Eating Around the World: Bat Eating in Thailand

I found this cool video from National Geographic about Thai people in the Northeast region who love to dine on bat.  This is the region of the world where we will moving next year.  Of course, these dining habits are more common to the rural villages where good protein sources are scarcer.  Check this video out.  It’s very interesting, especially the part when they “pray to the bats in an unknown language” before they catch them.

CLICK HERE

My friend Isaac who is a missionary in Thailand has told a recent story of feasting on mixture consisting of small tree frogs and sticky rice in a rural Thai village.  I also hear that ant larvae are a delicacy there in the Northeast.  I guess we might find out first hand…soon enough!

On the next “Eating Around the World” post, we will dive into Eating Insects.  Some Thai’s love them too!

Eating Around the World: Hungry in Peru

Americans Love Guinea Pigs!

Peruvians do too!

If you plan on taking a trip to Peru soon, you might want to double check the “carne” asada! The guinea pig is native to the Andes, where it is known as cuy in Spanish.  It grows quickly and is cheap, making it a staple food in many rural communities.

What are some of the strangest things you’ve eaten?  Drop us a comment and let us know.  Over the next few posts, I will highlight a few of the stranger delicasies in the world today.  Strange to us, maybe, but delicious to others!

Why they keep the head and feet on is beyond me!

Beat up on the devil and be a blessing!

*Please read all the way through:  As some of you who follow my blog have known, our friends the Lovorns have been having some rough days lately in Thailand.  John recently had a motorcycle wreck in which his two young boys were involved.  Thankfully everyone is ok, but John has had to undergo surgery on his wrist on the eve of their homecoming to the States for furlough.  Here is a recent update that we received from Sandy:

“John is doing very well. We arrived at the hospital for surgery at 2:00pm, he was out of surgery by 6:00pm. It went a lot longer than we expected, but the surgery itself went well. He is in minor pain, only taking tylenol and advil. We did spend one night at the hospital, which if you are curious, was an excellent, beautiful, clean place. I was amazed at their professionality and excellence. The nurses were so well organized and handled everything better than I expected.  We are home now and trying to get back to normal life. It is going to take a while, as John will have to wear his makeshift cast for four weeks and will be unable to fully use that hand/arm for 6 months. But, Praise the Lord, we are all healthy and feeling better.  We have been truly blessed by our friends and co-laborers in Christ, Ben and Susan Hoar (along with their children). They have served us in every way imaginable, and have made this problem easier to face. Our children had a safe and familiar place to stay during the hospital visits/surgery. I praise the Lord for them all!  Yesterday, after we had all been settled here at home, their was yet another problem. Ben went to the swim park to pick up his wife and all of our children and theirs. Someone had stolen Susan and Margaret’s purses at the park. Everyone knows the hassles that go along with this, just imagine being in a foreign country. We are all just fed up with these attacks. It seems we have been under this for a while now. Please pray for us all! (I forgot to tell you all that after being at the hospital for 3 hours immediately following the accident, I go to get on my motorcycle, and had a flat! I had just had one 4 days prior on the same tire!!)”

Throughout these ordeals, I know that these two families have maintained a right heart and spirit.  They are definately worthy of our help and support.

Here is what I would like us to do.  I would like everyone who can help, even in a small way, to sow a gift to show our love and support for these families who are pressing forward through this difficult season.  You would not believe how a little bit given by alot of people will go a long way on the mission field and how much our gifts can be a boost to their ministries and morale. 

I am asking each one of you to give anything you can, but just give something.  Even if you don’t know these families, believe me, I have spent alot of time with them and they are worth helping.  The effort and love we all show will be a huge blessing!

**For the Lovorns, send your gift to: Fire in the Night Ministries Inc., PO Box 642- Milan, TN 38358

**For the Hoar family, send your gift to:  ISAAC, INC. 4960 Bentridge Drive- Concord, NC 28027

Let’s do this today!  You guys are awesome.  May our Father richly bless your life in return as you look not only to your own interests, but also the interests of others. (Phil 2:4)

*All gifts are tax-deductible.

FHC Global Blog Launched

I just put together our all new Freedom House Church Missions blog called “FHC Global.”   Check it out.  I put into writing the vision and direction of FHC’s mission program and I am pumped to see what God will do in us and through us as a church reaching out into the world.  Our Missions sending arm of FHC is called Freedom International and my wife and I will be the first missionaries sent out from it.  Add the blog to your site or sign up for the RSS or email feed to stay up to date with all that God is doing with FHC.

