Out of the Mouths of Babes

Children are so funny. What amazes me is that many times they are not even trying to be funny; they think they are just stating the facts.

Here in Ghana, the pronunciation of English words sometimes throws Bonnie for a loop. Several times, she was just sure that the way they pronounced a word at school was the way it was supposed to be. She is starting to figure out that there are some words that we just say differently. One morning, Bonnie said, “Mom, yesterday in school we learned about 'Matilda.'” I looked at her funny. She said, “You know, Mom; threads hold it together; we call it material!” 

Gilbert, our oldest son, turned eight recently. He had been eagerly awaiting his eighth birthday because Daddy said that he could have a pocket knife when he turned eight. He got a Swiss army knife for his birthday and was so excited about it. The day after his birthday, he was headed out the door for school. He said, “I just need to go take a little peek at my pocket knife to make sure that it is okay.”

In my 7 and under junior church class, we have been singing “Christ Arose” every week. One little boy who comes faithfully was sitting on the edge of the bench during that song. He was waiting for “He arose” in the chorus. When we got to that part, he belted out, “Re ahose!” It was so cute; I had a hard time continuing to sing. Every time we got to “He arose,” he sang, “Re ahose!” at the top of his voice.

One Sunday during Sunday School, Bonnie came up to me and said, "Mom, do you want me to say it in Fante for you after you say it in English?" She wanted to be my translator. The only problem is that her "Fante" is mostly words that she has made up.

On Mother's Day last year, Joe brought me breakfast in bed. Gilbert asked, “When is it boys' day?”

One day when I was making cupcakes, I had a little extra batter. So, I made a small cake with it. We were eating that for a snack. After everyone got a piece, there was still some left. I asked if anyone wanted a little sliver. I guess the kids had not heard the word "sliver" before. Bonnie said, "Mom, I'm eating my snorter." She was close!!

If you have a language blooper or some other funny story that you would like to share with us, please e-mail it to me at loconsford@gmail.com. Please include the name of each family member, your field of service, and a picture of your family if possible.

Until next week, keep your sunny side up!

6 Ways to Pray for your Man

Many know that my Prince Charming had to return to Jamaica ahead of us to carry on the work in the church we started.  It's been hard managing 5 kids by myself and keeping my sanity.  I miss my man terribly, but we talk often and send messages via our phones all the time.

{Between you and me} I treasure the sweet words and thoughts he sends that normally he wouldn't write down.  I now have proof he's just as romantic as I am!  No, I'm not going to share his tender side right now.  Those are for my eyes alone.  {Deep sigh}  Yep, I'm pretty stuck on him.

God has placed specific people in your life for a purpose.  If you are blessed to be married,  you have an even greater responsibility to this person who is your other half.  {Told you I was feeling mushy!} One part of being the wife God wants me to be is by praying for my husband.  Sadly, this is one area that I feel I have failed miserably.  I'm so blessed to have a Godly husband who loves me deeply and completely.  I don't take it for granted.  Being apart makes me more aware of the dangers and temptations a man is subjected to in this wicked old world.

1. Pray for his daily walk with the Lord and for him to keep up his personal prayer time.

2. Pray for God's blessing on his life.

3. Pray for God's hand of safety and protection over him.

4. Pray for his vision and dreams.

5. Pray for his purity.

6. Pray for his testimony and witness. 

Written by Maria
She and her family are missionaries in Jamaica. 

You can read more about them here.

Vacation Bible School - Point Cards

Well, I believe we have come to the end of our VBS posts. I have heard good comments about what I posted but no questions; so I am assuming I thought of it all! (Kidding!) I did read a comment about the point cards that I mentioned in the last post, and I promised to explain a bit more about what we found easiest to keep track of which team children are on after the cards are collected for the day. You see, during snack time we have someone gather the point cards so that they do not get in the children's way during game time, which is the last activity of the day. In order to still differentiate the teams, we purchased hair bands in the team colors for the children to wear on their wrists during games. 

Hair bands worn on the wrists during game time

Also, just for clarification on the point cards, the first few years we held VBS, we did not laminate the cards. We only had a few get torn and need to be replaced. This past year, we laminated them, and although they hold up well laminated, it did make it more difficult to punch the holes in them for points. It was not impossible, but it took a bit more time to punch them when they were laminated.

Here is a better photo of the point cards. There is just a place for the child's name at the top and then the point "stamps" to be punched as the children earn their points. 

I print them up four per sheet.

I accidentally printed up a pink sheet; but, don't worry, we didn't have a pink team! 

Also, I leave you with this photo below. 

It is the trash can beside my desk as I was working on last year's VBS program. 

It is just a pic to remind you that planning a VBS is a lot of work, requires a lot of preparation, a lot of paper, a lot of printing and copies, but it is a tremendous method to grow your Sunday school class and show the community what your ministry is about.

