MozamWeek

Maybe my sisters remember. Dad told us to think about the Whatsoevers . I didn't know when I was 10 years old that he was teaching me how to control my thought life. It's in Philippians 4:8 where it tells us how to choose our thoughts. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is pure, whatever is admirable --if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think on these things." In the NIV it isn't whatsoever like in the King James I memorized as a child. These are the whatevers for my kids. What an awesome tool to protect heart and mind! Choose to think about good things. Should I replay the insults someone shouted at me in anger? Should I dwell on the gossip about a friend? Should I see the horror movie? Should I choose that computer game? Should I let my mind wander to the worrying uncertainties of my future? We can make a choice if we want to. More than ever kids are bombarded with choices of what to ...

Sometimes it is hard to define what I did after a day in Tete. I start off with one plan and things almost always change by 10am. Monday I was nicely defined as a substitute teacher for John's class... until noon. At noon, I should have driven home to make lunch for the other two... then back to school to teach Bible Club and hang out until swimming was over at 4pm. But... something changed. We have to look at Sunday- the team went with Mikael to deliver the Gospel of Mark in Nyungwe to 7 churches "on the other side of the river." He drove on good highway... and some normal dirt suburb roads. They had a warm welcome in the church they visited and headed out for the second on the list. "Ka-plomp, ka-plomp, ka-plomp." Flat tire. How odd that a 5 inch metal shard would be stuck in our new big, tough Wranglers! The spare was low. Power cuts on Sundays. No compressors to pump up and no repairs possible. So Maliko came home with Mikael on Sunday and we didn't want...

Katie had a lovely birthday today. It was also the first day of school after a 3 week break. It was also the day I taught Bible Club at school. So, it was a big day. I'm trying a new way to upload blog stuff and just need to see if this works.

I've been enjoying a few days up in Vila with our dear friends. My kids played and ran and read books. We ate great food with a great cook. Mikael and I read books and relaxed, enjoying sleeping in and poking our heads out of the house sometime after 10am. Ahhhh. Vacation. So, during that week, I didn't even turn on my computer except to watch a movie! I didn't look at email. I didn't blog. I didn't even feel bad about it! That is how it should be. We are home in Tete now. M visited 6 more churches with the team yesterday to pass out Maliko, Jonah, and Luke excerpts. The kids and I had HomeSundaySchool. They enjoyed drawing pictures of Stephen getting stoned... and a long train. (We still aren't sure how John's picture fit into the lesson, but it was nice.) The lesson was chosen because that is the chapter that was shown on Mozambican TV Bible cartoons Sunday morning. Today I'm back at the computer taking care of business. I have a meeting to plan for Ed...

Thanks for your guesses. I have been offline for over 2 weeks. Today, the internet is back. Hopefully it will last awhile! I've downloaded all my emails... and updated all my anti-virus software. Checking up on MozamWeek is the third thing on my list! Melons, gourds, pumpkins and cucumbers are all related, I think. The picture on my 100th post (no, I didn't realize it was the 100th until just now) is a loofah fruit! You can look it up on the internet. Actually, it seems they are grown quite well in Tennessee according to one source. I always thought loofah were sponges... good for bath scrubbing. Well, you can eat them before they dry out. We did. It was pretty good, but mixed with other stuff in a stir-fry, so I didn't notice any real taste. I guess no one won that one... I could give a prize to Arne Bister, but HE didn't guess. He was here when we ate it! Thanks again for checking in on us. Christy, Crickett, and Arne are the only ones who made a guess. I guess you ar...

For those of you who have never lived in the Southern Hemisphere, this might seem like a new exotic fruit... or vegetable. In fact, I have eaten this several times in Mozambique. When they are fresh and green like this one, you sometimes see them in the market. Usually they just grow wild and people gather them for stews. I don't know anyone who actually plants them, though I'm sure you could. To register your guess, go to the actual MozamWeek site. Then click to comment on this post an follow the instructions. Hint: You can buy it at Wal-Mart and you may already have one at home!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Jeni.Bister/Maliko We had a great day. All the VIPs from town... from out of town... family members from overseas... and a couple of volunteers who actually flew in with the books we planned to dedicate! I've included all the pictures here... instead of just picking and choosing. Choose for yourself. God is Good!