Jan 31
This is part 5 from my booklet entitled ‘Curried Missionary, how to spice up your missionarie’s life’. Other parts to this booklet can be found here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
“Postage ~ What to Send (Part 1)
Letters – The simplest card is so encouraging to a missionary. In some places mail is only received once a week or in others, once a month. This means that MAIL IS A HIGH POINT IN THEIR WEEK. If you are not a letter writer, a card with something small enclosed such as stickers for the kids or a newspaper article is enough.
Small Parcels – With simple things such as gravy mix or chewing gum (remember to find out if these things are available in your missionaries country first) enclosed.
Bigger Parcels – With something such as a recorded or shop bought video, an Australian souvenir or an item of food that you know your missionary loves and cannot get.
Special Gifts – Occasionally it’s nice to send a gift out of the blue, not always just for Birthdays or Christmas. We all love surprises.
Food – You can send things such as chocolate, lollies, packet foods and specialty foods, (eg; vegemite or nice teabags) but always check that these items are allowed to be sent into your missionary’s country. You can find out from the post office which products cannot be sent.
Cosmetics
– In some places there is only one choice of soap whereas others have a bigger selection. In many places both the men and the women will use chap sticks (of course the men would use unscented ones with no colouring!) but they may be expensive to buy. Occasionally something special such as aftershave or talc would be appreciated but always find out whether you can post these items (and find out what your missionary’s favourite scent is).
E-mail
– If you have access to e-mail, use it for the Lord! Use it to en-courage missionaries every week. Send them updates of news items or perhaps what the Pastor spoke about on Sunday. Just a short note of ‘How are you’ is enough, make sure you ask specific questions such as ‘What kinds of things do you eat over there?’ Whatever you do, DON’T USE IT TO SEND GOSSIP.”
(Pic: Michael and I with the Sahel Academy sign in Niger, West Africa)
Jan 29
Took these photos yesterday of Kezi.
Jan 27
My second entry into Illustration Friday. This week the topic is ‘Glamour’ so here it is:
Jan 27
My second entry into Photo Friday.
This is me having my hair braided in Niger. It took 12 hours to do and I had around 120 plaits.
Jan 26
This is part 4 of my booklet ‘Curried Missionary’. Throughout the booklet there are quotes from missionaries I know personally that I collected in my research. This section starts with one of them. (Pic: Michael on a camel in Niger)
“Personal, Genuine Interest
“…THE FACT THAT THEY ASK, ARE INTERESTED IN OUR PERSONAL LIKES/NEEDS, AND REALLY DO SEND THE THINGS WE MENTION, MEANS THAT THEY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT US PERSONALLY AND IS A GREAT BLESSING TO US.†~ P & T Harris, Aussie missionaries in PNG.
Getting to know your missionary PERSONALLY is very important. Find out their birthdays, anniversaries, how long they’ve been on the field, what do they exactly do? Find out their likes and dislikes, what are their favourite colours, hobbies, foods etc.. Find out what TV shows they might like to watch. News? Sit-coms? Sports events? Movies? What are their children’s likes and dislikes, how old are their children? Favourite colours etc… What products (food, cosmetics, magazines, school supplies, hobby needs etc) can and can’t they get? What is the temperature like where they live? Is it a tropical, hot or cold environment? Be creative with what you send. All of these things are important to know so you can send gifts that are useful and so that you don’t waste the Lord’s money.
Once you have collected this information (and most missionaries would love to be asked these types of questions!) you can put it to good use. Here are some ways that you can do so.”
Ways to do this will be in part 5.
Jan 25
The office space (empty), Keziah in the middle!
The other direction
Michael trying to fix the vaccum cleaner!
Me looking flustered after a lot of furniture moving
Today
(pics are from last week) we spent most of our time running from one place to another but for great reasons. We were able to pick up a whole lot of things that were donated to our new
SIM office in
Wattle Grove. After putting out our prayer letter last week, the Lord has provided the following items so far:
Two lounge suite sets
A photocopier
Carpet for the whole room (very large room)
A reception desk
A desk for Michael’s office
A coffee table
A fridge
A kettle
A filing cabinet
Two lots of shelving
It’s real confirmation to us that we’re doing the right thing.The only things we haven’t got from our list are a microwave and some display racks!
It was very muggy today but we took all our new (second hand but great) things to the office. Still have to pick up half of the list but the room is starting to take shape. Praise the Lord for his provision!
Jan 23
This is part three of my booklet entitled ‘Curried Missionary’. Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 can be found here. (pic: us in PNG when visiting my parents)
“Discouragement
It is very easy for a missionary who is a long way from home to become discouraged. An overseas missionary (or one in their own cultural context) is not a super spiritual person who is immune to this but someone who the Lord has called to minister in another country and culture and who, like all Christians are prone to the devil’s attacks from every angle. If that person receives little or no news from home the discouragement increases.
In a missionary environment the feeling of failure to produce ‘results’ rears it’s head often. The devil will attack in any way possible and from every angle. As with all Christians, a missionary is fighting a spiritual battle every day but often without the constant physical support that is available to us here in Australia. If we are discouraged we can go to a number of sources to be encouraged such as our church Pastor, family members, friends or even go to our Christian bookstore and pick up an encouraging book.
Your missionary is most likely not able to do these things and therefore, the spiritual battle is very wearing and tiring both physically and spiritually. It is up to us as part of our missionary’s support system to encourage them in every way possible. Unfortunately we have often failed at this and so we can be ‘in part’ responsible for many missionaries leaving the overseas field discouraged.
In the following pages I will share way’s to encourage missionaries physically through what I have found out in my own experiences and through speaking to many missionaries personally.”
This is part 5 from my booklet entitled ‘Curried Missionary, how to spice up your missionarie’s life’. Other parts to this booklet can be found here:
