Tag: Africa

Pasta Production

pasta-2

Life in Africa is much like how life used to be 70 years ago. Food is organic and most of our meals are made from scratch. During our most recent trip to Burundi (June 2016) we made fresh pasta topped with our own freshly made pasta sauce.  Thanks Shay for the pasta maker! And thanks Elise and Maggie for being two very eager and helpful sous-chefs!

Joys of cooking in Africa:

  1. Everything is totally organic and fresh!
  2. Creativity is the name of the game.
  3. Bananas are plentiful and amazing…so are pineapples and avocados!

Challenges of cooking in Africa:

  1. Water pollution. Even washing veggies takes extra effort.
  2. Power outages. Sometime you can’t open the refrigerator or start the crockpot.
  3. Lack of food variety and bugs that like the food too!

Next time: What nonperishable food to bring from the States that they don’t have in Africa:

  1. Spices and bouillon.
  2. Anything chocolate: Cocoa powder, brownie mixes, chocolate chips etc.
  3. Cereals.
  4. Tuna and canned meats.
  5. Garlic.
  6. A variety of teas. Burundi sells tea…but only one type of black tea.

 

 

 

Hope Burundi: Reappointed!

Some of you know (or realized) that we were in Philadelphia this week visiting Serge’s Serving Center (aka, Mission HQ) for a process known as “A&O” for “Assessment and Orientation.” This is the interview and evaluation process by which Serge determines if the mission is ready to send us (and we are ready to be sent) to the field. In our case, things were easier since this was Carlan’s second time around, but there is always more to learn and to master. We were approved yesterday and offered a five-year appointment, which is the maximum available, for which we are very grateful and excited. We would covet your prayers as we enter the next phase of fund-raising and pre-field preparation.

CarlanandMichelle

The Journey Back to Burundi

Next week (December 5th 2015) we leave on a jet plane bound for Philadelphia, another step in our journey back to Africa. The goal of this trip is to meet with the leadership at Serge, Grace at the Fray, and to Lord willing be approved and sent to back Africa as a married couple. Our hearts are yearning and eager to return to the team and the dear African people, and each step closer brings us such joy and anticipation. Yet, we remind ourselves that God is sovereign over our movement forward in this direction, and if he chooses to redirect our steps we know that His will is perfect. So with eager, yet surrendered hearts we step forward and prayerfully surrender our plans to His will.

Prayer Requests:

  1. Wisdom for the Serge leadership as they seek God’s will in the approval process.
  2. That we would be approved.
  3. Travel safety.
  4. Wisdom in all the decision making that the journey back to the mission field requires.