A Fun Surprise

Yesterday during naptime around 3 p.m., I was working on some ministry stuff & Dano was working on paying bills and sorting through a TON of mail when I got a phone call.  It was from a lady here at JAARS, and she was calling to ask us a favor.  I had NO IDEA what it might be.  Actually... I was thinking she might ask me to have some folks over for dinner (which normally I love to do... but considering my present state of mind & house since returning home...chaos... I was thinking I would have to say no), but instead she was asking us to come HAVE dinner with a group of volunteers and to share our story.  


This sounded possible.


I asked her, "When?"  


She said, "Tonight."


"OH, what time?"


"5:30 if you want to come for dinner or 6:30 if you want to just come for dessert."


"Can I talk to Dano & call you back?"


"Sure."


So... I talked to Dano, and he said... "Sounds like something we should do."  


So we did!  The kids were invited, too.  =0)  


So at 5:30, we headed over to "Jungle Jump-Off" here at the JAARS center.  (This is an area where youth groups come for a week during the summer and get to experience life "in the jungle" like many translators experience day in and day out.)  


We had a delicious meal of rice and vegetables and chicken which was a recipe from Papua New Guinea, and we even wore lap-laps to get the "full" experience.  =0)    

Lap-laps are for men & women.

 During dessert, we shared our story about how God called us into missions, where He has us today, and where we are headed and why!  We did all that in about 20 minutes.  It is always exciting to tell our story from beginning to end because it helps us remember how God has been working in our lives and how faithful He has been.  It helps us KNOW that He will continue to be faithful to us as we serve and follow Him.  I'm so thankful that we were available at the last minute to share our story.  


HOWEVER, the more exciting part of the night was during dinner when we got to hear the stories of these volunteers.  They are from a church in Pennsylvania that has been coming to JAARS for the last THIRTY years to help in numerous ways!  This is the smallest group they've ever had.  Normally they have 15 volunteers or more who come to help build buildings, do landscaping, paint, whatever JAARS asks....  They've also had many groups come through the Jungle Jump-Off.  Not only that, but this church supports many missionaries.  This is a church that IS mission minded in action and deeds.  Reminds me of some other churches I know.    


If your church would like to come & volunteer short term, go here to find out how.  Some people come here and volunteer short term... then retire and MOVE here to volunteer full-time.  Amazing!  


If you'd like to learn more about Jungle Jump Off, you can visit this page.  However, this year was the last Jungle Jump Off... but never fear, something new is being developed for the 2011 season!  You can also find Jungle Jump Off on facebook!