ON THE LIGHT SIDE: Grasshoppers for Thanksgiving?
By Joshua Dunagan, at age thirteen
“So, what did you eat for Thanksgiving?”
During the week of Thanksgiving, my dad and I were across the world in Uganda, East Africa, holding evangelistic outreaches in remote cities out in the middle of nowhere. It was my second Thanksgiving holiday outside of America. But this time was really different.
In Africa, most people eat the same foods over and over again; at least we sure did.
Day after day, meal after meal, we had overcooked rice, matoke (mashed steamed bananas), and a few chunks of tough meat and guts. But for Thanksgiving we had a “special” African treat. Along with our standard food, we were given a plate full of greasy fried grasshoppers!! They were about two inches long, with the legs and head still on.
As I stared at these insects, thoughts flashed through my brain. I imagined all the yummy food my brothers and sisters were eating at Grandma’s house: turkey and pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes and gravy. I also remembered a time I had eaten big bugs before (at a kid’s camp when I was bribed with a bunch of candy). It wasn’t so hard to chug down an insect just once or twice on a dare, but this was different. It was Thanksgiving—and I was hungry!
Actually, they didn’t taste that bad. As I took my first bite, they reminded me of a cross between popcorn and shrimp—crunchy on the outside and a little gooey on the inside. Soon I was eating one after the other, even throwing them in the air and catching them in my mouth. I must have eaten about sixty of them by the time I was done!
By the way, the ministry went well that night.
We preached to thousands of people . . . and I felt just like John the Baptist!
(Photo is our son, Josh, at 10-years-old, preaching the Gospel in Urua, Uganda)
Happy Mission-Minded Thanksgiving!
Related article on The Christian Post’s “Better Parents, Better Families” blog:
Give Ye, Them to Eat: Thanksgiving, Missions, & “Saints” – By Ann Dunagan
A Mission-Minded Thanksgiving article featuring Nate Saint (Ecuador missionary and martyr) and Rachel Saint (missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators) – two world-renown Christian missionary heroes . . . from the same family!
Mission Thoughts at Thanksgiving
“Why should anyone go back to the table for second’s or third’s,
before everyone’s had a first helping?” —
Won’t anyone pass the food?
Imagine sitting down for a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner with all of your relatives.
Everyone is eager to eat . . . but as you survey Grandma’s extra-long dining room table, complete with all the extension-pieces brought in from back of the entry closet, you can’t help but notice the lop-sided food layout. All of those delicious-smelling dishes are on the opposite end of the table.
After joining hands and thankin’ the Lord for His bounty, you wait patiently for one of those cousins to pass that basket of yummy-looking homemade rolls your direction . . . but for some reason, they don’t seem to hear you. In fact, it’s almost like you’re not at the table. It’s like no one can see you, or even hear you.
As the other side continues to heap their plates with second- and even third-helpings, everyone at your end is still waiting . . . and waiting . . . with empty plates.
No one’s trying to be mean, of course; it’s just that everybody is distracted. Grandpa’s stories are so hilarious this year; everyone’s laughing; and Aunt Polly’s turkey is more delicious than ever. The others begin to joke about their bulging stomachs . . . as yours continues to grumble with hunger.
Won’t anyone pass the food?
It’s a vivid picture we need to remember, of the need for world missions, and the need to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ . . . with the lost.
This month, as we sit down to thank God for His abundant blessings in our lives (both physically and spiritually), we need to remember that many people (over 1.6 BILLION) are still waiting . . . and waiting . . . for their first helping of the God’s Good News.
“Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice,
before everyone has heard it once?”
–Oswald J. SmithHave a Blessed & Mission-Minded Thanksgiving!
With Love in His Harvest,
Jon & Ann Dunagan & Family
Josh & Anna’s Wedding
On November 12th, 2010, Joshua Michael Dunagan and Anna Leigh Mow were joined by God in covenant marriage, with JOY and anticipation for the future!!!
Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Josh & Anna Dunagan!