Thank you for reading these posts. I do pray they have been a help to you in some way. 

May God bless your efforts! They are not in vain!

"Suffer little children and forbid them not, to come unto me: 

for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 19:14

Resurrection Rolls and Other Fun Easter Recipes

Today, I have a collection of great recipes to make Easter a bit more memorable, and a bit more tasty, too!

First up is the Empty Tomb Cake that Jen mentioned last week. I mention this one first because it's what we do every year. My kiddos love it!

And if you aren't big cake eaters? What about resurrection cookies?  These meringue-type cookies are a great way to go if you like meringue and nuts; plus the recipe includes Bible verses for each step! {I'm also guessing that no matter what part of the world you are in, you should be able to get all the necessary ingredients!}

If you're looking for something really quick and have access to some more American-specific ingredients {or don't mind making all the parts from scratch.....of course, that wouldn't be very quick, would it!?!}, then maybe these Resurrection rolls are for you!

Resurrection Rolls

1 can crescent rolls {or equivalent dough if making from scratch}
1/2 c. butter, melted
large marshmallows
cinnamon
sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Give each child a triangle of crescent roll. The roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.
Read Matthew 27:57-61.
Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus.
Have him/her dip the marshmallow in the melted butter. This represents the oils of embalming.
Now dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar which represents the spices used to anoint the body.
Wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll {not like a typical crescent roll up, but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside.}
This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.
Place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. This represents the tomb {just pretend it is 3 days!}
Remove from oven and let rolls cool slightly.
The children can open their rolls {cloth} and discover that Jesus is no longer there, He is risen!
{The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.}
Read Matthew 28: 5-8.
Enjoy!

Just two more links, if you're feeling nostalgic for American Easter candy?
Use the Christmas Buckeyes recipes, but roll them like eggs ~ they taste just like Reese's eggs!
Needing a Cadbury Creme Egg? Make your own, or make some Cadbury Egg Fudge!

Have a beautiful Resurrection Weekend, ladies!

Missionary Monday - Meet Our Contributors

Last week we met Carole,

this week I'd like you to meet Tammy.

She writes our Thursday Thoughts

Hi! I'm Tammy, and I serve the Lord with my husband of 25 years in the country of Tanzania, East Africa. We have three children. Our boys are now adults and living in America. My daughter is a teenager and still living at home when she's not at missionary boarding school. We have been church planting missionaries for 17 years. My primary ministry over the years has been taking care of my husband and children. I had a vision of what my ministry would look like as I got older, but the Lord had something else in mind. I have chronic back pain, and the rutted roads cause me to limit my time being out and about. However, the Lord has shown me that my secondary ministry can mostly be done from my home. I informally disciple my worker, Pendo. (How we live before someone who is in our home daily can have a great impact.) I also hold monthly meetings for our pastor's wives. My desire is to help them in their role as a pastor's wife. I've found that as I build relationships with these women, they will come by, or text, asking for advice. There have definitely been challenges over the years, but God has been FAITHFUL! He is good - ALL THE TIME. I feel blessed with the privilege of serving my Lord. My blog: Tanzanian Tidbits

Easter Cake (Resurrection Sunday)

It has become tradition that every year for Easter Sunday we bake an Empty Tomb Cake.  I got the idea from Life as Mom.   Here is a photo if you're looking for a fun dessert for Easter:

I made it with a chocolate cake and peanut butter icing.

Baked it in a square pan and a circle pan, then cut the circle cake in half.

If you decide to make one, please share your photos!

And, just so you know, the soldier is facing face down because that's what Scripture says happened!

(The figures were purchased from Wal-Mart.  So glad I bought them when I saw them!)



A Downhill Day

Have you ever had one of those days when nothing seemed to go right? It seems to happen quite frequently on the mission field. Every day is a new adventure of some kind. Those "new adventures" do not always seem funny at the time that they are happening. In times like these, it helps to remember Proverbs 17:22: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the bones." Sometimes, I really struggle with discouragement; the devil knows that too.  The Lord is working in my life to help me to have that merry heart instead of a broken spirit.

This is how one day last week went for me. I started to make muffins for breakfast. After I had all of the dry ingredients in the bowl, I remembered that I was out of eggs. So, I decided to go with “sweet biscuits.” (Muffins use a lot more sugar than biscuits!) When remembering the biscuit recipe, I forgot to cut down the ratio of milk to flour; it was more like cake batter than biscuit dough. So, I went with plan C - a coffee cake. As I went to put it in the preheated oven, the gas bottle had run out. While trying to relight the oven, I burnt my thumb. About that time, the power went off for our next twelve-hour shift of load shedding. Then, I was getting the kids' lunches ready for school and knocked a glass jar off of the pantry shelf; it broke, of course.  All of that was before 7:00 in the morning; I knew it was going to be an interesting day!

