Introducing Eva Petross

So I’m very excited to make an announcement that has been a few months in the progress. I’ve asked a long-time friend of mine to become a regular contributor and partner to this blog.

Her name is Eva Petross…kind of. It’s a Pseudonym. And in order to explain why she needs to write under a pseudonym I will also be explaining the reasons for why I’ve asked her to write regularly here.

Eva and her husband and children are missionaries in North Africa. They live in very challenging conditions and have quite an adventurous life. They live in a Muslim-majority part of the world as missionaries, and since they live in an area of the world that is more unsettled and prone to violent outbreaks they also need to keep a small digital footprint online.

So while Eva Petross isn’t her real name, you need to know the stories she shares and lives she describes are true. And I also want you to know that thousands of people like Eva are out there, quietly serving and sacrificing for the Kingdom of God without fanfare or applause.

For every dumb thing that an Evangelical spokesperson says on national television, there are hundreds of thousands of stories and examples of people living out their faith in a different way, quietly making the world a better place through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And you don’t need to just take my word for it.

A few years ago, the British atheist Matthew Parris wrote in the London Times:

“As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God.”

Parris went to Africa and realized that his own beliefs were not able to solve the issues of corruption and poverty in the world.

Here’s how he said it:

” I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa; sharply distinct from the work of secular NGO’s, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa, Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good…Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.”

Or How about the NY Times journalist Nicholas Kristof talking about in all his experience abroad, he had noticed there was a distinct difference between the secular NGO’s or non-profits and the Christian ones.

Kristof said it took years for him to understand this, but he realized that when he was in the capital cities of the 3^rd world countries, there was always plenty of non-profits doing lots of great things.

But the further away he got from the cities and the amenities that went with them, (things like running water and grocery stores), the less likely he was to run into any secular non-profits and the more likely he was to run into Christian missionaries of some kind.

That’s why I want you to know Eva and her family and their story. They are exactly the kind of people who Parris and Kristof are talking about. They live in a place where they have to cook by charcoal, they’ve been robbed and looted, lost homes, and gone through seasons of great illness.

They’ve been helicoptered out of war zones and they’ve put their young children to bed to the sound of bombs and gunfire in the distance more than once. They really love the Lord and have a unique perspective on what God is up to in the world that I haven’t heard from any other voice online.

All that to say, meet Eva Petross. I think you’re gonna love getting to know her.