Month: March 2018

What I Read in February 2018

I have continued my resolution to read more this year, and I am so excited that I have been able to do this.

I will include links to the books which are my affiliate links on Amazon. I am including them so that you can see the covers and click through to get more information, if you want. If you end up making a purchase by clicking on these links, familiesformissions will earn a tiny commission that will cost you nothing extra. 😊 (Please do not feel obligated to purchase, though…I checked out several of these at my local library.)

First, I’ll start off by telling you about the nonfiction books I read this month:

The first book I read this month was At Home in the World: Reflections on Belonging While Wandering the Globe by Tsh Oxenreider. This book was very interesting from a Missionary Kid standpoint, as it featured a family with 3 children that decides to sell their home and spend a year travelling around the world from place to place. It seems they never spend more than a few weeks in one location. I thought it was probably a great experience for their kids, but something I could not ever do. Also, I wondered about whether the kids would suffer from feeling like they were drifting and had no roots or routines.

The second book I read this month was checked out from my church library. It was called How and When to Tell Your Kids About Sex by Stan and Brenna Jones. I have to say I was disappointed by this book. I did like that it encouraged parents to talk about body parts using correct words, and to start talking about our bodies early and often (as the subject comes up at bath time, etc.). I did not feel that it actually told the reader how to tell their kids about sex, though, so I thought the title was a bit misleading. If you are looking for a step-by-step guide for how to talk to your kids about sex, this is not it. The authors kept mentioning some of their other books and recommending them to the reader for more information. This kind of turned me off and was annoying.

One book I listened to this month was More Than A Carpenter Today by Josh McDowell. I had heard of his books before, but I had never read any of them. This was a quick listen, and it was packed with information about Jesus and his deity, life, claims, and resurrection. If you have any doubts about Jesus being God or rising from the dead, I would highly encourage you to get ahold of a copy of this book that millions of people have read around the world.

I also listened to The Inheritance: A Family on the Front Lines of the Battle with Alzheimer’s Disease by Niki Kapsambelis. This was a longer audiobook, but I used time in the car driving back and forth to knock it out. This book peaked my interest because of my family history of 2 grandparents having dementia/Alzheimer’s disease. It was very interesting to hear about the history of Alzheimer’s research, and to hear how families with genes that cause early Alzheimer’s have been instrumental in furthering that research. I felt it was a little long and had many details that were not important to the overall story.

Peaceful Parent, Happy Child: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting by Dr. Laura Markham was an interesting read. It gave me some good ideas of how to respond better to my kids when either I or they are frustrated. I have a child that resorts to yelling very quickly, and I find myself losing my patience and responding in kind. I am hopeful that I can put some of this advice into practice in the coming weeks. 😊

In January, I started the book Puppy Training: Owners Week-By-Week Training Guide by Charlotte Schwartz, and I finally finished it this month. This is a Kennel Club Book and walks you through how to begin to train your puppy from the time you bring it home. Now, if I can only put it into practice and manage some consistency. 😉

I’ve mentioned before that I love historical novels, and I think my favorite this month was To Wager Her Heart (A Belle Meade Plantation Novel Book 3) by Tamera Alexander. This book is set in Tennessee 1870’s and helps the reader learn about Fisk University and the Jubilee Singers. I loved learning about how freed slaves were educated and how the Jubilee Singers helped Fisk University in a time of social and financial turmoil. You can learn more (and even watch some videos) by looking at the author’s website.  (This book was recommended by the manager of Faith and Life Bookstore in Newton, KS.) I am going to have to look up the first two Belle Meade Plantation books.

I enjoyed reading the previous book so much, I also read Rekindled (Fountain Creek Chronicles, Book 1 ) by Tamera Alexander. This is the author’s first book in the Fountain Creek Chronicles Series, and is a heartwarming story about a struggling marriage, love, and showing the love of Christ to those less desirable. I’m looking forward to reading the next two books in the series!

Second Opinion (Healing Touch Series #1)  by Hannah Alexander was a Christian fiction, medically-oriented book. I enjoyed reading it, and I thought that the medical aspects of it were pretty realistic.

 

What have you been reading lately? I would love some good recommendations!

 

Want to Host a Missions Conference at Your Church?

Missions conferences or a time for missions focus at your local church are great ways to help educate people about missions and try to get them interested in becoming more involved in missions. If your church has one of these, you are lucky. It seems they are less and less frequent now, as people are branding them as old-fashioned or outdated. I argue that they still have value.

