When I first met the head-turning, nearly-too-good-to-be-true man who would be my husband, there was only one possibly fatal flaw.
He didn’t see himself going overseas.
Category: Rest
Rebecca & David’s Story: “We’re Ordinary People”
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Editor’s note: David and Rebecca, regular readers of Go. Serve. Love and self-proclaimed ordinary people, recently contacted us with some crazy-cool news. Together-ready, waiting for God’s direction–they recently became global workers in North Africa, one of the least-reached regions of the world.
And all in a span of about six weeks.
Desperate Prayers: David’s Story
Reading Time: 2 minutes
We were heading into the mountains to hold workshops for lay leaders and pastors.
But I had a problem. I needed to talk with four different men: one to set up a team coming from a supporting church to show the Jesus film. Then three others for details about the very workshops we had come to give that weekend.
Dotsie’s Story: Culture Shock, and Making Change
Trends in Missions to Help You Work Smarter: Part 3
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Grab Part 1 and Part 2 Here on trends in missions.
Confession: I’ve never been that trendy of a person. (Maybe you could have guessed that from my regrettable personal trends in the last post?) I have never actually been cool. I have just been a person cool people liked.
But missions trends, see, aren’t on par with whether you listen to Maroon 5 or wear maroon skinny jeans.
Global Missions Trends to Help You Work Smarter: Part 2
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Missed the first post on Global Missions Trends? GRAB IT here.
I don’t know about you, but I do have regrets over some trends in which I was a willing participant.
They include teased bangs. Polka dots. Crispy, overgelled, permed hair. Tight-rolled jeans. White eyeliner.
Missions Trends to Help You Work Smarter: Part 1
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Do you remember your first exposure to global work? At the risk of dating myself, mine involved slideshows, prayer cards for your fridge, and talk about jungles, huts, canoes, and a Peace Child. In third grade, I told Mom I wanted to go to Japan as a missionary.
The great news? Along with our speed-of-light world, missions has changed, too. Missions trends reflect that as a Church, we’re learning from our mistakes (like missions that whiffs of colonialism or cultural appropriation; check out Does Christianity destroy culture?).
Packing: A Few Tips and Tricks
How to Build Community as a Missionary Overseas
Reading Time: 7 minutes
Editor’s note: Tucked away in my family room sits a box made of exotic African wood, lugged back using precious luggage weight when my family returned from Uganda. It is one of our most beautiful possessions–not physically, but in its emotional cargo. It was fashioned by hand in the workshop of our organization as one-of-a-kind. Tucked within are loads of letters and laminated photographs of lives we loved and shared in our efforts to build community overseas.
You likely share the goal of my family: to dig in deeply enough to love well, intimately enough to change each other. To work toward the brand of enduring, life-on-life love that models God’s Body.
Choosing an Emotionally Healthy Missions Organization
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Missed our last post on Emotionally Healthy Missions? Grab it here!
When you’re headed overseas, it’s easy to underestimate the effects your organization’s health could have on the ability to thrive overseas.
As I type, I think of the friend who called me recently, voice throaty with tears, as she discussed their lack of ability to care for her after stepping off the field.
Or I remember my conversation with the missionary couple who felt they had no option but to leave their organization once they’re on the field.