Missionary-Blogs 4

Monday Proverb

Thom and Amanda McMurray — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:18:00 -0800

Proverbs have tremendous cultural value here and matching local proverbs with key scriptures is a wonderful tool to starting a conversation about the Gospel.

Bambara proverb:

• Jirikurun men o men ji la, a te ke bama ye.

(translation) No matter how long a log stays in the water, it doesn't become a crocodile.

This is one of the best known African proverbs and it exists in many different languages and cultures.

In certain ways we are called to change our lives. Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3). This change requires a zeal, a commitment, a forward direction. Paul says, "But this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14).

Peekee Neekee

noreply@blogger.com (Mike) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:39:00 -0800

What on earth is a peekee neekee? "Peekee neekee" is actually an English transliteration of the Portuguese transliteration of the English word picnic! Did that make sense? Some English words have seeped into the Portuguese. Words like "mouse" (computer version), "click" (again the computer "click"), "test-drive" have become normal here. Of course with a slight twist on their pronunciation. Thus Picnic becomes Peekee Neekee. I cracked up the very first time that I heard it!

We had our family peekee neekee this past Saturday. The day started early with a heavy rain but the rain stopped just in time for our fun to begin. We had 45 from the neighborhood that took part and we had a great time. Most of the day was free time but there were a couple of highlights.

One was our "Family Challenge". We divided into three teams, Alexandre gave each team a list and off we went to fill out the list. We were to get autographs from: a bald man, a woman older than 60, a Palmeiras (soccer team) fan, a person riding a bike, etc.. We were to take pictures of various objects and places. And we were to pass out tracts and share the Gospel with some one.

One of the teens in my group said, "HURRY UP!! All we have to do is share Christ with some one and we win!!" John didn't have a clue about how to do that and I'm sure that his motives weren't the purest but I thought, isn't that neat, just share Christ with someone and we win! So true but not that easy. My team came in third out of three.

The second highlight was the opportunity of sharing the Word with our people. Alexandre challenged the kids to obey their parents and he challenged the parents to "train up their children in the way that they should go". These two aspects of Christian living are rare here. Most of the time it seems that bribery and fear of beating take president over obedience and love.

When we do apply these principles we win! Again an easy to say hard to live. We are sharing these and other principles with people now and at times it seems that we are talking Greek to them. They have puzzled looks and can't imagine doing what we are saying. Pray for us.

We had 45 at the picnic, 30 at our Bible Story in the plaza, and 14 in church. Quite a disparity. During the evening it occured to me that we have two entities. We have Bible Club and we have Church. Few of the Bible Club kids come to church. Some have churches of their own and some just don't come. Pray for the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of our people.

Ask Johnny and Kate Week

Johnny Brooks — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:00:00 -0800

I am officially declaring this week to be Ask Johnny and Kate Week. What exactly is Ask Johnny and Kate Week? Glad you asked. Good first question.

Simply put this is an opportunity to ask us whatever you might want to ask us. Can be related to living cross culturally. Can be related to our family life. Ask us about home birth in Africa. Ask about food. Take a clue from some of the kids and ask questions like this one; “Daddy how come you are so fat?”

No holds barred. We will answer any and every question.

Ask here, ask on facebook, ask via email. However you would like to.

www.facebook.com/johnnybrooks

www.facebook.com/kate34

back2kenya@yahoo.com

Johnny Brooks, Yes I am aware that this is completely lame and geekish, but what do you expect? I am lame and geekish.

No pigs here

MATT & KAREN HUBER — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:26:00 -0800

So we thought the swine flu had infiltrated our house. Ella had been sick for nearly a week, Asher was sounding gross as well, and Mommy had seen better days. Turns out that E had a major chest infection and is currently spending her 3rd day in the hospital. Good news is she's feeling loads better (as evidenced by the picture below), though still needs some monitoring for the oxygen levels in her blood. Hopefully she'll be released today. We're so happy to be getting our Ella-monster back. It's been quite an ordeal.

