At the beginning of January, hackers from all over the world descended on the mountains of eastern Tennessee with one goal in mind – to get the Gospel message into the most closed nations on earth.
Each one of the hackers came with their own set of expertise, from various fields, such as cyber warfare analysts, IT specialists, cyber-security engineers, software developers, manufacturers, and even gamers! Each hacker spent the week listening to the needs and challenges of BTJ missionaries in closed countries and immediately went to work to help develop products that would break past the firewalls of closed nations to reach those who have never heard the Good News.
These BTJ hackers know that there is a Gospel battlefield today that is more technologically advanced than ever before. The rules on this battlefield keep changing which means that Christian missionaries must constantly adapt to it. In order to meet this challenge, Christians have to unify and use all of our resources.
During this years BTJ Hackers conference, workers with the Zion house church in China joined us to share about their needs.
“We were arrested after our church used ZOOM to host our meetings,” David said (not his real name). David shared his experience of the persecution of Christians in China and shared detailed needs of the church with the hopes that the Hackers could help he and his fellow church members to avoid being arrested in the future. In only a short time, the BTJ Hackers were able to focus on the needs of Zion church and develop methods to help.
The current situation in Iran, Somalia, and North Korea were also evaluated and after praying together, the Hackers were able to develop new tools to help to smuggle Bibles into these countries using land, air and sea. Secret communication devices were presented, new apps were launched, physical tools were developed, and much more. Some of the hackers stayed awake through the night working on new applications that will smash through various security walls that are currently in place.
“We can’t develop one single way of getting the Gospel into a country anymore,” Simon said (not his real name). Simon is one of the BTJ Hackers who has been helping coordinate the Hackers groups throughout the year. “We have to develop an assembly line of methods and just swarm these nations. That way when they stop one or two, we have a bazooka full of new applications flooding their market.”
“I will never be the same after this weekend,” Tyler said (not his real name). “I didn’t know what to expect when I decided to attend, but after listening to the vision and the needs of the church, I felt that I really understood why God wanted me here.”
So many BTJ Hackers work in secular jobs that leave them with a strong desire to find their purpose. At the BTJ Hackers conference, so many find the calling on their lives.
