• Gastro-Geographical Linguistic Tour of Latin America:  Think you know Spanish?  Enough to order at a restaurant maybe?  Think again…
• Chinese Prayer Partner!  Eastern missionary network meets Western missionary network…
• Will you care in 2012?  In this post, a glimpse of the Muslim world in North Africa.
• Wedding fruits  Yes, this is it – your chance to see a Tanzanian wedding!

• Glimpse of Romania:  We traveled again to Gherla, Romania, this last weekend. The trip takes between four and six hours, depending on traffic and stops, so we had lots of time to take pictures. We see…
• She did what?! (Kenya):  Recently I was talking with Ann (house mom for C4KK Children’s Shelter-coming soon!) about how exciting it is to see the building coming along and moving date getting closer and closer…God willing! We talked about her having her own room. You could hear the excitement in her voice…
• Neighborhood Day Camp (Russia):  Our church put on a day camp for the youth in our neighborhood (right between where we’re living now and where we’ll be moving to) this past Thursday-Saturday. 100 kids came on the first…
• Multitude Monday – 1000 Gifts – Starting anew, a bit apprehensive… and not sure where God will lead us… (Niger):  One week ago, Sunday night at the English worship and fellowship service we attend, we heard Dave Totman (the youth pastor at Sahel Academy and someone we are thankful to call friend) preach on the parable of the wineskins. We aren’t sure we’ve ever heard someone actually…
• Esperanza en ti (Hope in You) (Mexico):  At last the big day we’d been looking forward to, arrived, August 27th! 19 of us crowded into Julio’s van, (we would never have passed inspection in the States!) plus 5 in another two cars, and we were off to Queretaro to "Esperanza en ti" orphanage!
• Indonesian Independence Day in Pa’Upan (Part 1):  Indonesia’s Independence Day is August 17th. It’s celebrated throughout the country, even in the interior villages. A few weeks ago, I had the chance, along with MAF’s program manager, Steve, and fellow MAF pilot, Paul, to attend the opening festivities… (see part 2 here)
• The deer god (Venezuela):  One of our concerns in the jungle was making sure we had enough protein in our children’s diet. In the early years, before the solar panels, generators and battery powered refrigerator, we were constantly searching and trading with the Indians for fresh meat and fish…

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!

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?

But it looks like South Africa is dominating our new blogs this time…

• The Chapple Family (Mexico)
• Welcome to Africa Ya’ll (South Africa)
• JUNGLE NEWS (Venezuela)
• Zach Attack (South Africa)
• Siedling Stories (South Africa)
• Scott & Ruth Yingling (Mexico)
• McClean Family News (Thailand)
• Rachel’s Romania (Romania)

Kyiv, Ukraine in the wintertime
Courtesy of Stuck in Customs

For example, let’s take a look at some Christmas traditions in Italy in Getting Our Winter Holidays Straight or Saint Nicholas, Babbo Natale, and Befana the Christmas Witch.

In a more general tour of cultural suprises, check out THINGS I DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT LIVING IN PERU…

Just a little video to show you what the weather is like in Kyiv, Ukraine.  And how about Christmas Is Coming To Kyiv

All right, it’s not cold everywhere of course.  Check out The Paraná River, a Gift from God from Paraguay.

And since this site is all about connecting via the internet, I can’t resist this post from Venezuela – Virtual Friends.

Finally, just a simple reminder to make those connections with people around the world and people passing you on the street – you know, the Crowds (Moldova).

• Delivery time – in hopes of A Warmer Night for the Neighbors (Paraguay)
• It all started when this woman shared with our women’s group that she had a vision to share Jesus… find out what happened in MISSION: Kingdom Building (Paraguay)
• The title says it all – Free wheelchairs (Nepal)
• When can we be a church? (ummm … you don’t need our permission!) (Ecuador)
• Sometimes a few photos really give you a feel for a place – check out this A Mother-Daughter Photo Adventure (Thailand)
• A Tribute to the Living Sermons preached by My Husband – pictures of a guy out there doing stuff (Venezuela)
• Porcupines and Pot Lucks in Sudan – ever wonder why they call it porcupine? (Sudan)
• One challenge of working in teams – The Breaking of the Fellowship (Middle Earth)