Emergency: Pray for the Lovorns in Thailand

I just received this message from the team in Thailand about our friends John and Sandy Lovorn.  Please pray!:

“Hey guys,
I am writing to you to get you to pray for our friends, the Lovorns. Today John and his two boys, Lake and Gabe, got into a motorcycle accident. It is already miraculous, because neither of his boys, though both without helmets, were hurt! THANK YOU WONDERFUL JESUS! John did fracture his wrist an the hospital is saying that he will need surgery. They need extra support so please pray. Our God is Almighty. This situation is already miraculous! We just need the other half!”

Please Pray for the Lovorns.  They hope to return to America soon.  The journey back to America from Thailand with three children can be tough but now throw in Dad’s broken wrist and you can imagine what that could be like!  Hopefully, John will recover quickly and we will be able to see the family again soon.  Grace to them!

Reflections on Where I’ve Come From: Part II

I am continuing on with my reflections from where I came from with this next installment.  If you missed the first one, click here and you can catch up.

When I was stationed in Japan, I joined a little Assembly of God church that met in my pastor’s home.  I was the only young single guy at the services, but I didn’t care.  I wanted to love God more and love his people.  I went from the dynamic worship leading of Lindell Cooley to a little elderly lady that played some hymns and choruses on the piano as we stood and sang.  Every once in awhile some of the Filipino ladies of the church would lead us in some, what I would call, “happy, clappy songs.” 

It was in this season that I learned something about myself. 

Freedom House Team in Ghana and Nigeria

My friend and lead pastor of Freedom House Church, Troy Maxwell, is currently traveling through Africa.  The team is currently in Ghana and will be heading to Lagos, Nigeria tomorrow.  We are partnering with a FHC member, Matt Garrett, on the development of a local orphanage in Ghana.  We are also connecting with a Nigerian pastor in Lagos.  Troy has recently written some updates from the trip on his blog.  Check it out and then drop them him a comment to let him know you stopped by.

Freedom House Church Goes Deeper in Missions

April of last year, I led a 28 member team, including children, from Freedom House Church to Guatemala City.  Many of the people on the trip had never been out of the country, much less on a missions trip.  We had a jam packed week of ministry then that included us ministering to and daily feeding about 200 kids at Hope for Guatemala, visiting local families at their home, putting on a three day soccer clinic for the kids, a VBS, preaching at local churches, and finishing everything out with a one day festival in the center of town in an area known as a “red zone” because of crime and poverty.  During the festival we, along with local Guatemalan Christians, washed the feet of the Guatemalan children and elderly and gave out about 400 pairs of new shoes that were donated from the States. 

There were games for the kids, live Christian entertainment all day, free medical and dental clinics, and I gave a Gospel message and call for salvation at dusk.  We were even interviewed on local Christian television twice while we were in the country.  As you can see, it was an FHC style missions trip!  At the time, I was working full time in the car business and my wife’s brother had just passed away unexpectantly.  This trip was a stretch for me, but I am so glad I was able to see it through.

A few ”God” things have come from this trip and it’s effects are still reverberating. 

Worthy Projects: Support “Adopt a Family” Nicaragua

A fellow missionary from Freedom House, Angie Honeycutt, is working to improve the lives of poverty stricken families in Nicaragua.  Take a moment to check out the work she is doing. Angie has a way of building bridges and creatively reaching out to Central American families.  She is doing a great job providing effective long term solutions and not just another hand out.  Please keep her work in prayer and get involved with a gift if you are able.  God promises to bless those who remember the poor.  (Proverbs 19:7)

Reflections on Where I’ve Come From: Part I

As my family and I prepare to launch out to this new phase in our lives I have been thinking of where God has brought me from and how he has orchestrated my life to get me to this place.  I wanted to share these reflections with you:

I grew in South Louisiana (Cajun country), the son of a young single mom.  We never owned a home, but lived in single wide trailers (they weren’t called manufactured homes back then!) and apartments.  My mom worked hard for us, but we never seemed to be able to get ahead and stay there.  I recently bought my first home five years ago; the first in my immediate family to own their own home.  It has been a great home for our family, white with black shudders, big yard, and even a pool for the kids.  God has blessed us.  I have now joyfully sold that home to move to Thailand and serve the Lord Jesus who has give everything to me.  As a favorite song says, “This is no sacrifice.  Here’s my life.”

Right after High School I joined the Navy.  I almost didn’t make it in because I needed to get a psychiatric waiver!