My husband and I have been learning Fante, the tribal language in this area of Ghana. After our Fante lesson that day, our teacher, Teacher Adoko, wanted Joe to go with him to meet his wife’s family who had just arrived for a funeral. As they were walking down a pathway between rows of houses, people were greeting them in Fante as they went. An older lady was talking to them in Fante. Joe did not understand all that she said and just kind of nodded his head. (When we greet people in Fante, they automatically assume that we are fluent in Fante.  We are not to that point yet.) The next thing he knew, a very large young woman came running out of the house and picked him up. Apparently the older woman was trying to give him the younger woman. Joe was fighting tooth and toenail and yelling “Gyae!” (STOP!). Joe said that he did not think that a woman could pick him up, let alone run while carrying him down an alley! After a bit of a struggle, he got away. Teacher Adoko was in shock; all he could do was stand there with his mouth hanging open. We told him that people are always giving us marriage proposals when we are out and about; he thought people were just joking until then!

Our family with Teacher Adoko

There had been a propane shortage. We had left our bottles at the filling station. Joe was going to stop by and pick up our bottles on the way home. I had been holding off on washing a big load of socks because I was hoping to dry them in the dryer. Joe came home without any gas bottles; they ran out of propane before our bottles were filled. By that time, I was in tears. Looking back, it was a silly thing to cry about; many people do not even have a dryer! But sometimes women are just silly like that! Joe helped me hang the load of socks out on the clothesline. As we finished hanging the load, it began to thunder. I said that it would just be my luck for it to start raining! My husband was chuckling at the whole situation, but he really laughed when I said that it would probably rain; he even made me smile. Thankfully, the rain held off.

As we were sitting at the supper table that night, our son Gilbert was talking about playing “King of the Mountain” with some other boys. Joe told him that he should be careful so that he did not break an arm or something. Gilbert replied, “Well, I almost broke my bottom!” At that point, we could not help but laugh. We laughed so hard that we cried. When all else fails, laugh a little!

If you have a language blooper or some other funny story that you would like to share with us, please e-mail it to me at loconsford@gmail.com. Please include the name of each family member, your field of service, and a picture of your family if possible.

Until next week, keep your sunny side up!

Fellowship Fridays - Today's Devotional

Today, I'm sharing a post written by Patty  This post was an encouragement to me as a missionary wife, and I hope it will be a blessing to you as well!

Faithful

It's raining outside, and all is quiet.

The kiddos are in bed, sleeping in the coolness that comes with slow, night-long rains.

My hubby sits beside me reading a book.

And I?

I stare at a screen and wonder.

I think about life and what it is I actually do.
Yes, I'm a missionary.
But what do I do on a daily basis that really makes a difference?


Today I helped my kiddos get ready for the day;
I changed dirty baby bedding, because I didn't get a clean diaper on littlest fast enough;
I dealt with a sisterly show of exuberance that ended in a split lip and blood everywhere;
I calmed my hubby down after he came home to find his files trashed all over the floor by the little one while mommy was cleaning up the blood;
I schooled my girls even though we are all quite ready for a bit of a break; 
I washed six loads of laundry as we actually had both water and electricity today;
I put up and took down all laundry as a storm came in an hour after it all got hung;
I cooked food;
The girls helped me make a treat for Daddy;
We worked on an Easter craft together;
I cleaned up the never-ending mess in the kitchen;
I scrubbed down the stove and the walls behind it and the floor under it as something wasn't smelling very pleasant.
In other words......I lived.


But did I?


Written out like that, it doesn't seem like much.
It certainly doesn't seem like enough to warrant the title of "missionary work."
Anybody could do what I'm doing, right?!?


I'm not famous.
I haven't written any books.
I don't have thousands of people who "follow" me. 
I don't have a house full of orphans.
I don't take care of AIDS patients.
Nobody really knows my name.
I don't think I wear the title Radical like so many are talking about nowadays.


But is any of that the goal?
Is it my goal?

The longer I think about it, the more I'm reminded of what my desire must be....

1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 

Was I faithful?
Was I faithful to be a missionary at home first?
Was I faithful to love my children?
Was I faithful to speak truth to my family?
Was I faithful to the duties that have been entrusted to me?
Was I faithful to my husband in loving and serving him?
Was I faithful to serve my loved ones with a happy heart?
Was I faithful to give my all and rest in His goodness and grace to work through my failures?


Written out like this?
Maybe it does sound like missionary work.
And maybe I am the only one who can do what I'm doing....
because I'm the one who's been called to this work.


