Pack Light – Buy Local

If there’s one thing I’ve learned when planning a mission trip, it’s to pack light. On our first venture to Africa, we purchased everything we’d need for our Bible School in the U.S. This included: snacks, t-shirts to give away, crayons, coloring pages, etc. We used...

Pray First – Then Travel

The first activity when planning any mission trip, whether you are walking across the street or flying across the ocean, is prayer. We must call on the Holy Spirit for guidance. When planning an overseas mission trip, the thought of missing a flight is worrisome. If...

How To Afford a Mission Trip to Africa

I’ve been blessed to travel on mission trips to Africa, and I’m planning my fourth trip in August. You may wonder how a small-town librarian affords such a venture. And so, I’ve put pencil to paper to demonstrate how small behavior changes grew my mission fund. I...

1000 Wins

Congratulations to Coach Mike Krzyzewski for his 1000th win. As a Kentucky Wildcat Basketball fan, it’s difficult for me to pat him on the back when some of those victories were losses for my favorite basketball team. Photo: Rob Kinnon, USA Today Sports Few of us will...

Persecution and Praise in Niger

This week has been a challenge for Christians in Niamey, Niger. According to BBC News Africa, over 70 churches have been burned by protestors angry about French Magazine Charlie Hebdo’s illustration. But the believers in Niger are proving that their joy is in the...

Seasoned With Salt

Colossians 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you know how to answer everyone. This verse crossed my reading this week, and I keep pondering, ‘seasoned with salt?’ Salt is used as a preservative and also enhances the flavor...

What is Grace?

2 Corinthians 12:19 “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” Grace is loving the unlovable. Grace is...

New Mercies

Today would have been my mother-in-law’s birthday. She passed away last July. I miss her in ways I never imagined. She always made me feel special on my birthday. I could ask her to do anything, and she’d drop everything to help. We didn’t always...

Will My Dog Go to Heaven?

I’m sure there must be something in my genetic make-up that has caused me to be a dog lover. My extended family members have the same condition. I see countless pictures of their pets on Facebook. We’re a bunch of dog-lovin’ people. I can feel alone in a room full of...