The theme this week for IF is ‘Spring’. Now, I’m sure most people will be posting lovely sprays of flowers or lovely landscapes so I thought I’d be different. This painting was done in springtime and this fellow was out at the lovely Pooh Bridge in Hartfield, England (where the Whinne the Pooh tales come from). It was a lovely spring day and he was taking a walk through the gorgeous surroundings. This is charcoal and watercolour and is only about A5 size. Below is a photo that I took while there, you can actually see this fellow walking along the bridge:

This was another hard theme from Photo Friday for me to find something relevant. Metallic, hmmmm, is this metallic enough? Me and Han Solo in FAO Schwarz toy shop in Chicago, 1998.

When I was 5 years old my parents made a bold move, Dad gave up his job as a fitter and turner and they accepted an invitation by Eric Evans to start a Christian newspaper with him. This would be ‘faith-based’ living (I know that some people see all Christian living as faith based, I’m referring to a person who does full-timeChristian ministry work without pay from that work) and would mean that our family of four would go from full-time pay to no pay (or so it seemed!). My parents are a wonderful example to me on how to live and how to trust the Lord for everything.

Challenge newspaper was started in the late 1970’s and was initially in the home of Eric Evans. Shortly after this it moved to our home and I moved from my pink walled room to sharing with my brother. The pink walled room became Challenge’s drawing room and our garage became the printshop and darkroom. It was only when they wanted to put a large guillotine on the back patio that my mum insisted that they find another place so they did. The rest of the history is amazing, the paper now circulates to many countries and the print run is in the hundreds of thousands. I am so proud of this history and so glad that my parents made this bold move when I was 5. Now, as Michael and I adjust to living as missionaries at home living ‘by faith’ again is like coming home to me.

Top Pic: The front of the current premises Miiddle Pic: busy work at Challenge in their current premises. Bottom Pic: My mum Estelle working in the early days.

This is part 11 of my booklet Curried Missionary, how to spice up your missionaries’ life. In this section we continue to see more quotes that are Straight From The Horse’s Mouth (quotes from missionaries about how we can best encourage them). There are a lot of them so I’ve put two pages worth in one here

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10

“Just recently we had a friend that we hadn’t seen for ages come via Hoskins to visit us. It was such perfect timing for us and we really valued his input into our lives..” ~ S & C Henley, Aussie missionaries in PNG

“…it would be nice to have some new things sent to the school…it would be good to have some new, up to date Science videos. They could even be taped off the Public Television stations in people’s homes…Maybe even a good flick for us to pass around the missionary community would be nice too as a change..” ~ J & B Moore, American Missionaries in Niger.

“…PHONE CALLS…visit of church friends and especially family…mail, postal in particular.”
~ J James, Aussie former missionary in Pakistan, the Philippines and Seychelles

“It also encourages me when people write Bible verses in their letters…it always helps to hear from people.” ~ Sarah, 13 yr old American/French missionary kid in Niger.

“Something that would be of great encouragement would be a personal visit from a leader or a couple…” ~ T & E Burns, Aussie missionaries in PNG.

“One of the most encouraging letters/e-mails we get is from someone in the church who lets us know what’s happening with her family, the church, the weather an some local news that we may not have heard. These e-mails make you feel normal and you know that he person send-ing them has spent time thinking about what you might like to know that no-one else has told you.” ~ K & M Hutchinson, Irish missionaries in England.

“…if I could call 3 of my friends in the States…it would take tons of plan-ning and all that but that’d be REALLY cool!” ~ 13 yr old Missionary Kid from the USA, in Niger.

“Occasional videos from home e.g.; Playschool, football etc..”
~ J James, Aussie former missionary in Pakistan, the Philippines and Seychelles

“remembering the kid’s birthdays is always special for them. Receiving parcels with items we just can’t get or that are too expensive here, or things like videos, chocolate, gum, lollies, yoghurt mixes, walnuts, dried fruit etc. Make special gifts”
~ P & T Harris, former Aussie missionaries in PNG.

“One of the biggest ways of supporting and encouraging missionaries on the non-financial side is helping them in their return to Home country for Home Assignment/ Leave/ [furlough]. Clueing them in again to cur-rent words, phrases expressions..”
~ D & J Brown, English former missionaries in Ethiopia.

“Other school things probably would be nice too. We just recently got introduced to a magazine called Kids Discover. I guess people could or-der us a subscription for a year…”
~ J and B Moore, American Missionaries in Niger.

“…little gifts we can give out to the kids as prizes, pens, book-marks…marshmallows, m&m’s, muesli bars, koolaid [like powdered cordial]…“ ~ J & B Moore, American Missionaries in Niger.

“The best thing that supporters did for Malc and I was to pay for us to have our colours and styles ‘Done’ by a colour consultant. This informa-tion was then shared around close friends who were ‘in’ on the idea. From then on all gifts – large and small e.g.; a lipstick or a tie to dresses and sweatshirts – were always just right for us.”
~ M & L McGregor, Scottish former SIM missionaries in Ethiopia. Now the SIM International Director

Ever since I was about 24 and working I have really hated it when people call me ‘dear’, ‘love’ or ’sweetie’ unless we’re family or a close (older) friend. I’m not sure if it’s because I look a bit younger than I am or what but it seems that even at the post office the lady behind the desk who looks around the same age as me calls me ‘love’.

Pic: This is me last week

Not much of a pattern person really, I hate the idea of using someone elses design or idea and prefer to make it my own (like adding the C). I’ve always been like that, only like to be creative if it’s unique. I think that’s the difference between art and craft. Art to me has a more unique or original sense to it and craft can mean that you follow a pattern or a step by step guide. Anyway, I’m rambling. So here’s the little beanie (or touk I think if you’re Canadian):

Last night I had a quick lesson on how to bring down a fever in bubs. She had her 6 month needles yesterday and by late last night she had a fever. This is of course normal and a quick dose of panadol did the trick. Felt awful though trying to get her cool. Such a big responsibility being a parent!! She’s a sweetie though, in the middle of feeling a bit off she was grinning at me.

Guest singers from the Sudanese Church

Barbara Meadows praying for me

Pastor Mike Fisher from Melville Baptist Speaking

Michael sharing about our new role’s with SIM

Being commissioned

As I said before, numbers were a bit down

Jim asks ‘If prayer is a ladder between two worlds, a breath of heavenly air, and a telephone to the King, why do I doze in prayer meetings?……Maybe the heart of the problem is that we don’t realize we are at war.‘

Amongst some great tips he says ‘When you are tempted to doze in missionary prayer meetings remember that your prayers have a powerful influence on what is happening half way around the world’