MORE Reasons You Should Be a Missionary

/ trotters41 / 4 Comments
Your coffee shop will sell fresh meat AND fresh coconut milk. And coffee.

Your coffee shop will sell fresh meat AND fresh coconut milk. And coffee.

by Jonathan

At the end of my post on A Life Overseas called 10 Reasons You Should Be a Missionary, I asked the readers this question: If a “Top 10 List” could have 15, what would you add? Folks replied with some great stuff, which I’ve compiled and edited below.

So, just in case my Top 10 List didn’t convince you, here are some more reasons being an overseas missionary is awesome. To see all of the responses, view the original post.

– You’ll get to go off-roading in a 4×4 just to get to your village.

– All the chicken is “free range.” However, “free range” is interpreted loosely, and may in fact mean “they live and eat in the gutters and trash piles, freely.”

Continue reading →

I Married a Teenager

/ trotters41 / 4 Comments

by Jonathan

She was eighteen. A math and chemistry nerd, more fond of books and calculators than looks and popularity. She was more prone to quote a hymn or a textbook than a pop song or movie. She hated hot dogs. And donuts.

She stole my heart without even trying.

That teenaged college sophomore became my bride. My best friend became my wife.

And then she changed. Fourteen years later, the college kid I married is now a woman.

Continue reading →

The Two Most Romantic Things My Husband Ever Did

/ trotters41 / 6 Comments

by Elizabeth

I first saw you on a Sunday morning, in Bible class. The teacher asked a question, and I was so impressed by your answer. My heart sighed a happy sigh at the wisdom of your words. Oh how I loved going to church so I could talk with you afterwards about our favorite books and songs.

And you were so handsome, I was constantly trying not to look at you. I had such a crush on you. I don’t think I ever stopped having a crush on you, all through high school. It must have been so obvious to everyone.

Continue reading →

Part 2: Is This Orphanage Really an Orphanage?

/ trotters41 / 6 Comments

by Elizabeth

If you haven’t read Part 1, in which I describe the conditions of an average Cambodian orphanage, please do so now. The rest of this series might not make much sense without that background.

This post, Part 2, will explain more about the orphanage crisis in Cambodia, for those of you who want facts and stats.

If you aren’t interested in the data, or don’t have the time to read all of it, stay tuned for Part 3, which will detail the encouraging work of Children in Families. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I’ve mentioned before, deciding to talk about the orphanage problem in Cambodia has been very difficult for me, and felt like a huge risk on my part. I have friends all over the world running orphanages, and I don’t want to alienate people – especially friends.

But the truth is that I’m not talking about orphanages all over the world; I’m talking about an orphanage problem specific to my location in Cambodia. I’m only speaking from my own observations in this country, and I don’t know what orphan care looks like in other countries. But I do know one thing: the longer I’ve lived here, in this corrupt system, the more it has burned on my heart to tell this story. So now I am telling it.

Another thing to remember here is that I am painting with broad brushstrokes. Not every single orphanage matches these descriptions, but far too many do. I am not criticizing specific orphanages; I am drawing attention to the disturbing trends among most Cambodian orphanages. It is easy to find exceptions to these trends and then dismiss the issue altogether. But my point is that the issue exists — there are many bad orphanages in Cambodia, and something must be done about it.

Continue reading →

Patriotism is More Complicated Than It Used to Be

/ trotters41 / 6 Comments

I’m taking a break from my regularly scheduled blogging to bring you this 4th of July-related piece. I will return next week with Part Two of the Orphanage series.  -Elizabeth

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But first, a shameless plug for Rapha House. Seeing as how this week we Americans celebrate Independence Day, along with our MANY freedoms, and seeing as how this blog post is about that self-same topic, I thought this would be a great time to highlight the work of this amazing anti-trafficking group, based in our home state of Missouri.

I really SUPER believe in the work of Rapha House, who strives to create sustainable freedom for girls in Southeast Asia. And their work is quite comprehensive — in addition to providing safehouses for girls and vocational training programs to prepare for their futures, Rapha House also works in the community to prevent trafficking.

We first heard of Rapha House in 2009, and in 2011 Jonathan’s “Fireworks for Freedom” dream was born. You can see the original promo video here (but be forewarned, it might make you cry). This year, Rapha House launched a new logo and a Fireworks for Freedom online store for people in the Joplin area. 25% of fireworks purchases on the website go to Rapha House.

But even if you don’t live in the Joplin area, you can still save back some of your fireworks money and donate it to Rapha House this week (or any time of year! really!). And now, on to today’s blog post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m happy to live in Cambodia. I now have friends from all over the world — Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Britain, Germany, among other places. I love the availability of international food. (Pretty sure life would not be the same without regular access to Indian food.) I attend an international church with people from 30 other nations, many of them Asian. Somewhere along the lines all those things combined, and I started considering myself a global citizen more than an American citizen.

Continue reading →