I am running a new occasional feature on the blog that highlights other ministries or missionaries I hear about, rub shoulders with, feel inspired by, or bump into in the blogworld. I have a hunch that most of you reading are genuinely interested in living and working overseas, and I’d love for you to get [...]
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The following is a typical conversation I have found myself in more times than I can count during my {short} two years on the “mission field.” And, yes, some of it is a tad-exaggerated {emphasis on the words some and tad}. ********************** When Missionaries Meet Setting. It’s a sweltering-hot day in the tropics. New Missionary and Better Missionary find [...]
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In honor of all the hearts floating around these days, I am re-posting a piece I wrote about eight months ago. We were just returning to Asia after a glorious six weeks in the U.S. with family and friends, good bread and better coffee, and I was wrestling with what love looks like, in a [...]
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The following is my humble, quick attempt to convince my fellow missionary-types to jump the hurdles of fear, time and know-how and just go ahead and start a blog of some sort. {That is, of course, unless you are one of those super-amazing people living in a closed country where blogs are illegal or in [...]
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So I met a family last week that suddenly made me want to sell all my stuff and go live in the red-light district of Bangkok, buying rice for the homeless crazy woman in the mornings and giving warm socks to the male prostitute on the street corner, trying to make a buck. Their story [...]
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1. Don’t Become a Missionary if You Think You Are Going to Change the World. First, high expectations doom to disappoint, but, also, maybe your desire to change the world is trumping your desire to serve. Ask yourself if you would be happy moving overseas to a much harsher environment in order to quietly help [...]
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I was talking to a Chinese neighbor the other day while his kids were playing with mine. My friend and I began asking him a little about his work in Thailand, and it turns out he trains Chinese nationals to go into countries of the Middle East– Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq. And then he told us [...]
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So, yeah, our family has food issues. I have one kid that has claimed vegetarianism for the past 6 months, one kid that I think has a gluten-allergy and also hates rice {yeah, in Asia, he hates rice}, and another child that literally wants ketchup on everything from noodles to watermelon {yeah, I am not [...]
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I originally wrote this article following the three month opportunity we got to host and mentor a team of college-aged students on a trip to Thailand in the Fall of 2010. As we begin to re-launch this ministry this summer, I’ve been thinking lately about the immense value of a life done in community, in [...]
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I heard the other day about a Thai woman who loves Jesus but chooses not to call herself a Christian. Instead, she classifies herself a “Buddhist Christ-Follower.” She recognizes that the term Christian in this part of the world is thick with cultural and historical meanings from the West that she would rather not identify [...]
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As the holidays approach, thoughts of my family back home are never far from my mind. Special occasions rub the reality of living far away from home a bit raw this time of year. In light of that, I thought it appropriate to re-post this article I wrote last December. I reckon in many ways, [...]
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ALifeOverseas.com / LauraParkerBlog.com.
My family is living overseas in Thailand, where my husband is directing a Christian Humanitarian Foundation. This blog is the honest recording of our journey– squatty potties and all. 
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