Tag: missionary
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Sport Builds Bridges
Language study is one of the hardest and most time-consuming efforts missionaries make. There is, however, a language which is common to the world and far easier to learn. This is the language of sport. When my family arrived in South Africa as lovers of sport, we missed a trip to the Super Bowl by…
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Power Money Gives Us
Last month at A Life Overseas, we discussed the dangerous stories we can tell in order to raise funds. This requires further consideration if we provide funds, pay national workers, or are just generous in any way. While the debate on this one is hot and heavy, I doubt we can make absolute statements. “Always…
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Dangerous Stories
Sometimes the stories we tell of those we minister to can become dangerous. I’ve been at this mission thing for 23 years now. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I often reflect on things I did in the past and cringe. Hindsight is always 20/20, but perhaps others can learn from my mistakes. The mistake…
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One’s Mission Field, Another’s Opportunity
One man’s mission field is another’s land of opportunity. I realized this in a fresh way as I was interacting with some immigrants to South Africa from Malawi. They were telling me about their home nation, Malawi. The common descriptions were of a lush, green, and beautiful nation which was peaceful. They left their homeland…
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Practice What We Preach
The other week, I made a trip to the local police station to get an affidavit. In South Africa, this is the venue you head to make a document “official”. The officer who helped me chatted with me a bit. He inquired how long I’d been in the nation and where I stayed. Finally he…