Beautiful Chicken Feet

"How beautiful... are the feet of those who bring good news!" Isaiah 52: 7

Here are pictures of the children in Africa with their Bibles!

If you want to read more about who these children are, you read the Hope Children's Center blog that Cornerstone has. The latest is about the summer team that went over and among other things, delivered these Bibles.
If you are new to my blog or to blog reading in general and want to read all my African/Chicken Bible posts, then click on the right side where it says "Here, chickie, chickie" and everything I've written about it will be pulled up onto the page.

Where did the chicken go when he crossed the road?

To Tuscany to take a bath in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and rosemary!

The other day I thawed out one of the chickens to prepare for supper. I felt it was time. I had a recipe all picked out and ready to go, except for one thing- to cut apart a whole chicken!

Here's what you need:

1. Get a really good sharp sturdy knife. Like the one Grandpa used to use with a worn hickory handle. Make sure it is sharp. I know a guy who will sharpen my knives for me. I traded him an old bike for a lifetime of knife sharpening!

2. A fairly large cutting board. You don't want chicken just laying about. Also a couple of plates or platters to hold whatever.

3. Betty. You need Betty. Betty Crocker! Turn to page 279 and follow the instructions for cutting apart a whole chicken.

4. A sense of humor. You are attempting to do what your grandma used to do all the time and here you are all squeamish.

5. Oh, and you may want to have the phone close by to call your mom or grandma or me for help.

You are going to have to cut through some bones. You are going to have to grab the thigh and pull it back to find the joint and try not to pull the entire thigh bone out leaving the meat attached to the body. (not that I've done that) You are going to have to pop the breastbone out and cut around it. You are going to sweat, cry and holler for your husband to get in the kitchen and help you. 

Once you're done dunk that bird in whatever marinade you like. Then fire up the grill or the oven and cook 'er up. Yum! 

Shelli's chickens, by the way, are very good and very big and meaty. You will want to get one next year!

Chickens Can Be Fulfilling

Today (Saturday) was the big butchering day for group number two of chickens. Audrey, Ben and I arrived at Shelli's farm at 9 am for our three hour shift. Luke was at my sister's for the morning- which was a huge blessing! The morning was starting to heat up, but not too bad. The first shift, 6-9, was just finishing up. They were just getting ready to cut the head off a chicken and see what it would do, so the kids went over to watch. Unfortunately, the chicken was kind of a dud for theatrics, so we found our stations to work at.
Station 1- catch chickens and give 'em a dunk in soapy water
Station 2- string upside down, cut heads off and drain the blood
Station 3- dunk in boiling water
Station 4- pluck
Station 5- remove innards, cut feet and tail off
Station 6- final clean, rinse and trim, bag

Audrey ended up at the plucking station for the entire morning. I think of all the things she could have done, this was the best place for her. Ben started out with me, holding the bags open for me to put the chickens in after I gave them a final cleaning, but he got bored and moved out to help pluck with Audrey.

What I witnessed over the next three hours of work, was only by God. We had a group of junior highers (maybe 12 kids total?) and only 5 adults for the entire process. How can a bunch of jr. high kids work for 3 plus hours, non-stop, no breaks, no food, nothing and not complain? And they weren't getting paid! And they were doing jobs they never dreamed they would do! Some were catching, some were killing, some were removing hot feathers, some were watching Shelli's little kids so she could work!

Ephesians 6:7- Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men.
1 Peter 4:11b- If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 5:2b-not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve.
Colossians 3:24b- It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

All the praise and glory really does go to God. You see, these kids are obviously not motivated by something external- there was no food or money or reward at the end of the day. The most they can hope for is that all the chickens will be done, sold (which they are) and the money earned (which they will never see) will help go towards buying Bibles in a language they can't read to people and children they will most likely never meet here on Earth. Their hope is eternal- that the message they understand in English is the same message people on the other side of the world will understand. That the God they serve in small town Iowa is not contained within borders, but reaches to the ends of the earth!!

Wow! I was so impressed and challenged by these kids. Of all the jobs, I had definitely one of the easier ones. I was trying to suck it up (c'mon, Mindy, you're not gutting them!) and be a good example and encourager to them, but they were the ones being the example. I am humbled.

Over the course of the entire morning, 6 am to 12ish, 45 chickens were butchered! It was a lot! I can't imagine doing any more! I can't imagine that some, like my mom and grandmas would do that for their own meat every year!

Ben thought the entire thing was cool. He enjoyed himself, though when he was done, but I wasn't, he was ready to go home. Audrey said she had a good time, but to please not make chicken for supper. :) No way! In fact, I don't think I will be making chicken for a little while. I need some separation time.

I took some pictures, but not of the gross parts.

This is of Audrey in the foreground, with other kids, some who were finishing the first shift and others who were starting the second.

 Here you can see Audrey and Ben beside her still working.

I happened to look out the window above the kitchen sink where I was working and caught this boy, whose name I don't know, sitting with a dead chicken in his lap, waiting for it to be scalded and plucked. It was probably the last chicken and though my picture isn't very good, you can see the exhaust reflected in his posture but also the casualness with which he has the chicken draped across his legs. What can he be contemplating? Was he thinking about the chicken? Was he thinking about his day? Chances are that up to this morning, he had never seen a live chicken, let alone killed one. I bet he went home, tired but fulfilled in some way. Is that not the way of the believer's life? 

