March 28-April 3, 2011
Headline News
New SMS app with Bible verses becomes overnight sensation
Reported by Lin Yi-ying
Written by Lydia Ma
Associate Professor Dennis W.J. Peng of Graduate Institute of Journalism at National Taiwan University designed an application software for cellphones last year. The app, called “31SMS”, allows users to send short messages via their cellphones free of charge and includes a Bible verse at the bottom of each message. The application received the most hits and downloads in Taiwan in the past 2 months.
“Media evangelism is no longer limited to means such as television, radio, and newspaper. We can also share the gospel through new technologies that are more effective at getting people’s attention,” he said on March 25, 2011, as he sat down for an interview with PCT-owned New Eyes Television.
Peng explained this adventure began when he wanted to notify his students about one of his classes but discovered sending regular short text messages (SMS) was too expensive and time-consuming. This prompted him to embark on this project to create a new app with the support of Android and iPhone downloading systems. Currently, there are about 110,000 people who use 31SMS every day.
According to Peng, this app is compatible with any cellphone brand or model and at the bottom of every message template is a Bible verse. It cost him and his wife nearly NT$5 million to create it – a drop in the bucket compared to airing a television show.
“God gave us this opportunity and this medium. We need to think more about different means of communication to share the gospel and avoid costly means like traditional television networks. When we do that, we’ll discover that what we had considered impossible options are actually possible with God,” he said.
