Taste and See – SMP 2008

 

Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
         how good God is. 
Blessed are you who run to him.    Psalm 34:8

Want to taste and see how God is working around the world this summer?  Apply for SMP 2008 by February 15.  You could learn, serve, and grow alongside your sisters and brothers in Christ in places like Mali and Guatemala (and elsewhere!). 

Jordan (above), who tasted and saw God’s goodness in Eastern Europe last summer, wrote this about his experience:

It is with great joy that I write to you to tell you of the power that is at work in God’s Kingdom, a power that surpasses our understanding. We went out as a small group of 4 to proclaim the gospel to both young and old in Ukraine, Romania and Hungary. Sent out with the power of the Holy Spirit, uplifted by the prayers and support of our families and friends we proclaimed God’s love, mercy and saving grace to more than a hundred teenagers in six different one-week camps. This message was also heard by countless others whom we didn’t even realize were listening. It is a message that continues to spread and one day will be resound around the globe. I feel privileged that God chose me to take part in this summer ministry and witness his power in amazing ways.

Do you want to witness God’s power this summer?  Apply today!

Would Jesus eat a Tarantula?

 What do you think? Would Jesus eat a tarantula?

Our partner teacher in Cambodia, Jim Triezenberg, recently wrote that two of his students brought him a Cambodian delicacy to try – fried tarantula. One of the goals of those who work cross-culturally is to build relationships of trust with the people he or she is living with so they can eventually share the gospel with them. A good way to build relationships is to share food together. But this was a big, hairy, eight-legged arachnid! Being the experienced cross-cultural worker that he is, Jim reluctantly took a bite of one of the legs. It was crunchy and tasted a little like crab meat. So he ate the whole spider.

When I lived in Nigeria, I ate a few things most North Americans might consider somewhat unappetizing. One time I stayed for a week in the village of one of my high school students. The whole village was very poor and there wasn’t even a corner grocery, let alone a Wal-Mart Superstore or Applebee’s, to be found. The people ate whatever they could hunt or grow themselves. Needless to say, that week in the village I ate a number of things I had never even thought of eating before. I sampled monkey, gecko, and bat. The bat they fried whole. It wasn’t bad. You pick it up by one wing and tear some meat off the breast. Tastes like chicken – no kidding! I’ve also had monitor lizard, snake, and fish eyeball soup.

Maybe you’ve been on a missions trip and eaten some pretty strange things. Maybe your mom cooks some strange things sometimes. Would you eat a big, hairy tarantula if it meant you’d someday be able to share the gospel with your friends? What would you do for Jesus? What wouldn’t you do?

Here’s a recipe from one of our missionaries in Haiti that many of us in North America might like. You can pour it over your tarantula if you’d like!

Creole Sauce
(Sòs Kreyòl) Haiti
STEVE AND KIM HOLTROP
Serves 4-5
2 tablespoons oil
1 tomato, diced
4 tablespoons tomato paste
3 green onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon parsley
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon thyme
3 1/2 cups water
Salt to taste
Put oil, tomato, tomato paste, green onions, garlic,
and water into a pan and cook for 2 minutes,
stirring constantly. Add the bouillon cubes, cloves,
pepper, parsley, Tabasco, and thyme. Cook for
2 more minutes then add the water and salt,
cooking uncovered for 20 minutes. Once sauce
has cooked you may add Little Meatballs (Ti Boul
Vyan). Slice 2-3 onions in rings and add them just
before serving. Serve over plain rice.

You can find more recipes like this in our new cookbook, International Cuisine … from the Ends of the Earth. To find out how to order your copy go to our website, www.crwm.org and click on Resources (http://www.crcna.org/pages/crwm_cookbook.cfm).

–Bill Thornburg, Missions Resource Consultant