August 01, 1986 by Bob Waymire

The Global Mapping Project is possibly the most crucial of all the agencies at the U.S. Center for World Mission, yet it may also be the least understood. Project staff members and volunteers are helping to bring the very latest computer technology to bear on mission research.

If it is to be most effective and realize its full potential, every segment and organism of the Body of Christ needs to have accurate, up to date, relevant information perlinent to its area of ministry.

Without this kind of information:

• the church will fail to go into some harvest fields, and will come empty handed out of others.
• we will not be able to correctly identify people groups, or understand them well enough to effectively evangelize them.
• we won't be able to evaluate the true effectiveness or lack of effectiveness of our methodologies.
• the "people in the pew' of the local churches won't have a realistic picture of what's going on in the world, and therefore won't be able to respond in the most meaningful way.
• we won't be able to adequately train workers, or know what languages 10 learn, or where the needs are, or how best to fill those needs.
• we won't design the innovative methods we need to reach the current and future generations.

The list is almost endless.

Without the right information. in the right form, at the right place, at the right time, our goals and objectives won't be realistic, our plans and methodologies won't be effective, our allocation of resources wont be wise or adequate, and nor will our evaluations be timely and accurate.

Having an effective means for gathering, managing and communicating information is a prerequisite to "finishing the task."

This is exactly what Ralph Winter had in mind when he established theU.S. Center for World Mission. He wanted a place where several research institutes would congregate, where education and training would lake place and be made more relevant in view not only of the overseas experience of the teachers, but in view of their context here among all the research institutes. Winter's idea was that organizations would come and share commonly needed information with one another, and function in the synergistic manner in which the Lord designed for His Body. The Global Mapping Project (GMP) is one part of the plan. It doesn't have a corner on the information market  It can't do the job atone. But the things it is working on are essential to the completion of the task of world evangelization.

The Global Mapping Project, Or GMP, has been located on the IJSCWM campus for a little over three years now. Its purpose is to bring into operation a worldwide information gathering. processing, and communication system so that the Body of Christ around the world can have the most accurate, up todale and understandable picture possible of itself (the "harvest force'), and of the world's countries, peoples and societies (the 'harvest fields").

We are developing four major items toward this end:

1. A computerized mapping system we call "GLOBE." GLOBE consists of computer software and hardware that will allow us to take hold of almost any type of information about the world as a whole, or about any small part of it and display that information in a graphical form. We expect that the production verson of GLOBE will be in place by die end of the year. We hope to be able to deliver smaller systems for use on personal computers before mid-1987.

2. Besides GLOBE, we are also developing the Global Research Database (GRDB), a comprehensive library of information that identifies the harvest fields and harvest forces of the world and describes their current status. We have been entering data for some time now, and by the end of the year we hope to have it "on line," available for use by the people who need it

3. Next, we are developing several tools and products that will help missionaries, mission agencies, churcheswhoever has access to the information we need or who needs the information we have to manage and communicate that information effectively.

One of the biggest problems we face is 110w to standardize the way informslion is stored and communicated in order that it can be shared. Since we're wanting to share this information with Christians worldwide, you can imagine how difficult that is!

The PeoplesFile Index is just one of the information management tools we are developing. It's a master index that shows the "reached" status of many people groups, and is scheduled for publication next month (October).

4. The fourth major project we are involved in is assisting church and mission associations in various countries to establish their own, permanent, national level research structures and programs. We are already involved with several countries; most notable are India, Nigeria Singapore, Indonesia, and South Africa.

We recently made a proposal that solicited the cooperation of several organizations to assist us in seeing that these strategic research functions are established the world over. We've had an excellent response.

Successful world evangelization will only be accomplished by a Body ministry - the body of Christ functioning as intended. One fundamental way for the Body to work together is by holding and working towards common goals. This, in turn, requires having common information. We can have unity in diversity if we are functioning from the same knowledge base - a knowledge base that includes the Word of God and the "world" God has created.

Facts are objective and bring us into accountability. This is what the Church needs today, especially in the West where it is so complacent, materialistic and secularized: it needs to become responsible and accountable. But it needs the facts - clear and simple.

Patrick Johnstone with his Operation World, MARC with its Unreached Peoples volumes, Joe and Barbara Grimes with their Ethnologue, David Barrett with his World Christian Encyclopedia, and many others - they are all in the business of getting the facts out in front of Christian people and organizations with the purpose in mind that they will be acted upon to the furtherance of the Kingdom of God.

All of these publications are helpful instruments. Global Mapping is pulling them all together in the Global Research Database, synthesizing the information, and bringing in other contemporary information from a wide variety of sources. Finally, we are making it possible to get a graphic view - of either the details or a summary - using computerized mapping and graphics.

