Data bite

Christian Century, March 9, 2004

Members of the United Methodist Church have given 1,326 prepaid phone cards to members of the military stationed around the world. The cards, worth 133,375 minutes, were donated by local congregations as part of a church-wide appeal to help service members keep in touch with their families. "We've got cookies and Gatorade.

We've got e-mail and Armed Forces Network television," said Major Matt Woodberry, a Methodist chaplain serving in Iraq. But this was a big plus, he told United Methodist News Service: "[It's] a wonderful gift of time with our loved ones, even if it is brief and on the phone."