A broken spirit
Psalm 51:17 says, "the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." I've been reading through the Psalms and this verse just really jumped out at me. Since being here in Africa, God has broken my heart time and time again. It's a beautiful experience because it brings you a step closer to God and his broken heart for us. I'd encourage you to ask God to break your heart in some way today.
Okay, So here we are again with a lot of catching up to do...Saturday was probably one of my best days here in Africa. I had the opportunity to take 15 ladies to the beach. 13 went last year for the first time in their lives, and 2 went for the first time on Saturday. We had a great time just playing in the water, sitting in the sand and talking, listening to Mama Sule and what she had to say about the importance of friendship! It was great day. Let me just highlight some of my fondest memories for you...the confusion between the word "handbag" and "hamburger" made for an interesting conversation on the dala-dala ride for starters. Then I was called "Mzungu kama Mtanzania" (White person like a Tanzanian) b/c of my hair, we all got a good laugh out of that one. Okay, so many of my readers are from Florida and understand marine wildlife some, this will help in my story. We got to the beach and went in the water immediately. I was down there talking with the ladies and they asked me to teach them how to swim. Just as I was about to, I noticed something blue out of the corner of my eye...it was a jellyfish. After seeing the one, I saw two more! I freaked out, meanwhile, one of the ladies went over and picked it up. I'm thinking, "well, our day's shot, we've gotta take her to the hospital." Nothing happpened...I discovered later that night (thanks to a wildlife in the Indian Ocean book) that they are harmless. Did any of you know that such a thing existed? I thought all of them could sting you. Oh well! I'll never forget Mama Flora's reaction when she found out that sand dollars are alive. She threw it down then scooted as far away as she could, which involved her climbing almost completely in my lap. It was pretty funny! My favorite memory of all is Mama Victor just sitting in the shallow water playing in the waves as they lapped up. She looked like a little child in complete wonder of it all. Oh yeah, and then the ladies tried to sell me to some fishermen going by. Not really, but the fishermen said they liked me and wanted me to go with them. Mama Jofu told them that they had to buy me. Again, we had a good long laugh about that one. I am so thankful for the gift of friendship and the gift of laughter. I thoroughly enjoyed both on Saturday! And before we left, I saw a camel and a herd of cattle on the beach. Yup, you read that right! Only in Africa!
Sunday was a busy and quite exhausting day. In addition to our regular church service, we had 3 baptisms. Praise the Lord! Then we had the darasa la fafanuzi ("what the church is all about" class). That was 2 hours long, and then we had the vijana (youth group). We ran into a few snags throughout the day too, all of which God worked out. Things kept disappearing...Mitch's Bible and the keys to Mitch and Beth's bedroom being the two main things. Both of which were found, but I've learned to take even the small things to God in prayer. Beth was frustrated in looking for both (at two seperate times). I joined in her searching, stopped and said a prayer, and within a few seconds after each prayer, I found the items. God has been so faithful in the big things over the last few months, but I never thought to give Him the small things too. I would encourage everyone reading this to evaluate everything you are worrying about, then stop and pray, and walk away with empty hands and a heart full of peace.
On to Monday, all the ladies were still exhausted from the beach trip. That's more sun than any of them ever have in one day. I, too, was beat! If being tired wasn't enough, Mama Safi ran into a problem with her duka (store). The keys wound up missing. Not knowing this, I shared with her my story from the keys/Bible last night. I told her the story b/c of a new vocabulary word, no other reason. Immediately after, she told me about her duka. I asked if I could got help her look...Once there, we were looking everywhere without an luck. Mama Safi had given up and was sweeping up outside, when she uncovered the keys buried in the sand. Again, proof that God hears our prayers. What was even better than that was that Mama Safi got to share the story with Mama Rahma - proof that God is real. Continue to pray for Mama Rahma's heart to be open to the gospel. She is sooo close! So, after all that, we were still exhausted, now, ever more so. Thank you, Lord for little children. We were all drying dishes when Mendela came over. He answered a question for me with the word "no" (in English). Mama Amina asked him what "no" was in Swahili. He said, "Oh well that is very easy" (in Swahili). It is, "pua". Pua means nose. We all giggled a little, thinking he just confused "no" and "nose." Then, Mama Amina asked him what "yes" was in Swahili. Again, noting that it's very simple, he replies, "yai" (egg). So we have nose and egg. Everyone laughed for a good 5 minutes. It's exactly what we all needed to bring our tiring day to an end. Again, I am thankful for children, laughter, and friendship!
As for today, it was a good day, pretty uneventful though. I took a taxi to the Salvation Army to pay for my Swahili classes. I haven't been taking them for the last 3 weeks b/c they were charging me more than we agreed on. Then, I got to meet Mama Safi's brother and spend some time with them. After that it was English class and a long ride home. I did, however, receive several compliments on my ability to speak Swahili today. I really needed the encouragement b/c I haven't felt as confident lately. Now, I'm going to write in my journal (yes, I have an even more detailed one here), take a shower, and go to bed. Hope all is well there! Take care, God bless, and reflect back over a broken spirit and prayer in the small things. God revealed them to me and had me pass it on for one reason or another. I'll be praying for you all. You'll hear more soon.
