The Use of Google Earth in Missions

Google Earth is a satellite/aerial-based map of the entire globe, which is owned and developed by Google.com. Its fame chiefly lies in the fact that one can use it, in certain places, to see his/her own house, town, and woods in astonishingly close detail for map standards. Also, Google Earth has been at the forefront of satellite map technology for the last couple of years, and now it is blessed with a virtual hodgepodge of features, which include:


- Road maps of the USA, Canada, and practically all of Europe, with driving directions as well.


- Photographs, Wikipedia article links, and placemarks.


- 3D buildings in major cities.


- Amazing 3D terrain resolution of mountains: for example, California's 14,496-foot Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states, seen here:



















Google periodically adds new information to this program about once every month, so it will simply get better and better.


I first downloaded Google Earth in the fall of 2005. I had previously experienced Google Maps, but this new program just blew me away. It is my favorite computer program of all time now, beating out the features of both http://www.topozone.com/ (I even have an application that overlays topo maps on GE's terrain) and http://www.summitpost.com/. Definitely, 100's of hours of my time have been spent on Google Earth now, and my enthusiasm for the program will have no bounds in the future.
So why do I bring up this program in my blog? Simple: Because it is so versatile that it is an invaluable help to Christian evangelism and missions. I have had these thoughts run through my mind countless numbers of times as I pan across the landscape: "I wonder what the people who live here are like? Is the Gospel here at all?" So I will attempt to draw up some ways in which we can use Google Earth to advance the cause of Christ's Church in fulfilling the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20.


First of all, what makes Google Earth's usefulness to missions largely possible are the high-resolution images that keep increasing in coverage over the whole world. Virtually every major city in the world now has high-res images, which allow us to see vehicles in the streets and sometimes even people, bicycles, and intricate details of buildings. This allows us to check out areas we plan on going to and seeing what the roads are like, travel details, etc. That can be a tremendous boost in knowing what physical difficulties lie ahead, if we have a better awareness of the landscape around us. Interestingly, large swaths of relatively undeveloped countryside are in high-res in some areas, such as the Sudan, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Australia, and many other places. Therefore, Google Earth is excellent for city and also country-style missions, depending on where we go. It is such a huge benefit to us as we develop travel and outreach logistics!


Next, I also believe Google Earth actually adds a spiritual burden to us who behold it when we think of missions. Let me illustrate:

















This is Tehran, Iran, a city with VERY FEW Christians. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that he will "exterminate Christianity" in Iran; therefore, most Christians in the country are laying low.


Think about this: Tehran has over 10 million people. Probably half of them live within the confines of the area shown in this screenshot. So many individuals........so many lives........so many connections........and WHERE IS THE GOSPEL???? It staggers our imagination just to look at one city with 10 million people; it takes a month to count to one million, I believe. And this is just one city of millions out of hundreds across the world......no matter we feel faint as we consider these solemn truths. God is calling people to go for Him into the far ends of the earth. Not everyone is going to go to places like Iran, of course, but all of us need to at least consider the possibility of going overseas.........and of course, we can get the same feeling looking at Philadelphia and New York back home. The truth is, the whole world is a mission field. What will you do as you are faced with this fact?

Slums in Mumbai (Bombay), India (pop. 15+ million people):

Thirdly, Google Earth can be a great tool to use when missionaries make their presentations in churches. The computer can be connected to a projector, and the missionaries can take the audience on a "tour" around the field location and the country. The audience will feel more intimately connected with the ministry going on in the field as it sees actual houses, church locations, roads, cities, mountains, etc. The missionaries can even display common tourist locations or famous places in the country to pique interest in the culture and historical background of their field location. Google Earth can be a very powerful tool to present the needs of the missionary.


Google Earth can also benefit the prayers of the saints greatly as they view the entire world on their screens. Without much difficulty, someone could create a bunch of "prayer placemarks" and place them in the country/field that needs to be interceded for, and others could download these placemarks and pray for the missionaries & believers involved. These placemarks could be updated from time to time. Also, it is a great idea to just go around a certain country, praying for a town or a city, etc, that the Lord might send Gospel workers there. Who knows, you might be one of these workers! A note of caution, however: The images on Google Earth are not "real-time" or close to real-time at all. They are in the neighborhood of 2 years old or so. Therefore, when praying, make allowance for the possibility that things might have changed since these pictures were taken! It's just the same with the prayer book Operation World, which was published in 2001 (before 9/11) and is due to be updated in 2008/9. Another reason to keep up with world news as well........ :). Nevertheless, Google Earth can substantially aid our intercessions to God on behalf of the spiritually dark lands we gaze over.



I'm sure there are many more possibilities in which Google Earth can aid missions. Nevertheless, due to a willingness to keep this post at a reasonable length, I'll let others develop on my ideas! I honestly think this is a program and tool that will greatly assist those of us who may not be very knowledgeable about what it is like to serve overseas. I have been on several trips and it is always a joy to look back on where I went and to show people these places. I will be most happy to hear about missionaries utilizing Google Earth in the future (I'm sure some are already doing it now). Praise God for the gifts that He gives us to further spread His Kingdom in this world!