Has your Pastor killed an elephant, leopard, cheetah, lion, and buffalo? Yeah, that's what I thought. Side note: All was done to protect family and herds.
I am having quite an incredible time in the Maasai Mara working with a beautiful tribe in one of the most remote places on earth. This month has been a great time of unplugging and practicing silence; a spiritual discipline that is not natural for me but bears much fruit. One of my heroes, Henri Nouwen, said it best when he says 'if you practice silence often, your words become pregnant, become full.' I'm on a journey to learn what that means.
Most mornings I wake up to the most incredible sunrises–and that's due to my sleeping habits, not the actual event– surrounded on all sides with mountains in the distance. My team says they are hills, but to a Florida boy, that's debatable. The colors I've seen exploding through the sky, like the finale of a firework show, sends my mind into awe and wonder. And the colors bursting in the sunsets each night is unbeatable–unless you count the breathtaking array of stars celebrating the glory of God each night. I've never seen more stars in my life until I've been deep in the heart of the Maasai Mara where there are not lights polluting the beautiful light show our forefathers knew all too well. I can whole heartedly speak the words of Immanuel Kant, two things awe me most, the starry sky above me and the moral law within.'
This month, I am teaching at an elementary school, ages 5-7; working at a medical facility–which consists of filling medicine bottles and weighing babies, doing house visits, which is always an adventure when the people you are visiting are nomadic, and speaking and attending services throughout the week. I spend my mornings with my team eating breakfast and then head to school and teach various subjects to 33 eager students and grade many papers.
It's always a journey of surrender for me. I think about the life of Jesus and how he spent 30 years before launching his public ministry and am finally embracing the perspective of God and have been meditating on what was written about Mother Teresa in Come Be My Light:
"To the good God nothing is little because He is so great and we so small–that is why He stoops down and takes the trouble to make those little things for us–to give us a chance to prove our love for Him. Because He makes them, they are very great. He cannot make anything small; they are infinite. Yes my dear children, be faithful in little practices of love, of little sacrifices–of the little interior mortification–of little fidelities to Rule, which will build in you the life of holiness–make you Christ-like."
"She would again insist:
'Don't look for big things, just do small things with great love… The smaller the thing, the greater must be our love.' She lived this principle in whatever she was doing throughout each day. Whether it was big or small mattered not to her; everything she did was an opportunity to love."
These have been my meditations as I teach each 5 year old English, Kiswahili (talk about underqualified!) and math, and lighten the load of an overworked teacher. As I share about the Kingdom coming and already here to a nomadic tribe. As I weigh babies and fill scripts. Nothing is insignificant; for all has been made by the transcendent One; impregnated with the Author of life.
I currently need to raise $2,131 ASAP or I will be sent home. Please spread the word and help me finish this race strong! There is still MUCH to be done! Thank you!
