yummy food

Prayer Meal Idea: Lebanon

September 9, 2020 Kimmy

We’ve seen this beautiful country all over the news lately after a catastrophic explosion in Beirut. I honestly did not know much about this place before this happened, other than the food was yummy and the Lebanese people were so very resilient and strong. As the news has been coming out, it’s truly heartbreaking at the loss of life and the devastation that is so evident in Beirut and all across the country. This month, our family will be learning as much as we can about this beautiful country and praying for them as they continue to rebuild and recover.

To learn more about the country we have been reading the following books:
Lebanon 1, 2, 3
The Olive Tree
Lebanon

As we prepare a meal, read books, and learn, we will also be enjoying a yummy meal and spend time praying for the devastation in that land. There are a LOT of recipes over on Pinterest for making Lebanese food. Be sure to follow our On Mission Moms Pinterest Page for Lebanese Recipe ideas. We also have a yummy restaurant that serves great middle eastern food near by which we hope to support as well. Do you have a local restaurant that you can support during this time?

Lebanese Prayer Meal Ideas:
Hummus & Pita Bread
Falafel
Shish Taouk
Kafta Kababs

A prayer meal is simply that – an opportunity to pray for a country or place as you eat a yummy meal that is from that land. It’s also an opportunity to eat some things that may not necessarily be something you eat all the time or maybe you’ve never tried before. This helps our little ones learn about how places are different and cultures have different foods and while they are different than what we are used to, it’s not “bad”. This is a simple way to help our little ones see that there is value and importance in other cultures around the world.

There are also several great non-profits currently on the ground there that are working to help those in need. If you would like to learn more about what is happening and how we can support financially during this time, be sure to follow: Preemptive Love and Heart for Lebanon.

Mission Ideas, On Mission

Prayer Meal Idea: Your Own City

May 7, 2020 Kimmy

Typically for our Prayer Meal, I choose a different country around the world or city here in the states where I have friends serving and sharing Jesus. The first reason is to pray for those specific countries, peoples, cultures, and missionaries. The second reason is to expose our children (and maybe even us) to different foods and cultures with the thought that the more exposure that one has, the most excitement and passion one may have for that particular place, etc.

But this month, I couldn’t seem to shake the desire to simply pray for our very own cities, right where you are. It has been quite a “weird” few months as we have all dealt with the Coronavirus and the effects it has had on our own families, churches, and towns where we live. Many people are without jobs. Some are so very sick. Restaurants and local businesses may be struggling greatly because of this time. Our very own cities need our prayers and they need our financial support. This month, will you set aside a meal time to pray for your city and support it by purchasing a meal from your favorite restaurant?

Some Prayer Ideas:

Pray for your mayor and town leadership. They have such hard decisions to make in the days ahead as they figure out how to reopen their cities. Whether we agree or disagree with them, they need our prayers!

Pray for your pastor and church leadership. The same applies to them! The decision of how and when to open is daunting and many people will have lots of thoughts and opinions. Pray for wisdom and grace.

Pray for restaurants and small business owners. The stress that they feel is huge. Ask the Lord to expand their businesses and to bless them during this time.

I’m thankful for Spartanburg, SC the county where I live and I know that I will have a super hard time choosing my favorite restaurant to support but now more than ever, I want to support my city in simple fun ways like eating and praying!

How are you praying and supporting your city during this time?
Hop over to our Instagram @onmissionmoms or our Facebook Group and share what your family will be doing to love and support your very own city!

For another fun little way to support your city, go on a prayer walk with the kiddos around your city. Our city has fun lightbulbs all around and it’s fun to use those as prayer points all around the city. Does your city have a fun way to prayerwalk around it?

Blog

Prayer Meal Idea: Boston

March 6, 2020March 6, 2020 Kimmy

One of our favorite cities in the US is Boston. It’s such a beautiful city filled with kind people, rich history, and yummy food. But for us, it’s super special because it’s where we went on one of our first family mission trips and where I began to dream and pray about On Mission Moms. It was here in this city that I realized what a blessing and opportunity that serving with my little one could be and how she opened the doors to more conversations and friendships that I wouldn’t otherwise have had.

We went up to the Boston area in partnership with a really cool church plant, Encounter Church located in Dedham. Our purpose was to help this new church (at the time) love their city. We spent the first day picking up trash off of a field where the city would be hosting a town festival later that weekend. As the morning progressed, my sweet 15 month old grew weary of “picking” up trash and so we headed to the little playground at the edge of the field to play. It was there that we met a sweet grandmother who I was able to befriend and invite to church the following Sunday. If my sweet girl had not been with us, we wouldn’t have had any reason to be at the playground and possibly wouldn’t have met that sweet grandmother. Isn’t it neat that God uses our little ones too!

As we get close to St. Patrick’s Day, I often think about Boston and so I decided to spend some time praying for our friends at Encounter Church, who are thriving nearly 5 years later! (How do I have a six year old now?!?!) We also want to pray for that city rich in beauty, history and knowledge to experience Jesus in a fresh powerful way. As we pray for this beautiful city and her people, we are looking forward to enjoying two yummy Boston staples: Clam Chowder and Boston Cream Pie. There are all kinds of food ideas as well as how to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day over on our Pinterest Page if you want to join along with us this month!

Boston Prayer Meal Idea:

Boston Clam Chowder in a Bread Bowl

Salad

Boston Cream Pie for dessert

Prayer Points:

Pray for Encounter Church and the work that they are doing in the Dedham area, a suburb of Boston. Pray for continued relationship building with their neighbors and for favor with the city.
Pray for the city of Boston and those who call her home. Pray that those far from God would be drawn to Him by His spirit and the testimony of our fellow brothers and sisters who love and serve Him.
Pray that as the city celebrates St. Patricks Day in the coming days, they will learn the real story of St. Patrick and his heart for many to know God. For a funny version of St. Patrick’s story, be sure to watch this Veggie Tales video with your kiddos!

