Ride the Lion

 

 

As I sit in my small room soon to be shared with two other teammates (as soon as K arrives) I’m listening to the rain tink off the tin roof. Who would have expected to be cold in Africa? That’s what my teammates and I wondered as we sat huddled in our rain jackets through the five and a half hour church service. 

The service was wonderful but somewhere between language, jet lag, and possibly the devil’s antics it was a struggle. The messages were really good, just given in a different manner and it was lovely to hear a service in English and Chichewa and Swahli. Worship was totally different but full of passion, energy, and joy.

 

In one of the messages (there were about four besides the Bible study and baby dedication) we were encouraged to walk in the passion of Christ in 2015.

During Bible study the same pastor used verse 10 of Genesis 28 to launch a thought. Genesis 28:10 says, “Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran.”  It’s an odd verse to study, but he made a good point. If Jacob had never left Beersheba he would have never had the encounter with God he experienced on the way to Haran. Jacob knew God, but this encounter would not have happened if he hadn’t gotten up and moved. How many times do we miss out on an encounter with God because we won’t move?

 

Our first day here we were also told to “ride the lion”. Basically that means take the chance. Do something completely crazy because you might just succeed. 

 

I’m sure there will be many chances to “ride the lion” while I’m here in Malawi. So long as I glorify God I’ll know it was a success.