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Whether you're a seasoned sojourner, just beginning your journey of living abroad, a domestic nomad, or someone who cares for those making their home far from you, you're welcome here.

Are Sending Organizations Supporting The Senders?

It's been five weeks since For Those Who Send: Prayers For Those With Loved Ones Serving Abroad was released, and in that time I have received countless messages letting me know how grateful people are for this resource. One email in particular, written by the mother of a global worker, really touched my heart and summed up exactly why I wrote this book. I asked her if I could share her words with you, and she graciously agreed. Heather, Thank you for writing your book, For

liturgiesforalifea

Sep 243 min read

MOST RECENT BLOG POST

Looking for our library of liturgies?

Click on the "Liturgies" tab at the top of the page to find an index of liturgy topics and links to view them on Instagram.

LITURGIES FOR A LIFE ABROAD

Are Sending Organizations Supporting The Senders?

It's been five weeks since For Those Who Send: Prayers For Those With Loved Ones Serving Abroad was released, and in that time I have received countless messages letting me know how grateful people are for this resource. One email in particular, written by the mother of a global worker, really touched my heart and summed up exactly why I wrote this book. I asked her if I could share her words with you, and she graciously agreed. Heather, Thank you for writing your book, For

Sep 243 min read

The Suitcase

“I think it’s time to get rid of it. Are you going to be sad?” “No,” I quickly answered my husband while shaking my head. But as I looked at my old, red suitcase with its missing legs and torn exterior, nostalgia swept over me and landed as a lump in my throat. I’m not naturally a sentimental person. I attribute that to how much we moved when I was growing up and the constant change that never allowed me to hold too tightly to anything. I can de-clutter and scale down with t

Sep 115 min read

At Home in the In-Between

I gaze out the oval window feeling the full weight of my smallness drifting untethered high above the places I love my heart split wide open trying to hold each place across the miles Suspended in the air I wait to descend yet knowing that landing means I left and it doesn’t matter how many times I leave or where I’m going I’m not just leaving a place but a part of myself that only exists there Wrapped in fragile flesh and bone I am limited unable to be in more than one p

Sep 91 min read

The Sacrifice to Send

It's never easy to send those you love far away.

Aug 193 min read

The Powerful Process of Liturgy-Writing

How written prayer can invigorate your spiritual life abroad

Jun 302 min read

Re-Entry and Receiving Sojourners Well

A letter to those welcoming sojourners back to their home country

Mar 263 min read

A New Book of Prayers for the Sojourner

It is my sincere hope that you will feel seen, understood, and held in the pages of this book. This cross-cultural life can be so isolating, but perhaps you'll feel a little less alone as you pray these prayers and know that others are praying them, too.

Dec 14, 20252 min read

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hi, I'm Heather, the creator and writer behind Liturgies for a Life Abroad. I've lived overseas with my family doing non-profit work in SE Asia since 2015. In 2021, I started writing and sharing liturgies and words about cross-cultural life on Instagram. That little corner of social media has become a place for sojourners from every corner of the globe to find solidarity, hope, and words of prayer for when they don't have their own.

LFALA ON INSTAGRAM

How do we fit back into a place we once belonged, but after being away things just don’t feel the same?

Re-entry is complicated, whether it’s things back home that have changed, we that have changed, or the most likely option—both.

Being patient with ourselves and others and extending abundant grace as we figure out a new way of belonging is essential in re-entry. Change isn’t bad, it’s just different. And how we fit into the relationships and spaces where we once were rooted will have to be different, too. We can grieve the loss of what was, while holding onto hopeful expectation for what can be.

Are you going through re-entry now? What has changed more—the place you’ve returned to, or you?

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭34‬-‭35‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A Liturgy for When There is Conflict on the Team

A note— this was the most requested liturgy topic from my last poll. While one prayer cannot address all the complexity of team conflict, I hope this prayer speaks to the broader aspects of what it’s like to work through conflict and gives an opportunity to reflect on a biblical approach to reconciliation and forgiveness.

There may be times that hard boundaries need to be drawn, outside help needs to be called in, and misconduct and abuse need to be called to account. If you are in an ongoing conflict, I encourage you to prayerfully seek wise counsel if attempts at peacemaking are met with hostility or rejection, or if you or someone you know is being emotionally, mentally, or physically harmed.

Grace and peace.

Living and working abroad most often means that you are working with people from various cultures and backgrounds. You likely didn’t get to choose your team or community abroad, and the differences in culture, values, and personality can make working together difficult.

It’s possible to work together, worship together, spend a lot of time together, and still not experience unity because

togetherness doesn’t equal unity.

So how can we achieve unity in the Body among people who are so very different? Paul outlines it for us in his letter to the Colossians:

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬-‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Mercy. Kindness. Humility. Gentleness. Patience. Forgiveness. Love. Gratitude.

This type of approach to relational unity is only possible through the transforming power of the Spirit. When we long for unity, we can find ourselves waiting for others to change, but Paul reminds us that our focus should be on letting the Spirit change our own hearts.

There are times that call for mediation, intervention, and correction. Hard conversations may be necessary. But we should always examine our own hearts first and make sure we have embraced and put into practice the scriptural path to relational unity.

Let’s move past simply being together and toward actually living in harmony and unity through the power of the Spirit.

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Welcome

Are Sending Organizations Supporting The Senders?

MOST RECENT BLOG POST

Looking for our library of liturgies?

LITURGIES FOR A LIFE ABROAD

Are Sending Organizations Supporting The Senders?

The Suitcase

At Home in the In-Between

The Sacrifice to Send

The Powerful Process of Liturgy-Writing

Re-Entry and Receiving Sojourners Well

A New Book of Prayers for the Sojourner

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LFALA ON INSTAGRAM

Follow us on Instagram

SUBSCRIBE

Never Miss a New Post.

Welcome

Are Sending Organizations Supporting The Senders?

MOST RECENT BLOG POST

Looking for our library of liturgies?

LITURGIES FOR A LIFE ABROAD

Are Sending Organizations Supporting The Senders?

The Suitcase

At Home in the In-Between

The Sacrifice to Send

The Powerful Process of Liturgy-Writing

Re-Entry and Receiving Sojourners Well

A New Book of Prayers for the Sojourner

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LFALA ON INSTAGRAM

​

Follow us on Instagram

SUBSCRIBE

Never Miss a New Post.