it's a beautiful thing when you can walk into a school on monday and schedule an assembly for friday that is all about jesus. and when you walk in they are singing to jesus in 5 different languages-kids of every color.
but in our country, "the land of the free" such things are unheard of.
i have spoken to so many people here that feel called to missions in the us.
it's official
we are a lost nation.
today was exhausting in every way.
we woke up around 6 to head to our first assembly at 7 20. we used the amazing signs that beck and i created last night and did the bananas program-life lessons from a banana.
the peel is bitter with a little work and listening to the voice of the one who loves us, we can have the sweet, good things in life.
becky atomically karate chopped the banana into 5 pieces so fast she didn't even have to peel it. and then she made a banana disappear!
we also inflated the giant soccer ball to promote the fun days in the park.
the second school was packed! kids were sharing chairs. because of that awful experience last year, they aren't allowed to have them very often and so they were just so blessed by it. it's amazing that GOd used us to help heal this school.
we took a short break and then it was back to the park for the giant soccer game with the giant soccer ball-the biggest in the country actually.
we had more than 300 kids and not enough help at all ha ha but then so goes ministry! but we dealt.
becky and i kept the girls on the side while the boys played and they gave me some intense afrikaans lessons. we even cheered in afrikaans... "ven di siens" beat the boys ha ha.
kim and i played games with the little kids for way too long! rachel says, the blob, link tag, duck duck goose, red light green light, and we even had wheelbarrow races. we were really running out of ideas. we sat them down for an intermission at some point just to do a short devotional with them.
i talked about words and how when people cut you down it can break your heart. i did that trick i learned last night with a paper heart. i totally destroyed it. thank goodness they were far away... but still ha ha
at least some of them fell for it despite my epic failure ha ha.
we finished up around 5 and becky and i hit the pillow asap.
dinner at 6 30 with the turneys. so cool it was like the world missions summit all over again only i had a meal with 2 missionaries at the same time!
had the veggie platter again... not quite as amazing this time but still soo good.
then back to mark and kim's to think of some way to have control at our second fun day tomorrow. and to watch a movie of course.
we watched win a date with tad hamilton which i had never seen.
so cute and good. i know that because it made me so angry! classic chick flick, good guy looses out to some hunk of junk. thank goodness she came to her senses in the end.
i am so very ready to sleep now for a very very long time.
saturday, july 11, 2009
wow
i leave africa in 6 days.
that is crazy
i'm tired and i love it here and i want to stay and i miss my family all at once. i mean i've learned a lot and i think this trip will keep me going for a while. got some missions urging out of my blood.
what a cool job.
people and kids and blessing them and loving them the way that jesus would.
what a great call. i just love it!
today was pretty simple. to sum it up...
we slept in praise jesus!
finally we went to mark and kim's around 11. we all prayed together and then headed to a little german cafe for brunch. probably the best omelet i've had in africa so far. we looked silly coloring the pictures for a story time at fun day. then we loaded up and went to the missions house to pick up the giant inflatable! we had to pray away the bees in jesus' name because there were like millions of them surrounding the thing. but somehow, with the power of jesus we got that thing and went to the park.
we were already surrounded by kids. so we got down to some serious numbering and then spread them out all over the field with balls and jump ropes.
and then it all began.
we called their numbers. before they could bounce, becky and i had a short devotional and prayer time with them. told the story about the farm friends and the rat and his cheese and then geared them up for the inflatable.
repeat 6x
that's the day in a nutshell.
they were surprisingly good listeners.
maybe because i am an amazing story teller. but probably because we told them they could only go on the inflatable if they were good listeners. but i can believe otherwise.
so we wrapped it up, handed out some candy and utilized all of us to put that thing away!
becky and i rushed to our room to catch a quick nap-a habit of ours these days. and then we had dinner at the turney's.
i really enjoy that all the african missionaries have houses that look and feel african. i have only seen 3, but we are 3 for 3.
i ate way too much. it was soo good. caribbean-coconut rice, black beans, grilled chicken and butternut, mini corn muffins, and salad with honey lime dressing.
i really ate too much.
i am not going to eat for a month when i get home. but that shouldn't be a problem since i am also going to sleep for about that long.
we spent the next few hours planning the sunday service. we were pretty tired but somehow we made it through.
sunday, july 12, 2009
today i had the privilege of leading 11 african kids in a prayer to invite jesus into their hearts.
now that is a moment when you just know that you are in the right place.
when you can't help grinning from ear to ear and your heart is bursting with joy. not a huge stadium filled with kids or hundreds of them jumping on an inflatable... just 11 kids in the corner of a humble african church after service sitting around me, their little legs folded indian style and their huge dark eyes focused intently on mine. and little old me from boardman, ohio more than 8000 miles away from their world got to introduce them to jesus christ, the man who saved the whole world. wow. good moment.
