The Green Party

Last night there was a social for all the staff that work here on the base and for missionaries who are on furlough in the area. (Usually there are a couple of these type of socials a year.) Can you guess what the theme of the night was? I personally do not own very many green things. Vern, however, actually has quite a few green shirts and I was able to borrow one of his sweat shirts for the evening. Ruth gladly donated the use of her green flip flops and earnings. I went around to three places here in town looking for green finger nail polish and green lip stick. But I guess those colors aren't popular. (I can't imagine why.) Every announcement we received about the party kept mentioning how nice it would be if we wore green. So we tried our best to go to the party in the spirit of "Green". How do you think we did? It was an enjoyable evening and we learned some interesting facts about people in a "To tell the Truth" game. And we found out who had the "gift" of being a good "story teller".

The Chilli Dog Experience

For a little while now we have been hearing about Erika's famous Chili Dogs. Although our family has eaten many different foods we have never had a Chili Dog. Last night the Stephens family had us over to enjoy this experience with their family. It was fun trying something new while having a good visit with friends. Greg, Erika, Bret, and Mariah are a neat family. Thanks so much for a great evening!

Fiesta de Jubilacion

Yesterday was another Day of Prayer. Kimbra, Ang, and Liz made a nice presentation on the country of Panama. Due to the fact that Panama is a field where a lot of the works are finished and the missionaries are leaving, we had a Fiesta de Jubilcaion. It is very cool to see how the tribal churches are able to take the reins and give the guidance and direction that the churches need from leadership within the church. Although, not all works are complete there was a lot to celebrate. The ladies put together a power point presentation. The class was also divided up into two teams and we played a game while we learned interesting facts about the country. The second half of the morning we broke up into two groups and had a time of prayer for many of the countries that New Tribes Mission works in. It is a privilege to set this time aside and pray for all that God is doing through New Tribes Mission.

THE MELT DOWN

We have been enjoying some warmer temperatures. YEA!!! It has been so nice. However, we have now been dealing with another problem. THE GREAT MELT DOWN! The roads here on the campus have been very hard to drive on. It has been one slushy mess. Saturday was an especially difficult day to make it up the hill that we live on. Many vehicles got stuck, and there were several announcements over the loud speaker for calls of "HELP WE NEED A PUSH!". There are a number of us living up here on this hill and several people had to leave their cars parked down below because they couldn't make it up. Vern went to pick up Ruth after work on Saturday night. As they entered the camp road he told Ruth to hold on. Oh, what a sight to see him plowing up the road. It was like an amusement park ride and there was a cheer of "Victory" when they made it up here to the driveway.

Check Mate

Although the academy that Ruth and Titus goes to is small the teachers try to do a lot of activities for the children. One of the teachers, Marshall Siddall headed up the chess club once again this year. Titus enjoys chess so was involved in the chess club. Over the past couple of days there was a chess tournament going on. Yesterday were the final games. All the participants did SOOO well. There was a sign put up about no help or hints from the crowd watching. Well, believe me no one would have wanted help from me as I know NO strategy in playing the game. I can say with full confidence that each one of the participants would have beaten me. Tbere was a great turn out of parents and friends to watch the games. (There was no cheering though, as the room was supposed to be as quiet as possible.) Titus finished in third place. WAY TO GO TITUS! There are a group of students who are going to be going to a tournament in which a group of Christian schools will all be competing. So I am sure there will be a few more chess games yet in the next weeks as the students prepare for that competition. GO CHESS CLUB!

A Call Goes Out From Mozambique, Who Will Answer it?

Ruth has two very special friends, Damarise and Hannah (they are sisters) who live in Mozambique. They have been wanting to set up a time to call Ruth since her birthday. But due to Ruth's school and work schedule, and the difference in time zones it has not been easy to figure out a time that actually worked. Well, Monday at lunch time the connection finally happen. HOW COOL IS THAT! It was SUCH a treat for Ruth. For those of you who don't know, it is Ruth's dream to make it to Mozambique to visit these dear friends. She has been trying to save everything she can for her "Mozambique Fund". If things work out Ruth would like to visit Mozambique this July.

Then There Were Six

A group of our students are away doing some presentations at the New Tribes Bible Schools. So for the past four days our family has grown from four to six. Brett and Mariah Stephens have been staying with us while their parents, Greg & Erica are at the Bible schools. We have really enjoyed having Brett and Mariah here to be a part of our family for these days. We have had a lot of fun together even if I did put them to work rolling out tortilla shells. (smile)

A Friend from Afar

In the ministry we are involved in we develop a lot of friendships with our students and staff. But after a couple of years our students move on and head to the mission field. We get new students in and once again start to establish new friendships. Our children experience the same cycle, with building friendships, and then those friends move to the mission field, and new ones will come. It is never easy to say good-bye to good friends. This past Saturday night Ruth had the joy of connecting again with one of those friends. Becky Richard's parents were on staff when we first arrived here. Becky and Ruth were in the 6th and 7th grade together here. After a couple of years the Lord opened the door for her and her family to return to Thailand. It was so much fun for Ruth & Becky to connect again after 2 1/2 years.

Under Pressure

With spring not too far away our minds start to think and plan towards jungle camp. One area that our students need to plan for is their meals up in the bush. Since there is no refrigeration all meat needs to be processed in a pressure canner. This was some thing totally new to me as a student 23 years ago. I am a city girl and so there was never any need for my mother to can any thing. It can seem a bit scary if you have never worked with a pressure canner. I was very glad for learning this skill when I went through the missionary training. My grandmother bought me a pressure canner that I took to the mission field with me. I used it many times. One time I canned a whole cow. It was so handy in the tribe especially when we had unexpected guests. It also is very common to have a very limited amount of freezer space and at times missionaries have even lived without a fridge or freezer. Our students will all be going into different situations and may not have a need to pressure can meats and vegetables. But in case they do, they will be glad that they learned how to pressure can. Yesterday I taught a class on pressure canning meat and all the different steps there are in the process. Within the next month or so I will start canning the meats that our family will be eating during jungle camp. Our children actually really enjoy canned meat so it is not a hardship but a treat to eat it. Now doesn't that get you excited and wanting to pressure can some meat?

Split Chapel

Once a month we have a "split chapel" where the ladies and men split up for chapel time. Some times one of us staff will take the chapel, but we often like to get missionaries on their home assignment to come in to share with us. Simon and Lavonne Challinor work in Panama and are on their home assignment until this summer. Lavonne Challinor spoke to the first year students and staff ladies. She shared on many different things from developing a deep friendship with your spouse, being a good coworker, raising your children to have a love for the people we are going to minister to, spending time to build a deeper relationship with the Lord, and many more things. Her husband Simon shared with the men on "Committment" and "Sticking to a task and seeing it completed". (This was all in relationship to tribal church planting.) It was very challenging. As a first year staff and students we greatly appreciated Simon and Lavonne taking the time to come in and open up their lives to us.