And it doesn't matter if I'm famous.....if I'm faithful.
And I don't have to write a book....to be found faithful.
And I don't need thousands of people to "follow" me.....just those I'm supposed to lead.
And I don't have to take care of a house full of orphans....just those I've been entrusted with.
And I don't have to take care of AIDS patients.....just the dear ones God places in my path.
And no one needs to know my name.....if I'm just a faithful steward.
And maybe that's what being radical is all about......being found faithful to do all that is asked of me.


So I guess I've answered my own question with a question....
It is not, "Did I make a difference?".....
but,"Have I been faithful?"
And only God can help me answer that.

Vacation Bible School - Using a Point System

Hello again! If you are dropping in this week we are talking about a great way to use a point system and keep track of it throughout the week of your Vacation Bible School program. 

I can tell you that every day of every VBS program we have held, the day's activities begin with a registration time. We set up two tables labeled for each age group - one for the younger children (ages up to 8) and one for the older children (ages 9 and up). This 30-45 minutes is the time when as the children arrive they can report to the registration tables, giving us their name, worksheet from the previous day, quote their Bible verse, and report/register any visitors they invited and brought with them for that day. 

One of the first things to consider is how YOU will keep track of attendance and  of how many points each child earns throughout the week. 

Here is a basic chart that I designed to fit our VBS point system. It is basic but it works for me! One added advantage that I had was obtaining a list of students from the local school so that I could enter in the children's names even before we held our first VBS. This saved us time by not having to write all of their names in each year. 

As you can see there are the point categories for Attendance, Bible Verse, Activity Sheet, Visitor, and Participation. I also added a "Note" section to the far right for any additional information including the name of their visitor so we can be sure everyone is counted for and points are awarded to those who invited them.

We print up two copies of these sheets - one for the younger age group and one for the older age group. I take these sheets home at the end of each day and use them in tallying the daily points to be punched onto the children's point cards.

As you can see in this photo below, each child is wearing a card that corresponds to his team color (we usually divide the children up into two teams.) At the top of the card is a place for the child's name. Then below the name are "point stars" of (in this case) 10 points value each. Each day the child attends VBS, he is  given this card to wear for the day until game time so that he too can see his progress and be excited about how many points he earns throughout the week. Let me add that the children only receive these cards beginning on the second day. Everyone who comes for the first time (no matter what day) receives points for attendance, Bible verse, and the activity sheets. We do this to give those who can only attend one day a few points to be able to purchase something from the "store" at the end of the week.

Each day during snack time, we gather these point cards, and I take them home to use a hole puncher and punch the points on each card once I have tallied the child's points for each day. It is a bit time consuming, but I think it is important to do things orderly, and it is also so exciting for the kids each day to see more holes punched in their point cards!

The last day is quite busy as you must take time during the day's activities to add up the rest of the points earned from that last morning's registration and add it into the totals. That way the children have all of their points tabulated and you can reward those who invited the most guests, memorized the most verses, and then give them ALL of their points to spend in the "store"!

VBS 2010 - Some of the children with prizes they bought with their points

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like me to better explain some aspect of these posts so far about planning a VBS program. I look forward to hearing from you!

Easter Craft Ideas for Sunday School



(Photo Source)

With Easter (Resurrection Sunday) just around the corner, many of you (like me!) are looking for craft ideas for your Sunday School class.  We have a board on Pinterest (click here) where we are pinning craft ideas for Sunday School and Children's Church, but I thought I'd bring some over here to share with those of you not on Pinterest.  Click photos for direct link to original site.

I remember making one of these when I was a kid!

I did this one last year with my class

and plan to do it again this year.

(Free printable!)

(Free Printable!)

These are just a few ideas I've found on Pinterest.  Here is a link to our Pinterst page.  We'd love for you to follow us!

Meatballs and Gravy

I'm not a big "gravy" girl.
Mashed potatoes and gravy?
No, thank you. I like mine with butter only!
Turkey and gravy?
Nope, I like mine with just salt and pepper!
Meat loaf and gravy?
No, again! I like mine smothered in ketchup.

But my hubby?
He loves brown gravy......in fact, I think he'd eat it a lot.....if I made it!
Since I don't like gravy, I rarely think of making it.
Since my hubby is such a great guy, he doesn't get upset about it.
Every once in a while though, I remember that he likes gravy.
Then, I remember that even though this dish is a gravy dish, we both like it!
Score!!!

Meatballs & Gravy

1 1/4 lbs. ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 c. unseasoned bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. Italian seasoning (split into two 1/2 tsp. measurements)
1/2 tsp. black pepper (split into two 1/4 tsp. measurements)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 c. sliced mushrooms
2 Tbsp. flour
1 can beef broth (14 1/2 oz.)
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix beef, egg, bread crumbs, garlic salt, 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.
Form into balls, about a tablespoonful each.
Place on greased broiler pan.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat.
Add onion and mushrooms and cook 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally or until lightly browned.
Sprinkle flour over mixture, stir and cook 1 minute.
Gradually stir in broth until flour is completely mixed into broth.
Add remaining Italian seasoning, pepper, and nutmeg.
Add meatballs to skillet, reduce heat to medium-low.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Serve over noodles.