May God direct your new life together, and your steps ahead
for His kingdom purposes, and for His GLORY!!!
Daring Daughters
DARING DAUGHTERS is a vision to inspire teenage girls for missions & God’s purposes. Our heart is for teens & ‘tweens, ages 10 to 20 (plus moms & mentors!!!).
Welcome to our Daring Daughters blog!
Come join us! — To learn more, just click on each link below . . .
DARING DAUGHTERS — like us on facebook
DARING DAUGHTERS — follow us on twitter
DARING DAUGHTERS — listen on blogtalk radio
DARING DAUGHTERS — comment on our BLOG
Inspiring young women . . . for world missions
DARING DAUGHTERS is co-directed by Ann and Christi Dunagan, mother and daughter.
It’s a vision to inspire girls for world missions, based on this verse from the Bible:
“And how shall they preach, except they be sent?
As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them
that preach the gospel of peace,
and bring glad tidings of good things!”
–Romans 10:15
the real lasting beauty . . .
There’s more to being beautiful than outward appearance, and there’s more to being godly than simply looking good in church. It’s more than just saying “NO” to impurity and sin; God also wants us to get His heart for the world, and for us to say “YES” to His purposes, which might not always be easy . . . or admired.
Remarkable women have gone before us, godly and daring daughters like Amy Carmichael, Florence Nightingale, Lottie Moon, and Elisabeth Elliot.
These women made a difference. They embarked on adventures that took them around the world. They rescued orphans, they loved the lost, and they made tremendous sacrifices. Some married dangerous men, and stood by their side, even when things were tough. They dared to go — wherever God would lead. They dared to pray — and they let God’s compassion move their hearts. And they dared to love the world — with a passion that was self-sacrificing, and eternally beautiful.
motivating girls to get God’s heart . . .
Through this new vision of DARING DAUGHTERS, we have some exciting things ahead for the next few months (specifically before Christi gets married in June — to Trae Childs, an awesome 3rd generation missionary from Niger, West Africa!!!) to inspire teen girls to get God’s heart for the hurting people of this world — both nearby, or in faraway nations. We want to stir young women to care for those who are hurting, and to deepen their love for God. Our desire is to motivate girls to be willing to trust God, and to follow Him, no matter what.
God may or may not call you to live in a foreign country, but He has called to obey God’s Great Commission. As women of God, we’re called to love God, to love others, and to work with God to expand His kingdom.
We invite you to join us in the adventure.
Girls, let’s DARE to obey God.
In His Love,
Ann & ChristiMission Reports & Articles about DARING DAUGHTERS
One DARING DAUGHTER: Amy Carmichael
Upcoming Events
Online radio —
Daring Daughters on blogtalk radio . . .
Introducing Daring Daughters
Daring Daughters Chat @ Romance
Daring Daughters Chat @ Darkness
Daring Daughters Chat @ Sin
Daring Daughters Chat @ Amy Carmichael
Daring Daughters Chat @ Leaving a LegacyBrand-new book for teen girls —
Daring Daughters & Dirty Feet, by Ann & Christi Dunagan
Lord willing, scheduled for 2012Simple devotionals for Daring Daughters —
by Ann & Christi Dunagan
Coming soon!!!Homeschool event in South Carolina —
Daring Daughters & Mission-Minded Families will be featured
@ Teach Them Diligently Homeschool Convention
Spartanburg, South Carolina – March 17-19, 2012Retreat in Oregon —
Daring Daughters – Mother-Daughter Retreat
@ Christian Renewal Center
Silverton, Oregon – March 23-25
Christi in Cambodia: Part II
Here are some recent ministry pictures of Christi’s summer mission outreach to Cambodia. Ministry includes teaching English for outreach, bringing JOY to poverty-stricken slums, teaching worship conferences and music classes for worship teams, and doing children’s ministry.
(Click here for earlier posts about this CAMBODIA MISSION.)