Oh, and Asher has bronchiolitis. He's finally starting to eat better, but a sick baby who can't breathe through his nose is an angry baby. Mommy's hanging in there, too. Sore throat and unbelievably runny nose, but still kickin' it.

Long week.

Retreat! (by Amanda)

Thom and Amanda McMurray — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:43:00 -0800

This morning I leave for a ladies retreat (Yeah!). Hope all goes well for Thom; he gets Miri and Hannah all by himself. Myself? I'll be at a resort south of Dakar, relaxing on the beach between sessions. Life is rough sometimes. :)

Water in abundance!

Johnny Brooks — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:00:00 -0800

We now have so much water that the kids can squirt each other.

Harvest Time (by Thom)

Thom and Amanda McMurray — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:22:00 -0800

I'm amazed at how many people have emailed us regarding the garden we started on our roof! Back in September, we started a couple of garden beds along with our neighbors. Miri and Hannah were really interested in how vegetables grew (thanks to a book from the library) and it was a great teaching-moment to show how God provides for our needs and how they could focus their prayers. We had a rather limited selection of seeds but we planted radishes, turnips, and cherry tomatoes. The tomatoes weren't rated for our climate (I bought the seeds in Michigan!) and they never sprouted. However, this past week I picked our radishes and most of the turnips. Miri and Hannah were very, very excited to see the results - until they tasted them. For what it's worth, they tasted exactly like radishes and turnips ought to taste. Unfortunately, that doesn't exactly match the palate of the average three year-old. As a kid, I always said my favorite food was turnips (I was a weird kid) and I got to enjoy some nice, fresh vegetables.

Since we have good planting weather all year I've already replanted the radish beds. I think I'll look for some lettuce seeds next time.

Shameless Plug: The Godzwas on GoAG.org

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:18:16 -0800

We’ve met our share of great people along the itineration trail. One of those great people happened to be Cherri Pike, who works for the Personnel and Family life department at AGWM. After hearing our presentation at New Life Church in Springfield, she asked to feature our ministry as the Missionaries on Assignment” on the GoAG.org website. This is the website set up to promote missions to our entire Assemblies of God fellowship. So for the month of November, and for an indefinite period afterwards, you can read about the Godzwas @ GoAG.org! Thanks Cherri!

Quote of the Week

Johnny Brooks — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:00:00 -0800

“Here is the decisive difference between Christianity and all other religions. Man’s religiosity makes him look in his distress for the power of God in the world: God is the deus ex machina.
The Bible directs man to God’s powerlessness and suffering; only the suffering of God can help... Christians stand by God in his hour of grieving; that is what distinguishes Christians from pagans. Jesus asked in Gethsemane, ‘Could you not watch with me one hour?’ That is a reversal of what religious man expects from God. Man is summoned to share in God’s sufferings at the hands of a godless world.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Happy Birthday to Me!

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:03:53 -0800

Today is my birthday. Usually Jeff and I keep the adult birthdays low-key. This year I figured mine would really be low-key because Jeff left two days ago for Haiti and won't return until Saturday. Yesterday I went out with my mom and sister to do a little Christmas shopping and my mom treated me to an Olive Garden lunch.

Today I spent the day with a bunch of nothingness. I decided that my birthday and laundry day would not land on the same day. I let my preschooler watch Disney Pixar's Cars movie two times in a row this morning. I watched a little Bye Bye Birdie and ate some DQ for dinner. As an added bonus, Jeff finally called this afternoon to let us know he made it to Jacmel, Haiti safely and to wish me a happy birthday.

I've received about a billion messages on Facebook wishing me a happy birthday. I'm actually considering changing my birth date on there so I can have those warm fuzzies a couple of times a year. I think only 25% of the people would catch on. The rest just trust the dates Facebook gives them.

As icing on the cake, I'm going out tomorrow night with a group of girlfriends for Mexican food. This is the most birthday attention I've received in a long time. I'm starting to think that I should send Jeff out of the country more often in mid-November:)