Weekend Reading

Here are some of the interesting things we found on the web this week. Hope you enjoy!

A Cautionary Tale: Expats and Expets (What not to do): – Traveling is stressful. Traveling by plane is more stressful. Traveling by plane with little kids is even more stressful. Traveling internationally by plane with little kids and a dog – that’s insane. Becca and I have toyed with the idea of bringing Riley with us to Haiti, and I wish I could say this post made me throw the idea out. But – it’s crazy what dog lovers will do for our little friends!

100 Books to Read in a Lifetime: How fun to see a Haitian author, Edwidge Danicat make the list! Have you read any of these?

What is Poverty?: How do you define poverty? Most of us define it in financial terms – and for good reason – it is the lack of material resources that helps us recognize many types of poverty. But when you ask the poor themselves, they define it differently. This short video introduces you to a better way to view poverty – as being rooted in broken relationships. These concepts are foundational for us as we prepare to serve in Haiti. If this is at all interesting to you, check out last weeks “Weekend Reading” for a link to a free audio version of Fikkert’s book. We’d highly recommend it.

Don’t Waste Your Commute: Do you commute to and from work everyday? Do you dread it? Many of us have some sort of commute and this post provides some ways to be more strategic with it. I have about a 30 minute commute each way and over the past year I’ve tried to be intentional about using it for #3 and #4 in this list. Now I find I look forward to my morning and evening drive.

12 Reasons Pastor’s Wives are Lonely: – Pastoral ministry is tough. What many often overlook its just how tough it is on the pastor’s wife. Want to be an encouragement to your pastor’s wife? This post can help get you started.

Have you read any of the books on Amazon’s list? Which ones? Let us know in the comments below. We’d love to see your reccomendations.

Here are some of the interesting things we found on the web this week. Hope you enjoy!

Haiti

Haiti’s Martelly Meets with US’s Obama – It was a big week for Haiti this week as Haitian President Michel Martelly traveled to Washington, DC for several high level meetings with US Government officials, including a meeting with President Obama himself in the Oval Office.

Missions

What Does It Look Like to Open Your Own Bible for the First Time? – Did you know there are still over 1,900 languages across the world today that do not yet have any of the Bible translated? See some more of the statistics here. This post shares a touching video (1 min) showing what it is like for a people group when they first receive the scriptures in their own language. If this subject interests you, check out this post detailing some of Crossworld’s work in Bible translation.

Poverty – Free Audio Book

When Helping Hurts: How to Allieviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself – If you only read one book dealing with poverty this year, this should be the one. Working effectively with the poor in a context of extreme poverty is incredibly complex. This book tackles the issue from both a theological and a pragmatic perspective. As awesome as I’m sure the audio version is, I would recommend you buy a paper copy as well and read it with a pen in hand.

Facebook and Theology?

10 Years of Facebook – Did you see any of those Facebook lookback videos? If you were on Facebook for more than a couple seconds this week, you’ve seen at least one. If you didn’t know, Facebook celebrated 10 years of existence this week.

John Dyer, who serves as the Executive Director of Communications and Educational Technology at DTS, takes a look at Facebook from a theological perspective and asks some important questions about its influence on our world. He says: “Facebook can be a convenient punching bag for all kinds of social ills, but it can also offer us a window into the struggles and beautifies of a human race who still bears God’s image and who is in need of a complete resurrection.”

John is seriously one of the smartest guys I know. If this post interests you, you may also enjoy his book: From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology.

Reading

8 Ways to Reverse the Decline of the American Book Lover – Do you want to read more? So do I. This post gives 7 (not sure why the titles says 8) easy things you can do to begin to read more.

Have you read anything interesting this week? Let us know in the comments below. We’d love to check it out!

[typography font=”Cantarell” size=”14″ size_format=”px”]*Affiliate links in the post.[/typography]

Here are some interesting things we read on the web this week:

a story of life (and its many surprises) – If you like birth stories, this one is for you. If you like crazy, sit on the edge of your seat stories of God working – this one is especially for you. This is the story of a mother who expected to give birth to one baby, but was suprised to give birth to a set of twins last week at the Maternity Center at Heartline Ministries in Port-au-Prince. Becca was able to volunteer very briefly there one summer and had a blast serving with that team. Love them. Love what they do.

The Dreaded Question: Where Are You From? – If you’re from a family that moved around alot, you know the “Where are you from” question is nice and awkward. That is especially true for missionary kids. This post by a missionary serving in Djibouti, Africa explores what this is like for her kids who have roots in Djibouti, Kenya, Europe and Minnesota.

Why I Love an Evening Service – One of the things we won’t miss about the US is the crazy hectic pace of life we all keep here. One of the victims of this kind of life is the Sunday night church service. I remember going to these from time to time as a kid and this post reminded me of why I liked them.

Stressed-Out Missionary – This one is scary to us, to be honest. Especially this: “When stress levels reach above a 200 {on the Holmes-Rahe scale}, doctors will advise patients to make life changes– drink a glass of wine, exercise, sleep more, that kind of thing…They found that the average missionary’s stress levels for the first year are typically around 800-900.”

We’ve learned a little about this the hard way, but this post reminded us again that managing stress is something we’re going to have to be super vigilant about once we’re on the ground.

The Problem with Facebook – Did you know that when you post on Facebook, your post is only being viewed by a small portion of your friends? This short video explains what is going on behind the scenes as Facebook helps filter your friend’s posts to bring you the stuff it thinks you want to see.

Related: If you’ve liked our Facebook page – Thank You! One easy thing you can do to help us as we build a support team is to like, comment on and (even better) share the posts you see on our Facebook page. This helps tremendously as we seek to share the vision of our ministry with others.

Have you read anything interesting this week? Pop a link in the comments below – we’d love to check it out!