I decided to take a stroll to the market to try out some new foods and check out the atmosphere.  Here’s what I found…

• Something fishy makes a missionary scream… in Congo
• Lending a helping hand with Romaine in Tanzania
• Answered prayer at the night market in Taiwan
• Watch them cook in the Dominican Republic
• So what kind of food is popular in Brazil?
• Let’s make Foufou in Kenya!

Incidentally, don’t miss the video in the last post.  There are some very interesting things about how this is done – see what you notice.

• What happens when a 4 year old finds a tarantula on the wall… (Ecuador)
• A birthday party in South Africa
• An upcoming women’s conference, Being a Mother, a challenging reward (Mexico)
• Working with pastors and their kids – no fighting over the toys, please… (Guatemala)
• It’s not easy going to school that isn’t in your mother tongue – read about Eliza’s first day (Thailand)
• Travelling in your "home country" as a kid can be hard – just ask Micah. (Kenya)
• You never know what some missionaries are in need of until you ask.  How about cloth diapers (Russia)?
• Pray for what’s-his-name and his Mom… (Rwanda)
• And what better note to end on — Daughters are a Gift of Love (Chile)

Boy in Rwanda

I hope I didn’t say something bad in some language or another, but these two terms are from the posts below.  Enjoy these recent posts from around the world!  And find out what sa fou and shoo foo are all about…

• Extremely useful information – what to do if you call yourself a mushroom. (Russia)
• i don’t believe in love (especially not love and marriage…). (Taiwan)
• Learning to Type in Thai – another of those missionary skills you might not think about. (Thailand)
• A boy called Lucky – hope in the midst of heartbreak. (Mozambique)
• Well Well – a major step forward in helping the community. (Kenya)
• Han Solo gets a little help from local missionaries.  You just never know who you’re going to meet. (regarding Haiti)
• Dominoes & Evangelism???  You bet. (Mali)
• Sa fou (This is crazy!)  Exciting new partnerships. (Haiti)

• How to train fleas (Ecuador) – I know you’ve always wondered.
• Retreat and Prayer Requests (Japan) – just a basic update – always nice to see someone’s face!

And for some other interesting posts, many including some great photos:

• Into Indochina – lots of photos
• Another Busy Day (Haiti) – some great photos of the relief effort
• A Name for God? (Papua New Guinea) – a great illustration of the challenges of Bible translation
• Hot Lava and a Burned up Computer (Guatemala) – Take a hike with the Glicks
• Travel The Road (Guatemala) – what kind of a road would your life be like?

And here’s one more video for you – this one from
the delorenzo flyer (Kenya)  The video is about Sudan, Chad, Congo, and Central African Republic…

Drinking coffee in Sudan
Photo courtesy of joodmc

Food, drink, Christmas outreaches, flashlights… quite a variety today from our bloggers.  I don’t know what it is, but the posts seem to be getting more and more interesting – check out this eclectic set from recent days…

• Zillions of Cookies in Russia: Don’t you love this kind of outreach?
• The difference between the statistics of Christians worldwide and the reality – talking about syncretism in Swaziland.
• Hate to say it, but these kids are Not Future Missionaries in the Philippines
• Let’s head over to Rwanda to see A Batwa Christmas, and why it was extra special this year.
• While we’re in Africa, let’s stop for a Coffebreak – Sudanese Style (in Sudan of course) before continuing.
• On with our travelling, to see Jacmel… beautiful place with beautiful people in Haiti.
• Around the House and Around the Neighborhood in Mexico.  Ice skating and riot police?
• So you’re a techy interested in missions?  Check out this amazing Reliable Solar Powered Light from these folks heading to Kenya.
• Just for fun, check out these International Nativity Scenes from Thom in Senegal.
• One of the world’s most amazing delicacies right here – Balut–something to try at least once (the Philippines)

Our newest blog is from a family preparing to go to Guatemala.  If you’re interested in community health, be sure to check out Updates from the Messick Crew.

Over to Europe, check out Carrie’s blog – Perfectly Imperfect.

We’re going all over the world – let’s head to the Philippines with OUR JOURNEY, the blog of Matt and Rina.  This one has been going since May.  And one more in the same country – Direct from the Philippines.

Let’s see – we haven’t been to Africa yet.  Go visit Cameroon Chronicles, the blog of the Hamm family, transitioning back to life in Cameroon.  And heading to Africa is For the Multitude, from the Baylors going to Kenya.

Now we haven’t been to North America, so let’s visit the USA with The Bobby Harjo Family, serving on a Navajo reservation.

Out of El Salvador we have the Wimberly Journal, and preparing to go to Uganda Among the Nations.  And let me give you just one more, out of Europe… Romania Missions.  It was actually started in March, but I haven’t mentioned it yet, so we’ll squeak it into the "new" category! 

