Bedouin Tea and Bissap Tea

It's missions week at church!!!

If you follow me you know I love missions and I love missions conference at church.  We have it every year in October- We have had it for as long as I can remember.  My parents have hosted people in their home for years.  I have wonderful memories of listening to the missionary stories.  I love their hearts for the people who don't yet know Jesus and for spreading the Good News to all people and nations.

We kick off the morning service with the parade of nations.

The first Sunday evening of the conference we have the International Food Court.  We have between 10-15 tables of international food set up for people to try.  People in the congregation sign up to make food.  We serve any where from 130-180 people.

This year my mom made homemade Humus and served them with pita chips.  I had Pad Thai and then my teas.

I like to do a tea station each year.  This year I did Bedouin hot tea from Israel and an iced Bissap tea from West Africa.

When I was working with some international workers this fall, they gave me some of their favorite tea from the Holy Land.  It was a Bedouin Tea.  They said it was their favorite tea there.  It was a black tea with sage and cardamom and they drank it with honey.

Even my cat, Orange Pekoe was a fan of the tea.  I had to get another cup of it, since he drank from my cup. 

I decided that was the tea I needed to get and serve. 

"The Bedouin tea infusion of "Yoffi" is the only infusion that contains black tea and is based on the local flavors of the Bedouin diaspora.

The desert landscape of the Negev, tents, camels and palm trees are featured on the tea package.

Imagine yourself hiking in the desert. It is definitely fun, but the hot sun and sand all around make you feel thirsty. Luckily, not far from you stands a Bedouin tent. You go inside and get a warm and emotional welcome. The host serves you a glass with a steaming black drink..is that coffee? No, this is an infusion of black tea with sage and cardamom, a very rich and unique taste. Amazing, but despite the heat outside, the Bedouin tea infusion manages to quench your thirst."  From the website. 

https://yoffi.com/products/israeli-herbal-tea-blend-bedouin?variant=39659829067855&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&srsltid=AfmBOorv5WEY0Ns66MpG8RFUva-9KuoHw8vqF6jLwkZUFUEFsx5RaAbK71A&com_cvv=8fb3d522dc163aeadb66e08cd7450cbbdddc64c6cf2e8891f6d48747c6d56d2c

One of the ladies made Macarons for the food court.  They were amazing!!  I loved the hot Bedouin tea with the delicious cookies.

Since we were having a worker from Guinea, I made Bissap.  Bissap is a tea I learned to make and enjoy when I went to Conakry West Africa.

Bissap is straight up Hibiscus with sugar.  In Guinea they sometimes used vanilla sugar, so I used that as well.  This is always a super sweet tea for me.  And I add way more sugar than I would use if I were making it for myself.  They use at least a cup of sugar per gallon...I could not do that, but I did about 3/4 C of sugar per gallon.  The kids all love it and it seems to be a favorite with them.

The international worker said I did good, but it was still tart for her.  I had to chuckle, I just couldn't add more sugar.  hahahaha

Psalm 96:3
Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!

 

Making a Teacup Nativity Set

I had several friends send me this cute Nativity picture and say I should make one.  I looked and I could not find the super small Nativity people.  So, I did improvise. 

I went to Hobby Lobby and found some small Nativity people.  And everything Christmas related is 50% off...win win.

I had the cup and the glue, so all I needed was the star and the Nativity people.  This craft is costing me less than $8.

If you don't have a teacup, thrift stores are a great place this time of year to pick them up for a $1 or $2.  I went with a more vintage looking teacup since I thought my Nativity people were more vintage looking.

The angel was the hardest to balance on the cup.  I put some of the extra greenery twigs under her to raise her up so she did not tip backwards.

Only one figure would fit in the cup- so Jesus went inside the cup with a little greenery.

Matthew 1:23

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

I played around with the people before I added glue. I knew I wanted the Wiseman on the side...to show that they were traveling there.  It ended up that the Shepherd and sheep were on the side too...I mean they had to travel there too...but, just not as far as the Wiseman.  It took them over 3 years.

I then added greenery around the cup.

Matthew 2:1-2: "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?'

Luke 2: 8-14

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Try it and get creative.  Let me see what you come up with too.

Psalm 96:3
Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!

 

Jesus Fills my Cup iron-on decal

I pair $1.68 and got an iron-on decal.

I think it maybe worth about .25

Good news, I got a full refund...see why at the end of the blog,

I guess you get what you paid for, lol.

I got the decal on Temu.  I have found a lot of great items on Temu.  I know some people Temu others don't.  So this is not the place to vent about Temu.  I am just sharing my experience with this one product.

I had this green shirt I got at Walmart for about $8.  I figured I would use that to see how the decal did.

The decal was super easy to apply on the shirt.  I just put my iron on Cotton and pressed down on the spots were the writing and decal were.

I did this for about 5 minutes.

At first I thought it looked great.

I decided to wear it to work.

I even wore my matching "Stanley" earrings that I made.  I found these inexpensive key chains and I turned them into earrings.

But, as you can see the letters started peeling back.  They are NOT sticking to the shirt.

Bummer.  But, hey I got one wear out of it.  And I will still wear the shirt, even without the decals.

Temu gave me a full $1.86 refund...so there is that.  Which I am pleased with!

Psalm 96:3
Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!