About a year ago an operator of two Christian Radio Stations in western KS contacted us.  He found us on the site and we began communicating.  Every so often we would get an encouraging email or note letting us know he had been praying for us.

One of the people groups we work with are the Kekchi and they have a radio ministry that reaches many unreached villages all over Petén.  They needed some help repairing their equipment which we know nothing about.  They needed a part that we could not find the normal route through google.

We contacted Bill who spoke to his radio engineer who found the part within 24 hours.  A pastor in AR bought the part and it is in route to Guatemala to triple the coverage area of the Gospel in the indigenous tongue to people who don’t have any other chance to hear it.

Thank you so much for this site [Missionary-Blogs.com].  Just one small story of how God has used it to impact people we won’t meet until heaven.

Praise the Lord! Thanks to Shelley and Jim for sharing the story.

Here’s another post about connections made through blogging.

If you want more exposure for your blog, be sure to be a part of the current Missionary Blog Carnival!

Shopping for a cow in Kenya – get the story and video!  And speaking of big animals, take a look at a rodeo in Brazil.

Time for the cute-kid videos – check out “Papa“, fun with kids and technology, Noa and Martha perform, and for a little music try this birthday song for Mom.

The fun of language learning – I Can Barely Speak Spanish.

Try a little golf, and finally a way to travel in Haiti.

What actually tends to happen on a well-made blog is that people interested in what you’re doing, in what you’re talking about, those are the ones that eventually find you.

I often read blogs where people sound like they’re just talking to the six friends that they mentioned the blog to.  Those people are in for a surprise when strangers start arriving on the Google train, or the Yahoo! train, or from a church website, or, hey, even from here!

So how do you deal with this new found fame?

Barb (who is starting into her fourth year of blogging) had to think about this question again when someone showed up at a church service who actually knew her from her blog!  Her post, Celebrity Status!? is a must read.  Here’s an excerpt:

I suppose when complete strangers recognize your face from some public forum, that could constitute celebrity status.  It’s actually been pretty cool to have met several people, both online and in person, who know of me through my blog.  It’s a bit disarming, too… I always stop to think “what have I written and is it all stuff that I really want to share with complete strangers?”

Read the answer she comes up with here!

Well, obviously this is a great “do unto others” strategy.  But you might be surprised what an impact this can have on your blog too.

This is the way it happens. You read a post that interests you.  You leave a comment, maybe adding some helpful information, affirming a point, maybe even disagreeing.  Now someone else visits the same post, and is interested as you were (common interest).  They check out the comments, and, yes, they click on your name (which leads to your website, or your Blogger profile, right?).  They find that they have more in common with you, and they’re interested in what you’re doing.  Cool!

It’s becoming more obvious that commenting on other people’s blogs – good, relevant comments (not spam, or “here’s my site that might interest somebody” (which is usually spam)) is a powerful way to bring the right visitors to your site (see the video below as an example of the power of commenting).

Remember, we’re talking about helpful comments, not comments just added in the hopes that someone will click over to your blog.

This may not drive hundreds of people to your site, but it may mean those one or two key contacts that make a big difference.  And there are more benefits to taking the time for relevant commenting. Simply, you make friends with the other blogger.  You can discuss common issues, sharpen your thinking, maybe even partner in ministry.  It’s worth taking the time to build relationships.

If you have a friend who isn’t sure whether or not they should start blogging, direct them there.

Note: I just read another blog post about why to blog in general.  See Alex Shalman’s How To Use Your Blog To Make 2008 Your Best Year Ever!

And now, the presentation!  To see it, visit Why Blog?.  Not there is a link there to a high resolution version.

This blog is now famous.  And not just this one, a few others too!

Missionary Blog Watch was mentioned in the October 2007 edition of EMQ (Evangelical Missions Quarterly).  The article, by A. Scott Moreau (editor of EMQ) and Mike O’Rear (President of Global Mapping International) was entitled “An Introduction to Blogging on the Internet”.

Actually, it was kind of a passing mention, under the heading of Finding a Blog.

So if any of you are here after reading the article, welcome!  This website is now watching well over 400 missionary blogs.  Many of them are listed in one of the four blog lists, which you can access here.  Or, find a country or continent in the sidebar to the left to learn more about highlighted blogs.

The most exciting thing, though, was not the mention of this site, but the highlighting of a (very) few missionary blogs!  The authors listed their favourite missions-related blogs at the end, and only 3 personal missionary blogs.  Correction – one bonus one was hidden away in the text of the article.  Congrats to these four “famous” blogs:

• Missionary Geek
• The M Blog
• Missions Misunderstood
• Under the African Rain

First, the “we’re finally blogging” posts.

Next, there’s the welcoming posts:

Then, the “let’s jump right into it” posts:

Finally, on a more spiritual note: