Monday, September 03, 2007
I guess it’s a little late, but this week after being here for almost 11 months
exactly, I was reading a book about the stress of being a missionary in a different
culture. Basically it confirmed to me that all the difficulties that I went through
at the beginning were just normal and to be expected. Included were some tips to
reduce stress, and one of them was to not be afraid to retain some of the customs
from your native land and be a little eccentric, and now I am going to tell a story
about how I put that advice into practice.The first Sunday night of every month we have a special tithe-giving service. I think it is intentionally modeled after the celebrations of tithe-giving in the Old Testament. The people set apart ten-percent of their yearly crop and then brought the goods to the place of worship and have a big party with it. See Deuteronomy 14. We sing happy songs of thanksgiving and listen to an inspiring message about the blessing of giving. We put it into practice by offering the tithes and then eating together because we recognize how much God has blessed us. We always eat basically the same food: empanadas, sanwiches, anything fried or starchy. A long time ago I wanted to bring a veggie tray but my roommate warned against it, saying that no one would eat it. But after being encouraged by the book to be a little different, yesterday I brought a big bowl of sliced raw carrots. It was terribly embarrassing to see that when all the food was set out, my bowl remained in the corner still covered up. And when the ladies went forward to serve the food, no one paid any attention to the yellow bowl. It took all my courage to go up and offer the people in the front row some carrots. Not until the fourth person did anyone take a handful. Unfortunately, it was Dan Munther, a fellow North American, which did not give me much hope. Some of the kids were asking “what is it?” (manna, haha). Another lady told Karen she thought I must have planned to cook them. My all-time favourite comment however, came from a pastor’s wife “I like my carrots with more salt…and meat.” But in the end the whole bowl was eaten, success! I am already planning for next month to bring a greater variety, and after that the cut them in fancy shapes, maybe add some dips or make vegetable shishkabobs. The possibilities are endless.# posted by Ellen @ 2:01 PM 
