We first profiled Epistle (the mission updater) in November, 2024 (https://brigada.org/2024/11/03_41721). A couple of responses under that item highlighted the possible weaknesses. They are hyper-obsessive about keeping off of spam lists – so, for example, they don’t allow you to import existing lists. (We admit – that’s a hassle for anyone with an existing list. We have an existing list of 500 readers in our monthly mission report e-newsletter. After two appeals in that newsletter, only 60 or 70 have subscribed to our new Epistle updates. Oops. Maybe only 60 or 70 are really reading our monthly update. haha) But Epistle’s organizers say that’s not necessarily a bad thing. They emphasize the importance of *engagement* over quantity of subscribers. (read on for more considerations)
Another reader pointed out that there are few controls for segmenting a list (like we find in emailers like MailChimp). Finally, there’s the pricing – $12/month. Some users will probably see the price tag and look for other options. However, that’s $12/month regardless of the number of subscribers. One you get into the hundreds, $12 seems minor – since there’s no limit on the number of updates you can send.
But in spite of these drawbacks, we have to admit: Epistle is just — cool. It allows you to create video updates way-faster than the typical approach of capturing a video then uploading it to a site like Vimeo or YouTube (then grabbing the link). (Using Epistle’s video capture tool, we can create the video in-app, then upload it in a mere two minutes.)
So the bottom line is – Epistle is just easier and faster. What’s more, it just seems to invite more audience interaction – and more user-interaction, too. There is an alternative, of course. It’s PrayVine ( https://www.prayvine.org/ ). Thanks to the kindness of its developer, Prayvine is absolutely free – which is crazy great. (Bless you Ian!) But as mentioned above, Epistle let’s you create the video in-app. With Prayvine, you’ll need to create the video locally, then upload it to YouTube (and probably not make it private or password-protected), capture the link, then include the link in Prayvine. Because the upload-to-Youtube will likely happen at a higher resolution than Epistle uses, the upload to YouTube is likely going to take anywhere from “longer” to “way longer.” Epistle is not only easier – it’s way faster (because of the protocol or resolution or both).
So if you want useability (with an added cost), go Epistle. If you want something that just works for a great price choose Prayvine.
There is a new player on the block – and that is Missio (https://missio.app/ ). It’s free too (so far), but the app seems to default to something more like a social media “feed,” in which updates from all your missionary friends are intermingled together – like a feed on Instagram, for example. Time will tell how missionaries embrace this model. It could be argued that it’s not as personal.
So what’s your choice/preference. Which avenue are you using? What do you like about each? Thanks in advance for your response!
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