"What Do You Eat?"

We have received this question so many times, and as promised, I'll answer it here. Fortunately, because we both work *very* full time jobs, we have a sweet gal who comes to help us prepare food three mornings/week. Sarah bleaches all our fruits and vegetables, keeps us stocked with homemade English muffins, tortillas, and other yummies. (She also spoils Jon with chocolate chip cookies. But since we are about out of chocolate chips-can't find them here-he'll be out of luck soon.) Jollof rice is our staple. It is made with stewed tomatoes, peppers, carrots, beans or peas, spices, a hint of lemon and rice, of course. Kinda like a cross between fried rice and Mexican rice.



There are many things available here that we just haven't tried-for various reasons. We haven't had bush meat (that we know of) yet. (Photo is of two bush meat sellers-tails still intact on cut up meat! Lovely!) Don't care for tongue. Termites haven't been part of our diet, but have seen them eaten. Dried fish makes me nauseated to pass by it, much less eat it. I have eaten a few pieces of meat that I KNOW was something strange. Didn't ask, ate to not offend. Didn't ask for seconds, tho. I love walking through the meat market. Such a wild place. Active butchering on the spot, not a clean spot, but right in front of you. Chickens sold live. Wild, I tell you, wild place, but so fun to watch. (I think Naomi and I are the only ones in the family that would choose to spend a Saturday watching the butchering.)

Fruits and vegetables are readily available here. We have an abundance of lettuce, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, and cucumbers. Fruit is seasonal, but we can always get bananas, plantains, oranges, watermelons, pineapples, and pawpaws (better known as papaya in the states-Naomi's favorite!) The trees in our own yard give us mangos, mandarin oranges, grapefruit, avacado, and tangerines. Apples are very expensive. We are learning to make smoothies and enjoy them for breakfast on the run.

We buy many eggs each week from our neighbor. They are very fresh (and still a bit dirty), but we don't even put them in the fridge. They are not the pure yellow yoked ones we had in the states. The eggs here have a pinkish tint to them.

We make our own yogurt and use it for sour cream, frozen yogurt, Ranch dressing, etc. We make our own syrup. We buy handpounded peanut butter (but the girls have LOVED the peanut butter sent to us!)

Although eggs are readily available, chickens are very expensive. We pay $15-20 for one chicken and by the time it is plucked and cooked, there isn't a ton of meat. We rarely splurge anymore for chicken. Just too expensive.

Beef is also expensive. We tend to stick with soups, salads, veggies for meals. For lunches, unless we pack, there are two options available at the huts outside: pototoes and suya. Suya is beef grilled on a stick, usually served with sliced onions. Potatoes are peeled, sliced and deep fried in oil. Nice. I will often opt for potatoes if I didn't bring lunch. They are cheap and filling. I have packs of ketchup I take along to make them "healthier"-HA! If we pack lunches, it is almost always peanut butter and jelly, left overs, veggies and Ranch dip, or some Endomie (Ramen noodles).

Someone sent us a few packets of Bear Creek (I think this is the name) soup mix. Oh, my....these are SO good, especially the broccoli and cheddar one! We have really enjoyed these type of mixes to be able to throw together after a long day at school. Each time we use one, we are ever so grateful for the person who sent it and we think if how easy food prep is in the states. Fast meal prep isn't available here, or it is SO expensive. For example, cold cereal (such as Rice Krispies) runs anywhere from $12-20/box. Cake mix is about $9-15/box. Crazy import prices.

So, much of our food is similar to what we were used and we are experimenting with some new revised recipe each week. We do miss Doritos, a good steak, Oreos, ice cream, crackers, bacon, chocolate chips, etc. However, we love the availability of fruits and veggies. (As you can see, we miss some quite unhealthy foods!)

Hope this gives you an idea of what we have here to eat. We have much more than we thought we would. We are thankful for the blessings of abundance of many things. I promise, if you come to visit us, we will feed you well. And no termites for a snack unless you order them!

Dancing with the Stars

Never watched the show on ABC, but we had our own version at Hillcrest Friday night. About 75 middle schoolers gathered together for the annual party. There was lots of food-from roasted kidney to spring rolls, cookies to French Silk Pie (gotta get that recipe)....yum! The food occupied one room.
Another room was dedicated to board games. I saw quite a few kids also playing twister in there.
One room had video games hooked up to TVs. This room stayed well occupied during the duration of the evening.
Then there was the dance floor! Lights out, lots of lamps on though (as many as we could find!) I really enjoyed watching the kids have fun. Typically, the boys usually stayed on one side of the room, girls on the other, all chairs around the edge of the room were occupied by those that just wanted to watch. At one point there was a "dance off" in the center of the room. This was quite entertaining.
Over all, I think fun was had by all. After cleaning everything up and packing up the step downs, lamps, Ipod, transformers, etc., we headed home and crashed. Mattie was the only one of our girls who was eligible to go. She said she had lots of fun.

