At dinner the other night, Gwen and I were invited to tell a few stories about our travels to the places in the world that taught us about ourselves and the United States. Our trips mostly related to the Mennonite Central Committee, the primary development and advocacy mission we support.
I am unspeakably grateful to have been included in the immersion experiences over the years and I have written about them. So I decided to make a compilation in hope that someone was interested in what I have gathered.
Here are my posts related to the trips I have taken from earliest to latest
1990 — El Salvador, Honduras
Hungry for equality? Service is the great equalizer. (Sep 2019)
The three things that changed my mind about those “other” people (Nov 2019)
Andres the refugee: Lessons in powerlessness from Honduras (June 2020)
The sad history of Christians co-opted by the powerful (July 2023)
The present U.S. insurgency: Trained for in El Salvador (Sep 2025)
1998 — South Africa
I was with Plowshares Institute, not MCC, this time.
It might be a kairos time for renewal (Oct 2025)
2001 — Colombia
2009 — Bosnia/Serbia
Sarajevo psalm (Aug 2019)
Novi Sad Psalm (Aug 2019)
2011 — Palestine
U.S. Duty to Report on Israel (Nov 2011)
Lesson from Palestine: Existence Is Resistance (Nov 2011)
Six reasons why we don’t care about Palestine (July 2014)
In Palestine: It is good to be a child caring for children (May 2019)
In Christ, I am not defined by “the land” (Oct 2024)
2013 — Syrians
I did not actually go to Syria, but I felt immersed in the troubles.
Selling Dresses for Syrian Refugees Bought Comfort (Feb 2013)
We have to keep helping the Syrians (Apr 2016)
2016 — Zimbabwe/Zambia
All the African posts are linked in this post:
First thoughts from Zimbabwe (Apr 2016)
2021 — Borderlands
All the Borderlands posts are linked in this post:
Resources for Understanding and Impacting the Borderlands (Nov 2021)