Information from the Global Research Database will be available for access by telephone lines and modem. It will be available on floppy disk, magnetic tape, and in printed reports. Though we are not yet into the production mode - that should come early next year - we are already producing a limited number of multicolored maps on paper and on overhead transparency materials. When we get going, maps will also be transferred over the phone or using floppy disks or tapes. We have only development-level staff at this point. However, when all the systems get fully operational, most of the information will be available with minimum manpower requirements on our part.

One of our primary means for communication in the not-so-distant future is what we are calling the Global Research Network (GRN). Many organizations already share information with others. This process will be improved when the GRN is fully operational. At that time our Global Research Database will be one among many significant databases all linked together and accessible to Network Members.

Frank Gray of FEBC Manila and Coordinator of LCWE's Radio Church Planting Committee is steward over a global Christian radio database. Youth for Christ International has embarked on a global research effort on youth. This will be a very significant database.

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) has a global research project, "Project 223." Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), has a global aviation database. Joe and Barbara Grimes of Wycliffe/Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) are continually updating the Ethnologue.

With appropriate security precautions applied, we would like to see these and other databases all networked together. It is through this kind of networking that the information from the national research organizations will flow most easily into the other databases and vice versa. Networking plays a key role in all that we are doing.

Something we find ourselves always needing to reeemphasize and clarify is that one of our primary objectives is to make our tools available to others so that they then can produce the materials and products they need on their own.

Our emphasis is on equipping the nationals. We want to enable them to use the information they have to its fullest potential - whether the information is their own, or whether it has been obtained from the Global Research Database, or from other databases in the network.

Everything we are designing and producing is being designed and produced with national churches, mission agencies, missionaries and local churches in mind. That means we actually have two groups in mind - people with micro or personal computers, and people with mainframes and minis.

The Global Database brings together the entire global picture. When you're dealing with that quantity of information you are talking about using mini-computers and mainframes.

The heart of world evangelization, however, is at the local and national levels; that is where the information exists and that is where it needs to be applied. Therefore, we feel it is important for us to help the people at these levels to be able to take advantage of the same powerful tools available to people with larger computers. That is why we are developing the same tools for use on PCs as well as larger systems. The PCs will be able to do the same things the bigger computers can do, only on a smaller scale; they won't be able to handle as much data at the same time.

In a nutshell, then it is all the Body of Christ worldwide that potentially benefits from our work. The information that is gathered on the local level will be funneled to all the other levels - regional, continental, global, whoever needs it - in order to provide as detailed or as broad a picture as needed by those who are involved in planning or working out strategies and ministries.

Mission Frontiers asked Waymire what needs Global Mapping Project has at the current time. He said, "Very seriously, our primary need is prayer to defeat the Enemy who has attacked as in every phase and aspect of the project We also solicit prayer that we will have the Lord's wisdom on a continuous basis in these crucial days. It seems that the final period of 'gestation' and the period of birth are the hardest

"I feel a very deep need for prayerfor myself, for each of the staff arid their families, others that are working on the project at other locations, such as the men in Silicon Valley that have been developing GLOBE, the mapping system; also for the members of our Board of Directors, and for Dataserve here at the Center, the ones who are doing the programming for the Global Research Database.

Another great need is for personnel. We are beginning to make the transition in several areas from development to production, and we need to have several new staff. (See list at right.)

'Then we need finances. We are totally dependent upon gifts and donations for our general and personal support. We have no source of guaranteed income but the promise of our Lord that He will fleet all our needs. I would like to add, that God has miraculously met all of our needs to dale, for which we give Him praise.

"At the same time, several members of our staff have personal support needs right now, and we are currently in need of funds to purchase three pieces of production mapping and database equipment, that will cost close to $17,000. Besides these things, we are also in need of funds for our general budget."

Global Mapping Project. Inc. is recognized by the IRS as a non profit organization and all donations are tax deductible.

Global Mapping Project Personnel Needs

1. An experienced programmer who can work on the mapping system and database. He (or she) will work with a 68000 based system, and with PC's in "C," Unix, and MS DOS. May need to travel overseas at times.
2. Two research associates who can help coordinate and carry forth research in several categories and areas of the world. Perhaps one or both of these could be missionaries with field experience that could be loaned or seconded by their agency(ies).
3. Another cartographer, preferably one who has computer cartographic experience or who is at least computer literate.
4. Data processing personnel. (Two, minimum.)
5. A database manager.
6. An administrative person to work in the areas of personnel recruiting and fund raising.
7. A computer hardware person, for computer maintenance. Prefer someone who can do minimal programming, and who is willing to travel (to assist setting up systems in other countries/ areas).