Alternative for when you are short on time

Instead of making meatballs, season ground beef with 1/2 tsp. garlic salt, 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.

Cook ground beef on medium-high heat until no longer pink in the middle.

(You will not need the egg or bread crumbs.)

Make the gravy as directed, adding the cooked ground beef to the skillet instead of the meatballs.

Cover, simmer, and serve over noodles as per directions above.

Enjoy!

Missionary Monday - Meet our Contributors

Happy Monday!

I'm going to take the next few Mondays to introduce you to our contributors,

 just in case you don't know who is posting!

This blog is written for missionary women around the world

by missionary women around the world.

Please meet Carole.  She writes our Fellowship Friday posts.

I'm Carole Shull, missionary wife in Greenland. When I promised my almost-fiancé that I'd follow him to the end of the world, little did I know he'd take me up on it! We were married in the year 2000, took our honeymoon to Greenland, and I've been on Top of the World ever since! We were continually met with closed doors when we applied for Greenland; so we followed God's leading and moved to Iceland for a short period of time. It was there that the Lord miraculously opened up the door to Greenland for us and has continued to do the impossible ever since. Our motto has been "With God All Things Are Possible," and we're living proof of that! Now the door to Greenland is open to other Baptist Missionaries, and we wait in anticipation to see what God has in store for this oft forgotten country.

We are blessed with five children, Christopher (10), Anna (9), Emilía (6), Jonathan (5) and Mattaliina (1). Living in a small, isolated town far above the Arctic Circle has been an adventure that we wouldn't trade for anything! We home school our children and are working hard on learning two difficult languages and building relationships. We love the people God has called us to and strive to see souls saved and lives changed for HIS Glory! You can read more about our life in the North on my blog Arctic Adventures -

http://arctic-adventures.blogspot.com/

Sunny-Side-Up Saturdays

During our Sunday night service, we go over the Bible reading for the week as well as our memory verse.  Then, we have some sword drills before the message.  Danny (6) is still figuring out where the books of the Bible are; therefore, he is not too speedy.  Joe called out, "Haggai 1:5."  Danny said, "That's not even in my Bible!"

During supper the other night, Gilbert (7) said, “Mom, on the way home today, we saw a white man working on a tractor, and he was cigaretting.” Danny said, “There’s no such word as cigaretting, Gilbert.” We do not see many white people here or borɔnyi as the people here call the white man. (The Fante word for white man is pronounced “brony.”) I had not really thought about the fact that we do not see many people smoking here either until Gilbert told me this story.

Bonnie (4) can sound out and spell three-letter words now. She has been saying, “M-o-m” instead of “Mom.” Sometimes she spells something that is not a word, but she still thinks that we should know exactly what she is talking about. The other day, she said, “Mom, can I have a ‘p-h-r’?” I asked her what that was; she said, “You know, a snack!” When we were getting ready for church the other night, she said, “What about my 'g-h-o'?” She needed help finding her shoes. I should have known!

Bonnie, Danny, and Gilbert Consford

This week, we have a couple stories from some other ladies as well. The first one is from Rebecca Lantz in Uganda. She and her husband Lawrence have six children: Naomi (15), Hannah (13), Daniel (12), Lydia (11), Martha (7), and Luke (5).

When Rebecca's husband was first learning the tribal language of Ateso in Uganda, he had learned how to introduce himself. He knew how to say, “Hi, my name is Lawrence, and I am a pastor.” The word for “pastor” is “ecokon,” and the word for “chair” is “eicolong.” Once when introducing himself, he said, “Hi, my name is Lawrence, and I am a chair.” He did not figure out until later what he had said and why he was getting so many strange looks.

We also have a story from Cynthia Pape. She and her husband Chad are missionaries on deputation to Northern Dominican Republic. They have four children. Cynthia blogs at papes2dr.blogspot.com if you would like to follow along.

They were at their first out-of-town meeting on deputation. They were in a large church, and Cynthia felt small and lost. Her husband was greeting the church people; her three oldest children were at the playground with friends. She was manning the display table with her three-year-old son Steven. As she was talking to some ladies, she heard a child screaming, “PEOPLE, PEOPLE…WE NEED YOUR MONEY!” She broke out into a cold sweat while praying that it was not one of her children. She turned around to find her son Steven holding a coffee cup and screaming again, “PEOPLE, PEOPLE…WE NEED YOUR MONEY!” About that time, she was wishing that she could melt right into the ground. Everyone in the foyer stopped and looked at this little missionary kid who was begging for money. She snatched him up, held him, and tried to laugh off her embarrassment. They had recently watched The Little Rascals. One of Steven's favorite scenes in the movie was when the children were begging for money after their clubhouse burned down. Whenever he finds an empty coffee cup, he knows what to do!

