Missionary Blog Watch

Series on culture

Sat, 10 May 2008 08:59:46 -0500

It's always fun to do a series on a blog, and there are many different ways to do it. One of the best is to pick a cultural topic, and post pictures with a description (or a description with pictures) over a period of time.

I thought you might be interested in a couple of these that are going on. First, all the way from Taiwan, over at following an unknown path... a series called simply taiwan. Our friend Amanda will be posting photos of life in Taiwan, and she wants your suggestions.

The first two posts are already up - the first featuring toilets, the second shopping carts.

Taiwan street vendor
Another variation is the series over at Caleb and Linda's Update Site, featuring food of Italy. Take for example this Italian Breakfast. This is lunch (even though it looks like breakfast to me). And here are the most recent two - some experimenting, and The Cruder Side of Ham!

Are you a missionary with a series going? Leave a comment and let us know!

Posts from Paraguay

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:02:09 -0500

We haven't talked a lot about Paraguay here - why is that? Do you know where it is? That's right - smack-dab in the middle of South America. Here are a few recent posts to get you started:

Let's start with m&m: Missions and Musings: Read the story of Carlos in Carlos' Hope, and American's view on the falling American dollar, and when Mom and daughter are away the boys will ... eat toasted cheese sandwiches. Latchkey Entry #1.
How about Brendas Blog from Paraguay: When Thank You Means No - how to NOT buy things from your car window. Everybody loves posts about Insects and Rodents & Cats. And did you know what a Box Blond is?
Actually, these guys are in Costa Rica right now - but their blog is Keeping an Eye on Paraguay because they're headed there this summer! So keep an eye on their blog for the big move. Meanwhile, did you know they skipped school? And take a look at these thoughts and video clips from Semana Santa (Holy Week).

Cathedral in Asunción, Paraguay.
This is a celebration in honour of the Virgin Mary.

A trip to India

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:46:12 -0500

LeakeSpeak is actually a fairly new blog, just started in October of last year. Coming to us from southern Mexico (Oaxaca), the posts have been thoughtful from the start. We've also been treated to some great photos, which enhance any blog.

Ironically enough, what prompted me to finally write about LeakeSpeak here was not Mexico but India. A trip to the other side of the world has led to some very interesting first-impression posts, and some fantastic pictures of places many of us have heard about, but never thought a lot about.

A much-travelled friend of mine once said that the most "different" country in the world (in this case, different from Canada, or even the Western World) was India. I think you'll enjoy this exploration of life, religion and chai in incredible India, where they say Truth Alone Triumphs.

For background on the trip, read I'm going to India. For the first post upon arrival, read Made it to India. Then read later posts for the continuing saga.

Photo courtesy of initials

Short term travels

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:33:58 -0500

As you may know, we don't generally have short term missionaries (less than 2 years) in the aggregator on the main page. But every once in a while I like to feature a few short term blogs here, and it's been a while! So for your interest, here are some short termers who are either in the middle of another culture or getting ready to dive in!

Teaching in Honduras: A caterpillar named Julio, growing coffee, and other tidbits in the life of a teacher.
Travels in the 10/40 Window: There's more here than massages and mango shakes. The photos will give you a glimpse into life in another part of the world.
A New Country, A New Journey: Uganda and the Philippines are featured in this travel blog with a cool map and everything. Here's the latest post (at the time I write this).
chaiqianwo's Xanga Site: Or is it called Somewhere? Anyway, lately the posts have been about Singapore.
Pole, pole, mambo yatabadilika: Go to the blog to find out what it means. This blogger is on her way to Nigeria.
Amy's Lingo and Daily Lingo: Both these blogs let you in on Amy's adventures in Perú.

Orange trousers (and other pictures)

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:43:38 -0500

Let me tell you about some pictures I've recently seen on blogs around the world...

