Echomail:

"Echomail" is a way of carrying message between BBSs. Your local BBS is set up to call another BBS periodically and exchange all the new messages on both BBSs. That "remote" BBS is connected to another, with which it also exchanges messages, and so on. In this way, a message posted on one BBS appears on all the BBSs carrying a particular message base, as each BBS "echoes" the messages it receives to all the others. In all, there may be dozens, or even hundreds, of BBSs all sharing an echomail conference.

Echoes offer several advantages as a way to keep in touch. First, a single BBS may not have enough active users to keep message bases active and interesting by itself, but echoes spread over dozens or even hundreds of BBSs will almost always have something interesting going on. Second, two BBSs may be in telephone exchanges which cannot normally call each other without paying long distance charges, but a third BBS situated between the other two may be able to call both of the other BBSs without long distance charges, thus keeping all three in touch at minimal cost. Finally, several BBSs in the same area can get together, with one BBS making long distance calls to bring in echoes, and sharing them with the other BBSs. This is what happens in the Vancouver area. There are five BBSs in the Vancouver area which carry the CITC_NET echo, but only one has to make long distance calls to Edmonton to pick up the messages.

It is amazing the things you can learn on the echoes. For example, there was a discussion in the MISSION echo on the hazards of computing in the tropics, including having fungus grow on your diskettes! Echoes can be on any number of topics. There are echoes on everything from firefighting to space exploration, from how to use a particular brand of software to how to use computers in the church. Which brings me, of course, to the echo which interests me the most: the one I started.

The Computers in the Church Echo (CITC_NET) started in June, 1989, stemming from a message section on Agora BBS, Maple Ridge, B.C., Canada, devoted to discussion of computers and the Church. The CITC_NET echo is for discussion of all aspects of computing and the Church, including reviews of books, software, hardware, etc., challenges and resources for computing in the local church, Christian and Messianic BBSs, computing applications for Missions, Evangelism, Bible Study, Christian Education, Church Management, etc. Other topics we discuss are the ways in which computing and theology interact and affect each other, and ethics and computers. In short, CITC_NET is a medium for discussion of any and all topics having to do with putting computers into service for Jesus Christ.

CITC_NET stretches around the world (well, almost). From Hong Kong to South Africa, from London to New Zealand, from Edmonton to Texas. New connections are being made all the time, as the people in the network make contact with new BBSs and share what is available.

Check the BBS lists in Appendix A, and see if there is a Christian BBS near you. Through BBSs and echomail, eventually your church may be able to receive prayer letters from your missionaries on the field, and send back notes of encouragement the same way. You may already be able to connect with other churches of your denomination, or even the denominational headquarters. The only limit is the length of your phone cord.

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