Ministry

Ten Reasons You Should Be a Missionary

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by Jonathan

 

10. You’ll get to try new things, like typhoid fever and amoebas.

No worries. Even if you’re the most vaccinated person you know, you just might get sick.  On the bright side, most of the time your illnesses will sound cool. And cool illnesses make people pray more.

But note: ulcers are not cool. If you get an ulcer, don’t tell anyone. Ulcers are too American.

Oh, and make sure your kids know how great all these new things are too. I was hanging out at an international high school once and overheard a kid say something about a student who was absent. He nonchalantly said, “Oh, he’s not here; he has an amoeba.” I wanted to grab the kid by the collar and say, “You know that’s not a normal sentence, right?”

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7 Reasons I’m Thankful

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by Elizabeth

Last month I did something that was one of the most refreshing and energizing things I’ve done in a long time: I went to Emerald Hills for the Team Leader Summit. Emerald Hills is Team Expansion’s home office, and every two years, team leaders from all over the world gather there for training. Here are the best parts from this year’s Team Leader Summit for me:

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How to Transition to the Foreign Field and not Croak: Six Essential Steps

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by Elizabeth

I believe if a missionary family is happy and healthy, they will be more sustainable in the long-term. I also believe that the key to happy and healthy missionaries is preparation. One of the things I’ve learned these past two years is that there is a lot of heartache among cross-cultural workers. After a while, I noticed that often, people’s heartache had common characteristics, and could have been addressed before arriving on the field.

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I’m a Proverbs 31 Failure

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“A wife of noble character, who can find?”

Recently, as my husband read aloud from Proverbs 31 over the breakfast table, I wondered if maybe that was a rhetorical question. As in, “can anyone find this woman?” She has an extensive list of accomplishments and abilities. She seems to be able to “do it all,” with skill (check out all the details here). Am I really supposed to be like her?

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A Father’s Prayer

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by Jonathan

I love hanging out with teenagers.  In fact, I think I enjoy being with teenagers more now than I did when I was one.  But anyway, I’m beginning to notice how many teen girls view themselves so negatively.  They don’t see themselves as God sees them: cherished, loved, special, and beautiful.  When others say they’re inadequate and lacking, they listen and believe.  I’m the older brother of seven sisters, the father of two daughters, and the husband of one wife, so this is personal.  (In fact, my wife has written on her struggles in this area here.)

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