How to Email A Missionary

Note: The material used here was originally developed by Bob Hayes as part of the ACTI Uganda Short Term Missions Guide and is used and adapted here with his permission.

You might say, "What gives? I already know how to email!" Well, the reality is that you probably do know how to email, you just do not understand the particulars of emailing to missionaries in remote areas that do not have all the means of email access others do in developed areas. Listed below are a few points you need to remember when emailing to missionaries in the third world.

In many cases, they do not have Internet access, just access to an email server for which they pay a per minute fee or even a satellite phone that could cost them up to $5.00 US per minute.
• Foreign modem connections can be very slow (Uganda is 9,600 kps compared to a minimum of 28,800 kps and higher in the US)
• Most phone calls in the third world are billed by the minute. This means if you call your next door neighbor, you are charged by the minute for the call. This can really add up when a modem is used to connect to the Internet or an email service while downloading a very long email.
• Graphics and photographs are a no no unless you have first emailed and asked permission to send them. For example, a photograph that takes 15 minutes to download in the third world could cost the missionary almost $8.00 US ($75.00 if by satellite phone). I am sure the missionary is thrilled you have a new kitten, but they are probably not really ready to pay $8.00 (or worse yet, $75.00) for her picture. Send it regular mail!
• You should not send anything that has to be attached in a "download" file. Whatever you send needs to travel in the body of the email unless you have cleared it in advance with the missionary.
• Resist the temptation to hit the forward button every time you get a cute email from your next door neighbor.
• When including a missionary in a mass emailing, be sure to send BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) to everyone. This way, the only email addresses the missionary will have to pay to download is that of the sender and his own. It is disheartening to take almost three minutes to download an email only to find out that it consists of nearly two pages of the email addresses of others.
• When responding, do not send the missionary their own email back to them. They have already paid to upload it and send it off. Don't make them have to pay again to download their own message. If you see the need to reference their email, simply say "In your email prayer letter of April 9..."
• When forwarding is necessary, clean up the email mail.
• Don't share missionary email addresses with others unless they understand "How to Email a Missionary"
• PLEASE UNDERSTAND. THIS NOTE IS NOT SAYING "DON'T EMAIL MISSIONARIES" FOR THEY LOVE TO HEAR FROM HOME, JUST STOP AND THINK BEFORE YOU HIT [SEND], AND FOR ALL THOSE CUTE STORIES YOU GET, PRINT THEM OUT AND SEND THEM SNAIL MAIL BECAUSE LETTERS ARE FUN TO GET TOO.

Cleaning Up the Junk

This means delete "headers," "footers," the email address of others and if the item has been forwarded several time already, you should delete all the >>>> that some email programs insert every time an item is forwarded. Then reformat the email so it is one neat little package to which you cut-n-paste just the heart of the matter.

So, instead of

>>>>Subject: Poor forwarding >>>>Date: 01/01/01 10:50:00 CDT >>>>From: Waster@zero.com >>>>To: Jones@mission.org >>>>CC: Bjones@home.net >>>>> >>>In >>>>>>other >>>words, >>>>>>>don't >>forward >>>>an >>>email >>>>>that >>>>>>looks >>>>>like >>>>>>>this. ----------------------- Headers -------------------------------- Return-Path: Received: from rly-zfd05.mx.aol.com (rly-zd05.mail.aol.com [112.35.33.229]) by air-zg02.mail.aol.com (v78_r3.8) with ESMTP; Mon, 09 Jul 2001 10:23:17 -0400 Received: from phjeut2-int.prodigy.net (pimout1-ext.prodigy.net [57.515.63.57]) by rly-zd05.mx.aol.com (v79.20) with ESMTP id MAILRELAYINGHR8-3748532605; Mon, 09 Jul 2001 10:23:05 -0400 Received: from John J Smith ([238.23.51.330]) by pimout1-int.prodigy.net (8.1550/8.11.5) with SMTP id f69EN4Y154394 for ; Mon, 9 Jul 2001 10:23:04 -0400 Reply-To: From: "John J Smith" To: "Mission" Subject: Request to meet with the Board Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2001 09:21:16 -0500 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-3853-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IGO, Build 9.3.2346 (9.3.2511.4) Importance: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.58.4582.1860

Instead, "clean it up" and send just the message of the email.