but before that we had a service. we started the morning out with some prayer and frosted flakes before heading over to the church. this is the church where the wonderful and amazing auntie maureen is the kids pastor, faith assembly.
the service went pretty well. we talked about restoring relationships between husbands and wives, kids and their parents, and between us and God since it was a family service.
the game went much better than i expected considering it involved dish towels and balloons, the only resources we could stumble upon at 11 the night before ha ha.
but it actually taught a pretty good lesson.
the towel represented the relationship, and the balloon, love and respect. two people carried the balloon on a towel. you couldn't bend the towel because that was cheating and you don't want that in any relationship. and sometimes if you run too fast or get too busy you lose that love and respect and well then you just have to go back to the beginning or else everything falls apart. not too bad.
we may have stretched it just a little ha ha.
then there was some monkey of course and the relationship triangle with the change bag trick. the closer we get to God the closer we get to each other.
the memory verse had a song. of course.
it just happened to go with our theme!
"be ye kind one to another tender hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ sake hath forgiven you. ephesians 4:32" anyone who did awana (all you baptists out there) should know that one. that dates back to cubbies! i mean even the reference rhymes. God is good!
and although everyone makes fun of me for my endless supply of silly memory songs, they are pretty handy. just saying.
but really i know a song to remember just about anything.
after service we went to lunch with auntie maureen at the otjivambo game lodge. finally saw some ostrich-pretty creepy, not gonna lie.
oh and there were some caged flamingos... they were white. did you know they only turn pink because of some algae they eat? who knew? you learn something new every day i suppose.
we played on the african swings and waited for our food to come to our pretty table under a tree. it was a picture perfect african afternoon.
then to load everything up and head back to swakop. yes we have only lived here a week and we already call it swakop. don't judge us.
this time we used a trailer to look a little classier, but we still managed to shove 4 of us in that backseat.
we were so excited to get back to swakop! it's got to be an amazing place when you miss it after a week!
we finally got home and unloaded. then we rode in the boot with kim to pick up the pizza for dinner from western saloon. we just laid in the back and looked at the flawless black anvas of african night-you know these towns are small when we've already been to every restaurant-some twice! the waitress today rememberes us and our orders from tuesday! good service!
and just so you know, our version of a salad bar and theirs are two very different things. becky and i went inside and couldn't find it. so we asked a woman who looked puzzled at our question but finally led us to a table with two small bowls of salad on it.
anyways. we are back in swakop safe and sound and i am now addicted to the book, My sister's keeper. against my own rules... i started it without finishing the jungle. oh well it's a great book and highly recomended :)
but in our country, "the land of the free" such things are unheard of.
i have spoken to so many people here that feel called to missions in the us.
it's official
we are a lost nation.
today was exhausting in every way.
we woke up around 6 to head to our first assembly at 7 20. we used the amazing signs that beck and i created last night and did the bananas program-life lessons from a banana.
the peel is bitter with a little work and listening to the voice of the one who loves us, we can have the sweet, good things in life.
becky atomically karate chopped the banana into 5 pieces so fast she didn't even have to peel it. and then she made a banana disappear!
we also inflated the giant soccer ball to promote the fun days in the park.
the second school was packed! kids were sharing chairs. because of that awful experience last year, they aren't allowed to have them very often and so they were just so blessed by it. it's amazing that GOd used us to help heal this school.
we took a short break and then it was back to the park for the giant soccer game with the giant soccer ball-the biggest in the country actually.
we had more than 300 kids and not enough help at all ha ha but then so goes ministry! but we dealt.
becky and i kept the girls on the side while the boys played and they gave me some intense afrikaans lessons. we even cheered in afrikaans... "ven di siens" beat the boys ha ha.
kim and i played games with the little kids for way too long! rachel says, the blob, link tag, duck duck goose, red light green light, and we even had wheelbarrow races. we were really running out of ideas. we sat them down for an intermission at some point just to do a short devotional with them.
i talked about words and how when people cut you down it can break your heart. i did that trick i learned last night with a paper heart. i totally destroyed it. thank goodness they were far away... but still ha ha
at least some of them fell for it despite my epic failure ha ha.
we finished up around 5 and becky and i hit the pillow asap.
dinner at 6 30 with the turneys. so cool it was like the world missions summit all over again only i had a meal with 2 missionaries at the same time!
had the veggie platter again... not quite as amazing this time but still soo good.
then back to mark and kim's to think of some way to have control at our second fun day tomorrow. and to watch a movie of course.
we watched win a date with tad hamilton which i had never seen.
so cute and good. i know that because it made me so angry! classic chick flick, good guy looses out to some hunk of junk. thank goodness she came to her senses in the end.
i am so very ready to sleep now for a very very long time.
saturday, july 11, 2009
wow
i leave africa in 6 days.
that is crazy
i'm tired and i love it here and i want to stay and i miss my family all at once. i mean i've learned a lot and i think this trip will keep me going for a while. got some missions urging out of my blood.
