Missionary Blog Watch

I'm just stopping by to introduce a few more NEW bloggers (those who started in March and April)!  And by the way - I'm seeing more Brazil missionaries blogging.  We Mexico missionaries are shaking in our boots - looks like Brazil missionaries want to take the title of "most bloggers"!

New in April and the latest to add to the Brazil list - the latham family

Also from Brazil, and a chocolate lover, M is for Mommy joins the missionary blogs.

And coming from Poland, with a blog title many of us can relate to - Our life....as crazy as it is....is good!

Preparing to go to Indonesia, and new as of March, Irian Jaya - West Papua

Another country with an increasing number of bloggers - Ukraine.  Please welcome Angel Wings.

And from Ecuador, A Foreign Life

Also from Ecuador (about time we got more from Ecuador!), The M Blog

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Trackback - Missionary blog tip #6
May 8, 2006 15:00

There are many different types of conversation taking place on the internet.  You've got email, instant messaging, message boards, and commenting on blogs.  Most people who have spent any time around blogs are familiar with the concept of commenting (read my comments tips here).  But when it comes to conversations between blogs, comments are the horse and carriage, trackback is the cadillac.

Here's the way trackback works.  Let's say two people have a blog.  They read each other's blogs, so quite often they write about what the other person is saying.  But that's not a conversation - it's two people talking in seperate towns to their own friends.

What you want to be able to do is talk to your friends, and the other blogger and her friends all at the same time.  That's where trackback comes in.

In order to use trackback, you have two options.  Get blogging software that has it, or get an add-on that will allow you to have it (I recommend haloscan).  Your blogging friend also needs trackback.

Once you have trackback, here's what you do.  When you write a post that's about someone else's post, or you quote from someone, and so on, you send that other block a "trackback ping".  Then, similar to a comment, an excerpt from your post will show up under their post.  Some blog software, such as WordPress, sends a ping automatically.  Now the other blogger's visitors will see your post summary, and come and visit your site (because they can only see a portion of the post on the other site).  Now you've made new friends!  Right on!

Here are some missionary blogs that use trackback:

Mission Safari

A Foreign Life

Bergquist's In Brazil

Newmans Surfacing

Jungle Pop

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Erupting from Mexico
May 11, 2006 08:55

One of my favourite bloggers has resurfaced!  You can still visit Rod's old blog, long abandoned but still interesting.  It's called Mexico Refryed, with the accurate tagline Cultural, Linguistic and Religious Commentary on Life in Mexico City.

But brand new is In the Shadow of Volcanos (yes, apparently you can spell it volcanos or volcanoes.  Now you know).  If you want to read just one entry, try the lengthy but excellent Guilt, Freedom and the Power of the Gospel.

Rod comes to us from the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, around Mexico City.

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Violence in Sao Paulo, Brazil
May 15, 2006 21:37

Some of you may be hearing in the news about the violence in Sao Paulo, Brasil.  If you're still out of the loop, here's the latest news from Google about the Sao Paulo gang violence.

Comings Communiqué has kept us up to date on important news out of Brazil in the past, and once again you can read a couple of posts about this latest tragedy:

São Paulo in Flames from May 14 2006

São Paulo in Chaos from May 15 2006

Andrew Commings includes some prayer requests so that you can be a part of the solution.  I also encourage you to go to the blog and read some earlier entries about Brazil.  You can do this by going to the Brazil category posts via this link.  Thanks again, Andrew.

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Let's look at Niger
May 26, 2006 08:47

There's one country that has been stacking up the new missionary blogs lately, and that is Niger.  The Republic of Niger is in Western Africa.  It's a land-locked country, and the official language is French.  About 1/2 the population is under 15 years of age, but the country also has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world.

Those blogging about Niger include:

Western Niger Fulani - Pray for the largest nomadic people group in the world

Sokoto Fulani of Eastern Niger - a related blog about the sub-Fulani group

Brand new is a husband and wife team - Hannatu's Happenings is hers and Yaaye's Thawts is his.

Preparing to go to Niger, check out Partnering with Parents

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Blog list has 60 more bloggers!
May 30, 2006 13:24

Without much hoopla, the Blog List has been updated.  From the looks of it, that's about as long as that page is going to get - there are 180 missionary blogs listed there now.  Some have been removed, some added, but there are 60 more than there was before.

If you think you'll never make the list, don't panic.  I'm not saying I'll never add more bloggers.  What I may do is have one page with a "best of" - maybe 10 from each category.  Then I'll split the rest onto separate pages.  That way there's less chance you'll just get lost in the missionary mob.

There are new blogs in all four categories.  But the biggest addition is a host of bloggers that just started in 2006, right up to this month.  Be sure to swing by and drop them a note of encouragement - and yes, tell them you say them at Missionary-Blogs.com.  ;-)

Keep blogging, everyone!  With truth, love and wisdom in each word...

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