Srey Mom’s Story
When I first arrived in South East Asia, this is what I thought underage sex work looked like: a ‘pimp’ visits a poor family struggling to make ends meet. He kindly offers to give the teenage daughter a good job in a city restaurant. When the girl arrives in the...
Some of the Struggles We Have in Going
We all face numerous struggles in going to and living in another culture. But our struggles are all so normal. What is interesting is to discover that we aren’t alone in this. Even the Apostles faced similar struggles in their lives. This post we want to look at one Apostle...
Training Counselors, Transforming Communities
Edward and Inga* are counseling trainers in East Asia who empower local believers to bring healing to broken hearts. As a result of rapid social change, the heart needs in their country are massive. The national church is growing fast, but many believers carry deep inner wounds and the divorce...
A Different Kind of Power
Many of us have been deceived. Our cultures teach us that real power is instantly demonstrable. Our notion of power is shaped by quick military victories, bombs exploding, sports teams winning in two hours, and business people getting things done – no matter how many people they use up as...
Building Community: Don’t Judge
Matthew 7:1-12
One of our core values in Interserve is building community. Building community in a fallen world with fallen people is sometimes challenging. People (not us of course) are not perfect. Well, Jesus understood the challenges we face and he wanted us to know what steps to take so we can...
Facing Opposition
Our Interserve Partners work in restricted access areas. We call these areas The Hard Places. This is because there is a degree of opposition to biblical faith and to Jesus’ followers in these areas. I encountered this opposition. Though most people were kind and incredibly hospitable, a minority viewed me...
The Curse and Blessing of Language Study
Embedding ourselves among the people we seek to serve is a core value of Interserve. This is because Jesus’ incarnation shapes our lives. Jesus became one of us. He entered our world, joined himself to a specific group of people, spoke their language, and thought their thoughts. He invites us...
Managing our Expectations
Managing our Expectations For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our...
Being Inclusive is Not Easy
In our passport countries our churches have a particular way of interpreting Scripture, a certain style of worship, and a particular organizational model. The characteristics that make our church or our denomination distinct are important to us. One of the outcomes of this distinctiveness is that we are given the...
When We Are Weak
Whether we realize it or not, when we go overseas, we go with a significant level of social power. We are not used to thinking about ourselves in this way. We try to maintain a position of humility and think that we are nothing. However, we unconsciously operate out of...
Crossing Cultures: Who Are We Becoming?
Living and working interculturally can take its toll on our emotions. There are so many things that are different in a new culture. Simply walking into a store requires emotional energy. Stores in our host countries don’t operate the same like stores in our passport countries. The stores don’t have...