2-24-13
Star-filled skies in Tanzania have been one of my favorite aspects of month six. Each night after dinner, I’ve found myself stretched out on the concrete driveway of our “compound,” sometimes joined by my J Squad siblings, sometimes chilling alone with God, but always awe-stricken by the phenomenal diamond adorned blanket He uses to cover the Earth each night. As if to remind me of how much He delights in my joy over His creation, He occasionally sends one of His diamonds racing across the sky, generally gaining a gasp of delight from yours truly!
Friday night was like every other night at the compound – after dinner (rice, brown beans, kale, cabbage, bananas and ginger tea) I meandered to my preferred spot on the concrete slab and lay flat on my back.
“Okay, God, give me a light show,” I challenged. Overlooking my obviously sour attitude, He complied. The longer I lay there, despite no less than five shooting stars, my mind couldn’t shake negativity over what was to come. My time of star-gazing would be short-lived than night, and I was making no effort to hide my discontent.
Friday night, for the church we are working with, is Prayer Night. At 9:00 PM, church members assemble at God’s House and basically HAVE CHURCH! There is an emphasis on prayer, but Africans do a fantastic job of giving praise and honor to God before asking Him for favors, so prior to prayer, there is a plentiful amount of worship. By plentiful, I mean hours of singing, dancing, testifying, cheering, crying, prophesying and more dancing! Africa worship is anything if not entertaining!
If you haven’t put two and two together, Prayer Night lasts a while – usually well past midnight. I found myself grumbling about the absurdity of the late hour, mad over the sleep I would surely lose, complaining that some people didn’t have to attend and “sacrifice.” What can I say? Even as a missionary, I still fight “cold prickly” thoughts from time to time.
Around 9:30 PM, because rarely does anything happen when it is scheduled to happen, our pastor called for everyone who was attending Prayer Night to grab a plastic chair and fall in line. I groaned, got up from my star-gazing, picked up my chair and headed along the half mile or so walk to church. The stars in Tanzania are bright, but unfortunately not enough so to illuminate our journey, so most of our crew walked with Bible in one hand, chair in the other (or in my case, on my head because it seemed easier while traversing hilly and “jungle-esque” African terrain) and head lamps strapped to our foreheads. As I looked around at fourteen of us marching up a forgotten goat path in African, resembling a mighty band of coal miners, laden with our gear, I had to laugh. Few people chatted. It was as if we were preparing for a throw down – the fight to end all fights. A true blood brawl.
Because God often speaks to me through sports analogies, my mind instantly thought of “Friday Night Lights,” one of my favorite football movies. There is just something about gearing up for a big game – strapping on gear, saying ritual prayers, psyching yourself up to go hard all game long… I’ve done it a million times, and though I hate to admit it, I’ve often done so in far better spirits than what I exhibited prior to that moment on our walk.
The truth is, everyone attending that Prayer Night – giving up sleep, dedicating their personal time to petition God for needs of others, willingly worshipping without reserve for as long as The Spirit leads – those are real Friday Night Lights!
They go against the world. They make Jesus a priority. They go into battle for souls, for sick people, for those in need. They glorify God and not themselves. And in the end, THEY WIN!
Be Blessed,
Ashlee
