Missions Sunday - Swaziland - Longer Post

Here is a typical day in our Mission Sunday class. We do these once a month and it is so much ffun learning right along with the kids.

After morning worship all the kids get together in one room, ages JK-grade 6. While they get seated we hand out a page for each of them (if you are interested in seeing a page then let me know in the comments). On each page is a map of the country, some stats abou the country, the flag and description - with colour scheme, some phrases in a local language and I try to find a song - sometimes the national anthem, other times Jesus Loves Me etc...

We go over the sheets and have some fun trying to pronounce the words, counting to ten, finding out how old everyone is in the other language. We may talk about what the people are like there, what do they struggle with, what kinds of foods do the eat.

We will pick a child who is sitting well and may not have had a previous turn, go to the big map and try to find the country. Then we find where we live and compare how far it is to travel there, how would we have to get there...drive, fly, boat, train... I also try to find some local music from the specific country and we listen to it. We talk about what instruments we hear, what the language is like etc...

The kids always have all kinds of questions and love to talk a lot, so we try to get in as much as possible. It is a big group of kids, anywhere from 20-30 now...wow!!

We used to plan a dinner meal around Missions Sunday as well, but have not started that back up since the summer, so I will ba making some recipes here to bring in and share with the kids. I think it is important that we all, kids and adults, be open to try new things. I always ask the kids at food time what would happen if God sent them to some far off country. There would be no peanut butter or Kraft Dinner, and that they need to be ready, willing and open to try something new. We need to be prepared!! I tried to find specific recipes from Swaziland, but had to take some from South Africa...which couldn't be too far off, since it is landlocked with South Africa and Mozambique.

The recipes that I am going to attempt are: (I found them HERE)

Bobotie(Beef Pie)
2 ounces butter
1 cup onions, thinly sliced
1 apple, peeled, diced
2 pounds chopped cooked beef
2 bread slices soaked in milk
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg1/2 teaspoon turmeric
6 bay leaves
1 egg
1/2 cup whole milk
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onions and sauté for 5 minutes, then add the apple dice and cook for another minute. Add the chopped beef and combine. Squeeze out the excess milk from the bread slices, then tear up and add to pot. Add the curry powder, raisins, almonds, lemon juice, egg, and turmeric, and stir well.
Place mixture in a greased 9 x 13" baking dish. Place bay leaves vertically in the casserole. Bake at 325 degrees F for 40 minutes, then remove from the oven. Mix together the egg and milk, then pour it over the Bobotie. Bake for 15 more minutes. Remove bay leaves before serving.

Tomato Salad
2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into thin slices
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch sugar
1 fresh hot green chile pepper, minced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Arrange tomato slices in a serving dish. Sprinkle with salt, sugar, and minced chile pepper. Drizzle on the vinegar. Let salad sit for about 15 minutes before serving.

Yellow Rice
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup raisins
1 teaspoon lemon rind
2 cups white rice
In a large pot, bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Add the first 7 ingredients and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the rice, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick and lemon rind before serving.

Green Mealie Bread(Corn Bread)
2 cups biscuit mix
1 cup creamed corn
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup whole milk
2 ounces butter, melted
In a large bowl, place the biscuit mix, creamed corn, and sugar. Add the egg and milk, and stir just until combined.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9" baking pan. Place the mealie mixture into the pan, and coat with the melted butter. Bake for 20 minutes.