Tales from the Convention Series, Part Five: Radiotelephones

Welcome to this week's installment of our six-part Tales from the Convention series.

During this year's national convention for the Mexican Lutheran Church in Monterrey, Pastor Israel Rodriguez presented an idea. He wanted to get some of the pastors involved in a radiotelephone system.

This type of communication system is a fairly common one in Mexico. Customers purchase a phone and a plan to go with it. Then they create a network of other users they can talk to. "It looks like a cell phone, but you talk on it as if it were a walkie talkie," Mike explains.

Pastor Rodriguez came up with the idea for several reasons. "It can be tough for our pastors to communicate," he says. "Some don't have a phone, and for those that do have a phone, calling long distance to talk to another pastor is very expensive."

The advantage of using "radio phones," as they are often called, is that getting a nationwide plan is less expensive than a cell phone plan with the same coverage. "This makes it easier and cheaper for our pastors to communicate," notes Pastor Rodriguez.

As soon as Mike heard of the idea, he was on board. "I thought it was a worthwhile thing to get going. Four of the pastors in the Mexican Lutheran Church are young, and they live on opposite ends of the country in isolated areas." Internet connection in one of these areas is only available at a speed of 2k! The radio network, however, is readily available in all of the places where these pastors live.

The Mexican Lutheran Church received special funds to get the project off the ground. The initial equipment needed will be provided through this gift. The pastors will then cover the regular monthly expense.

"This is an example of how special offerings that come through WELS are used to support the work," says Mike. "When we have projects come up unexpectedly, these offerings help us take advantage of them and get them off to a good start."

Perhaps the biggest blessing of these radio phones will come in the form of increased camaraderie. "These pastors will now be able to call each other up and offer both encouragement and advice to one another," says Mike. "I see them as our future leaders, and this is a great way to build up their fellowship and communication."

The project has been approved and the pastors are in the process of setting up the radio phones. I'll let you know when they are in action!