• A Story from the Earthquake in Turkey
• The Problem with Modern Generosity
• An Older Pattern
• A New Kind of Infrastructure
• Three Things I’m Exploring
• A Necessary Tension
  • Not a Conclusion

Transfers are slow. Fees are high. Access can be restricted. And in moments of crisis, the flow of support can stop when it’s needed most.

§A Story from the Earthquake in Turkey

I’ve been learning about Bitcoin since 2017. But it became very real for me during the earthquake in Turkey on February 6, 2023.

In the days that followed, I helped raise over six figures in funding for the response—emergency aid, food, tents, containers, and tiny houses—much of it distributed through the local church.

It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever witnessed: believers working together across borders to meet urgent needs in Jesus’ name.

But near the end of the distributions, I tried to send some remaining funds to the far east of the country to help people still living in containers.

The money was designated. The need was real. The church was ready to act.

And yet, the funds got stuck in a bank account when the government froze both the account and the money.

For more than eighteen months, we couldn’t move it—not back, not forward.

By the time it was finally released, the moment to serve had passed.

That experience left a deep mark on me.

It showed me how fragile our systems are—and how easily generosity can be blocked, not because people lack compassion, but because the infrastructure of giving is broken.

A Simple Idea

That experience has led me to explore something that has become ever clearer:

Bitcoin.

More specifically:

I’m exploring how Bitcoin can enable borderless generosity and resilient Christian communities.

That’s still a working idea. But the more I sit with it, the more it feels like an important direction.

§The Problem with Modern Generosity

Global generosity today depends heavily on centralized systems:

• banks

• payment processors

• governments

• nonprofit infrastructure

These systems do a lot of good. But they also introduce friction and fragility.

If a transfer is blocked, delayed, or restricted, there’s often no alternative.

If access is removed, participation stops.

If systems fail, generosity stalls.

The people most in need of support are often the ones living inside these constraints.

At the same time, we’re moving toward a world where money itself is becoming more digital, more traceable—and increasingly, more controllable.

§An Older Pattern

This isn’t a new problem.

The early church faced distance, instability, and limited infrastructure. And yet, they developed networks of support that crossed regions and cultures.

In Acts, we see believers sharing resources so that no one was in need.

Later, Paul organized collections from one region to support another during famine.

This was a form of borderless generosity—but it depended entirely on trust, travel, and time.

§A New Kind of Infrastructure

Bitcoin introduces something fundamentally different.

For the first time, value can move directly between people anywhere in the world:

• without banks

• without permission

• without relying on a central intermediary

That doesn’t solve everything. But it changes what’s possible.

It creates the potential for generosity that is:

• faster

• more direct

• more resilient

§Three Things I’m Exploring

I’ve started to think about this in three parts:

1. Borderless Generosity

The ability to give directly across borders, without friction or gatekeepers.

2. Resilient Communities

Communities that can support one another even when institutions fail or access is limited.

3. Financial Freedom

Money that remains neutral—open to anyone, and not controlled or restricted by centralized authorities.

§A Necessary Tension

I’ve also become convinced of something else:

Money should not become a tool of centralized control.

As digital systems evolve, there is growing interest in forms of money that can be programmed, monitored, or restricted—often described as central bank digital currencies or programmable finance.

While these systems may offer efficiency, they also introduce the possibility that how money is used—and who is allowed to use it—can be controlled.

Generosity cannot thrive in that kind of environment.

It must remain voluntary, relational, and free.

§Not a Conclusion

There is something about the idea that “Bitcoin fixes this” that seems to go deeper the more we think about it.

Even so, I don’t see Bitcoin as a complete solution.

But I do think we are entering a moment where the infrastructure of money will shape the future of generosity itself.

If that’s true, then it’s worth asking:

What kind of systems actually support human flourishing?

What enables communities to endure?

What allows generosity to flow freely?

These are the questions I’m exploring.

And I suspect they will matter far more than we realize in the years ahead.

If you’d like to go deeper, I’ve outlined the broader framework

Please ⚡Zap 2 sats to unlock this note on the entire manifesto over on Fanfares.io

A world where generosity flows freely across borders, and where Christian communities have the tools they need to endure, serve, and flourish.