by Elizabeth
Over New Year’s, I received my “Word” for this year — a word I am very excited about, a word that brings together everything I have learned about missions so far. But to explain this year’s word, I need to go back to the first time I chose a word for the year, back to January 2011.
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?”
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:
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.
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1
When my husband first told me, rather excitedly, that he wanted to apply with Team Expansion to become a missionary in Cambodia, I did not in any way share his excitement. I had many mistaken ideas about missionary life – mistaken ideas that told me, “No! Never! Don’t go!”
Jonathan & Elizabeth Trotter 