If you have a language blooper or some other funny story that you would like to share with us, please e-mail it to me at loconsford@gmail.com.  Please include the name of each family member, your field of service, and a picture of your family if possible.

Until next week, keep your sunny side up!

Vacation Bible School - Tips for Inviting Children and to Keep Them Coming Back!

Hello! We are back again this week to discuss more about planning a fun and successful Vacation Bible School. By the way, what makes a VBS program successful? In my opinion, you can count it successful if you are able to make contact with new children that have never attended your Sunday school class and if you have met a few parents as well! After all, that is the goal - to meet new children and parents, praying that they might begin attending services and come to Christ! A more open and relaxed atmosphere like a week of VBS provides a wonderful opportunity for the community to see what you are all about and how you work with their children.

One important rule to guide you throughout the program - 

What if a stranger came knocking on YOUR door to invite YOUR child to attend a daily Bible school? 

Think about it!

What would you like to see in that person or in the way he invited your children? 

What are some things that might cause you not allow your children to attend?

Thinking about the situation from the parent's perspective helps us better understand any hesitation we might receive from parents or children. It also helps us think more seriously about how we will go about inviting children to attend.

I believe the best way to invite children and actually have some attend is to walk around the village/city and hand out flyers, hang up posters, and do your best to meet the parents. We even gave out candy or balloons with the invites as well just for effect. The kids become much more interested when they see a big bunch of balloons walking around!

Our daughter (2007) ready to walk through the village
and hand out invites to our first VBS!

When you are walking around and not in a car, you are less intimidating and more approachable for anyone to come up to you and take an invitation or inquire about the VBS program. Obviously, you may need to drive to an area due to the distance away from your church or area where the VBS will be held, but then get out and walk around a bit so you can personally hand out invitations to children and parents.

Another great encouragement to help the kids get excited about coming out as well as bringing new visitors during the week is a point system. We have used a point system every year, and it is a great motivator. Here is the general breakdown we use...

Attendance

Memorizing Daily Memory Verse

Bringing Worksheets back each day

Participation

Bringing a First-time Visitor

VBS 2007

The point values can be determined based upon your needs/plans. One determining factor for us is that we have a "store" at the end of the week where the children can spend their points to purchase toys and small items. Usually, on Thursday evening, my husband and I pull out all of the items so that we can give them "prices" based on the number of points the children have earned during the week. We do this in order to be sure that every child can take something home, even if he was only able to attend one day during the week. 

Preparing the store - VBS 2012

VBS 2009 Store

Another idea that we tried this past year with our Olympic theme was to award the first, second, and third place winners for most verses memorized and most visitors brought. These children were rewarded with gold, silver, and bronze medals. This was a great idea to me, and I think we will implement it into future VBS programs even though we will use other themes besides the Olympic theme.

Scripture Memorization winners (2012).
They were wet from playing water games!

I will leave you with one more piece of advice in using a point system. You must have a very organized method to keep track of each child's daily points.
This gives us great material for next week's VBS post! 

See you then!

Chicken & Biscuit Pie

 

Do you like chicken pot pie?

I do!

When I was growing up, my mother rarely bought pre-fab food, but every once in a while, when the little pot pies were on sale, she'd buy them. We only got to eat them when we had a baby sitter, but oh, how I looked forward to them!

Now that I'm grown, I love the IDEA of pot pies, but I'll be honest, I'm still working on my pie crust techniques. Until I found this recipe, I just dreamed of those cute little guys I used to love to eat.

A biscuit topping!?! I can do that.....mom taught me to make biscuits when I was big enough to hold the fork and bowl and cut in the butter!

No more dreaming of pot pie, now I dream of eating it!

Chicken & Biscuit Pie

Filling:

4 Tbsp. butter

1 c. onion, finely chopped

1 rib celery, finely chopped OR celery seed/salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp.)

1/3 c. flour

1 1/2 c. chicken stock

1 1/2 c. whole milk

1/2 tsp. dried sage

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

2 1/2 c. cooked chicken, diced or shredded

2 c. vegetables of your choice (frozen or leftovers)

salt and pepper

Topping:

2 c. flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 c. cold butter, cut into 1/4-in. pieces

3/4 c. milk

Melt the butter on the stove top in a large oven-safe pot. 

Stir in the onion and celery, then cover the pan and cook them for 7-8 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Add the flour, stirring for 1-2 minutes to lightly brown it. 

