by Lisa McKay on May 7, 2013
When I first moved to Laos with my husband Mike, I tagged along on one of his work trips out to a rural village where Mike’s organization had recently helped set up a gravity-fed water system. During this trip, Mike and the staff (and, by extension, me) were the guests of honor in the village [...]
by Chris Lautsbaugh on April 8, 2013
Have you ever found yourself asking, “What am I doing?” “Is this worth it?” “Is this what we signed up for?” If so you are not alone in your emotions, although these feelings can make you feel very isolated. Missions and any form of leadership carries with it an aspect of loneliness. Ordinary friendships become [...]
by Editor on March 25, 2013
Working with the materially poor is really tricky. We want to help, but it’s not always easy to determine what is helping and what is hurting. How are we supposed to fulfill our biblical mandate to care for the materially poor without creating dependencies? Puerto Peñasco is a small city just an hour south of [...]
by Angie Washington on March 20, 2013
Why are you a missionary? What motivated you to live a life of challenge, adventure, and sacrifice? How did you make the decision to serve in such an intense capacity? We have lived in Bolivia for over 11 years. From the time I was seven I knew I would live outside the U.S. for most [...]
by Justin Schneider on March 15, 2013
What is your plan of action when the political situation around you deteriorates to the point where your safety is at risk? A big part of my training as an attorney is managing risk. In risk management, the potential risk of an action or situation is weighed against the potential benefit. When the risk outweighs [...]
by Rachel Pieh Jones on March 13, 2013
My 7-year old went to her Somali/Arab/Afar dance class one Saturday afternoon. The guard outside informed us that there was no longer dance on Saturday afternoon, no matter that we had signed up, no matter that we had paid just last week. Discouraged, we ran errands instead and ended up at a store which sells [...]
by Angie Washington on March 9, 2013
I arrived at the restaurant way too early and waited in the foyer Wednesday morning. Part of me still expected her to show up with an entourage. A driver and bodyguard at least! She is that much of a rock star to me. Over a decade ago Gracia Burnham, author of ‘In the Presence of [...]
by Chris Lautsbaugh on March 6, 2013
I want us to consider how globalization is effecting us as missionaries. Fritz Kling wrote a book entitled “The Meeting of the Waters: 7 Global Currents That Will Propel the Future Church” His book will be the backdrop for our discussion. In it he identifies two characters; Missions Marm and Apple Guy. Missions Marm - An [...]
by Editor on February 27, 2013
Guest writer and missionary to Haiti, Shannon Kelley, shares a short term missions experience. ———————————————— It’s a typical Sunday. My family walks over dirt roads about a mile to a little cinder block church. We are the only non-Haitian’s there. We sit amongst our friends – people with hard lives that get down on their [...]
by Justin Schneider on February 15, 2013
After going to an Ash Wednesday service on Ash Wednesday, my wife and I were talking about the history of some of the practices most associate with Christianity yet possibly, or likely, have their roots in pagan rituals or practices. As it turns out, rabbits and eggs are ancient symbols of fertility, and several people [...]
by Editor on January 30, 2013
I am a progeny of the short-term missions movement. My life was shaped by trips I took as a teenager to Guatemala and Peru. And here’s the ripple effect: in addition to sending tens of thousands to the field, my family has been profoundly affected. My daughter Estie just left with her college group to [...]
by Laura Parker on January 28, 2013
I remember our first year on the field literally thinking, “No one is ever, ever going to come to faith in Christ, no matter how many years I spend here.” I thought this because for the first time in my life, I was face-to-face with the realities that the story of Jesus was so completely [...]