They finally have a shower, and it's quite a rig! Who can install me one of those?
Yes, there really is an Anglican Catholic Church. You learn something new everyday. For more, read here and here.
Colourful Thai clothes, flowers and lots of getting wet at this year's Songkran and more Songkran
I see a clown in a church, a crowd by the river, and people getting in...
In case you can't see, the other one is a gecko.
Ok, where I live I don't see a lot of orange trousers... but apparently in Italy...
I see a beautiful photo of a little boy - you'll be amazed to hear his story. Maybe you'll want to pray?

Which country receives the most missionaries?

Wed, 2 Apr 2008 16:37:19 -0500

There are some new pages here at Missionary-Blogs.com that you might want to check out! First, there is now a sitemap. Many of the pages here do not actually appear on the sidebar, so to make the site easier to explore I've added this page which lists (almost) all the pages that are here.

I say almost because, first, all the blog archives by month are not included. Also, pages are being added all the time, and the sitemap is only updated once in a while!

For example, we have a new continent here - missionaries in North America now have their very own page. Recently the Overseas Ministries Study Center reported the countries that receive the largest number of foreign missionaries. Guess who was #1? The United States. That's right, there are now more missionaries to the United States than to any other country in the world.

So the question is, where are all the bloggers? I don't have nearly enough missionaries to the USA and Canada. To qualify, you must come from a very different culture (probably a different language) than the culture you are now living in. Contact me and I'll consider your blog for inclusion!

Celebrating 5 years of blogging

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:09:26 -0500

It's no small feat to keep a blog running for 5 years. But this year we have several more bloggers that are celebrating a half-decade. Feel free to drop by and offer them your congrats!

Quirey Life (Brazil) has more life than ever - they've been celebrating the birth of Jackson Turner Quirey.
The Poulette Family(Mexico) has been writing lately about Jesus, His death and Resurrection. Of course, the Poulettes have another newer blog - Mexico Movies, which has given many of us a great introduction to vlogging over the past 3 years.
Carroll Chronicles (Germany) is a bright family focused blog, writing about things like Married at the age of Five!? and Please DO Feed the Animals!
Comings Communiqué (Brazil) is a blog with rich variety. Read recent thoughts on prayer and some news items.
AGENText (Argentina) used to be mexiText. Still going strong with a fresh change of country, you can read about The Unexpected and Lacking Rhythm, Not Life
Erin's Entry (Nigeria) is actually new around here, but not new to the blogosphere. Erin recently wrote about In Sickness and in Health..., and the post Last Friday... is long but not to be missed if you want to learn about Nigerian culture.
I have to give honourable mention to The Happenings in Madrid, which, although there hasn't been a post in a while, has been a long time familiar face.

Photo courtesy of Visentico/Sento

Holy Week

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:46:02 -0500

Here are simply some thoughts of various missionary bloggers regarding Holy Week and the death and resurrection of the Lord.

First, what's up with that Nicodemus guy? A "cyber psalm" for Good Friday. More thoughts on Good Friday - On Glory and Devastation, and It's All Good. A glimpse of the Philippines shows us what's going on in many parts of the world today. How about some ideas of what to do over the weekend? Some thoughts on the big picture to chew on. And finally a good old tomb roll call.

New Bloggers from Brazil to Ukraine and more...

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:59:15 -0500

Want to encourage a missionary? Stop by one of these blogs and leave a comment, send them an email. These missionaries have just recently started blogs - here they are:

Missionary blog tip: The Newbie Guide

Tue, 4 Mar 2008 17:06:43 -0500

A lot of people visit this site, visit the blogs, then email me and say,"Wow -- cool! How can I do that?"

Well, I've posted a whole bunch of blogging tips here that you do need to read. And Dr. Mike gave us some reasons why missionaries should blog in the first place. But I wanted to point out an excellent introduction to blogging in general by Dustin Wax over at Lifehack.org. It's titled The Newbie Guide to Blogging, but I would guess that 95% of the 480 active missionary bloggers that are being watched here could use at least a few of these tips.

Check it out, take the ideas seriously, and make your blog even better in the year ahead!