Twitter revisited

A bit over a year ago I talked about using Twitter. I have recently (within the last 3 or 4 months) gotten much more involved with twittering.

I own 2 Twitter accounts if you want to follow me. The first one is the one I have been using for a year and a half. That one is the username dpeach. That has mostly been tied in closely with my running buddies. I have a few people who follow me there who do not run, but my main following is made up of people who run and are interested in running news.

My second, and new as of tonight, Twitter account is DavidPeach. I am going to use this one as more ministry related content. I may still post some things about my running, but I plan to make it more about our ministry.

As we explore different ways to help missionaries stay more connected to the people in the churches, this has come to my mind as a great opportunity. My friend Jeff at Missionary Geek and I have talked in the past about using social networking as a way to engage our supporters. I have dismissed much of it because of the problem I see of allowing other people to view my connections. Sometimes, sad as it is, I have been told that I would, or would not be, supported based on who I would be working with. I could understand if the problem was doctrinal, but it never is. First off, I am not going to seek support from a church that I cannot agree with doctrinally. It is always based on personalities or quirkiness that really does not matter in the big picture. Therefore, I have avoided using social networking as a means to communicate with my supporters.

My mind has been steered with the help of some of the people whom I follow on Twitter. The main one being Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson. I have followed him for 2 months. In that time he has told me what new books Thomas Nelson is publishing; he had informed me that they have changed the dress code at the office; and, I know when he plays golf even. Does any of that really matter? Not if I am thinking about what book I would purchase from them. But what it does do is put Thomas Nelson constantly on my mind. That is exactly what I want from people who say they are praying for me and my ministry as well as supporting me financially. I want them to think about me constantly. I want them to know I am a real person who struggles with the same things they do. I think Twitter can deliver that.

Now you can follow one, or both, of my accounts. There may be some cases where I would cross post between accounts, but mainly the DavidPeach account will be ministry related and dpeach will be everything else.