Jon and Lauren are off for a Purity Retreat with most of the high school kids. Friday morning is Field Day for elementary school. Naomi is so excited about all the activities-especially the water slide! Friday night, the entire eighth grade class will descend upon our house for a night of games and food. Then, as if we haven't had enough excitement, the 10th grade class (Lauren's) is hosting a carnival at school on Saturday. The next weekend is the 7th grade campout. Jon, another teacher and I will take 32 kids camping. Due to high level of security concerns, we won't be able to take them far out as we had hoped, but we expect to have a really good time. Mom brought in Hershey bars, graham crackers and marshmellows when she came out. We've been very disciplined and not touched them-just waiting to make s'mores on the campout!

Thank you for all your emails. Many of you have had questions for me to answer on the blog. I'll try to get around to each of these questions in the next few weeks. If you have other things you would like to know about life here, I'll do my best to answer.

Please keep the political situation here in your prayers. We are gearing up for elections over the next few months.

Out our window

In a blog about blogs, I was given the idea for this post. You can see the challenge here:

http://www.missionary-blogs.com/200702.html#e110

All of our windows here have bars on them, both vertical and horizontal bars for security. The windows are louver windows, which allows the air to come through, but not the rains. We are moving into the end of dry season (haven't had rain for months..not even a tiny drop.) So...that is what our windows are like. *The window in the picture is Naomi's-as you can see, her curtains are pink. Actually, ALL three of the girls' curtains are hot pink.

When we look out our back windows we see the big mango tree. It is loaded with fruit, slowly ripening. We have just found out that Naomi is allergic to mango skin. Poor kid-she eats fruit every day and is mourning her inability to be able to grab one of the thousands on this tree in a few weeks.

Now you know what we see out our back window...along with our water tanks, banana trees, orange trees, etc. Even in the dry season, there is much beauty around.

Busy few weeks coming up. Tonight is the middle school party at school-rooms filled with food, board games, computer games and a big room for dancing. Guess what I am in charge of? HINT: I am REALLY out of my comfort zone for this responsibility! tee hee hee Yep, I am in charge of the dance room. Fortunately a "Middle School Dance" usually looks like kids just sitting around the edge of the room while a few play around in the middle while loud music pumps in the background.

Jon and Lauren head out in the morning for a Purity Retreat. Jon is one of the mentors and Lauren is attending with many of her classmates. Mattie, Naomi and I are bunkering down for the weekend and enjoying some "girl time" together.

Off to get ready for the big par-tay! Hip Hip Horray!

Taking the Bull by the Horns

On Saturday, Jon headed out of town to a Fulani camp about 50 minutes away with a few guys and nurses. Fulani are nomadic cattle herders, traditionally of the Muslim faith. After talking with the chief for a while, the guys were able to help vaccinate a few of the cows while the nurses gave out medicines to those in need. They also handed out some gospel tapes in the village. For some reason, Jon really enjoyed grabbing hold of the cows' horns and assisting the guy with the syringe!

Shhhhh....Playing in Study Hall

Shhh…don’t tell anyone. Today during study hall, my seventh graders and I played on my computer. (Love my Mac!) Opened up Photobooth and let the kids take lots of photos. We had so much fun. Aren’t they just the cutest kids?

I am so glad that the Lord has allowed me to fall in love with my students so quickly and so deeply. I look at these faces every day and my heart is full of joy. I am burded for them...for all they have to face every day and the big decisions they make. I pray that their hearts would be turned to the Lord and they would walk in His ways.

Our school has set aside this coming week as Spiritual Emphasis Week, beginning each day with a special chapel service. Have been praying lots lately for wisdom. Wisdom to know the best way to share the love and the sacrifice of our Savior to my students. Wisdom to not let an opportunity to pass by. Sometimes I imagine what heaven will be like (been doing that lots lately) and I can’t entertain the thought of anyone I love not being there. I pray many would be brought to the foot of the cross. There would be no greater joy….