Here are a few pictures to share the news:
Thanks to everyone who gave toward Christi’s mission trip (an outreach of ORU’s summer music missions). Please keep her, and the team, and the people they are reaching in Cambodia in your prayers!!!
Where in the World . . . is Chile & Argentina?
What a fun way to learn about the world!
Right now, our oldest son is traveling all over the world on a global adventure — most recently in Chile and Argentina. As a mission-minded homeschooling family, we love to learn about different nations and cultures, and we love to pray for people who need Jesus. Every few weeks, as we get news about this trip, we’re using it as a way for our kids to learn about WORLD MISSIONS (along with world geography and worldviews).
There are so many exciting things to see and to do . . .
Cerro Santa Lucia, in Santiogo, Chile
Following the Adventure . . .
Chile . . .
Valpo, Chile
Valparaiso, ChileMission-Minded Teaching . . .
– – – > Learn about CHILE on the World Map Project
– – – > Learn about CHILE Unreached People Groups
– – – > Pray for CHILE with Operation World
– – – > Explore CHILE on the World Atlas
A castle – near Vina Del Mar, Chile
Mission-Minded Teaching Ideas:
Available here at Harvest Ministry, we have a complete one-year unit study homeschooling curriculum, all based on world missions and God’s Great Commission, called Teaching With God’s Heart for the World. If you follow the whole program (which can be used over one year, or two years, or even as individual week-long units) you and your children will take a whirl-wind tour of international geography and world history.
FREE Unit Study!
South America Unit Study – Week 12
in Teaching With God’s Heart for the World
(Just CLICK to download!!!)
In some places, the curriculum is a little outdated and some of the recommended resources are no longer available, but don’t worry about those little details! And don’t ever think that you have to do “everything”!!! Just glean from the teaching ideas and have fun. The lesson plans are now available for FREE and the craft projects, recipes, ancient history, and Bible lessons are just as applicable as ever. Come take a look!
Argentina . . .
Gaucho dancing – Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza, ArgentinaMission-Minded Teaching . . .
– – – > Learn about ARGENTINA Unreached People Groups
– – – > Pray for ARGENTINA with Operation World
– – – > Explore ARGENTINA on the World Atlas
A fire juggler, Mendoza, Argentina
Western Argentina . . .
Western Argentina
THERE HE IS . . . It’s Patrick (on another horse, in Western Argentina)!!!
Learn more about South America:
FREE Unit Study!
South America Unit Study – Week 12
in Teaching With God’s Heart for the World
(Just CLICK to download!)
Try a FREE online quiz from lizardpoint.com:
Countries of SOUTH AMERICA
Capitals of SOUTH AMERICA
Fun Craft Idea: Make a Mission-Minded PASSPORT
and keep track of “where you’ve been” (in your learning and prayer)!The travel map (so far!):
So . . . where will he go next?
Met four motorcyclists riding from Alaska’s Arctic Circle to the tip of S. America: “INSPIRING!”
Have fun, learn about world missions,
and follow the adventure!!
Ann’s Expanded Bio
Ann Dunagan lives with a passion for the Lord and the lost – as a longtime homeschooling mother of seven, author of The Mission-Minded Child and The Mission-Minded Family, and as an international minister to 29 nations, with Harvest Ministry (http://harvestministry.org), alongside her husband, Jon.
Ann Dunagan – Expanded Bio
Raised in a godly family, Ann was led to the Lord by her mother and received a “call” to world missions as a young eight-year-old child. Today, with a driving passion for the Lord and the lost, Ann Dunagan has personally ministered in 29 nations, speaking to women, preaching in villages, training children and youth, and encouraging parents and teachers throughout the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, Australia, the South Pacific, and in remote areas of East Africa.
Even though she had loved the Lord since childhood, one summer night following her high school graduation, Ann’s relationship with God was transformed from merely “performing” for God to genuinely surrendering everything for His purposes. During a youth group meeting in which she was leading worship, she listened to a young guest speaker challenge the group about leadership, daring to be different, and living a life of no compromise. Although she may have looked like “Miss Leader-of-the-youth-group,” there were hidden areas of compromise and rebellion in her heart. That first evening, as Jon Dunagan spoke to the group, he encourage her on a personal level to live uprightly, with personal integrity and honesty before God . . . and her life has never been the same. Two years later, Ann married that guest speaker, who had changed her world forever.
