Indigitious is hosting its eighth annual global hackathon for missions this October. That’s exciting news for some of you. But others look at that first sentence and think, “I don’t even know what most of those words mean.”
But that’s okay. Hackathons are still relatively new. With this article, we want to explain everything you need to know about hackathons and specifically about Indigitous #HACK.
What is hacking?
Once, I was in a check-out line at a store, and someone asked me about my #HACK shirt. I said it was for a hackathon. He whispered, “Is that legal?” as if he was worried about someone hearing him and calling the police.
The word “hack” has several meanings, one of which is to gain unauthorized access to data. That’s not what people mean when they talk about a hackathon. If you look up “hack” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, there are two relevant definitions:
- a usually creatively improvised solution to a computer hardware or programming problem or limitation
- a clever tip or technique for doing or improving something
So when we talk about hacking for missions, we’re talking about creating creatively improvised solutions to missional problems or developing clever techniques for improving missions.
What is a hackathon?
The word “hackathon” is a portmanteau combining the words “hack” and “marathon.” (Indigitous loves our portmanteaus; the word Indigitous itself is a combination of “indigenous” and “digital”). So basically, a hackathon is a marathon hacking session.
Hackathons have been held around the world, often led by universities. They’re typically events that take place over a day or a weekend, during which people in the tech industry get together to create creative solutions. At the end of a weekend of coding and countless coffees and slices of pizza, participants hope to have a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that can be used and built upon by others.
Making hackathons missional
In 2015, Indigitous co-founder Simon Seow took part in a missional hackathon called Hack4Missions, which was part of the Urbana Student Missions Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Simon was inspired to take a missional hackathon to a global level, so he enlisted the help of Nicholas Skytland and Alicia Llewellyn, who had founded various hackathons for NASA, including the National Day of Civic Hacking and the Space Apps Challenge. With their help, Indigitous launched its first global hackathon for missions, Indigitous #HACK, in 2016.
Since then, more than 7,000 participants have gathered in over 52 countries and 112 cities to create innovative, and often digital, solutions to issues facing their communities. And #HACK isn’t just for coders. Computer programmers, developers, engineers, project managers, communicators, marketers, data analysts, designers, strategists, UI/UX experts, film/videographers, content creators, and ministry leaders have collaborated in their respective cities or across borders during this global hackathon for missions.
Previous hackathon projects have included a team collaborating to fight online sexual abuse of children in the Philippines. In partnership with the International Justice Mission (IJM), the team prototyped a suite of seven voice products to report online sexual exploitation. At the end of the hackathon, they had working MVPs for all seven products, including a redesign of the IJM webpage, chatbots, content for a voicemail system, and more.
Another team in Thailand worked with data from the Joshua Project to identify where least-reached people groups seek refuge from hostile nations and where the Gospel might be shared most effectively.
Other exciting #HACK projects have included an interactive map experience to answer questions about the Bible, an app to encourage praying for a city, and a simple animation that provided the first Bible story in the Pukapuka language.
Who goes to hackathons?
Indigitous #HACK is for more than just coders. It isn’t just creating apps or websites. Sometimes projects need marketing help, new designs, some copy, or a UX overhaul. Some #HACK events have included evangelism training or some other outreach component. There have even been some #HACK events without any coders at all.
Champion #HACK in your city
If all of that sounds interesting but there is no #HACK scheduled for your city, you could be the one to host it. We’re still looking for local #HACK champions who want to bring the largest global hackathon for missions to their city. If you have a passion for Jesus and a little free time, you can do this. You need three things: people, a place, and a project. Some #HACK events have hundreds of participants, while others might have five. But an event of any size can be a blessing to the global body of Christ.
Learn more about being a #HACK champion.