In preparation for our Blogger’s Trip to Guatemala in April, Lemonade International is spending each week leading up to the trip profiling each of the bloggers that will be participating. Recently, they profiled Dana Byers.
I don’t know Dana personally, but she’s got quite the resume. As the President of BlueDoor.tv, she helps train and support pastors all over the world begin online-based ministry and community (she even wrote a book about it!). She’s the Community Pastor for the online church branch of LifeChurch.tv. That means that she doesn’t simply theorize about this stuff all day, but she actually lives it out and puts into practice the new methods of ministry she helps others develop.
This trip is especially personal for Dana as the birth mother for her adopted daughter, Mackenzie, is from guatemala. Mackenzie has never been able to visit her home country, but Dana’s family (including Mackenzie) will be joining us on this trip, so we all get to share a little in this experience with the family.
Personally, I’m excited to meet with and spend time with Dana because she represents the intersection of so many of many interests, struggles, questions, and passions. Not only is she a female pastor (a topic about which I have much to say), but she has thought deeply about connecting people through online mediums (including blogs), and so probably has much to teach me about how to do this blog well and in a way that truly speaks to people pastorally and helpfully.
Further, though so much of her life is spent in engaging the deepest parts of who we are in these newest of settings–the internet–don’t think that all her time is filled with the busyness of staring into screens and phones and skype presentations all day.
One of the most fascinating things about her personal blog is that it’s mainly about minimalism, life-giving productivity (rather than soul-sucking), and how to create time and space in life away from the computer in order to spend time (and money) on those things that, as she puts it, “matter most”.
As someone with a whole raft of anxieties and compulsivities, I frequently find myself defaulting to my phone, the computer (or yes, blogging–sometimes) to vainly seek the “margin” Dana talks about. I feel like spending this time with Dana (and her blog) could be a great source of grace to me where I might get to taste a little more deeply the rest God has for me–and us.
So spend some time with Dana. Check out her blog, her Lemonade International profile, her organization, and her church. Also be sure to bookmark this page on my blog to follow my trip to Guatemala!
Click the banner below for more info in the trip.
the long way home 
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