Jon and Ann began their international missionary work by serving as “Assistant Home Group Leaders” (taking attendance) in a small Bible study in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After graduating magna cum laud from Oral Roberts University with a degree in Elementary Education, Dunagan, along with her husband, moved to Oregon. With one baby, $27, and a little hatchback car they’d just been given, the 21-year-olds stepped out into full-time ministry. They knocked on doors, preached one-on-one in parks, started a church in a roller rink, and did whatever they could to share their faith.
In 1986, Jon and Ann founded Harvest Ministry, an international evangelistic outreach primarily focused on “unreached” people in developing nations. Through Harvest Ministry outreaches, multitudes have heard the Gospel face-to-face, with approximately 1.4 million making public salvation decisions for Christ. Harvest Ministry has proclaimed the Good News of Jesus in over 70 countries on every continent, including Antarctica. Working with national ministers, over 400 indigenous churches have been established in remote areas along with two orphanage in Uganda, which currently minister to over 600 children.
Ann has published numerous articles, primarily about missions and family life – on Crosswalk.com, CBN.com, FaithTelegraph.com, Missions-Maker Magazine, and A Cup of Comfort Devotional for Mothers. She is a regular writer for The Christian Post’s “Better Parenting – Better Families” blog, and has been featured on hundreds of radio programs, including Prime Time America and USA Network News. Her books include: Teaching With God’s Heart for the World, Volume I & II (a year-long missions curriculum for homeschool families and Christian schools), The Mission-Minded Child – Releasing Your Family to God’s Destiny (Authentic, 2007), Hand Commands – The Ten Commandments for Little Ones (Kregel Publications, 2006), and The Mission-Minded Family – Releasing Your Family to God’s Destiny (Authentic, 2008).
“Now, 23 years and 7 kids later, Jon and I are still living a dream,” says Dunagan. It’s a life-long adventure . . . of trusting God, stepping out, and living for Him. At times, it’s tough — dealing with dusty roads, mud huts, mosquito nets, malaria, witchdoctors, and tribal warfare . . . and figuring out on a day-by-day basis how to balance our call to ministry with our call to our family. But no matter what, God’s grace has always been there.”
In her free time, Ann Dunagan enjoys fervent worship, time with her family and friends, and writing. The Dunagan family and Harvest Ministry have their home base near Hood River, Oregon.
Motivating for Missions at FamilyLife
THE MISSION-MINDED FAMILY on FamilyLifeToday:
Ann Dunagan with Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine – Click on each link for the broadcast and full transcript of each interviewDAY #1 – FamilyLifeToday BROADCAST – “Living a Life of Surrender”
DAY #2 – FamilyLifeToday BROADCAST – “Leading Your Family in the Great Commission”DAY #3 – FamilyLifeToday BROADCAST – “Preparing for Missions”
More about Ann’s Mission-Minded books featured on the broadcast:
The Mission-Minded Family – Releasing Your Family to God’s Destiny
The Mission-Minded Child – Raising a New Generation to Fulfill God’s Purpose
Ann traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas to record six radio programs at the ministry studios of Family Life (three programs for Family Life Today with Bob Lepine and Dennis Rainey and three programs for the women’s ministry of Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss, which will broadcast at a later date). The shows focused on the importance of God’s Great Commission and being a “Mission-Minded Family.” It was an amazing experience! Thank you for your prayers (and thank you, Jesus!!!).
David Livingstone: A Missionary Monologue
Use Your Drama Skills for WORLD MISSIONS!
Has anyone in your family ever wanted to perform in a school play or drama production, but your location or homeschooling schedule has not made this possible? Have you ever dreamed of using your dramatic skills and desires to benefit God’s kingdom purposes, or would you be interested in helping to promote God’s heart for world missions?
