Being Missional Online

Posted on | August 4, 2008 |

Being Missional Online

A woman in an online community just had her baby.  She was only 24 weeks into her pregnancy (a normal pregnancy is about 40 weeks).  The baby, a boy, is only 1 pound, 7 ounces.  He could fit into the palm of your hand – no exaggeration.  He is in a NICU unit at a hospital 2 hours away from their home.  Since she has a 5 year old son, she makes the two hour drive to the hospital and back home everyday.  She and her husband will likely repeat this trip everyday for at least three months.

At this point, they seem more concerned about the cost of gas, than the cost of having a baby in intensive care.  In fact, when people asked what they could do to help, she told them that donating money for gas would be the best thing anyone could do.

I get asked all the time, “How can you be missional online?  What difference does online community make in the ‘real world?’ (I have a problem with their definition of ‘real’ but I will post on that later.)  Here is an example.  I don’t believe this family should have to pay for gas the entire time her baby is in NICU.  Their hospital bills will be enough.  Someone should set up a website, tell the story, and help take donations via PayPal. Someone should demonstrate extravagant love, the kind that can never be paid back. Someone should actually be missional rather than sound trendy by talking about missional. (Sorry, pet peeve.)

I plan on contacting the family as soon as I get back in the office (I’m out of town at the moment)and seeing what I can do to meet a very real need of an online friend.  If you are interested in helping this family, send an email to pwatson at cityteam dot org.

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