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!