Weird request

[dolfan]

I'm looking for 1-3 dozen used but working mp3 players for a pilot evangelism project I intend to start soon with a friend. Not unlike what some Muslim and persecuted country evangelism efforts do by loading gospel presentations and information onto mp3 players, I have been pondering and praying for many months about an equally unreached population right under my nose.

The rural poor.

Where I live, you can take a drive down any country road and find scores of lost people in run down mobile homes and ramshackle houses. Their kids. Their extended families. And, there is no evidence of any effort to reach them. Mass evangelism is ineffective because it either talks over their heads, they don't have the technology to have access to it, and/or it simply seems irrelevant to them.

Few people are interested in being trained to personally share the gospel. Fewer still are willing to go without training and simply rely on the Holy Spirit and their own witness and simple explanation of who Jesus is.

I found it appealing that in persecuted countries, people could hold in their hands an electronic device that -- albeit without frills -- they would never have access to any way unless someone gave it to them. Such is the case with mp3 players and movements such as Voice of the Martyrs and Faith Comes By Hearing. They smuggle or even parachute in mp3 players loaded with gospel messages.

We almost have to smuggle. Or, at least we have to personally take them. But, I'm convicted/convinced/very deeply moved? that the rural poor in my community would likewise love to hold an mp3 player and would listen to the materials on them. Many of them don't have access to other devices nor would many of them necessarily sync up with other devices (which they lack) and erase the content. But, if someone with a familiar face and lives in the community shows up in their yard -- making it past the pit bulls and weeds!! -- and genuinely meets them, invites them, engages them, then the mp3 player could be a longer 'talking tract' or little electronic preacher of the gospel to them.

A friend of mine is engaged in a similar project putting Spanish language resources onto Flash drives for taking into areas I won't mention here, although you may guess easily enough. I saw the volumes of materials that are accessible on the Flash drives through even very old Windows systems in impoverished nations. He has scores of English language materials on other Flash drives, too. All are in the public domain or used with permission. He is highly interested in this, has a home sound studio that is currently idled and he has the ability to make it work from a technical standpoint.

So.....if you have an old mp3 player that works and you wouldn't mind pitching in to see what we can accomplish with this, I'd appreciate it. If I can get 2 dozen of them, I would think that would be enough to try and go with them where I am burdened to reach.

If you have questions, PM me or email me. law dot shelton at gmail dot com

[macgulley]

Thinking about the logistics of having various used mp3 players shipped to you and then your needing the correct adapters and software to load them you may find it better to buy inexpensive new players for this purpose. Here's one option that I ran across: http://www.priceangels.com/Discount_Mp3 ... nQodqWoAaA
This would at least standardize the process and hopefully save you some time and frustration. You could even order extras and sell them to offset the cost.

[macgulley]

I just looked at that page again and realized that the least expensive ones will require media cards (TF or SD). There are some, though, that appear to be ready to use for under $6 each if you order 50+. I don't know anything about this company and very little about mp3 players but I just wanted to make you aware that there are very inexpensive mp3 players out there. I hope this helps.