In my younger childhood years (before my parents became missionaries), we attended a church that was very missions-minded. Each year they had a “Missions Month”. There were missionary speakers each Sunday morning and evening (yes, we still had evening services back then 😊). In addition, there was a focus in each service on talking about missions. I still remember the phone calls with mission partners on the other side of the world; they were live with the pastor and broadcast so the entire church could hear. I also remember a parade of flags where many children carried a flag forward in a procession. Some, including myself, spoke a few words from the country’s flag they carried. I remember my dad helping me learn John 3:16 to recite in Spanish (even though I didn’t know any Spanish at the time). The women invited the missionary wives to speak at a luncheon.

With my mom’s help, a women’s ministry to help missionaries was started. It was called L.A.M.P. (Ladies Applying Missions Personally). They started a “Mission Closet” and requested donated new items to stock it. Each missionary that visited was taken through this room filled with supplies: toiletries, small gifts, handmade bags for traveling with shoes, snacks, blankets, etc. I really do not even remember everything that was there.

Here are some thoughts and ideas as you think about starting or improving a missions focus or conference at your church.

    1. Decide what length of time will work for your church with your church leadership. You may choose to have only one Sunday to start with or you might be able to have a whole week or month dedicated to missions.
    2. Choose dates for your missions focus.
    3. Find out who is willing to help. You cannot pull this off by yourself. You will need volunteers to help (the longer the time and the more activities mean more volunteers are needed!)
    4. Choose activities or plans. Here are some possibilities:
      • Missionary speaker to give the sermon at services. (Keep in mind that not all missionaries are pastors and evangelists. Giving a sermon may not be their spiritual gift. Some might prefer a different role.)
      • Missionary update during the service with prayer to follow.
      • Ladies meeting, Bible Study, or luncheon. You could have a missionary wife speak (again, remember not all ladies are gifted as public speakers) or have a missionary wife panel answer preplanned questions with time for Q and A at the end.
      • Skype or phone call with missionary during the service.
      • Lunch with a missionary update after services. This would require people to sign up if the lunch was provided or to bring a dish if you choose a potluck-style lunch.
      • Church banquet. This can be catered or potluck-style. You could require the purchase of tickets in order to encourage RSVPs and help plan for how many would come. You can plan an international theme or just choose something easy and crowd-pleasing.
      • Walk-through rooms decorated like different countries where you have a missionary or member of the church share about their ministry. Kids can even have passports to get stamped as they complete each one.
      • Create a missionary map in the entryway of the church with a map of the world and a picture of each missionary with a blurb about where they serve and what their ministry is.
      • Get involved with a specific project. Raise money for a specific need that week, or help compile a New Testament in a new language to prepare it for printing. Shower a local ministry with needed supplies or manpower for a renovation/remodel/repairs. Hold a car wash or bake sale somewhere local to raise funds, if needed.
      • Prepare a children’s program for a church service. This could require more time, but could have a lasting impact. Having children participate by carrying and waving flags for missionary partners of your church is a great idea. You could encourage kids to dress up like someone from that country. Kids could sing a song about missions or in another language.
      • Provide ideas for children’s Sunday School teachers to use: coloring sheets, books about missionaries, websites, videos, and letters from missionaries are all possibilities.
      • Make postcards with a missionary picture and ministry description. Ask people in the church to choose one or two and commit to praying for that missionary for the following year.
    5. Contact missionaries to find out their availability and willingness to participate. Many times, they are only able to attend if they are on home assignment or furlough. If they are not able to attend, ask them about updates, Skype, or phone calls.
    6. Plan housing for visiting missionaries. Decide if your church can afford hotel accommodations or if there are members of the church that can host them. Ensure that there is a bed for each family member and that they do not have to sleep with a stranger!
    7. Plan special activities for the missionaries. Can your church take them shopping one day to the local mall? Can you provide a makeover, massage, or haircut for missionary wives? Can you provide babysitting for the missionary couple to go on a date night together? Can you offer to pay for car repairs for the visiting missionaries? Can you gift them with gift cards to use on their travels or for fun? Check with businesses of church members and see if they would be willing to donate services or provide them at a discount.
    8. Advertise the event! Let your church family know that you are planning a missions event. You definitely need to create some interest around the event and try to hype it up! You might even get more volunteers. 😊

 

So, you are probably reading this and thinking, “There is no way we could pull this off at my church.” I would encourage you to give it some more thought and talk to your pastor. You may need to start small – just a “Missions Sunday” may be all your church can handle to start off with. Don’t choose to do everything on the list. It is only meant to give you ideas and a place to start brainstorming. You will probably have your own ideas, too. Do what you can and encourage others to pitch in. You may be surprised at what you will accomplish.

What other ideas can you think of?