• tanzanian kids say the darndest things – what are the most common greetings this person gets from kids in Tanzania?  I never would have guessed…
• And by the way, from the same blog, these pictures give a great view of life in one corner of Tanzania:  mwanza to mwakiwasha
• And now that you’ve travelled through Tanzania, why not visit Japan?  Here’s First thoughts on Japan
• Here’s a ministry to seniors in Ukraine – check it out Monthly evening for senior citizens
• Joys and challenges when it comes to this outreach in Moldova:  We are up and running!!
• So you’re thinking about going to Brazil, or praying for Brazil, and you want to know What’s it like…??  This blogger recommends some books.
• A great post about school and ministry in South Africa:  Back to School
• Finally, a story of life in Togo.  Got the time?  Read Long version: Ambulance, taxi, moving truck.  In a hurry?  Check out Short version: Ambulance, taxi, moving truck

So it was refreshing to read this two part interview and hear some answers to real questions about missionary life.

This particular missionary family lives in Tanzania.  The interview starts with the question,"What expectations did you have concerning missionary life that have proved unrealistic?"

Great question!  Here’s how the answer begins.  Click the links below for more…

The three years I served in China before coming to Tanzania helped to remove many of the unrealistic expectations I might have otherwise had. However, I was still not prepared for everyday life to take so long. I tried to prepare myself for it; I knew it would be the case. But I failed. I had been in Africa a couple of times, and for several months, prior to moving to Geita. A lot of that time was spent in nearby Mwanza — which I knew was a larger city, but thought would be similar. In some ways it is. But not many. Everyday tasks just require a great deal more time than ever before. Some of this is cultural, but much of it is simply due to goods not being available in stores (or being very expensive) and city services being poor at best. Some examples…

To continue:

• interview with a missionary – part moja
• interview with a missionary — part mbili

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.

• Mpe jina – Wow, that’s just cool.
• hospitality and rest: answers to a missionary predicament – how do you find rest in another culture?  Here’s one family’s answer.
• Illuminate – just a picture and a caption.  Love it.
• Fishbowl – an outing and reflection as a family ends its time in Tanzania.  Pictures here.
• May – what he’s up to now that he’s back.  In pictures.

In the past I’ve posted about posts based on cool pictures – ones that caught my attention.

This time I ignored content altogether – at least to start with – and just looked for titles that caught my attention.

You know, other than "Our May Newsletter".  Or "Even more photos of our trip".  Or my favourite, "(no title)" (that’s what shows up in my rss feed reader when you don’t bother to put a title).

No, these titles caught my attention – and it turns out that people who write good titles tend to write good posts too!

For example, who could resist a missionary blog post about Tap Dancing (Kenya)?  Or how about the tantalizing Catching Creatures on Camera! (Columbia).

New Bible Study and Peter Pan! (Indonesia) brings us even more creatures among other things.  Mixing together topics that don’t usually go together makes an interesting title – though it’s not great blogging practice!

Everyone loves to share an opinion, right?  So that’s why I clicked on Input Requested (Indonesia).

And of course there’s always the finish-the-sentence posts, like A Garbage Can Full (of what?!) (Rwanda), and Take this hot chocolate and (and what?!) from France.

How about a shocker like Before Wii (Venezuela).  There was something before Wii??

All right, I’d better get this post done – here are a few more that caught my eye…

• Become Nothing (Niger)
• I miss being sick… (Japan)
• Battling bats, and Romantic Roaches (Uganda)
• "Gossip" …or perhaps ~ (Niger)
• The "God-Father" (Peru)
• 3 lines, 5 guys, 17 syllables, and a billion diapers (Tanzania)
• In Which I Prove We Will Acheive [sic] FTL Speeds by 2050 (Thailand)
• The Biggest Holiday of the Year (Peru)
• Note to self: remember to appreciate these things (for more than a day!) when I get back to the UK… (Thailand)

Which is your favourite title?

• From Niger, Gifts for Those Who Have Everything
• In Russia, find out what getting ready for Christmas is like when you’re away from home in Christmas Decorating
• And in Brazil, find out why practising for a Christmas performance took Guts!
• Ideas about Sharing Christ With Others Through Tradition from Russia
• Ah, the memories.  Visiting the USA from Guatemala, read O Christmas Tree
• From the Czech Republic, learning new traditions and keeping some of the old in These are a few of my favorite things…
• A little wishful thinking from Tanzania in Christmas Wish

A winter street in Russia

But today we’re going to use that tag cloud to focus on the countries that aren’t there – the countries that are mentioned less here at Missionary Blog Watch.  Here’s the first sample…

Power plant in Sofia, Bulgaria

• Togo:  "First of all, imagine that you take every single thing you own and you put it in a container.  Then that container goes on a ship that might sink…" read May Update
• Tanzania:  "We’re out of water. We’ve been out of water for days…"  read Perfect Laid Plans
• South Africa:  "Highland communions typically lasted over a period of five or more days. Informal fellowships and prayer meetings run by the elders might stretch this out to a week…."  How does this Scottish tradition relate to South Africa?  Read Easter Communion
• Cambodia:  "I thought you would like to read my email conversation with my dad where he asks some good questions about the new place we are living…"
• Costa Rica:  "I had really hoped that I would not feel right at one of the places, but that didn’t happen. Now I’m torn…"  read My Heart is Torn
• Bulgaria:  "Since returning in March, I have been asked about training for teenager/youth over here.  Besides the Love Bulgaria event there seems to be a big hunger for information on the training and equipping of students for service to Christ…"  read Teenage Work – Once a Youth Pastor …
• Columbia:  "It’s been a bad time for the students. A week ago it was announced they would loose their free mid-morning coffee…"  read No more Colombian coffee

• Dancing and preparing for weddings in Tanzania – On Their Mama’s Backs
• Learning about culture in Kenya
• Day of the Dead in Croatia

Photo courtesy of Dennis Poulette

• Photos in Taiwan – a graveyard, a lake, food and much more
• This one from Thailand – Wat Mahabut is a temple, and there was a funeral taking place
• A great video from a veteran blogger in Mexico of Día de los Muertos 2007

• Surrender don’t come natural to me – I’m with you, brother.  This one is from Bolivia.
• Mission Taiwan – another new blog… what country was that from again?  I guess you’ll have to read the blog to find out.
• Cathy’s Blog – just click the link to get to the blog.  Cathy has been in Tanzania, and recently was in the USA for a bit.
• The Ross Family in Peru – and you just have to see these photos.
• Martin and Hazel’s Blog – coming to us from Argentina.
• Mexicanucks’ Updates – a quiz for you: Can you tell from the title where they are and where they’re from?
• Life by the Word – starting a change in life as well as a new blog, these folks are heading to Mexico.
• conFESSions – of who?  ”Of an unmedicated Xer”, of course.  In Kenya.

So, I thought that it would be a great day to introduce you to a few of the silent blogs so that you can have a chance to visit them.  Here they are:

• The Crossers’ Life In Italy
• Habari za Mark (Tanzania)
• Adventures in Italy
• America to Zagrib (Croatia)
• Jim & Shelley Dinsmore (follow the link to their blog) (Guatemala)
• Farho Family Blog (Ivory Coast)
• Living on mission…… (Mexico)