WORLD RACE RESUME
Gardener- CHECK
Pooper Scooper- CHECK
Dish Washer- CHECK
Dramatist- CHECK
Painter- CHECK
Singer- CHECK
Prayer Walker- CHECK
English Teacher- CHECK
Preacher- CHECK
Evangelist- CHECK
Dancer- CHECK
Games Director- CHECK
Lauderer- CHECK
Story Teller- CHECK
Rapper- CHECK
Child Care Worker- CHECK
Mountain Climber- CHECK
As of yesterday, I have four more that I can add to the list:
1. strawberry smasher
2. scum collector
3. spoon licker
4. jam jar filler
CHECK, CHECK, CHECK, and CHECK!!
If you haven’t yet guess, yesterday I had the lovely pleasure of making strawberry jam. YUM YUM! We were visiting Hope House, and this was the task of the day.
Hope House, which is a part of World Hope, is a safe house for teenage girls that have aged out of the orphan care system in Ukraine. It is a place they can live while they are going to college and finding their place in this world. It is a place in which they can sleep in a comfortable bed and eat AMAZING food each day (And believe me, the food is OUTSTANDING!!!! Let me tell you about some of the best spaghetti I have EVER consumed!). It is a place they can learn life skills, such as cooking. It is a place they can be protected from early pregnancies, forced prostitution, and death. It is a place they can learn about Jesus. It is a place of love and safety, a place of HOPE.
Located in Fontanka, on the outskirts of Odessa, Hope HOuse has a farm like setting. It is a place you can see the countryside stretching out and watch the sun as it rises and sets.
And because of the farm like setting, it is perfect for keeping chickens and . . . drumroll . . . . gardening! And what is grown in that garden? Corn, melons, cucumbers, potatoes, and . . . . . drumroll again . . . STRAWBERRIES!
Last week, we had the privelege of cleaning out the sludge in the basement and swimming in the Black Sea with the girls, but today was none other than a jam making party!
Throughout the course of the week, the goal was to make 200 jars of jam. At a total cost of $60, this jam is actually worth $1,000. It lasts the girls for the entire year and is truly delicious.
During the time we were there, we had the chance to make 46 jars, which Kerry estimated would be worth somewhere around $230 dollars. (Kerry is the incredible man from Canada that lives at Hope House and cares for all the girls. Whenever he is asked what he does for a living, he says, “I collect girls.”)
Here were the steps to the process, not all of which I partook:
1. grow the strawberries
2. pick the strawberries
3. cut off the stems and soft, bad spots on the strawberries
4. smash the strawberries (this is where I had fun!!!)
5. put four and a half cups of strawberry slop into a pot
6. add a package of pectin slowly into the pot as you stir the mixture (all pectin donated free!!)
7. stir in two tablespoons of lemon juice
8. put the pot on the stove and turn on the heat
9. stir the jam until it comes to a boil
10. add seven cups of sugar and mix well (that’s a whole lot of sugar, right?)
11. when it reaches a hard boil, stir for one minute
12. turn off the heat
13. skim off the scum from the top of the boiling jam and put it in a little bowl to save for later (this is the light pink stuff that is basically pure sugar and the stuff I got to lick off the spoon over and over again)
14. stir the jam for approximately two more minutes
15. grab a funnel and laddle the jam into jars using it (these jars should be sterilized in the oven first!)
16. four jars should be filled with jam
17. put the lids on the jars (this takes a strong person)
18. store the jars away or refrigerate what your want to soon eat
19. repeat the process
20. once finished, do dishes and clean
21. if along the way you need to clean by licking the jam off a utensil, DO SO!
22. BON APPETITE!!
There were many steps, but it was fun to be part of the process. And although I may have gone into a sugar coma from being the one responsible to lick the spoon and funnel every time before it needed to be recleaned (hard, right?), it was a good
Sometimes, ministry may look like scooping sickening sewage, and sometimes it may look like making scrumptious jam.
Whatever type of ministry you are involved in right now, SERVE WELL!
Whether it is dirty or delicious, serve with all your heart.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men.” -Colossians 3:23
