Joyful Socks Mom: International Night

3/5/12

International Night

The kids and I enjoyed the festivities this past Saturday evening at International Night, sponsored by Generations Church, here in our little home town. The evening was filled with food, fellowship, gifts, prizes, lots of fun and inspiration for the family! Generations Church invites missionaries and organizations to come and set up educational booths each year at International Night.

When we arrived, we were greeted by church members who donned us each with Hawaiian leis. Then we were signed in and given a swag bag, Missionary Scavenger hunt sheet and a Passport. We also stopped by and registered for the door-prizes.

Then we started our journey around the world by collecting stamps from each Missionary's booth. We also collected signatures from various people on our Missionary Scavenger hunt sheets. The kids had lots of fun and learned tons by using their Missionary Scavenger hunt sheet. Example: Squeaker enjoyed listening to a story from a South African missionary who entranced her with stories of wild animals and being on safari. The Scout met a missionary who was also a pilot. The Bug enjoyed all the missionaries from Haiti (see below) including the husband and wife doctor team that run a clinic in Haiti!

The kids enjoyed eating the cuisine from the various Missionary booths and collecting all the stamps in their Passports. They collected many cultural goodies from each booth to fill their swag bags to over-flowing. When their Passports and Scavenger hunt sheets were complete, then received a prize. The Squeaker also won a door prize, a Moroccan Hat and a book about Gladys Aylward, a famous missionary in China. We later found her name in Chinese on the internet (inspired by an International Night activity, see below).

艾偉德

The Bug's swag bag, filled with missionary inspiration.

Here is "Jesus Loves [The Bug]" in Chinese

The Squeaker trying to quietly enjoy shortbread at the Scotland booth. She just loves having her picture taken, can't you tell?

This is my favorite!!! The Bug thinks that Terry Snow, Director of YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Haiti, is a rock star. Look at that smile on her face, she is beaming! She waited all week for this very moment. She has supported YWAM Haiti with her own fundraising for over 2 years now and she has not seen Terry since she was 4 years old! She acted like going to International Night and meeting Terry was like being backstage at a U2 concert. I love that about her! Notice her baby? That is David, she "adopted" him from Haiti 2 years ago. She is just too cute and I can't help it if I think so.

The Bug could not leave the festivities until she had single-handedly located the Haitian flag.

Great evening, great fun and great reminder that there are many that do for the Lord's kingdom, each day, without complaint. Life in my little corner of the world isn't so tough when I look at these warriors for Christ!

Here is an awesome sign I found:

Mis-sion-ary (noun): someone who leaves their family for a short time, so that others may be with their families for an ETERNITY.

Thank you for an amazing evening of fellowship Generations Church.

Thank you to the special men and women who lay their lives down daily, as missionaries, and take up their cross to follow Him.

Happy Homeschooling!