Posted by C. Holland on Jul 31, 2009
If you look to the right of the Missionary Confidential site and scroll about halfway down, you’ll see that I’ve added a new link feature, “Missionary Blogs Like Us”. When I started this blog, all I could find were missionary blogs that specifically reported on their ministry field to their supporters (which is great; hey, we even have one of those). However, blogs speaking specifically on missionary issues one to another have gradually either found this site or I found them. Take a glance and check them out. You’ll recognise a few from the old blogroll, but the following have been recently added (here in alphabetical order):
Posted by C. Holland on Jul 29, 2009
Upon her arrival, the new missionary spoke enthusiastically to me about communicating back home: “Oh, I’m on MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, AIM, MSN Messenger, Skype, and I even have a blog. I hear from all my friends and family back home so much, it’s like I’m still there.” Silently I thought, “Yet, the reality is, you’re not.”
I could relate. In a prior post, “The Double Life of the Missionary”, I spoke of navigating the nuances of two similar but definitely non-identical cultures and the difficulty of keeping up with both. Having heard so many stories of missionaries dispatched to far-flung fields, rarely to be heard from over very long periods, even we had made sure to be so very reachable in different ways. We’ve made such an effort to keep up with our friends and family, not only letting them know about us but also finding out what’s new in their lives.
We had decided before we left for our field that very frequent visits back to the States could play havoc with not only our bank account but our sanity. A psychologist friend backed this decision up, citing a study that showed vacillating between two cultures for too long would produce a disconnect because of a lack of commitment to either situation. Friends both here and back in the States are sometimes incredulous. We’ve chosen not to return to the States for key events, both good and bad. “You missed your 20-year high school reunion?” they’ve said, or “You didn’t go back for her wedding?” Read More…
Posted by C. Holland on Jul 20, 2009
Because we haven’t left our mission field to visit the States since we arrived several years ago, I’ve always wondered how Reverse Culture Shock must feel (Wikipedia definition here). Mentanna over at “Musings From a French Fried Texan” eloquently addresses this issue, specifically focusing on how her young children are experiencing the change from life in France to a year’s stay in Texas. Check it out here:
Kid Culture Shock
Posted by C. Holland on Jul 16, 2009
“The proposal is between you and God—do not ‘confer with flesh and blood’ about it (Galatians 1:16). With every new proposal, the people around us seem to become more and more isolated, and that is where the tension develops. God allows the opinion of His other saints to matter to you, and yet you become less and less certain that others really understand the step you are taking. You have no business trying to find out where God is leading—the only thing God will explain to you is Himself.”
—Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost For His Highest”, 8 July
Posted by C. Holland on Jul 14, 2009
If you write a blog, run a website or are some form of IT professional, then you already know that you have access to a staggering amount of statistics about your website. While these can vary, nowadays you usually can view how many people viewed your blog or site from certain countries or see which search engines (such as Google) they used to find you. Additionally, you can also see what search term or phrase they used right before they clicked on your site address.
You can probably figure out what most of the search terms/phrases would be for Missionary Confidential, but as I reviewed the list from the entire life of this blog thus far, I started noticing trends. Some are good points, some are confusing, some cause concern, and a few even made me laugh, though I doubt they were meant that way.
I’ve grouped the most interesting ones for your review: Read More…
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I jest. Good one!