It’s October, which means #HACK is back.

Hackathons are timed events where people come together to ideate, code and create new tools to solve problems and impact communities.

And Pastor Rick Warren, who you may know as author of The Purpose Driven Life, has put out a global invitation to #HACK2022 over YouTube.

The executive director of gospel catalyst movement Finishing the Task shared that he is convening a coalition of “over 1,300 different agencies, denominations and churches committed to helping fulfil the Great Commission by 2033 AD, which will be the 2,000th anniversary of Christianity.”

What that means is that hackathons for the gospel will be going off in over 80 cities in 41 countries in October; Indigitous Singapore is hosting #HACK2022 as part of the annual Global Missional Hackathon.

“If you’re willing to use your tech skills for the Great Commission challenge, this is going to be a great opportunity,” continued Pastor Rick.

“We’re going to have fun. We will bless your cities, you will meet like-minded Christians from the tech industry and you’ll move the ball forward to get the Good News to every person on the planet.”

Singapore’s hack is happening over two days from Oct 14–16 – that’s Friday 6pm to Sunday 5pm – at Digital Mission @ 360 (360 Dunearn Road Singapore, 299552).

What to expect

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Singapore’s #HACK will be a hybrid hackathon taking place both physically and virtually.

Indigitous Singapore shared that the last two years of lockdown and restrictions have helped them “realised the potential of technology not just as an alternative, but also as a means to enrich our worship and fellowship”.

The angle, as such, is exploring how tech can serve as a complement to spiritual community.

Here are more details from the organiser:

“In this year’s #HACK, we gather to strategise how we can use technology and the digital space as a complement to our physical communities, rather than being a mere alternative in a pandemic.

“We call out not only to digitally inclined entrepreneurs, technologists and creatives, but anyone with a Spirit-filled heart who is eager to bolster our communities – fellowship and witness within our church, in para-church organisations, kingdom businesses and beyond!”

Practically speaking, expect to create stuff with a team – even through the night if you’re up to the challenge.

“We welcome you to stay overnight at our partner’s venue – Digital Missions at 360. Though there are no available beds, participants can experience the life of a #hacker and stay up overnight to develop a solution,” states Indigitous Singapore on their event page.

More details here.

You should be pretty excited and fired up because Singapore’s previous hackathons in past years have been awesome (and growing!).

In 2017’s hackathon, Thir.st’s very own Joanne Kwok had the opportunity to create a Telegram chatbot called Lyfe aimed at confronting and tackling the issue of rising suicide rates that year.

“Other hacks included amazing solutions such as a Facebook bot that could chat with suicidal victims and connect them anonymously with real humans for intervention, and a filtering system that could sieve out data from popular sites for sex trafficking such as Craigslist and Gumtree,” she wrote that year.

#HACK2019 saw organisations like World Vision, Antioch of Asia and social enterprises like Migrant x Me participate in finding creative solutions to social problems.

Thir.st contributor Gordon Xie also shared his positive experience: “Within a month or two, a group of us got together to create #BOBB, a website dedicated to blessing others, or asking for blessings. Operating off a single Firebase instance, the website was coded and launched.”

Then in the wake of COVID-19, 2020 and 2021’s hackathons saw participants re-thinking missional engagement through digital missions and experimenting with new ways to help the world touch heaven.

Who knows what #HACK2022 will produce? Only one way to find out.

Who should go

In his invitation, Pastor Rick offered three profiles he hoped to see at the largest global hackathon thus far.

• A student
• A graduate working in the tech industry
• A person interested in participating in creative digital solutions for the Great Commission

But really, it’s anyone who is willing to ask the key question that he posed: “How can I use the talent and the ability God gave me to help finish the global task for the global glory of God?”

So if you’re not tech-savvy, don’t be scared off!

“We hope people from all walks of life and experiences to come and join us,” clarified Indigitous Singapore.

“Just as a church is made up of different people, some are better at leading, some are better at worship, while some are better at teaching.

“Likewise, you might not be a coder/developer, but you provide different perspectives and value to the team.”

What’s next?

Simply sign up and show up at the event.

You can do so either by yourself, or by signing up with a group and coming together — Indigitous Singapore recommends a group size of 5.

In the lead-up, do share about this hackathon with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who are passionate about digital missions, accelerating kingdom building and creative solutions to real problems.

At the heart of it, just show up with your five loaves and two fishes. Let God multiply your willingness and availability for His purposes.

So see you at #HACK2022, and remember — we’d love to feature your story on Thir.st about how it all went down or the takeaways you received!