We are strongly encouraged by our mission leadership to keep the "big picture" in mind. That is, we shouldn’t only focus on what God is doing in our own neighbourhood or country, but all around the world. I believe that we are individually responsible to think about all the nations of the world, and of course we as a worldwide Church are also responsible.
One thing I’ve done to keep the big picture in view is develop Missionary-Blogs.com. This is a website that keeps an eye on missionary bloggers all over the world. Currently, the site watches over 350 active blogs - these are missionaries from all over the world to the nations. (One disclaimer - here I use the term "missionary" to refer to believers who are involved in sharing God’s Word work in another culture. This isn’t a theological definition (which is a whole other topic), just a use of the word for the purpose of the website.)
I started the site in March 2005 kind of as a way to "give back" after the success of another site I put together. Today, the site is easily in the top 1% of most visited sites on the internet. In the month of May, thousands of people visited from countries such as Mexico, Netherlands, Canada, Japan, Australia, Germany, the Czech Republic, USA, New Zealand, Sweden, South Africa, Singapore, Italy, Poland, and many more.
I wanted a place where people could find missionaries and really get to know them - maybe pray for them, support them - or go themselves. And it is slowly accomplishing that - people are connecting with missionaries and expressing interest in serving in another culture.
But there has been an unexpected bonus. I’ve found that the missionaries themselves appreciate the site because it helps them network with others, both in their country and beyond. Sometimes this may mean new friends, or practical give an take, or maybe it’s just good to know that someone else is going through what you are!
Go and check it out. Some highlights - on the main page you can see random recent posts from all the blogs. There are lists of a few of the blogs, based on when they were started (I’m a veteran, can you believe that?). There are an increasing number of pages featuring specific countries, such as Thailand, Japan, and Cambodia. The site covers themes, such as missionaries working with children, and some favourite Scripture passages of missionaries. You can even read the post humus blog of a famous Christian missionary. Finally, read the latest from the world of missionary blogs at Missionary Blog Watch.
Missionary-Blogs.com is gradually being noticed. Recently it was mentioned in an article of Lausanne World Pulse. The June 2007 issue was all about communication. Steve Knight, international communication coordinator for SIM wrote an article entitled A Call to Kingdom Journalism: Rediscovering the Integral Role of Communication in Mission. It’s worth reading his article if you’re a missionary - and you’ll see the site mentioned toward the end.
Popularity: 27% [?]
