Sometimes Life Looks Like Death

When I first moved to Zambia I had no clue about plant life. Like, none. I had previously killed a rubber tree when my husband and I were first married, and they are known to be tough. It might've even been a fake one, I'm not sure.

Not that I've grown much in my knowledge of plants and how to keep them alive, but I have realised a few things. Specifically what new growth looks like.

I had never had mango trees or rose bushes in my yard anywhere I had lived before. So when I saw these brownish shoots on the plants, I thought they were dying. I wondered what had happened to make them sick and cause this problem.

Well, I was quickly taught by a friend (okay it was one of my kids) that those brownish bits were signs of growth, not death. There was nothing wrong with the plant. Those brown shoots would turn light green, and then eventually darken like the rest of the plant. I was so relieved!

I think a similar thing can apply to me spiritually. When new growth happens in my life, sometimes it looks like death. Death to my past, death to my will, death to my old ways of thinking, death to who I used to be, death to relationships that are harmful to me. And it's a continual process. I am always being molded and changed by the Holy Spirit in me, and encouraged to new growth and life.

It takes time. Just like that tree doesn't shoot up fully grown out of the ground, so my spiritual growth takes time. Salvation happens in an instant, but maturity in Christ is a process.

Something that looks like death, and maybe feels like death in the moment, is really life! It makes me stronger and able to produce more fruit. Growing pains are just that- painful. But it is so worth it to become who God is calling me to be.

Romans 6:4-7
(4)Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
(5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
(6) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
(7) For he that is dead is freed from sin.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Cream of Mushroom Soup:

A base for many soups and cassaroles, but something we cant get here. 

Cream of soups were one of the first things my mom figured out how to make from scratch. They are surprisingly easy to make! 

Melt butter in a small pot, and whisk in flour. 

Slowly pour in one cup of cream. Whisk it until it's smooth. Slowly pour in mushroom water or broth. Whisk it untill it's smooth. Add salt. Add mushrooms. Bring soup to a simmer, and allow it to thicken. Rememeber, the soup will thicken a little when it cools. Use like you would normally use cream of mushroom soup. 

If you want to make cream of broccoli soup, just substitute the mushrooms for broccoli! 

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! 

Amber Wells 

Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬

For more pictures and videos follow our Instagram 

Third Culture Cooking 

Stop A Bad Habit

Have you ever tried to stop a bad habit? I’ve recently tried to stop sitting with my legs crossed. It’s not easy! I never realized how often I do it until I tried to quit doing it. It’s not good for my lower back, or for the spider veins that want to develop in my right leg.

What I have to do every time I cross my legs is to uncross them, and remind myself- “You’re not doing that anymore, remember? Do you want your back to flare up?” And then I sit a different way. This happens so many times every day that I annoy myself.

I find it is much the same with any bad habit, or sin. We have to be willing to stop what we’re doing, and have an actual reason for not doing it anymore.

If we just think of sin is a bad habit, our reason for stopping may be as simple as worrying what people will think of us if it is revealed. That would be similar to the spider vein problem in my leg. It’s a surface issue that people won’t see unless I show them, but it isn’t really a long-term motivator to stop crossing my legs. It’s virtually invisible to anyone but me.

However, if we see sin as an offense to God, and something that prevents our communion with Him, that ought to be a reason to stop. I know how the pain in my back feels when it flares up. It is awful, and can last for several days, making simple things so much harder, and prevent me from sleeping well. I know that crossing my legs contributes to that pain. It’s a good motivator to stop doing it!

Just like sin. I know the feeling of how on-going sin makes things that should be simple, difficult. And the results of that lasts until I make it right with God. I don’t like the feeling of being separated from Him. I don’t want things to be hard because I am stubborn and can’t admit I am wrong and need His help. That separation is a good motivator for getting right with God!

Romans 6:11-13
(11) Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
(13) Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Salsa

Salsa 

Salsa is my family's favorite condiment! We could probably eat salsa for a meal! 

This is my grandma's canned salsa recipe. If you aren't a canner or don't have the equipment to can, don't let that turn you off to this recipe. 

You can still make this salsa, and freeze it. 

Combine ingredients and mix well. You may want to use a food processor if you don't like chunky salsa. 

Pour salsa into pint jars, and process for 55 minutes. 

If you don't can, you can still make this amazing salsa and freeze it. Just keep in mind that fresh tomatoes get a little funny when you freeze them, but canned tomatoes should do better. 

Combine all the ingredients except for the cilantro. Bring to a simmer in a big pot. Once salsa comes to a simmer, add cilantro, cool, and freeze in bags.

You can also just eat this fresh! Whenever my mom makes this salsa, my brothers and I sit at the table and eat the salsa by the spoonful! It's that amazing! 

I hope you enjoy this salsa! 

