Afternoon snack with John

08 July 2008
Today we were enjoying our afternoon with the kids at the Sandra Lee Center.  This small orphanage with
20 kids has quickly become one of our favorite ministries here in Swaziland.  We are finding ourselves growing quiet attached to the kids here.  They
see our van pull up and they press their faces against the fence calling our
names until we enter.  The Lord has provided in incredible ways here at
Sandra Lee and they are blessed by their mom and dad, Mike and Robin
Pratt.  Each of the houses has a house mom and a couple of other ladies
that help during the day. 

This afternoon I was out in the garden visiting with one of the moms when all
of the sudden a large grasshopper decides to torment me by flying through my
hair.  I of course jumped as I wondered what that large beast was. 
Turns out it’s not a grasshopper, but a locust.  Mum giggled a bit as she
went to the tree this beast had landed on and calmly grasped it with her
hand.  She begins walking over to me all the while laughed hysterically at
my skittish response to such a harmless creature.  I couldn’t believe she
was holding this huge locust. 

She then proceeds to tell me how much the kids love to eat these things. 
I didn’t believe what I was hearing.  About that time John turns the
corner and is elated to see the treat Mum has in her hand.  As she picks
off its legs, she instructs John to go into the kitchen and “roast”
this for me.  That’s right.  Not only does she want to prove to me
that the kids like to eat these locusts, but now she fully expects me to
take part in this “treat.”  Hmm. 

John’s face lights up with a huge smile as he grabs my hand while firmly
holding the locust in his other hand.  He leads me into the kitchen where
he promptly turns on the burner on the stove.  John instructs me in the
art of roasting a locust.  “You must get it hot enough so he does not
hop around and suffer.”  Still, I do not believe what I am hearing,
seeing, and experiencing.  I’m pretty sure I asked myself, “is this really happening?!”  Soon the burner was hot enough and John placed
our little friend on the device that would soon lead to its death. He then proceeded to rotate it so it could
get roasted on all sides. After a quick
roast, it was done enough for his liking. He removed it and placed it on a small tea saucer followed by a quick sprinkling
of salt.

Through this entire process I was trying to prepare myself
for the fact that I was going to have to eat this thing. I kindly suggested that John could enjoy the
entire thing if he wanted to. He smiled
and said, “No, we shall share it!” Of course “we shall share it”…what was I
thinking?! Ha. 

 Once it cooled off enough, he split it right in half with his fingers. I still think my half was bigger. I tried to negotiate for the small half, but
generous John insisted otherwise. So
there we were standing in the kitchen each with a half of a locust in our
hands. He popped his in his mouth so I quickly
followed suit before my brain could tell me otherwise. Crunch
crunch crunch…not bad I thought, for a locust. Then about that time my brain kicked in…”Kayla…you’re
eating a bug!!” Then it was mind over
matter to get it down. Ha. 

All in all, it was a fun new experience this afternoon. I’ll never forget snack time with John…life
is full of new experiences here, some really tough and some just plain
fun. I thank the Lord for bringing
laughter and joy to our days that are sometimes quite heavy otherwise.