Killing Chickens

The leadership here wants to prepare us for our field experience as much as possible. For those of us going to Sub-Saharan Africa, that means learning how to kill chickens and cook bread over the fire. So last weekend....we did both! It was a crazy experience. 

Here we are beginning down by the lake with a fire.

Emma found a farm dog and tied it to herself.

Uncle Robert telling stories to the children....

Here is 1 of the 4 chickens peeking out of her box.

Here Uncle Bob is choosing the best bird!

Cute, isn't she?

 Getting the instructions for the killing.

 Head on the chopping block....

After the headless bird danced and danced, it rested in peace....

 Bird in the boiling water for 10 seconds....

Time to pluck!

 And pluck....

 And pluck...

Time to eviscerate...

We had to leave before the chickens were cooked. But the bread that we cooked over the fire was very good.

Tracy

The 1st of Many Haircuts

I knew the day would come....


Lee got up the nerve and let me cut his hair! 


I will do it all of the time in Africa and it is time that I learn how. My friend Shandra cuts her husband's hair so she encouraged me (and Lee) to just do it after church today.


Here he is telling me how the "barber" does it. 

 Here Meghan and I getting him covered up. (No...I was not styling my Texas hair....the wind was blowing!)

Trying to get up the nerve to put the clippers to his head...

Lee is saying, "Just do it. Have confidence!" I am thinking, "This could go really bad!"

 Hair going everywhere!

Checking progress in his reflection in the window.

Just about finished. Lilly can out of to make sure I didn't need help. 

He received many comments on how well I did. I only butchered 1 side burn. Other than that I was right proud of myself. I think Lee is wishing he had not spent all that $$ all these years on haircuts!

Tracy

Shot Clinic

This is Meghan! I am finally doing my first blog post.

Today we had our shots. I was excited because we only had to have a half day of school!

After mom and dad picked us up we went to lunch and then to check-in. The way it works is you check-in and watch a movie while they are getting our paperwork. We waited and watched veggie-tales. After about 30 min. we went to the clinic. The "clinic"is a separate building where they give you your shots. They call your name and you go back. They let 1 parent and 1 child go in. They always have a party for you afterwards. You get candy and noise makers.

Here we are waiting for them to call our name.

Here this little girl had just got her shots and her dad was getting his. Daddy offered to hold her and she loved him.

A prayer team came and helped take care of children while their parents were getting shots.

We all had to get a TB test and here are our band-aids.

Here are all of us and our shots.

Here are how many needles each person got stuck with:

Lee:3
Tracy:3
Meghan:3
Emma:4
Lilly:3

I am glad we are 2/3 done with getting shots!

I hope you liked my first blog post!

Meghan

The Visas Came!

Now we can officially go to Mozambique! 


Our visas came yesterday!!!!!

Henna

Henna is a temporary artwork drawn on the skin. It is very popular among ladies in South Asia, the Middle East and some parts of Africa. It is made from henna leaves ground into a fine powder which is added to lemon juice or strong tea to make a paste. The paste is then placed into henna cones and then piped onto the skin. After it dries, the paste is wiped off and the design remains on the skin for a week or more.

Believers in these areas are using this art form to share the Good News to these ladies. Whether they are in a home or restaurant, a story from the Bible is told and discussed and then a henna design is used to reinforce the story. 


Each week some of the ladies here are sharing with us how to do this art form. I discovered something unexpected the very first night that I took the girls over to the home where this was going on. While I expected that we would learn a new, cool way for sharing God's word with others, I did not expect for my Lilly to learn the meaning to a story that she hadn't heard very many times. Just another example of how God's word never returns void!


Here she is telling the story of the women with the bleeding disorder...

Here we are at the second week of Henna "class".

Here is the finished design.

This is what it looks like once the paste comes off.

Packing our Crate

Less than a week before we left to come to Virginia for training, we packed our wooden crates to be shipped to Mozambique. It was a huge blessing to get to send things to our new country in this way. Most families are not allowed to do this because their country does not allow it.


Along with having so many other things we had to do, we worked diligently for weeks trying to prepare for this event. Having never done anything like this we didn't know much about what to expect.


There were many things to purchase to send ahead to use in Africa.

We also went through our things and decided what needed to go with us and what did not.

The day before crating day, I had 3 precious friends help me pack boxes, inventory everything that would be going into the crate, and take our kids to church. One special friend even stayed all night to help us. That night we got about 3 hours of sleep.

By the end of the night (or should I say into the early morning) we had most of our boxes packed and things moved into our breakfast room ready for the movers to come.

The big day arrived with rain showers in the area. Just as the moving company was on their way the rain got heavier and heavier. There is no garage or even a car-port at the mission house. So, we loaded everything into a truck and followed our crates back to the warehouse.


Once we got there we spread everything out on the floor. At that point they told Lee to take as long as he needed to finish.  So, he and one of their employees got to the business of getting as much as possible into these 2 small crates.

One crate fully packed...one more to go!!!

About 6 hours later....we signed the papers and were done!

Many months from now, we will see all that stuff again. I wonder what condition that wooden box will be in then? Stay tuned....

Tracy