Guest post by Lisa Harris, whose latest thriller Blood Covenant just hit stores.

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I guess you could call me a travel junkie. Ever since my first overseas trip to Kenya while in college, I’ve been hooked on wanting to see the world. Now my family has been blessed with being able to travel extensively as well as live on four continents.

I love the fact that traveling and living in different countries has widened my worldview and given me a greater understanding of the lives of other cultures. I’ve met people from all walks of life who have taught me about sacrifice, friendship, endurance, and true giving.

I've learned through my travels that:

1. I need to look to God’s standards for living and not my culture’s or the world’s standards.
2. If God isn’t first in my life, then I’ve failed, because in the end that’s all that really matters.
3. True peace is found in simplicity, being in the will of God, and serving others.
4. I don’t ever want to just exist, but live life to the fullest.
5. Living life to the fullest isn’t a bigger car, a bigger house, or more possessions, because living life to the fullest isn’t defined by the world’s definition.

(What lessons would you add to this list? I'd love to hear from you, so leave a comment on my blog at  myblogintheheartofafrica.blogspot.com.)

Currently, our family is living in Mozambique where our primary ministry is discipleship and church-planting, but there is another aspect of life that we can’t ignore as we are faced daily with the physical needs of those around us.

With the help of fellow author and friend Lynne Gentry during this last year, we started the ECHO Project to help promote Education, Compassion, Health, and Opportunity in southern Africa. Through micro-loans, medical aid, orphan care, and other ways, this ministry helps us to "speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves … the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice" (Proverbs 31:8).

You can find out more about what God is doing through this project at www.theECHOproject.org and find ways to get involved. Or stop by my website at www.lisaharriswrites.com or my blog, which comes straight from the heart of Africa, at myblogintheheartofafrica.blogspot.com. I’d love to hear from you, so feel free to stop by and drop me a note!

About the ECHO Project
The ECHO Project works under the African Outreach Ministry to ensure no child's voice goes unheard. They benefit the forgotten through Education, Compassion, Health and Opportunity, and you can join them by investing in lives today. Learn more about how you can donate.

About Lisa Harris' Mission Hope Series, Book 2: Blood Covenant
New Paige Ryan and Nick Gilbert are trapped in an overpopulated African refugee camp where an outbreak of measles erupts and renegade soldiers block their only way out. Desperate for vaccines, they must put their own lives in the hands of God as they fight for the safety of the refugees under their protection. Learn More