Missionary Blog Watch

One of the big news stories of New Years was, sadly, the bombings in Bangkok.  Eight explosions on New Years Eve killed three and injured 38 (according to some reports).  So today let's look at a few postings from New Years Eve and aftewards out of Thailand.  Many of these posts were written before the authors knew about the bombings, I include those as well:

Monks Chanting at New Year's Party (on religion and culture)

Back in Bangkok (more on New Years in Thailand)

And now, those posts mentioning the bombings:

New Year's Eve and Birthday Fun

Reports of explosions

Bangkok Bombing

Please continue to pray for the people of Thailand.

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Keep your blog alive in 2007- Missionary blog tip #8
January 11, 2007 08:38

When I was doing my recent feature on A year of new blogs, I was sad to discover that many of the blogs that had started in 2006 had also died in 2006.  That's really too bad.  Other blogs have continued - and we can now look back on almost a year of interesting, and sometimes challenging posts.

So what can you do to make sure your blog isn't a casualty in 2007?  Here are a few suggestions:

Make a schedule.  I know, I started with a boring sounding suggestion.  But it's important!  Plan how often you're going to blog as a minimum.  Once a week is good for a lot of busy people out there.  So put a little peice of paper on the wall beside your computer with a little box for each week.  When you blog during that week, check it off.  In other words, if you blog 3x a day this week, that doesn't count for next week - you still need at least one post next week (unless you cheat and make it post automatically next week, as you can in some blogging software).  And if you've already posted this week, it's ok to post again.

It doesn't have to be fancy.  Really, every post does not have to be inspired spiritual prose that people will remember for generations to come.  If you learn something about the culture, write a few sentences.  If you're going to see Mr. Jones tomorrow and you'd like prayer, write a short paragraph.  If you saw something interesting on the internet, link to it.  I'm not saying you should be rash and write things you'll regret, but don't tie yourself to a level of posting you can never hope to keep up with.

Write down ideas.  When you think of an idea for a post, jot it down.  Pretty soon you'll have a page or two of ideas.  Next time you get writer's block, take out that sheet and write about something.  It doesn't always have to be today's news.

Start again.  No, I don't mean you should create a new blog and start over!  I just mean this:  If you haven't blogged for 6 months, just sit down and post today.  It will only take a few minutes.  You don't need to catch people up on everything that's happened over the past 6 months.  You don't need to spend the entire time apologizing.  Just post!  Believe it or not, sometimes things come up even more important than blogging.  But that doesn't mean your blogging days are over forever.

Get a blogging buddy.  Find someone who you can be accountable to.  If they're blogging too, remind them and they can remind you.  Give each other ideas.  You can even invite someone else to write a "guest post".

Here's hoping that more blogs will be born, resurrected and grow strong to God's glory in 2007!

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Comment on these new blogs
January 17, 2007 20:03

It's been a while since I just listed a bunch of new blogs.  I like to take the time to list some (I don't list all of them) so that you can swing by and leave a comment, and hopefully encourage someone just starting out in the blogging world.  There were quite a few new blogs in the last months of 2006 - here's a few you can check out:

Surrender don't come natural to me - I'm with you, brother.  This one is from Bolivia.

Mission Taiwan - another new blog... what country was that from again?  I guess you'll have to read the blog to find out.

Cathy's Blog - just click the link to get to the blog.  Cathy has been in Tanzania, and recently was in the USA for a bit.

The Ross Family in Peru - and you just have to see these photos.

Martin and Hazel's Blog - coming to us from Argentina.

Mexicanucks’ Updates - a quiz for you: Can you tell from the title where they are and where they're from?

Life by the Word - starting a change in life as well as a new blog, these folks are heading to Mexico.

conFESSions - of who?  "Of an unmedicated Xer", of course.  In Kenya.

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Quebec, Canada:  Seeing but not seeing
January 30, 2007 06:36

Hidden in the continant of North America are a few large areas with very few believers.  Amazing considering the Christians and resources that are available right there.  One of these areas is Québec, Canada.  Québec is the largest province in Canada, covering 1,542,056 km2, and home to over 7.5 million people, the majority French speaking.

Do we have any missionary bloggers in Quebec?  Mais oui!  Rob and Martine Karch can be found at Bringing Hope to Quebec, a blog with pictures, video and stories of what God is doing in one corner of the province.  Thier news feed isn't working at this time, but you can explore their website.  There's lots there about their ministry and the need there.

The title of this post came from one of their posts entitled Seeing... and Seeing.  Read about an activity this group of believers did and how it got them thinking.  And remember to pray for Québec.

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We hit the top 1%, with over 300 blogs!
January 31, 2007 21:27

That's right - Missionary-Blogs.com is now watching over 300 missionary blogs!  From Argentina to the United Kingdom, we have missionaries from around the world who are sharing what God is doing in the nations.  From Across The Miles to Yaaye's Thawts, we're visiting blogs to get a new perspective on the world.

And this site is growing in popularity too.  Missionary-Blogs.com is now in the top 1% of most visited websites on the internet!  Yes, you heard right.  People from all over the world are visiting - from the USA, Mexico, Canada, the UK, Japan, Australia, Germany, and many more (those are currently the top 7).

There are some changes happening around here.  You'll be shocked to notice a drastically smaller blog list page.  Don't panic!  This is going to lead to more blogs being listed, but it's going to take time.  The blogs are going to be listed on four seperate pages, with country listed (if available) (that means you'll be able to search by country!).  More blogs will be listed than ever before, starting with 260 once the four pages are complete.  This will make it easier for me to keep track of and update - in chunks, rather than all at once.

The first page is done - the veterans.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the main page - the blogs there will change, but there will only be a sampling.  We'll see what happens there in the months ahead.

But I do need your help!  You see, there are constantly blogs going offline.  Missionaries returning home.  New missionaries coming to the field.  URLs changing.  Names of blogs changing.  It's very hard to keep track of!  And believe it or not, I'm human and I make mistakes (often, actually).  So if you see any errors as these pages are built, or would like to suggest a change, addition or deletion, please let me know.  And if you want to support this site, you can be the first one to put a few dollars in the tip jar.

Thanks for your patience, as this site grows little by little.  Thanks to all of you who have kept me up to date and have been such a big help.  And an extra BIG thanks to those of you who encourage, support, leave comments for, email, and pray for each of these missionary bloggers!

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