Thanks for praying for our many missionary bloggers!

The two grand prize packages will be going to Ukraine and Mozambique (with the Kindle going to the Ukraine)!  All winners were chosen using random.org (but nothing is truly random, is it?).

Grand Prize Winners

The missionary who will win the Kindle, Journible and the new Operation World is Tammy Swailes in Ukraine!  Her blog is INSTE News From Europe.

The person she can thank will also be winning a prize!  The winner is Laura Anderson from Mozambique, and she wins a copy of the new Operation World and a Journible!  Laura also has her own missionary blog – Clearly Living!  She commented here to win her prize.

Second Prize Winners

The second missionary to win a prize is Amber Stephens of Reflections of Refinement in Japan.  Congrats, Amber!  Amber wins a Journible, and an Operation World!

She can thank Linda Adcock from El Salvador.  Linda commented here, and Linda will also win a Journible.  Linda is serving the Lord in El Salvador, and has a blog of her own – Today’s Grace.

Third Prize

This missionary family will have to decide who gets the Journible and the Space Pen (I have a space pen.  I love my space pen.)!  The winners are the Messicks!  Their blog is Updates from the Messick Crew.  They are currently in Costa Rica on their way to Guatemala.

Who can they thank?  Cindy Hunter of the USA!  Cindy commented here.  Cindy is preparing for the missionary life herself, along with her family, and you can read about their adventures in Our Mission Journey.  Cindy wins her very own Journible.

In Conclusion

Thanks for commenting – but don’t stop now!  Branch out, meet new missionaries through their blogs, and encourage them with a comment.  Keep it going – after all, this is the constant comment contest!

Oh, by the way, someone wins some Constant Comment Tea, don’t they?  Well, the winner of the bonus prize is Amber Stephens in Japan!

If you’re a winner, and you haven’t done so already, please send me your complete address and phone number, and your prize will be shipped right away.

That means that

1. Those people have a VERY good change of winning!
2. It will probably be a very long time before I do another of these contests!

So it’s in everyone’s interest to get commenting, AND to tell other people about this contest!  Missionaries especially, get the word out!  It’s not only resources for your ministry, it’s also prizes for your commenter, and a change for more people to learn about missions and network together for the Kingdom!

So post about the contest – twitter – put it in your Facebook page – let people know!  Let’s get more people interested in what God is doing around the world!

The point is to encourage our missionary bloggers.  So there each person that enters will win something for themselves, and something even better for a missionary!

First, let me tell you about the four items to be won (you can click on the images to find out more)…

The Prizes

1. The Kindle 3G+WiFi Global Wireless Reading Device: Yes, once again one missionary will be winning a Kindle!  Click here to find out why a missionary would want a Kindle.  The winner must be in a country that Amazon will ship its Global Kindle to.  Last time the Kindle went to Togo – where will it go this time?
2. Operation World (2010 edition):  Information on every country in the world, to help you pray more intelligently.
3. Journible:  Journibles are special journals that allow you to copy Scripture by hand.  They are inspired by God’s command to the Kings of Israel to copy out the law (Deuteronomy 17:18).  You also have space to write notes on the passage.  These are great devotional tools, and they’re quality books you can pass on.  The winners will receive the 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews edition.
4. Fisher Space Pen:  As a special bonus, one missionary will receive the Fisher Space Bullet Pen, which will write under almost any condition.

Who wins what

Here’s how it will go down:

First Prize
Missionary:  Kindle, Journible, Operation World
Entrant:  Operation World, Journible

Second Prize
Missionary:  Journible, Operation World
Entrant:  Journible

Third Prize
Missionary:  Journible, Space Pen
Entrant:  Journible

As a bonus, one of the above will also receive a package of Bigelow’s Constant Comment Tea!

How do I enter?

Yes, this is the Constant Comment Contest!  So… it’s all about commenting!

Here’s what you need to do:

• Leave a comment on a missionary blogger’s blog.  The blog must be one of the blogs we have featured here.  The comment must be relevant… not just Hi I love your blog (I will check them!).  Comment on what the post is about.  Also, you must comment on a blog that is not in the country you’re in.
• Then, fill out the form [sorry, this contest is now closed].
• Then, enter again if you like.  You may enter up to 5 times, but you must comment on a different blog each time.
• Winners will be picked at random using random.org.  You will win the Entrant prize, and the missionary on whose blog you commented will win the Missionary prize.
• Obviously I can’t win, so you can comment on my personal blog to be nice, but I can’t win a prize.
• The Constant Comment Contest closes on the 23rd of Mary 2011 at 11:59 UTC.  Winners will be announced later that week.

Why?

Do you want to encourage a missionary?  Read what they write, and comment on it!  Interact with it.  Tell them you’re praying.  Offer to help.  Ask a question.  Blogs are a great way to interact, network, encourage, and learn.

The prizes are just an added bonus.

You can see some of the most recent posts from hundreds of missionaries right here on the home page.

But, you can also subscribe to the RSS feed to have all the latest missionary blog posts sent right to your news reader!

The url to put into your rss reader is:  http://feeds.feedburner.com/Missionary-Blogs.  Go there now and you’ll see a whole bunch of posts from today ready for you to read.

To subscribe, you can use Google Reader, a browser such as Firefox, some email programs – there are lots of ways to enjoy even more missionary blogs!

Well, Jesse has received his Kindle there in Togo.  He wrote about it here, and also sent me some proof that he really got it.

So here’s Jesse, with his prize…

Did you enjoy the contest?  Maybe we’ll do another one in the new year.  It’s a fun way to help out our missionaries – and that’s one big reason why this site is here!

I already commented on how many countries were represented – that’s great!  Those who entered represented 8 countries, and the missionaries they talked about also represented 8 countries.

But let’s talk a little about some of the posts – this is especially for missionaries, who wonder what people like to hear about!

Out of the valid entries, the most popular blog was The Jungle Hut.  People especially liked the posts about living in the jungle in Venezuela, though the Vernoys are now in Paraguay.

The most popular post was actually The Kitchen.  Interesting choice, since it wasn’t a post about ministry specifically.  But people liked how it showed courage in the face of change – starting over and turning a negative into a positive.  More than one person enjoyed hearing about the resourcefulness and ingenuity that went into the work!

Let’s face it – it was also a recent post at the time of the contest!

For older posts, people also mentioned Thw Witch Doctor’s Chant [sic], an old post from the oldest daughter of the family, Jackie (who hopefully is still writing!).

Another popular blog was Copeland Ramblings, and their post From above!  Also a current one, but still excellent (I might have to copy that one!).

Probably the second most popular blog was paradoxuganda.  Always well written, one person commented,"I could (but won’t) go on for hours about the ways that God has used their blog in my life, to enlighten, challenge, and encourage me and my family."

Their most popular post was Adventure -vs- Quest, a post most missionaries can relate to.

Also, many people were impacted by various posts about Dr. Jonah Kule, who died during an Ebola epidemic.  From the day of his burial is Bundibugyo, Where the tears never run dry, and a year later Remembering Dr. Jonah Kule 1966-2007

More popular posts included Things Are Not As They Seem… from Comings Communiqué in Brazil, and Five Years Ago Today from The Jungle Hut (another post from the kids!).

Yes, blogs can be used in ways you never expect.  They can disciple, they can give people a glimpse into another culture, they can help you connect with people – and every once in a while they might even win you something.

Check out the comments in the original post for more interesting posts and blogs!