wanted. May I make the suggestion that you find the jars of glue (who connects the dots within mobile and ministry), and then refocus your energies? You might find that with less building that you enable more sticking to your ultimate goals.
We’ve recently added a new resource to our 
![[Screenshot] MobMin.Info (from iPad) - Share on Ovi](http://media.share.ovi.com/m1/lt/3260/2e42c33b850443a5905da4d1fff8b284.jpg "[Screenshot] MobMin.Info (from iPad) - Share on Ovi")
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When Do We Count Success
Thursday, March 29th, 2012At what point in any mobile ministry endeavor do we count it as being a success:
Read the rest of Ars Technica’s Look at the OLPC Project and Its Influence on EduTech Initiatives
When I’m asking these questions about mobile minisyry – its viability, its potential, its challenges – I am also asking where success is defined. Generally, the ministry answer is that success equals the salvation and maturity of people who align themselves with Jesus Christ. But, I wonder if such aims are going too far, or if they are too broad to be of any impact.
Instead, I wonder if those whom are able to make plans towards that larger end are able to collect the smaller victories in their methods? If they are in fact able to keep that big picture goal in mind, but see whatever they are working on as being a part of something more than just the usual evangelism and colonization approach?
You’ve got challenges and successes; where do you stop and see what’s affirming your goals, and where do you continue to press forward when you don’t see what’s affirming that mission?
Tags: Mobile in Analytics/Marketing/Development, mobile in missions/evangelism, mobile in personal/moment, mobile ministry, stewardship
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