Gingerbread Village

This autumn, a young man named David came to vist our Church.  His story of escape from Sudan as a young man reminded me of the amazing power of grace, empowerment and redemption.  

David is now in England, obtaining a Masters Degree with the hope of returning to the new nation of South Sudan and working with the government of build a strong infrastructure.  Currently he and friends minister to over 900 children from his home village, which is almost inaccessable.  

My heart was tugged--what could I do to help him?  

The ageless question from thousands of years previous came softly to my mind; "What is that in your hand?"  Like Moses, God puts things into our hands to enable us to affect others positively for the kingdom.  Christmas was coming.  Gingerbread houses...a beautiful thing to make and a lovely way to decorate for Christmas.  My step-daughters had told me I could easily sell lots of them.  So, the plan unfolded in my mind.  Bake a gingerbread village of 10 houses and sell them.  And my current progress? --two houses now assembled, decorated and delivered; with four orders outstanding.  So I'm praying the Lord will help me complete the 10.  

The pre-fab factory is open

I've baked two batches now..which produces between two and three houses.  I'm still figuring out how thick to roll it for the best result.  Getting the roof too thick makes it too heavy for the rest of the little building.  

Oh, and because I had dough left over, I was able to bake one gingerbread man fo the Maverick.  

Jelly beans and smarties!

       All the houses are the same size, but obviously, each one is going to end up unique because of the goodies I put on the outside.  
       Believe it or not, I spent about fifteen to twenty minutes sorting sultanas (raisins made from white grapes) from candied citrus peel and regular raisins.  And sections of chocolate make great windows and doors.  
       I do try to put on a variety of sweets to get different textures, flavours and colours.  

       I found a couple of small tins of tube-shaped biscuits/cookies, to look a bit like logs.  Crispy, light and a nice foil to the intense spice of the ginger. 
 

Fruit jellies and tube-shaped luxery biscuits.

       When royal icing gets thick and heavy, it will slide and look like snow hanging/falling off the house.  It dries pretty hard, and makes it looklike the house is in a snow-laden country. 

Funny, but I get excited to see what each house will look like once it is finished, because I never know when I start.  

Well, I wanted to make a quick post, as more days have passed than I would like between posts.  

The other benefit is that I get to use the oven to warm up the flat a little more than when using the central heating.  

I hope your Christmas preparations are going well.  Now that I've made this posting, I'm going to work on more Christmas presents.  

Serving Jesus, Author of our faith,
"Lady Helene"