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!