Okay, So here we are again with a lot of catching up to do...Saturday was probably one of my best days here in Africa. I had the opportunity to take 15 ladies to the beach. 13 went last year for the first time in their lives, and 2 went for the first time on Saturday. We had a great time just playing in the water, sitting in the sand and talking, listening to Mama Sule and what she had to say about the importance of friendship! It was great day. Let me just highlight some of my fondest memories for you...the confusion between the word "handbag" and "hamburger" made for an interesting conversation on the dala-dala ride for starters. Then I was called "Mzungu kama Mtanzania" (White person like a Tanzanian) b/c of my hair, we all got a good laugh out of that one. Okay, so many of my readers are from Florida and understand marine wildlife some, this will help in my story. We got to the beach and went in the water immediately. I was down there talking with the ladies and they asked me to teach them how to swim. Just as I was about to, I noticed something blue out of the corner of my eye...it was a jellyfish. After seeing the one, I saw two more! I freaked out, meanwhile, one of the ladies went over and picked it up. I'm thinking, "well, our day's shot, we've gotta take her to the hospital." Nothing happpened...I discovered later that night (thanks to a wildlife in the Indian Ocean book) that they are harmless. Did any of you know that such a thing existed? I thought all of them could sting you. Oh well! I'll never forget Mama Flora's reaction when she found out that sand dollars are alive. She threw it down then scooted as far away as she could, which involved her climbing almost completely in my lap. It was pretty funny! My favorite memory of all is Mama Victor just sitting in the shallow water playing in the waves as they lapped up. She looked like a little child in complete wonder of it all. Oh yeah, and then the ladies tried to sell me to some fishermen going by. Not really, but the fishermen said they liked me and wanted me to go with them. Mama Jofu told them that they had to buy me. Again, we had a good long laugh about that one. I am so thankful for the gift of friendship and the gift of laughter. I thoroughly enjoyed both on Saturday! And before we left, I saw a camel and a herd of cattle on the beach. Yup, you read that right! Only in Africa!
Sunday was a busy and quite exhausting day. In addition to our regular church service, we had 3 baptisms. Praise the Lord! Then we had the darasa la fafanuzi ("what the church is all about" class). That was 2 hours long, and then we had the vijana (youth group). We ran into a few snags throughout the day too, all of which God worked out. Things kept disappearing...Mitch's Bible and the keys to Mitch and Beth's bedroom being the two main things. Both of which were found, but I've learned to take even the small things to God in prayer. Beth was frustrated in looking for both (at two seperate times). I joined in her searching, stopped and said a prayer, and within a few seconds after each prayer, I found the items. God has been so faithful in the big things over the last few months, but I never thought to give Him the small things too. I would encourage everyone reading this to evaluate everything you are worrying about, then stop and pray, and walk away with empty hands and a heart full of peace.
On to Monday, all the ladies were still exhausted from the beach trip. That's more sun than any of them ever have in one day. I, too, was beat! If being tired wasn't enough, Mama Safi ran into a problem with her duka (store). The keys wound up missing. Not knowing this, I shared with her my story from the keys/Bible last night. I told her the story b/c of a new vocabulary word, no other reason. Immediately after, she told me about her duka. I asked if I could got help her look...Once there, we were looking everywhere without an luck. Mama Safi had given up and was sweeping up outside, when she uncovered the keys buried in the sand. Again, proof that God hears our prayers. What was even better than that was that Mama Safi got to share the story with Mama Rahma - proof that God is real. Continue to pray for Mama Rahma's heart to be open to the gospel. She is sooo close! So, after all that, we were still exhausted, now, ever more so. Thank you, Lord for little children. We were all drying dishes when Mendela came over. He answered a question for me with the word "no" (in English). Mama Amina asked him what "no" was in Swahili. He said, "Oh well that is very easy" (in Swahili). It is, "pua". Pua means nose. We all giggled a little, thinking he just confused "no" and "nose." Then, Mama Amina asked him what "yes" was in Swahili. Again, noting that it's very simple, he replies, "yai" (egg). So we have nose and egg. Everyone laughed for a good 5 minutes. It's exactly what we all needed to bring our tiring day to an end. Again, I am thankful for children, laughter, and friendship!
As for today, it was a good day, pretty uneventful though. I took a taxi to the Salvation Army to pay for my Swahili classes. I haven't been taking them for the last 3 weeks b/c they were charging me more than we agreed on. Then, I got to meet Mama Safi's brother and spend some time with them. After that it was English class and a long ride home. I did, however, receive several compliments on my ability to speak Swahili today. I really needed the encouragement b/c I haven't felt as confident lately. Now, I'm going to write in my journal (yes, I have an even more detailed one here), take a shower, and go to bed. Hope all is well there! Take care, God bless, and reflect back over a broken spirit and prayer in the small things. God revealed them to me and had me pass it on for one reason or another. I'll be praying for you all. You'll hear more soon.