Well, here is a solo theatrical opportunity you could perform — on your own time, and right in your local area. You could even perform in the privacy of your home. Or, you could present this 2-3 minute monologue LIVE during a church service in your local area, or as a special feature for a nearby youth group, children’s church, or Christian school chapel. Just imagine the possibilities!
Here is an example of this month’s Missionary Monologue (DAVID LIVINGSTONE: The Great Missionary Explorer), presented by our family friend, Craig Rodenmayer, a former stage performer for Wycliffe Bible Translator’s Dinner Theater.
DAVID LIVINGSTONE (1813-1873)
The Great African Missionary Explorer
Famous Quotes & Missionary Mottos:“The mission of the church is missions!”
“Anywhere, provided it be forward!”
“This generation can only reach this generation.”
–David Livingstone
DID NOT YOUR FOREFATHERS KNOW?
A classic missions excerpt from David Livingstone’s Journal
“I was from the first struck by his intelligence, and by the special manner in which we felt drawn to each other. This remarkable man has not only embraced Christianity, but expounds its doctrine to his people . . .
On the first occasion in which I ever attempted to hold a public religious service, Cechele (the tribal chief and a new convert) remarked that it was the custom of his nation to put questions when any new subject was brought before them. He then inquired if my forefathers knew of a future judgment.
I replied in the affirmative, and bean to describe the scene of the Great White Throne, and Him who shall sit on it, from whose face the heaven and earth shall flee away.
“You startle me,” he replied; “these words make all my bones to shake; I have no more strength in me; but my forefathers were living at the same time your were, and how it is that they did not send them word about these terrible things sooner? They all passed away into darkness without knowing wither they were going.”
High School Bible/Missions Lesson
Kid-Friendly Resources
David Livingstone: Courageous Explorer (Heroes for Young Readers Series)
David Livingstone: Africa’s Trailblazers (Christian Heroes: Then & Now Series)
Wholesome Words website, Children’s Corner – David Livingstone
David Livingstone: Missionary to Africa (Faith Biography Series)
MISSIONARY MONOLOGUE DRAMA
Costume:
Khaka clothes, a safari-style helmet, a dark mustache, a few props (such as a rope over the shoulder, a machete, and a well-worn journal), and an Old-English/Scottish accentSetting:
As Livingstone enters, it seems he is in the middle of an exploration, slashing imaginary jungle leaves with his machete and breathing hard
LIVINGSTONE:
Whew! Getting through this jungle is quite an adventure–with so many valleys and mountains, fierce lions, and, ah yes, those dreadful mosquitoes! But I tell you, “The mission of the church is missions!”
I’m David Livingstone, and I have a heart for Africa. I’m a missionary explorer, and I like to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, especially in remote tribal areas.
It’s actually quite remarkable that I could get all the way here, since I was born into a humble family near Glasgow, Scotland. When I was a boy, I had to work in a textile mill from six o-clock in the morning until eight o’clock at night. That was hard! But I was a determined young lad. And do you know what I bought with my very first paycheck? A Latin grammar book! You see, I wanted to learn all about the world.
My family always went to church, and I was converted to Christ during my youth. Then a preacher named Robert Moffat (who is now my father-in-law) told me about his adventures in Africa. One time he said, “On a clear morning, the smoke of a thousand villages could be seen where the name of Christ had never been heard.” That really challenged me–so much so that I’ve spent my whole life traveling across the interior of Africa, covering over fourteen thousand miles and one-third of the continent! I’ve learned all kinds of things–about animals, plants, places, and people–but most importantly I’ve been able to share with unsaved people who had never heard of Jesus.
It’s been difficult at times. I’ve been attacked by a lion; I’ve been sick; and people close to me have died. but I must keep sharing God’s Good News of salvation, because This generation can only reach this generation.
And even now, I must go; and like I’ve written in my journal, I will go anywhere, provided it be forward!
Approximate time length: 2-3 minutes
