I walked into a Chinese mobile shop yesterday to buy a new mobile phone. I decided to trade in my old Samsung for a new Samsung. I was excited, until the strangest thing happened.

“Would you like us to help transfer the data from your old phone to your new phone?” asked the kind employee who works for the Chinese mobile network carrier.

I absolutely did not want other people handling my data transfer, see all of my photos, listen to all of my podcast recordings, or have access to my bank accounts, but… I am also lazy, so I said yes.

“We are just going to need you to input your Gmail name and password,” the guy said to me.

“Sorry, I can’t remember it. It is no problem. I can do the data transfer between phones when I get home and look up the password on my computer,” I replied.

“That is no problem,” the guy said. “We can help you do that from here.” In literally less than two minutes, he pushed in a couple of buttons and handed me back my new phone that asked me to simply type in a new password. I didn’t answer any security questions. My new password was not sent to my backup email on file. I did nothing, but in less than two minutes I was logged into my Gmail account on my new phone with a new password.

How was that possible? How was a Chinese phone carrier company employee able to log into my Gmail account with such ease? Even with all of the precautions I take on a daily basis, how much information do I still expose to the government and hackers?

This event last night taught me how little I know about security and how much more I have to learn. This is why I am so thankful that BTJ has a team of specialists around us helping with security.

Every year, BTJ hosts a hackers conference that is attended by individuals who feel called by God to use their special skills to help the Gospel be taken into the most closed regions in the world. We believe that they have truly been sent by God.