Joseph Givens
Let it Break You
I’ve only been back a week. In that time, I’ve seen people leave, some to take the train in relative safety to other parts of Europe,...
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Joseph Givens
- Sep 4
- 3 min
Their Only Crime Was Seeking Safety: Why Policy Must Change
I attended another commemoration tonight. Two days ago a small boat sank in the English Channel again. This time twelve people died and...
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Joseph Givens
- Aug 19
- 5 min
From Calais to El Paso: Discovering Kindred Spirits at the Border
“I’m so happy to finally meet you!” The woman says as she throws her arms around Rachel. Rachel really likes hugs, so she reciprocates...
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Joseph Givens
- Jul 26
- 3 min
The Good Kind of Mennonites: Stories of Faith and Generosity
Hi, my friends, I’m in our pop-up camper in a state park in Texas at the moment. Thankfully we had the foresight to rent a T-Mobile...
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Joseph Givens
- Jul 15
- 3 min
Calais in My Heart: A Missionary’s Story
Well, here I am again. Back across the Atlantic Ocean, sitting in a camper on a hot, humid day in Indiana. So far, we’ve had the chance...
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Joseph Givens
- Jun 7
- 3 min
Bad Weather, Beautiful People
This morning’s interactions weren’t unusual. I walked the boys to school. On the way back, I decided to walk by our local bakery and get...
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Joseph Givens
- Apr 25
- 3 min
In the Wake of Tragedy: How Privilege Shapes Our Response to the Migrant Crisis
What more can I say? What can I add to the conversation that I haven't already mentioned countless times? I feel now like whatever I say...
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Joseph Givens
- Mar 30
- 2 min
From Calais to Easter: Embracing Hope in the In-Between
Easter is here. Today is the day between Good Friday, when we remember our Lord's death and Easter, when we celebrate his resurrection....
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Joseph Givens
- Mar 10
- 7 min
A Little Girl is Dead
We will be returning to the USA for the end of our first term in June. We’ll be staying there through August. While there, we’ll be...
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Joseph Givens
- Feb 14
- 4 min
I'm dying (and so are you)
My friends, the season of Lent is upon us. And with it comes a general repentance among most Christian denominations. Indeed, today is...
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Joseph Givens
- Jan 26
- 3 min
Speaking Through an Ass
I realize it’s easy for me to speak negatively about the churches I grew up in. After all, there are many, many problems in the way that...
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Joseph Givens
- Jan 19
- 3 min
Don't Have Sex
Loving our neighbors at Orthodox Christmas!
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Joseph Givens
- Dec 24, 2023
- 2 min
Conversations from Christmas
It is Christmas Eve. I sit at the dining room table, surrounded by people from four different countries who are communicating with each...
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Joseph Givens
- Dec 11, 2023
- 3 min
A Refugee from Heaven
Merry Christmas, my friends. We enter the Christmas season with an expectation. It’s an expectant waiting for the Son of God to make his...
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Joseph Givens
- Oct 6, 2023
- 3 min
Solidarity Amidst Diversity
I saw a beautiful display of solidarity today. I can’t share too many of the details, but a woman who came to stay at the Maria Skobtsova...
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Joseph Givens
- Aug 25, 2023
- 3 min
With no Pretense
Recently I received a video of an Iranian woman being baptised. She was at the Maria Skobtsova House (MSH) for several months at the end...
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Joseph Givens
- Aug 17, 2023
- 7 min
Vignettes from Romania
A Train and the Hunt for Coffee The night train rolls into the station in Vienna. It looks like one of those trains you always see in...
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Joseph Givens
- Jul 24, 2023
- 4 min
One Year as an Immigrant
Rachel and I were celebrating our anniversary, our 11th to be exact. We planned to do the things we usually do, what we have done since...
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Joseph Givens
- Jul 7, 2023
- 2 min
Come and See
Are you interested in living and working together with displaced people? Is your heart touched by the suffering of others? Do you ever...
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Joseph Givens
- Jul 1, 2023
- 2 min
I'm Proud to be an American, but...
The Fourth of July holiday is upon us. It may seem strange that I, a Mennonite, am talking about this. After all, Mennonites are not well...
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