Monday, May 12, 2008

Read All About It!

Have you taught your kids how to read a banana?

No?! You say you don't know how to read one yourself?

Well, pull up a blog and have a seat!

Here's another question: Have you ever longed for a practical way to instill a heart for missions in your kids (or yourself) and remember to pray for missionaries? You may be surprised to find that these two things go hand in hand, or should I say, banana in hand!

The next time you are at the grocery store, pick up some bananas. Look at the sticker that should be on at least one of the bananas in the bunch. You will notice that in addition to the brand name, such as Dole or Chiquita, it will also say what country the banana was imported from.


This banana is from Ecuador. Right there in the store you and/or your kids can say a silent prayer for that country and the missionaries serving there. You can encourage your children to pray for the kids in that country, that they would learn about Jesus.

Other fruits have stickers like this too - the produce department can become an international missions adventure!

My sister came up with this since so many bananas come from South American countries. We found bananas with stickers from the country where she serves and she uses them. She often uses audience participation - she asks for a 1st or 2nd grader who is anxious to show off their new reading skills to come up to the front to read something for her. They come up all excited and proud, and then she hands them a banana and asks them to read it and they look at her like she has lost her mind!

But when she did this at my church, moms told me weeks later that their kids wanted to read the bananas in the grocery store and pray for the kids in those countries!

And now you, too, are among the elite banana-reading public! Who knew blogs could be so informative!

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16 comments:

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

That is ingenius!

Sarah@Life in the Parsonage said...

What a great idea!

Amy L Brooke said...

Great idea! Kids could read everything and pray for everywhere. Just think of how many things are "made in China?" Cool.

Lisa @ The Preacher's Wife said...

an excellent idea! who knew shopping for produce could be so spiritual? :)

Lisa

Kelly @ Love Well said...

I think I saw that on Martha Stewart Living last week.

:-)

Fabulous idea, Linda. I'll think of you every time I pick up a stickered banana.

Chris @ Come to the Table said...

I will never look at a banana the same again :)

but seriously, this is a wonderful ideaa.

Lisa Spence said...

May God give us a heart for the nations...even in the produce section!

Angela said...

This is a great idea, I will have to try it with my kids.

gail said...

that is a wonderful idea. our family is becoming more missions minded and i'm going to start using this with my non-verbal son. he loves bananas!

i'd like to link to your post on mine if that's ok. always good to spread the word on how we can pray for those in other countries.

gail

Carol said...

What a great idea! I will try this for sure!

Xandra@Heart-of-Service said...

That is so awesome! I am going to try that the next time we go shopping....

I'll also have you know that I posted twice (count them...that's 2) today! LOL!

Xandra

Anonymous said...

I love this! Maybe if every grocery shopping experience could be so spiritual, I would actually want to go more!

Kelli

Mrs.Naz@BecomingMe said...

What an excellent idea

Natalie Witcher said...

Great idea! We are trying to be very missions minded as we homeschool, so this is a great addition to our toolbelt! Thanks!

Val said...

Great idea. What a teaching experience.

Natalie said...

What a great idea! Thanks