Spring has definitely sprung here and how wonderful it is. October is a beautiful month indeed. The downfall tho is all the dust it brings. Living at the center in the country is such a wonderful blessing tho dust can be oppressive at times. Rains are not too far off. For now we endure all the dust devils, horrendously dirty feet, and thick brownish clouds that hover over from time to time.
It’s so odd tho. Our mission center is located here on the west side of Arusha. It truly is oppressively dry and dusty on this side of town. It’s like hitting a wall of dirt twenty minutes drive outside of urban life. Perhaps it serves as a clear boundary marker differentiating rural from urban. At any rate, it’s DRY! Drive thirty minutes down the road in the other direction and it’s completely the opposite. It’s green, lush and bustling with life. People on that side of time seem so much lighter and perhaps happier. I would assume life is much easier for them. Water is everywhere. Rivers and streams flowing off of Mt Meru provide bountiful harvests and refreshing respites for any tired, thirsty cattle.
Things are entirely different on the west side here. Lush has been replaced with arid. Streams that once flowed during the rainy season are now dried up and barren housing only the memory of life and years of litter. Farmlands that flourish on the east side struggle incredulously to overcome the over pastoralized land here in the west. What nutrient sapped land can’t do to deprive the new seed, lack of rain comes in to finish off the job.
The question then lingers, “Whey did CMF choose to live here?” Answer, “We didn’t. God did!” He whose very Name means, “Life” loves these precious children of His and wants that not even one should perish. He has placed us here, not to complain, but to serve as a living testimony of who He is. In a dry and weary land He is “Living Water.” When the hopeless and desperate cry out, He is “Hope” and “Compassion.”
As much as I enjoy living in the country, especially the blessing of African countryside, I am not here for me. No, God has brought us here for a calling higher than our own comforts. He has called us to be Life to the Dying. Refreshment to the Weary. Hope to the Fatherless. Promise to the hopeless….
“Precious Lord, Father to the Nations… please forgive me for my short sidedness. When I seek only my comfort and allow the challenges to cause me to lose sight of why You have called us here., please forgive me. For the times that I have looked right in the eyes my neighbors and not seen the faces of your children, I am sorry. Dear Father, when I even dare to complain about the bad roads, dust, discomforts, etc, please help me to remember those who are suffering, struggling to even find food their hungry children. My discomforts can’t even compare to the pain of watching a sick child worsen from lack of nutrition and no money to afford help.Please forgive me as I cry out to you because I’m weary from having to home school my children. At least my children have a school. Most of the children around us have no hope of becoming anything but a cow hand or a servant girl.
Oh Lord, how childish and foolish I can be at times,; how selfish and self-preserving. Precious Father, You who is rich in mercy and love, fill me with Your love. Give me Your eyes to see deep into the hearts of your lost children. May my heart ache for them as Yours does. Put your mind on me that I may have Your hope, Your vision, Your passion for these precious, lost children of yours. Let Your kingdom come to earth and fill us with all love, power and passion. May you be glorified thru us!”
No comments:
Post a Comment