Vicente Mendes da Silva does not own a smartphone. His mobile device is a simple button phone. With it, and 150 kwanzas ($US0.16) at a time, he has spent years sending messages of hope to the people in his contact list.

From 2016–2017, da Silva served as a literature evangelist in Huambo, Angola. While working as a literature evangelist, he began sharing messages of encouragement with friends, acquaintances, and people he met along the way. He has maintained the practice ever since.

The practice is made possible by a mobile phone operator that offers a mobile plan for 150 kwanzas ($US0.16) that is valid for three days. da Silva believes he shouldn't let any of the available data go to waste, so before the package runs out, he writes messages of hope.

Before writing messages, da Silva prays. He asks God what to say and who recipients should be. His messages range from personal writings, Bible texts, and passages from Ellen G. White.

One of da Silva's messages encouraged a man experiencing acute distress in a life-changing moment. Later, the man sought da Silva out, embracing him and wanting to know what the message had meant. The man told da Silva that reading it had given him a reason to believe the challenges he was facing would pass. The man currently lives in Portugal and remains in contact with da Silva.

da Silva has many similar stories. Some have reached out via voice message for prayer during challenging life events.

Representatives of Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division say da Silva's experience carries a direct lesson for the OneVoice27 movement by showing how digital mission does not require high-tech gadgets. "What matters is the willingness to use whatever device is already in hand."

The original article was published on the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division news site.