Android :: Send And Receive Text Functions?

Any way to get at the Send and Receive Text functions of a phone? In other words, is there a way to transmit a text such that another phone, within range and using my app, could receive that text? Proposed app: The_Haiti_Phone: All cell towers and land lines are down. I would create a text msg to my wife's phone and my special app would send it. All cell phones in range would pass it on. When the packet's receiver's ID matches a cell phone's ID, the msg displays to the user. In summary, in a catastrophe, all cell phones with my app act as cell towers.