"But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me." Philippians 2:17, 18 

And the Winner Is...

Well, there is no winner. There weren't any bids. It's okay. We have had a couple people buy some chickens or contribute money, so that is good.

So, tomorrow, Audrey and I are going to Shelli's farm and butcher chickens. I know neither she nor I are prepared for the entire process. All I remember as a kid was my mom needing all our laundry baskets for when it was time to butcher chickens. I don't know what they used them for. I'm thinking that I don't want to know. 

I'll let you know how things went.

Your Chance for Chicken

As my mom’s told you, I’m taking care of chickens to raise money for Bibles. Raising money for Bibles is very important to me because I have SO many Bibles, but some people haven’t even heard the name of Jesus. When my youth group, 180, raises the money, we’ll have the chance to save someone’s eternal life in Jesus. Think about it. I’m sure that we’ve all had the chance to hear about Jesus, but some people in Africa haven’t. We’re giving them that chance. We will sell these chickens and butcher them to raise some money for Bibles. That’s why we’re holding a silent auction.

If you don’t know what a silent auction is, I’m about to explain it to you. A silent auction is an auction where nobody knows your bid. During a silent auction, you write down your bid on a piece of paper. At the end of the auction, the winner would be the person with the highest bid and they would receive the bidding item. We’re doing a bid for a chicken. The chicken’s name is Alphie.

To place a bid for Alphie, you must do the following:

1. Be prepared to receive the butchered chicken on Saturday, June 26. If you live out of the Ames and want to bid, please contact us.
2. Email my mom at pianomom23@gmail.com by Friday, June 25 at 5:00 pm with your bid amount
3. Leave a comment under this post saying you’ve placed a bid. (but don’t say the amount)

We will review the bids at 5:00 pm Friday and notify the winner at that time.

If you would like to actually buy a chicken, the cost is $15 per chicken. Please email me (Audrey) at rootbeer.squirrel@gmail.com. Again, you will need to be able to receive your order on Saturday, June 26.

Chicken Update

I thought you might be interested in seeing what those sweet chicks have grown into. Not quite so sweet any more. You might want to start thinking along the lines of succulent now. They only have a few more weeks left and they are getting big. I did not take a picture of the next set of chickens that are three weeks behind, but the difference is quite noticeable.
I went out to Shelli's the other night to help put them to bed and Luke and Ariana came with me. Luke got to fill the feeders and Ariana got to turn on and off the hose so I could fill the waterers. Then we went to look at Shelli's barn and while in the barn, I spotted an egg. I pulled Ariana over and asked her what she saw. She asked, "Is it an Easter egg?", because the egg was brown. Shelli let her take it home and Ariana was all ready to have her egg for breakfast the next morning.
The fund raising for the Bibles is moving along. The goal amount to raise is going to take a while as we hope to instill the value of giving to the jr. highers by having them give most of the money towards the Bibles. At this point, mostly, we'd love your prayers for our endeavors. And the chickens would like you to eat more beef! :)

Chickens for Bibles

I am going to try to take a very awesome idea and explain it to you while trying to keep it brief and not lessen the awesomeness of it all.
Our church is working with a children's center in Zambia called, Hope Children's Center. We are also working with a Zambian national pastor named Navice. Navice is a man of God, sharing the love and hope of Christ wherever he goes and starting new churches with the new believers. These new believers and new churches need Bibles.
Audrey is in our church's junior high ministry called 180. Junior highers have lots of time and an amazing amount of money and more than enough energy. The 180 pastor, Joel, is hoping to help these kids live out their faith by raising money for Bibles and new church starts in Zambia.
Shelli is a believer in our church. Shelli is a mom, an ambitious woman, and has a heart for God. Shelli lives on a farm and raises chickens for eggs and chickens for meat.
These three people lives have intersected in a way so that 180 (jr. high) kids, lead by Joel are going to help raise nearly 100 "meatmaker" chickens (think roast chicken, etc.) donated by Shelli to sell for profit to raise money for Bibles.
Two of those kids got started this past weekend. Audrey and Bailey helped Shelli clean out the brooder and get it ready for 50 day old chicks to arrive. Granted, it wasn't a hard task, but the work still had to be done. Just some hosing down and scrubbing with a brush. The brooder keeps the peeping chicks warm and cozy for about 2 weeks.

Then on Thursday, the kids and I, along with their small group leader, Heather and her son, Brady, went to visit the chicks and change the paper in the brooder. 50 chicks make a lot of poop, so this has to be done at least once a day. In about 8 weeks, these will be nice and plump and it will be a different story then.

How is this related to Easter? Now, I don't think this is too much of a stretch to say that spring equals new life and miracles happen every day as you look around seeing dormant trees, plants and grasses burst into green. If you think of the idea of a sweet little chick, regardless of it later outcome, you tend to think of new life and miracles again. Christ died because we were dead in our sins- that is Good Friday. What we celebrate in Easter is that He came back to life- a miracle! Our sins equal death. Christ took all of our sins, our death upon himself. Then, out of his death, He came back to life! Not an easy thing, my friends. When we place our faith in him, we are given new life, given hope, given the power of the resurrection!
This is true for us and it is true for those believers in Zambia. So, as Shelli, Joel, others and we help raise these chickens, we are helping to give hope of Easter!