Whisk the chicken stock into the pan. 

When it starts to thicken, whisk in the milk.

Add the sage, thyme, chicken, and vegetables, continuing to stir until the mixture is heated through, about 5-7 minutes.  

Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Remove the pan from the stove top and heat the oven to 375 degrees. 

Meanwhile, make the biscuit topping by combining the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl.

Add the butter and use your fingertips to rub it into the dry ingredients.  

Add the milk and stir briskly, just until the dough pulls together. 

Flour your work surface and turn the dough onto it.

Using floured hands, knead the dough 2 or 3 times; then flatten it to about 1/2-in. thick.

Using a small round cutter, cut the dough into biscuits and place as many as will fit, barely touching, on top of the filling. 

Bake the pot pie until the biscuits are golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 20-30 minutes. 

Let it cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy! 

Sunny-Side-Up Saturdays

This week, we have some stories from Donna Schepers. She and her husband Stewart are missionaries in the Dominican Republic. They have 4 children: Delayna 15, Julianna 13, Seth 6, and Jesse 5. She blogs at http://donnasdominicandaily.blogspot.com/ if you would like to follow her blog.

The boys, or maybe it is just Jesse, really keep us entertained. That entertainment doubled while we were traveling on furlough! Jesse pointed out every stop sign; and when it was a large sign, he yelled (at the top of his lungs), “STOP!” He also pointed out all the "oil pumper" things (oil wells), and he got very excited any time that he saw a train. He also asked, "How many more aisles (miles) until we are there?"

We were at my mom's house, and my boys just about gave her a heart attack. I was in the room packing, and I thought the boys were playing with Delayna outside. All of a sudden, my mom started screaming, "SOMEONE HELP THE BOYS; HURRY!" I took off running, not sure what was wrong. What had happened was that Delayna had come inside, and the boys had gone up to the top of the hill and gotten in my mom's utility wagon and were riding down the hill in it (through a maze of trees with a ditch and a road at the bottom). Somehow they had stopped halfway down, and Seth was about to give a push to get them going again when I got out there and stopped them. My mom was sick the rest of the day. I told her that now she knows how I feel daily!

One night in a motel, Seth was lying on the bed looking up at the fire sprinkler in the ceiling and said, "Don't tell me that is the fan!" He is so used to ceiling fans; he thought that was a very small one!

Then, we were at our first meeting at a supporting church. I was talking to the pastor's wife, who was very pregnant, and Jesse almost punched her in the stomach. I told him not to do that and said that she had a baby in there so he needed to be careful. He squatted down and looked up under her shirt; then, he stood up and said, "She does not have a baby in there!" I was trying not to crack up!

Stu was fixing a pipe. In the middle of cutting it, his saw broke, and water started pouring out everywhere. He was frantically trying to get it stopped, and Jesse walked up and said, "Dad, what were you thinking!?" You can't tell what we ask him all the time, can you?

Then we have Seth, the quieter one. He was praying for lunch the other day, and in the middle of his prayer said, "Lord, please help Jesse to close his eyes while I am praying."

Thank you for those stories, Donna! I really enjoyed them.

If you have a language blooper or some other funny story that you would like to share with us, please e-mail it to me at loconsford@gmail.com.

Until next week, keep your sunny side up!

Vacation Bible School - Getting It on Paper

Hello again! I hope you are joining us again this week as we talk more about the planning of a schedule for a VBS program on your mission field. If you missed last week's post, I advise you to read it since it gives more information regarding the first steps of planning. This week, I hope to help you get all the ideas flooding your mind onto paper so that you are well prepared for the week of VBS to arrive!

One of the first things we must talk about is the THEME of your VBS program. Now, as I told you in the previous post, my husband and I hold a week long program in the summer; so I will use a week-long program as the example. Remember, you can hold a VBS program anytime of the year as long as you can be sure the children are free to attend. We have been dreaming of a winter program as well, but we have some work to do before we have a building where that could take place!

Back to the THEME. This is one of the most fun things about planning, but it also requires a whole lot of time and thought. I will say one thing here that might surprise you! It is great if you have a theme with daily lessons that flow beautifully and oh, so smoothly, but honestly...the kids don't care as much about that as you do! Please don't misunderstand me. It is great to have a theme, but sometimes we get so wrapped up in the theme that we forget to strive EACH day to use the story or lesson, no matter what it may be, to teach and share the Gospel. Also, it is not always easy to translate or convey our American 'play on words' in the daily themes; so be aware of not making your decor and ideas too "American." Now, I want to share a few themes that we have used here in Russia in our VBS programs. The details are too lengthy to list in this post; so if you would like any more information regarding these themes, please feel free to contact me at:  danddsterling@juno.com