A Journey for Braces

I forgot to put a photo of Naomi with her braces up. Ooopps. She got them last month and will have them on for about a year and a half. Other than torn up lips, a bit of hunger, and some wild memories of the trip down to Abuja, she seems to be doing well with them. Here is one of the wild experiences she now has in her memory bank:

On a recent trip to Abuja, the nation’s capital, Jon, Lauren and Naomi encountered a situation that is becoming all too frequent. We had heard of them, but had never had a personal encounter with them. They are called the nail boys. The government prints numerous vehicle stickers, similar to permits or tag renewals. However, these ‘required’ stickers can truly be hilarious, if you are in a certain frame of mind: commercial loading and off-loading, rubbish receptacle on the back of your vehicle permit (you must have a permit even though the receptacle is illegal to have!), etc. How can so many sticker names be contrived? So…on with the story….once the government prints these stickers (new ones all the time!), they sell them to nail boys. The nail boys can charge whatever they want for them.

The nail boys are on long stretches of road, usually accompanied by the VIO (“officials”). It was on one of our monthly trips to Abuja that we met these boys. The VIO had roadblocks set up. Once the VIO inspected our personal vehicle and saw that we were lacking in one of the many new stickers, they called the nail boys over. The nail boys placed nail strips and rocks under the front and back tires of our van. They tried to sell useless stickers to us for hundreds of dollars. They threatened to beat our driver (and there was little doubt that they would since they had before!) They almost had our van towed to whereabouts unknown. This harassment went on for over two hours. Finally, after some negotiations, money paid, and lots of sweating and praying, our vehicle was permitted to leave.

A few hours later, Naomi had braces on her teeth and prepared for the long (4 hour) return trip. Since Naomi has a pretty bad crossbite, she also had something put on her back teeth to prevent her teeth from touching. This has proved to be challenging when we are making a menu. Hard to eat when your teeth don't touch!! She is a trooper and not complaining at all. We are so thankful that the Lord takes care of us in both the little and big ways. On the day that He protected our family on the road to get braces, a package from home containing pudding arrived. The package took over 100 days to get here, but the timing was perfect.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

A Special Hello to some Special People

My eighth grade class (yep, the one I brag about all the time!) has recently discovered this blog.
SO----EIGHTH GRADERS-Here's a special hello from Mrs. Parker:

HELLO!!!

Let me know in the comment section when you read this. (And we need to get a picture of you all up here.)

By the way, get to work on your paper...it is due on Monday, you know! :-)

Friends and Termites

A Termite Mound, Jon and a friend, A friend of the girls

How do you spell "SUCCESS" on the field?

For most any job, there are job performance reviews. At the beginning of this year, we evaluated individual successes and struggles in our positions on the field. As I was putting some of these issues into writing, my mind was flooded with memories of work I did many, many years ago in East Tennessee.

I can remember helping my family on our farm when I was a kid. There was planting…a tedious task that left me weary with only upturned dirt to show for the work. However, the most dreaded task was the weeding and watering….with even less evidence of the work done. It was a dirty job in the hot sun…AND…it had to be done over and over and over. Eventually the work paid off. We picked the fruits (or I should say ‘vegetables’) of our labor. Even the harvesting was wearisome (especially the itchy okra!) and when we got it home there was much work in preparing it before we could enjoy the goodness. But at the end of the season, we had a good mess of canned green beans, a thousand ears of sweet corn, lots of okra, and jars of tomatoes. The fruits of our labor were easily measured and visible, but not until the end…the very end.

How do you measure your performance if you are a missionary? Last night we heard of someone who suggested that financial support should only be sent to missionaries who could claim a certain number of baptisms per year. Is the number of baptisms a sign of being a successful missionary? Have we only done well IF there are a certain number of many baptisms? (I assume this person measured conversions by baptisms-an entirely different topic! ☺) I believe the answer to this question can be summed up with one small word-NO! Our job is to be obedient. The Lord will chose whom He will call to Himself and when He will do it.

Let me be perfectly clear, no greater joy could come to me to know that all my students will be in heaven for eternity. But, I may only be one individual in a chain of many people whom the Lord will use to accomplish that, if that is what He chooses. I could be the first person that shares the Gospel and plants a seed. Maybe I am in the middle-watering, nurturing the seed that was planted by someone years ago-answering questions, confirming emerging beliefs, or simply showing the love of Jesus to a seeking child. Or perhaps the Lord would allow me to be last in this chain that leads to eternal salvation. If so, it would be then that I could have the ultimate joy of experiencing the harvest of a soul. Or simply the Lord might use me to encourage the maturing believer through discipleship, teaching him to love Scripture, to persevere, to share his faith…to become a link in a new chain of believers.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:3-6