Let me know if you try this recipe, and if you made any changes, and what your thoughts are. 

For more pictures and videos, follow my Instagram page, Third Culture Cooking. 

Amber Wells 

Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬 

Assimilating Into a Culture

When a missionary moves to a new country, one thing that they begin to work on is assimilating into the culture.  This is not an easy task, but as time goes on, the missionary will start to notice that they are becoming more and more like the culture they are living in.  Such was the case with me at a certain language class activity.

One of the things that stands out with Japanese culture is a group mentality.  Most people don’t “think outside the box.”  They act as a group and don’t want to be rejected by their peers.  

At this language class activity, we were having a competition in the form of a quiz.  The answers were multiple choice.  You lined up in either line A, B, or C based on what you thought was the correct answer.  You scored points based on how many correct answers you had throughout the quiz.  

There was a question asked that I was 99.9% sure I knew the answer.  I even remembered having a conversation with a Japanese lady about it.  BUT I was the only person in my line.  I started to second myself.  I thought maybe the people in the other line knew more than I did about it, so I joined their line before time was called.  We were all wrong.  If I had stayed in my line, I would have been the only one with the correct answer!!!  

When I told my husband about this later, I told him, “I’m becoming Japanese.  I didn’t want to stand alone.”

As I thought about this over the next few days, I thought of the many spiritual applications to this situation.  The most obvious one is the fact that sometimes, if we want to stand for truth, we have to stand alone.  It may be easy to stand for truth and do what is right when you are with a group of like-minded peers, but what about when you have to stand alone?  Are we willing to take the stand or do we find ourselves giving in to fit in or be part of the group?  

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”  

~I Corinthians 15:58

*photo taken in beautiful Asuke in the fall

Self-ish

Have you ever struggled to find the right word to describe something, and there just wasn't one, so you added the suffix -ish to one that was close enough?

Such as:
How do you take your coffee? Sweet-ish
What would you call this color? Green-ish
Were you busy today? Busy-ish

You get the idea. These words are usually accompanied by a 'so-so' hand movement and a little side-to-side wiggle of the head, to show it's not too much of whatever word we're '-ish'ing.

-ish helps describe something to a certain extent. Not too much of something, but not nothing, either. Otherwise we would describe it differently.

But what about the word 'selfish'? I have never heard someone described as being self-ish.

What do you think of _________? Oh, she's self-ish. [Kind of all about herself, but not completely.]

It just doesn't happen. There's no hyphen in the word selfish.

The definition of selfish: Concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself : seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others.

It's interesting to see that when I am about myself, there is no kind-of about it. I'm all in. I can't be self-ish. I'm just selfish. There is no in-between.

When God interrupts my scheduled plans with an opportunity to bless someone else (that looks like inconvenience), or my kids need something from me for the fifty-hundredth time, or my idea gets implemented by someone else and no one knows I had anything to do with it, or...

We always have our own best interests at heart. Whether that be regaling others with stories of our successes at work or in ministry, gushing about our children's accomplishments (which also reflects positively on us), carefully crafting social media that only shows the positive...these things are all signs of selfishness. Trying to portray ourselves better than we really are.

Every day we are faced with choices of who we'll serve. And our attitude during that service is as much (or as little) an act of service as the action we perform. Grumbling and complaining about serving others is really about me not getting to do what I want. Dealing with difficult people in kindness to their face and then griping about them on the way home is really about me not liking to humble myself. Playing the martyr because 'no one else will do it if I don't' is really about me looking selfless to others. All of these are selfish behaviors that do not honor God.

When it comes down to it, I have to ask myself several questions about who I serve. How often do I choose me? How often do I choose others? How often do I choose God?

Lord help me not to be selfish! (or even self-ish!)

Proverbs 20:6 "Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?"

John 13:35 "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

Philippians 2:3-4 "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (4) Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."

Sweetened Condensed Milk & Corn Syrup

Sweetened Condensed Milk 

This is an ingredient in a lot of recipes, but it’s not always easy to find overseas. Or sometimes you’re halfway through making a recipe that calls for sweetened condensed milk, and you forgot that you used up the last can in your pantry last week... 🤷‍♀️ Don’t give up on those recipes, sweetened condensed milk is just a few ingredients away! 

Another great thing about this recipe is that you can customize it to your personal dietary needs (except those needing low or no sugar). You can use any milk for this... almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, skim milk, etc. And you can use any sweetener, as long as it will caramelize (sweeteners like Splenda or Stevia don’t caramelize, so sadly will not work for this recipe). 

Corn Syrup Substitute

This is another ingredient that is in a lot of recipes (especially around the holidays... stay tuned for some holiday recipes than use corn syrup!). As it is made with cane sugar, it's not a true corn syrup, but it is a good substitute.

-Kayleigh Dye