2007: Jesus Gives Salvation - Verse: Luke 19:10
2008: Jesus Is the Light - Verse: John 8:12
2009: Bible - A Living Book!
2010: How Decisions We Make Today Affect Our Future - this was not printed any where on the flyers or worksheets, but each day we taught about important decisions that affect our lives, i.e., Choosing proper friends, Listening to good advice, etc.
2011: The Heart - Verse: Proverbs 4:23
2012: Olympic Theme

Once you have a theme, you must decide on a DAILY  SCHEDULE of events. This is remembering that you have already determined a daily time frame which you need to be sure you can fill completely with activity but not go over. Remember: Plan to keep the children busy at all times.
Busy children = control!
Here are the activities we include daily in our schedule:
*Registration (we will talk more about this later)
*Introduction/point tabulation time
*Song time
*Bible lesson
*Review game
*Craft time
*Snack time
*Game time
*Object Lesson (we haven't done this every year)
*Dismissal time - gives you a few minutes to hand out worksheets/remind children to invite friends and come back the next day.

VBS 2008 Puppet show

The first couple of years, we also had a daily puppet show to help drive home the point of the day's theme. Puppets are a great way to keep the kids coming back each day by having their dialogue or story continue throughout the week. Also, if you do not have access to puppets, skits are another wonderful tool to help illustrate the daily lessons or themes.

At this point, you will do yourself a huge favor if you take the time now to determine:
your logo for the program which will be used in the printing of the flyers and worksheets,
each song to be sung,
each Bible lesson (obviously this is the skeleton that you build everything around),
daily worksheets (if you plan to use them),
a daily review game,
a daily craft,
plan the snacks and drinks for each day (and who will bring them),
and four or five daily games (always plan for more than you need, just in case).

Trust me! Making all of these decisions now will be such a relief to you as the coordinator. It will give you more time during the week for all of the last minute problems you may have to fix, allow you more time to tally points (if you choose to use a point system), and allow you to focus more on any teaching you may be doing during the week. (Sometimes the coordinator wears many hats!)

Now that all of these decisions have been made, you can begin the paperwork part of preparing:
*Flyers and posters to be printed.
*Songbooks (will they be printed professionally? by you? What will be the cover design?)
*Daily worksheets (more to come on this in future posts)
*Verse lists for the children to have a concise list of all the verses they will hopefully memorize throughout the week!

Now, once you have jotted down some notes regarding which activities you wish to include each day of VBS, print out copies of that daily schedule for each of your workers. Here is an example at the end of this post of one for you to see from a previous VBS we held. I translated most of the important information for you into English. 

Please stick with me as we continue next Wednesday talking more about VBS! Again, if you have any questions or would like to know more about anything in these posts, please write me. I would love to hear from you!

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VBS – Day 1

Jehosophat  - Choose your friends wisely.  

Memory Verse: Proverbs 13:20 - “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”

“Общающийся с мудрыми будет мудр, а кто дружит с глупыми, развратится.”

________________________________________________________________________________________

Программа (Program):

1.         Регистрация - Foyer        (Dee/Nancy and Lydia)   20 мин. (11:00 – 11:20)

2.         Предисловие-Main Hall  (David/Dee)                    30 мин.  (11:20 – 11:50)

Молитва (Prayer)   (David)

Explanation of Points (Dee)

                        Song of the Week: “Мы Бодрей на Жизненном Пути Пойдём ”

Object Lesson: (Dee)

Songs: (Dee) “Если Счастлив”, “Да Любит Он!”, Счастлив Я Всегда! 

                                                                        Divide into groups

Younger 6-8 years (Lydia/Dee) – smaller auditorium

Older 9-up years (David/Nancy) - main auditorium

3.         Lesson – Jehosophat/Verse: Proverbs 13:20               15 мин.  (11:50 – 12:05)

4.         Review Game: (Nancy-Older kids/Lydia-younger) 15 мин.  (12:05 – 12:20)

**AFTER LESSON YOUNGER KIDS SENT IN TO MAIN AUDITORIUM FOR SONGS**

(Nancy, Lydia, Elizabeth - set up for snacks in foyer while Dee sings with kids)

Соединить (Regroup)   - Everyone in foyer for snacks

5.         Snack time         Gather point cards                10 мин.  (12:20 – 12:30)

 (Nancy, Elizabeth, Lydia - Set up for craft in smaller auditorium)

6.         Craft:  Friendship - Hands (Everyone help as needed)   30 мин.  (12:30 – 13:00)

7.         Games  (David, Nancy, Elizabeth, Lydia)                        45 мин. (13:05 –13:50)     

8.         Dismissal  Main auditorium                                          5-10 мин.  (13:50 – 14:00)

                        

          Домашнее задание  (Give out homework sheets)

                        Молитва (Prayer)       (David)