Singleness and Missions: Men v. Women

Photo by marsmetn tallahassee

My friend, Justin Long, has been doing some work on the issue of singleness in missions. What he is discovering won't be much of a surprise for many of you.  That is, that single women greatly outnumber single men in cross-cultural missions -- on the order of something like 6 to 1!

You can read Justin's first few posts on this phenomenon at The Long View here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

So, let me ask you.  Why do you think that so many more single women than single men are interested in being cross-cultural missionaries?

141 couples in the Bhutanese refugee camp divorced

An interesting little side story related to the Bhutanese-Nepali experience pertains to the fate of those refugees still in the camps who desire resettlement but have been denied the opportunity. A common reason for this is the "mixed marriage" problem. This refers to Bhutanese refugees who have married Nepalese citizens (non-refugees from the surrounding areas). In their cases, the United Nations does not want to process their applications for resettlement to third countries who have agreed to open their doors to those who are truly refugees and not to the wider Nepalese populace. Apparently, faced with this situation, a number of Bhutanese people in the camps are choosing to solve this problem by taking something less than the "high road". Below is the full story from Nepal Mountain News:

141 couples in the Bhutanese refugee camp divorced | Nepal Mountain News: 
"More than 141 couples in the Bhutanese refugee camp in Jhapa divorced in 2011 alone. Most of them had a Nepali spouse. The figure is rising as UNHCR is reluctant to forward documents of applicants in the mixed marriage category for third country resettlement.
“When the process of resettlement began, we were very hopeful, thinking that our hard days were about to end,” said Balaram Neupane, an administrative officer at Khudunabari Campus. “However, for people like us who married Nepali women, the marriage itself is turned out to be a major problem,” he added.
According to Neupane, refugees with Nepali spouse are in acute mental pressure. The fear that they would be languishing in the camp for unknown period while all their family members have already left for a third country has even turned a few of them mentally ill. “And, many of them are currently under the supervision of doctors,” he said."

Orlando 2011: The Most Important Moment of the Day for Me

The first full day of Orlando 2011 has drawn now to a close.  It was a fruitful day and I enjoyed it.  I'm not sure where to go with the post today, but I do want to share a couple thoughts.  The first is devotional -- probably the most important moment of the day for me.  The second is more positional.  That is, I want to highlight and support something that Bishop Hwa Yung said during his speech.

First, tonight Vonette Bright was honored by the Mission America Coalition for her work for the Lausanne Movement and the body of Christ.  She received a nice ovation and then addressed the assembly.  Most of what she said was focused on her late husband, Bill Bright.  She said something like, "To live with Bill Bright was awesome!" She went on from there and left me with a strong sense that here was a woman who had an immense love and respect for her husband and his walk with Christ.

As she spoke, I considered my own death.  I wondered what my wife would say about me.  I realized that if Katherine is ever going to be able to honestly speak thusly about me as her husband, I would need to radically change.  I need a revival as a husband and dad.  I need a revival as a lover of God.

Then Fernando Ortega shared some songs about sin and forgiveness and repentance.  Medicine.

Actually, perhaps it would be good for me to stop here.  Ponder this thought would you?  I will post something else on the day in a bit.