Ready to get entangled in online mission support? Alix Baumgartner discovers three missionaries' blogs that are sure to become some of your favourite websites.
CMS missionaries can now make themselves comfortable in your living room or study - but there's no need to check your locks, because these missionary intruders are safely pixelated behind your computer screen. This brand of breaking-and-entering is purely virtual.
With the World Wide Web spanning the whole wide world (or a lot of it, anyway), missionaries in far-flung locations are 'closer' than ever to their supporters back home. Some CMS missionaries serving in remote locations have only irregular access to the internet, but most of our missionaries can log on to Facebook or Twitter without too much hassle to let their friends and supporters know what they had for breakfast, or how they've been sharing the gospel over breakfast.
Not only that, but some CMS missionaries are carving out their own little corners of the internet, setting up shop through regularly updated blogs or supporter sites. These sites provide a dynamic portal into the mission field - an exciting bird's eye view of mission work on the run, in real time.
Missionaries' blogs offer a special insight into the ups, downs, and in-betweens of life and ministry in cross-cultural contexts. There's something for everyone: some blogs focus on family life on the field, others muse on theological issues and debates, and still others record the day-to-day details of mission work.
Regularly playing host to some of our missionaries through your internet connection is a great way to do life with them. Some missionaries' blogs allow readers to comment on entries, so you can post an encouragement, a Bible verse, or a good old fashioned Aussie 'g'day!'.
Also, missionaries' blogs are often a fantastic supplement to prayer letters, helping you to be informed and watchful in your prayers by elaborating on recent news or describing people and places in more detail. Some missionaries' blogs and websites provide extra resources to help you to support world mission, such as high-res photographs for you to use during mission spots at church, youth group, or Sunday school.
You can check your link missionaries' prayer letters to see if they keep a personal blog or website. But in the meantime, here are three great missionaries' blogs to whet your appetite.
Namibia bursts onto your computer screen in waves of colour, texture and warmth at Omukanda. This stunning visual diary is crafted by CMS missionary Alisan Greef, serving with her husband David in northern Namibia. Alisan's blog is an ode to Namibia: a window into the joys of an afternoon African wedding; an up-close-and-personal encounter with men and women whose lives have been utterly transformed by prison ministry; a quiet acknowledgement of the tragedy of widespread poverty and the scourge of HIV/AIDs. It's also a catalogue of the blessings that flow from training up local church leaders through NETS distance education courses, working among deaf children at a local school, and growing as a family through home schooling and holidays on the coast.
Weaving together vibrant photographs of people and places with thoughtful descriptions of life and ministry, Omukanda reads like a love letter to a nation, a people, a landscape. As you explore this little corner of the cyberworld, you'd be forgiven for thinking you can feel the sun's heat on your arms and hear the voices of Namibian youth groups at choir practice - and for falling in love with Namibia along with the Greef family.
'Signs of the times', December 18 2009: I generally got called 'Shilumbu' (white person) by the people. Once I said to someone, "Should I call you Mulaule (black person)?" She said, "No. I have a real name." "So do I," I told her. She seemed quite surprised but then was glad to know it.
The Sholl Family in Mexico
http://www.petesholl.blogspot.com/
Peter and Sarah Sholl, Mexico
The Sholl Family in Mexico has it all. Peter and Sarah Sholl's blog is a treasure trove of cultural insights, theological discussions, personal stories, and daily tidbits. One day, there's Pete explaining some of the difficulties in finding appropriate resources for teaching Moore College courses in Latin America, or sharing a weekly photo that spotlights the often unusual sights of Mexico. Another day, there's Sarah writing honestly about trusting God through the hard slog of language learning and cultural adjustment as a new missionary, or describing an experience that missionaries' training probably didn't quite prepare her for - dressing up in a huge foam and fur cat costume in 35+ degree heat for a play at one of their daughters' schools.
What's really exciting about this blog is the way in which Pete and Sarah are able to throw some tough questions back at Australian culture from the vantage point of Latin America. The Sholls map out some startling reference points for the Australian church by painting it into relief with the Latin American church. For instance, as Pete looks around the poorly-resourced local church in Mexico and then hears about big church building projects taking place back in Sydney, he asks incisively: when we're setting aside money for state-of-the-art sound systems in our local churches, are we really being serious about mission support?
'Two worlds in Mexico', March 7, 2010: "While I waited for my flight I noticed one of the airport cleaning staff emptying the bins. Pretty standard stuff - except for the fact that she wasn't just emptying the bin, she was sorting through it and keeping any useful scraps. But what really caught my eye as I watched this process was that the backdrop was a brightly-lit display window of a top end clothes outlet, full of customers trying on items I doubt they actually needed. It was as if the cleaning lady was a performer who had somehow wandered onto the wrong stage."
Blog for Sally
http://blogforsally.blogspot.com/
Sally Swan
Blog for Sally is the story of an Australian mum living in Santiago, Chile. With endearing good humour, Sally Swan tells the tale of her everyday life looking after her four little 'cygnets' while her husband, Tim, lectures at the Centre for Pastoral Studies (CEP).
Sally's blog is a refreshing reminder that missionaries aren't some lofty and remote race of super-spiritual super-Christians. The Swans are an ordinary family driven by an extraordinary purpose. For Sally, being a missionary is being a Christian wife and mother amidst her Chilean neighbours, opening up her home so local mums can discuss parenting issues at a Grupos de Madres (Mother's Group) and CEP women can enjoy meals together. Blog for Sally is shaped by a holistic sense of mission, well-rounded by the joys (and frustrations) of raising a Christian family. From eldest child Lachlan's fondness for dozing ants with a water can, to second-in-line Annabelle's penchant for drawing, drawing, and more drawing, you'll travel with Sally on the everyday rollercoasters of family life.
Charming, personal, intimate: Blog for Sally is a fantastic way to get to know the Swan family from afar, and especially to see the Swan children grow, learn, read voraciously, write cute little poems - and, of course, torment defenceless ants. If nothing else, you'll be hooked by the cheeky grins of the Swans' adorable cygnets!
'Goodbye Vinks!', January 30 2010: "Wonderfully, our dear friends Jono and Amy Vink (and Lili, Isaac, Brie & Abe) are going back to Tanzania for their next missionary term. Annabelle adores Isaac Vink and found it very hard to say goodbye. She gave him a card in which she wrote about their future marriage..."
So, why not welcome some CMS missionaries into your home? Have a read, save the URLs to your favourites or add them to your RSS feed, and make sure to check in with some CMS missionaries when you're surfing the net.