what a cool job.
people and kids and blessing them and loving them the way that jesus would.
what a great call. i just love it!
today was pretty simple. to sum it up...
we slept in praise jesus!
finally we went to mark and kim's around 11. we all prayed together and then headed to a little german cafe for brunch. probably the best omelet i've had in africa so far. we looked silly coloring the pictures for a story time at fun day. then we loaded up and went to the missions house to pick up the giant inflatable! we had to pray away the bees in jesus' name because there were like millions of them surrounding the thing. but somehow, with the power of jesus we got that thing and went to the park.
we were already surrounded by kids. so we got down to some serious numbering and then spread them out all over the field with balls and jump ropes.
and then it all began.
we called their numbers. before they could bounce, becky and i had a short devotional and prayer time with them. told the story about the farm friends and the rat and his cheese and then geared them up for the inflatable.
repeat 6x
that's the day in a nutshell.
they were surprisingly good listeners.
maybe because i am an amazing story teller. but probably because we told them they could only go on the inflatable if they were good listeners. but i can believe otherwise.
so we wrapped it up, handed out some candy and utilized all of us to put that thing away!
becky and i rushed to our room to catch a quick nap-a habit of ours these days. and then we had dinner at the turney's.
i really enjoy that all the african missionaries have houses that look and feel african. i have only seen 3, but we are 3 for 3.
i ate way too much. it was soo good. caribbean-coconut rice, black beans, grilled chicken and butternut, mini corn muffins, and salad with honey lime dressing.
i really ate too much.
i am not going to eat for a month when i get home. but that shouldn't be a problem since i am also going to sleep for about that long.
we spent the next few hours planning the sunday service. we were pretty tired but somehow we made it through.
sunday, july 12, 2009
today i had the privilege of leading 11 african kids in a prayer to invite jesus into their hearts.
now that is a moment when you just know that you are in the right place.
when you can't help grinning from ear to ear and your heart is bursting with joy. not a huge stadium filled with kids or hundreds of them jumping on an inflatable... just 11 kids in the corner of a humble african church after service sitting around me, their little legs folded indian style and their huge dark eyes focused intently on mine. and little old me from boardman, ohio more than 8000 miles away from their world got to introduce them to jesus christ, the man who saved the whole world. wow. good moment.
but before that we had a service. we started the morning out with some prayer and frosted flakes before heading over to the church. this is the church where the wonderful and amazing auntie maureen is the kids pastor, faith assembly.
the service went pretty well. we talked about restoring relationships between husbands and wives, kids and their parents, and between us and God since it was a family service.
the game went much better than i expected considering it involved dish towels and balloons, the only resources we could stumble upon at 11 the night before ha ha.
but it actually taught a pretty good lesson.
the towel represented the relationship, and the balloon, love and respect. two people carried the balloon on a towel. you couldn't bend the towel because that was cheating and you don't want that in any relationship. and sometimes if you run too fast or get too busy you lose that love and respect and well then you just have to go back to the beginning or else everything falls apart. not too bad.
we may have stretched it just a little ha ha.
then there was some monkey of course and the relationship triangle with the change bag trick. the closer we get to God the closer we get to each other.
the memory verse had a song. of course.
it just happened to go with our theme!
"be ye kind one to another tender hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ sake hath forgiven you. ephesians 4:32" anyone who did awana (all you baptists out there) should know that one. that dates back to cubbies! i mean even the reference rhymes. God is good!
and although everyone makes fun of me for my endless supply of silly memory songs, they are pretty handy. just saying.
but really i know a song to remember just about anything.
after service we went to lunch with auntie maureen at the otjivambo game lodge. finally saw some ostrich-pretty creepy, not gonna lie.
oh and there were some caged flamingos... they were white. did you know they only turn pink because of some algae they eat? who knew? you learn something new every day i suppose.
we played on the african swings and waited for our food to come to our pretty table under a tree. it was a picture perfect african afternoon.
then to load everything up and head back to swakop. yes we have only lived here a week and we already call it swakop. don't judge us.
this time we used a trailer to look a little classier, but we still managed to shove 4 of us in that backseat.
we were so excited to get back to swakop! it's got to be an amazing place when you miss it after a week!
we finally got home and unloaded. then we rode in the boot with kim to pick up the pizza for dinner from western saloon. we just laid in the back and looked at the flawless black anvas of african night-you know these towns are small when we've already been to every restaurant-some twice! the waitress today rememberes us and our orders from tuesday! good service!
and just so you know, our version of a salad bar and theirs are two very different things. becky and i went inside and couldn't find it. so we asked a woman who looked puzzled at our question but finally led us to a table with two small bowls of salad on it.
anyways. we are back in swakop safe and sound and i am now addicted to the book, My sister's keeper. against my own rules... i started it without finishing the jungle. oh well it's a great book and highly recomended :)
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