Author: teanna2day
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when missionaries are weird
When we left for Moscow all those years ago, young and carefree and very American, one of our best friends made us promise we would not morph into weird missionaries. We have tried our best, Mark, to take your advice. Even so, being back in the States rams home the reality that we have changed, a fact that…
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an ordinary missionary on furlough
Let’s be honest. If someone asked, ‘What does a missionary do?’, most of us would dig deep and mumble something about learning languages and telling people about Jesus and smile that please-don’t-ask-me-more-cause-that’s-all-I’ve-got grin. The real truth is that most of us are not exactly sure what a missionary does and we are even more confused about…
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beyond the seminar
I slipped into the air-conditioned comfort of a packed seminar as it was beginning and settled in to hear statistics that I already knew. They were still appalling. Nearly three weeks ago, a plethora of Nazarenes filled a small conference room to hear a good-hearted, Christian man fill our notebooks with statistical information about his…
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economics
It boils down to a question of economics. Take away the sexiness of the world’s hottest new topic. Strip it down to the core engine that drives the machine and your final destination has a price tag. The trafficking of humans for sex, for work, for organs, in the end is just a profitable financial…
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graffiti
Last time our family ventured through Kentucky into Indy, we stole a vacation day from our furlough to visit the Creation Museum. Well into the beautiful gardens and air-conditioned story of Adam and Eve, the architect’s plan took an abrupt turn that coincided with the entry of sin into a palm-leaved paradise. Fabricated greenery gave…
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the real story on being an mk
The road on furlough can sometimes be exhausting. It is not always the respecter of age nor is it terribly concerned with yesterday’s equally hectic schedule. Today and tomorrow are such days. We traveled and did two services on Sunday, arriving at the hotel at 11at night. This morning,we were up by 6 for meetings…
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on furlough
‘It smells like America.’ ‘Everything is made for a mobile society.’ ‘It looks so different from Hungary.’ These are some of the comments we have been hearing as we ease back in to American life. I have always wanted to capture these moments, but in the past with little girls, it took everything we had…
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travel companions
Just past the x-ray machines, my shoes are on again and my nicely packed bags are in shambles as I look back to see my 4 girls fanning me. I have embarked upon this trip countless times in the last 23 years but I have made only one cross-Atlantic journey without some form of child…
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the story of us
Sometimes my 21st century steps merge with the generations that walked before me. In Europe, one can find those cobblestone streets, those walls of antiquity, those cathedrals of ancient faith and in those moments, I find myself listening for the voices that echo there. One January morning, I began a new journey of discovery…
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take and remember
The city beckons to us as the lights create an incandescent dance on the Chain Bridge. Tonight we will spend a warm evening enveloped into the home of Eugenius and Jurga who have become special friends over the last 18 months. There is a magic that can happen when people from different cultures find a…
teanna sunberg 