Greetings and Thanksgiving to you all!!
Thank you so much for your Pr@yers for our Big Feast M@lian Style! It was a great and fun day! I started early preparing my heart to share G0d’s story, preparing the house for lots of visitors, and washing the dust off of all the dishes, cooking pots and bowls we would use to prepare the feast! Renting chairs, setting up the garage, then the fun begins. Friends begin to show up and the cooking starts.
So many times before I am busy picking people up and running here and there, getting this or that, but this time…this feast I was able to sit with my women friends who came early and prepare the meal beside them. It was the greatest joy, even though we cried a lot. We had to cut up 10 kilos of onions. So the onions are where we began…peeling them, cutting them in half, then in tiny slices. We were making an onion sauce called Yassa. It is so yummy and requires marinating the onions in mustard, Maggi (similar to bouillon cubes), garlic, and pepper.
While some were cutting the mounds of onions, others were washing the 20 chicken legs and 20 chicken thighs, mincing the garlic, and preparing the pots for frying. Still others were cooking the couscous…8 packages of couscous. It was just fun! Each group was having a blast and we even had some outbursts of singing throughout our morning of cooking. Oh yea…and of course someone had to be making tea to keep us all going..3 rounds! And yes the day was like the tea…it got sweeter as the day went on!
After the food was ready we ate…each one until we were stuffed….just as you should on Thanksgiving day! A group of children sitting together eating, a group of women gathered together around the common bowl, and the men sharing food together. A time I will not quickly forget and a time that I give GREAT THANKS to our G0d for allowing us to share together. Everyone was enjoying, laughing, and receiving the bountiful blessings G0d has given!After we ate, everyone received a cold soda of their choice! We raised them high and shouted together…”Ala, I ni ce!! Matigi, I ni ce! An be barika da I ye, I ka nyuma koson!!” God, thank you! Lord, thank you! We thank you for your goodness!” The smiles on their faces and the joy we shared in those moments of pr@ise blessed my heart!
We also broke open 4 watermelons! There are no words for the joy Africans have eating watermelon…so let’s just get this picture in our minds…we all had watermelon from ear to ear, from fingers to elbows, and probably some on our toes!!
The sweetest part of the day was our time of pr@ise and thanksgiving! We started with pr@yer then sharing together Psalm 136:1-9 to declare who G0d is and how His f@ithful love endures forever.
We had a time for each of us to share things we give thanks to G0d for and the ways He has blessed us this year. One said, “He helped us find out what was wrong with our son. He has been sick all of his life but we did not know what was wrong. We have been able to get help for him.” Another said, “I wanted to begin a business selling things in the market, and G0d helped me do that.” One said, “I cannot say all He has done for me because the tears come and I cannot speak.” We continued on sharing the story of the 10 Lepers Jss healed and discussing all that we learn from this
story. Most could not believe there was only one who returned to give thanks and pr@ise to G0d. We all agreed that as humans, we most often do not give G0d thanks for the things He does for us. We ended with more singing and dancing and pr@ising and giving thanks!
Happy Thanksgiving to my family and friends in Am3rica!! We have celebrated M@lian style and everyone agreed that they want to share this celebration together every year…to join with Am3rica and give thanks to G0d!!