Mission Ideas

Prayer Meal Idea: India

September 16, 2019September 18, 2019 Kimmy

*A Prayer Meal Idea is just that – an idea to use to help you lead your little ones to experience different cultures, foods, and peoples and hopefully help you have conversations that will open up their hearts to a bigger world out there. It also gives you an opportunity to spend time praying for that country and learning how God is at work over a yummy meal.

One of our favorite meals to eat around the table is Indian food! One of my favorite people, Katie J. passed on a recipe to us that she was given when she visited another friend living there, nearly 10 years ago. She’s used it and I’ve used it and probably along the years, it’s been changed here and there but it’s so very yummy and probably not even legit Indian food (ha). But serve it over rice with Naan and eat with your fingers and it’s so very YUMMY! In fact, I’ve really never had Indian food I didn’t love! It’s all so very yummy!!

For my favorite Chicken Tikka Masala recipe, keep reading!

As I was preparing to focus our hearts on India these next couple months, I reached out to a friend who has spent some time in this beautiful land hoping she could tell me some amazing things about what God is up to there in the land of over 1.3 billion people. And she did! She reminded me of the deep need for Christ to be present in this land where many are far from Him as they follow the Hindu religion and worship many different gods. She encouraged me to pray for the believers there to have boldness, to grow in truth, and to reach out to their neighbors with the love of Christ. Pray that the many foreigners serving in this beautiful country will walk alongside of nationals and not “do” the work for them. Pray that many will come to know the Father and make him known in a land filled with such beauty and brokenness.

For more info about India and ways to pray, Operation World is a great resource!

There are also some great resources over at Color&Kindness where she highlights India, as well as other countries with great books, games, foods and lots of FUN ways to bring our kids into learning about other cultures!

Some other fun ways to learn more about India and enjoy their fun country is to try your hand at a game of cricket or pause in the afternoon for an Indian tea time but most importantly spend time praying for that beautiful land and her people.

Now try your hand at our favorite yummy Indian recipe or if you live near a legit Indian restaurant, head there and pray and give them your support!

Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe

1 1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. cumin
2 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (if you like it hot like we do!)
2 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp. 1 Tsp, ground ginger
3 Tbsp. salt
3/4 boneless chicken, cut into pieces

2 Tbsp Butter
2 cloves minced garlic
1 jalapeño pepper, minced (if you like it hot!)
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 1/2 tsp paprika
salt
1 1/2 cans tomato sauce (12 oz. total)
1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
chopped fresh cilantro

In a large bowl, combine the first set of ingredients and let marinade for at least an hour in the fridge – the longer, the more flavorful!

In a large skillet, cook chicken until done. Discard the extra marinade. Place the chicken in a bowl and wipe out the skillet. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Sauté garlic and jalapeño for one minute. Season with the cumin, paprika, and salt and sauté for another minute. Stir in the tomato sauce and heavy cream. Simmer on low until the sauce thickens. (20 minutes or so) Add the chicken and simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro. Serve over rice and eat with your fingers and Naan.

*This can be super spicy! When we are making it for our family, we omit the cayenne and only use half of the black pepper it calls for in the marinade. We also omit the jalepenos used in the sauce. My hubby likes it spicy though so he adds his own jalepenos on top on his own plate.

*I have no idea who to give credit to for this recipe as it was passed to me from a friend who visited there over 10 years ago…

As always, tag us at @OnMissionMoms and share a pic of your family enjoying this yummy meal and praying for this beautiful country!

Blog, Mission Ideas

September Prayer Meal Idea: Myanmar

September 5, 2018September 5, 2018 Kimmy

Myanmar is such a beautiful country. As I was scrolling through the socials looking and researching for this prayer meal, I was blown away by the beauty of her people and her land. When you look deeper and past the beauty of this country though, you will see a country that has faced much strife and conflict and a country with differing peoples and religions, which is what led us to choose this beautiful land to pray for over the next couple months. Also, dear friends of ours have the privilege of calling this their home and they have been striving to make it an even more beautiful land and we journey with them through our prayers!

This month the prayer meal idea might be a little different and hard, especially if you have picky eaters. Maybe you could prepare this meal and see what they do?! Kids will surprise us! Or better yet, get them in the kitchen to help you and talk about how it’s gonna be different but different doesn’t always mean bad!? Again, please do what works best and just know that the reason behind prayer meals is to PRAY for the country and fellow believers and to expose our little ones to different cultures along the way! So regardless if they eat one bite or ask for seconds, they have experienced a new place and new food and can pray either way, right?!

Now- on to the yumminess! Our friends shared this recipe with us and how most national families will eat something like this, even for breakfast! Many dishes include fish too but this seemed simple enough, yet still authentic too.

Burmese Chicken Coconut Noodle Soup

Photo from Tara’s Multicultural Table Blog

Prayer Requests:

Pray for our friends, T&J and their four kiddos as they live and serve in this beautiful hard place! Pray for the kiddos as they learn and grow! Pray for great friendships for each of them. Pray for opportunities to share truth with their friends and those that they intersect with daily.

Pray for the many people who have had to flee this country in search of a new home due to violence and harm against them.

Pray that this country would be beautiful inside and out…for heart and life change!

Let us know what your kiddos thought of this meal idea? Did they like it? Was it too different and strange? Did it lead you to have great conversations at the table or just a puddle of tears and frustrations!? Even though the meal is different, how can your family be praying for the work in Myanmar? This fun family will be local with us during October and we will be hosting a time to get together and learn more about how to cook a fun different meal and lead our little ones to love Jesus and love others. If you would like more info, email us at onmissionmoms@gmail.com !