Halloween. Day of the Dead. All Saints Day. This week we observe the earthly and underworld of the spiritual realm. As I regale you with tales of Bolivia, rife with ancient connections to the other-world, consider the spirituality embedded in your dwelling place. Let us begin. The Devil’s Uncle I’ve visited Potosí in the mountains […]
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We’ve seen Christian organizations publicly wrestle with change in recent times. InterVarsity is facing this pressure to allow non-Christians to be a part of their leadership. This is resulting in them being banned from certain campuses. Will they change some of their core values? World Vision battled with adopting new policies, leading to a back […]
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Grossest thing you’ve eaten in your life overseas? Favorite recipe? Share in the comments and be entered to win a copy of the Djiboutilicious Cookbook.
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Many times in missions, we speak of the difficulties with greater frequency than the good things. We talk about racism. We speak of our various phases of culture shock. Stories of being hurt by those we work with abound. Even at times, we venture into difficult topics like trauma or loss. What of the positive? […]
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Anyone working in missions will come face to face with the reality of racism at some point. Historically it has been an issue of skin color. In most nations black was wrong and white was right. I live and work in South Africa. Perhaps there has never been a nation where racism was more evident […]
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Imagine a man native to the region where you live. He gets Jesus. Grows. Starts a church. It flourishes. The dozens become hundreds. Your little missionary heart bursts with pride to see this man so successful. The church secretary and the volunteers overlook his hot temper and his prejudice towards people of a certain skin […]
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If you have been in missions any length of time, you have experienced disappointment with a national person you’ve trusted. It’s not a question of if, but when. Someone will break your trust, they might steal from you, or worse. I know of national workers who were entrusted with a ministry only to overthrow the […]
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What are the signs which point to Christmas coming? In every culture there are different visuals which alert us to the coming of this holiday season. When I first moved to South Africa, Christmas snuck up on me because I did not see the normal American signs. Once I learned the new signs, I could […]
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I was busy working yesterday morning during my daily precious kid-free hour, when I heard my three-month-old baby give a great shriek of panicked distress from outside. It was the sort of scream that makes a mother drop everything and bolt for the source. When I located the source he was naked, sucking frantically on […]
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Plenty of emphasis is placed on the dangers of raising children on the mission field. The thought of crime and disease sends shivers down the spine of a parent contemplating “the life overseas.” Choosing missions for your kids causes them miss out on grandparents and culture in our home countries. It becomes so easy to […]
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![Fate - Homes in a Christian neighborhood in Islamabad, Pakistan. [1500x1000] - Imgur](http://www.alifeoverseas.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Fate-Homes-in-a-Christian-neighborhood-in-Islamabad-Pakistan.-1500x1000-Imgur-700x466.jpg)
As soon as the angry words came out of my mouth, I regretted them. I was speaking to Rehmet, the woman who helped me care for my kids and my home. She was a Punjabi woman, uneducated, illiterate, with a smile that stretched across a beautiful, weathered face and a personality as big as her […]
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National Public Radio in the USA used to do a segment called This I Believe, featuring short pieces on people’s most passionate and strongly held beliefs. The essays that resulted from this project span topics ranging from life as an act of literary creation to being nice to the pizza delivery guy. They are united […]
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