Though they’re not included in the main blog lists and aggregator, I like to write once in a while about short termers, missionaries that travel frequently in and out of other cultures, and blogs that simply don’t fit in any other category.  That’s our theme today!

• Romania – Wednesday – The final night of the crusade was exciting. Again new children and families came to participate in the children’s program. It was such an honor to introduce children to their creator…
• In Bangalore, India, some thoughts from students and about students in Doctoral Student’s Study “How Cultures Work.” and Using Critical Tension for Outreach
• Coming back from a trip – Don’t forget us when you get back.  How could I?  Read Saying Goodbye in Nigeria.
• From the other side, here’s someone getting ready to go.  Check out Kevin and Melissa’s Life in a Nutshell as they make their final preparations to go to Kenya.
• Just one more – let’s visit Zambia and other countries in Africa in – The Whirlwind and other posts at Laura Staszewski’s blog

• Isaac and Evan’s new friend- fun with kids on a multinational missions team (Sudan)
• Miracle Crash- sometimes you wonder how many angels it takes per van (Mexico)
• Money Belts- struggling with the idea of “raising funds” (Kenya)
• Through the river and through the woods… temptation and a scary ride (Uganda)
• Valuing our Elderly- a timely message (and a reminder, by the way, that we need more seniors who are willing to be Christian workers and missionaries) (Thailand)
• Sports Day- I’m willing to bet many missionaries around the world can relate to the experiences of this family and their daughter (Thailand)
• Pila Etiquette- how come they don’t teach you these things at missionary school? (Honduras)
• Update on Pastor’s Conference- get the inside scoop on the thoughts being shared at this conference (Peru)
• The hazards of AIM AIR- You just have to see this photo (Kenya)
• To Shave Or Not To Shave: A Poll Of Our Audience- cast your vote and change a baby’s life! (Russia)

• Madagascar From Tulear:  It’s been a long time since I had to do so many things by candlelight.  I can remember struggling to do my homework during power cuts due to strikes back in the 1970s, trying to read by the light of a paraffin lamp when we lived in Ivory Coast in the 1980’s and 1990s.  Right now I’m in southern Madagascar…
• Puerto Rico Two different Suicide Attempts Makes for a Stressful Week:  ”I am going to kill myself” sobbed Carlos, as he pulled out a pocket knife, opened it and put it on the table between us,”And I am going to use that knife.”  He grabbed his head and moaned…
• Cambodia community life:  There’s been a lot of things about the culture in Cambodia that I’ve had to get used to since I moved here.  Whilst it has often been a challenge to my western cultural thinking, it has been great to get to know a little of how Khmer people live and their view of the world…
• Thailand Superstitions:  Recently I talked with two of my English classes about superstitions.  Our book gave some examples of American superstitions (walking under ladders – bad; finding horseshoes – good, etc.) Then I asked…
• Ecuador The 7 sweet things that awaited us in Ecuador:  While these little bunnies were a cute surprise, the greatest surprise that awaited us was two new girls showing up at church this week.  They are from the family that another church member had noticed as a new family in Sacha Runa…
• Ukraine Steps to Get Money for a Car:  1. Open a bank account in your name, in the nearest city.  2. Have money transferred from the US to this account.  Easy so far, right?…
• Kenya Unforgettable:  Tonight, I went to the children’s home to share with the children about my leaving.  I had shared in church yesterday, but with the service having been more than 3 hours long, I wasn’t sure if they had really heard when my time came to share…

The topic this month is poverty.  I’m going to do a couple of things here.  First, let’s look at some posts on the topic, including our two entries:

• No Getting Used to It – Macedonia
• Poverty and Community – Mexico
• Keeping Our Eyes Wide Shut – United Kingdom
• Value? – Kenya

All right, now.  I decided to add something else to this post that you might find interesting.  We’re going to do a quick blog tour of some of the world’s poorest countries. Below are a few of the bloggers who are in some of these countries.  Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re working with the world’s poorest people, but I think if you visit these blogs you’ll learn a bit about these areas.  Now remember, at least half of the people in these countries live on US$1 or less per day:

• under the acacias – Burkina Faso
• Livesay (Haiti) Web Log
• HAITI – CORAM DEO
• Our Journey…… – Liberia
• Malagasy Musings – Madagascar
• Flaming Waters – Malawi
• Chats with Cindy – Niger
• Life in Niger
• wings118 – Sudan
• Faders in Africa – Sudan
• Strong Confidence – Uganda
• paradoxuganda – Uganda
• Jonathan’s McBlog – Tanzania

This post was written to coincide with Blog Action Day 2008.

I’m not quite ready to give up on the blog carnival idea – stay tuned for more!