I've been doing a lot of thinking about why I have a blog, why I would want one, and what kinds of things I should blog about. There seem to be a couple different types of blogs out there: One is a personal journal, where authors talk about their personal life, thoughts, events, and people. These can be interesting if you know the author--kind of like reading an online letter--but tend to be painfully boring otherwise. The next type of blog centers around ideas and events: Politics and Religion tend to be the main themes of these blogs. If well written, these blogs can be very insightful, and serve either to give you an idea of what people are thinking about, or to spark ideas in your own mind. The last type of blog is the specialty knowledge blog. This site serves as a repository of information about something the blogger knows a great deal about. This could be a hobby, a profession, or a field of study, but it's a good place to learn about specific aspects of the topic at hand.
So, what kind of blog will mine be? Obviously, given the nature of the blogging medium, any blog will be a combination of all 3, but I think I've finally hit upon a "raison d'etre" for "WorldWide Wanderings," and that will be to discuss issues of poverty, relief & development, and social justice, with a (hopefully) distinctively Biblical view. I'll probably also try to highlight some of the more insightful blogs that I see on the web, and post from time to time about other matters of life, faith, marriage, and culture, but right now I want to focus on "R&D" in my postings.
As many of you know, I'm quite interested in the field of Relief & Development. Particularly because of my faith in Jesus, I believe helping the poor & oppressed is an incredibly important undertaking. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know a lot: I come from a reasonably priviledged background, and I don't have a lot of contact with the truly poor in my day-to-day life. But I do belong to a strong community of Faith that is trying to be obedient to Jesus, and I believe God is calling me to be more involved in His work among the Least-reached and Least-advantaged in the world.
To that end, Corrie and I are taking a class through our church called "A Biblical Theology of Relief & Development." It's proving to be an extremely challenging class, but also a very interesting class. We're working hard to explore what the Bible teaches us about God's view of poverty and riches, what He is doing among people, and what models the Church has been given for doing holistic ministry among the poor. It's a fascinating class, and I plan in the future to post articles on this blog about specific things we're learning. My hope is that by doing so, I will be better able to think through the issues we're studying and discussing, gain insight from other's studies of and experiences with serving the poor, and assist others in exploring what God has to say about the way we treat the disadvantaged, the widow, and the orphan. You'll no doubt hear my thoughts about other topics and my life experiences that may or may not be totally applicable, but I hope this blog will serve as a good resource for me and for others to pursue obedience in this area of our lives.
Watch this space for more articles, and please respond with lots of comments, good or bad--I welcome your input!
3 comments:
Hi Natros,
i just set up my blog today and was clicking around ("next blog", please!) till I found the first page that had the same design, I choosed for my blog. So that's how i got here.
AND i recognized two funny things I had to think about.
1.) I liked, what you said about finding a "raison d'etre" (very nice expression).
Today I was walking through the woods - wondering about exactly that topic and conversing with my mom. You seem to have found your "raison d'etre" through faith in God and Jesus. I think thats great for you! I'm cristian, too. But I'm still searching for something else. I'm not sure what it is, still I know I will find out some day! I want to be taken to that stage - but i want to "float" or "being float" (if there is such a thing). And I know that this will take some time...(wich takes me to the SECOND point that's funny about finding your page with the same design as mine).
2.) I come from a reasonably priviledged background, too (I was born in Germany). But I have lived for 7 years in Peru and seen a lot of truly poor people- and I got know at least a few of those people. I have seen a lot of poverty and nearly unbelieveble things that happened to these people. [I can't write all my expiriences with poor people down right now- maybe we should meet some day and I'll tell you ;-)]. The thing is: I admire the strengthness and the intensity of your belief that you are able to transmit (i.e. through written word). And having read just one Blog of you- I know (if there is such a thing) that you realy MEAN what you say. And thats great!
I wish you good luck and hope that you'll find the right possibility to convert those good intentions into REALITY. [At this point I would like to give you the link to my blog (so that you can get to know my philosophy of life) but it's in german and I just posted one nonsens-post to see if it works. BUT: I'll give you the link to a project I am organizing (together with other "activists") here in Germany to unite people from around the world. This page is in English: http://www.econautix.org/index.php?seite=134&t=1110196550
If I don't hear anything from you then this will never have happened. But it actually did! Saludos coordiales, un abrazo y lo mejor de lo mejor te manda un pata espiritual desde alemania ;-).
Yannick, thanks for the comment! That's amazing that you just "happenned" to come across my blog! (of course, I don't really believe in coincidences...) I skimmed the site that you sent me--it looks quite interesting. The Unfair Football competition looks like it will be a poigniant demonstration.
I'd be interested in hearing more about your time in Peru. did you grow up there, or study there, or something else completely? I've lived in several countries, but one of the most formative times for me spiritually and politically was the year I spent in Pakistan in 1999.
I hope you'll keep checking back here--I hope to get my first "real" post about the class up this weekend, and I'll be interested to hear reactions. Godspeed you on the journey!
Thanks so much for your recent technical assistance. I look forward to putting it into practice soon! I just had a chance to stroll around your blog, and I'm sure I'll be back. I look forward to hearing more about what God is laying on your heart.
Micah Girl
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