“A-Washed” Away by Jim Pool
My son and I were scampering around on the rocks of a rapids nearby to where our team had just finished baptizing 283 new Ethiopian followers of Jesus, and I slipped on a wet rock. I fell headfirst into the water (actually banging my head on the rocks once or twice – less funny) and my prescription glasses washed away. Not only did these new disciples get their sins “Awash”-ed away, my glasses got “Awash”-ed away as well!
GoogleMaps + Missions Fail by Brian Fox
On my most recent trip to Panama, I found the courage to borrow the local pastor’s vehicle and drive into town to meet up with another pastor. I entered the address into Google maps and I was off! A drive that should have taken 30 minutes was completed 2 hours later after two Google misdirections and a desperate call to the pastor. He met me in a grocery store parking lot and had me follow him to our final destination. Future Trip Tip: Google maps is not a reliable source for directions in Panama!
Breakfast Tipping by Kim Frolander
On my first trip to India, I had learned through talking to other Vineyard leaders who had been to India that tipping was not the same as it is in the US. So at the host-pastor-recommended hotel where we stayed (gorgeous!), each morning at the AMAZING breakfast buffet, the four of us on the team took turns leaving what felt to us like an embarrassingly small tip. By the third morning of our stay, the whole team was remarking how outstanding the service was! Our coffee cups never even got to the half-empty mark, and we ate so many pancakes and cheese omelets it was a wonder we fit back on the airplane! Our host pastor and his family of four accompanied us out to dinner the last night in town before I finally asked what an appropriate tip would be on a fancy dinner like we 8 were enjoying that night. Turns out, it was the same amount as we had been tipping at breakfast every morning! [In fairness to our breakfast servers, it did appear that they were attentive to their other customers too!] After much laughter at our very American worldview, we decided to go ahead and give the same tip on our last morning.
Baboon Strike by Jim Pool
We were at breakfast a few days earlier and we had a baboon strike. I scared one away at first but then retreated and gathered friends. I have a picture of him red-handed snatching my daughter’s pancake!
Submit your funny Vineyard missions story to
::
To learn more about Vineyard Missions, click here.
