Zebras and Gazelles and Leopards... Oh My!

Talk about an African Safari... What a time we had today! Today, we got to spend a day as tourists. We spent the day in Nakuru National Park- breathtaking was quite an understatement for what we saw. The beauty of the mountains, the desert and the animals. We enjoyed herds of giraffes, a leopard preparing to pounce on a pack of gazelles, rhinos, and zebras galore. I wish I could post pictures right now, but don't worry, they will be coming soon.

All that to say, we have been doing much more then being tourists since arriving back in Nairobi. Actually, the past week has been pretty draining. Spending time in a Hindu temple and a Muslim mosque will change your perspective on things.

With 1 billion Hindus in the world, and so many muslims, this time has really been forcing me to ask God a lot of tough questions. 1 Billion, 1 billion people... Who will never know the name of Christ, who many spend eternity without him. You start to ask God, how? Why them God and why not me? At first, as I walked around the Hindu temple, I met these questions with the typical Sunday school response... It's just God's will. Or, I am blessed with knowing about Jesus so I can be a blessing. But the more I thought about these issues, the more I was unsettled. I was encouraged by a friend of mine on the team to bring these questions to God, and so I did. And as did, I realized the importance of asking God the tough questions, and trusting him with the answers he gives. Sometimes we don't understand his will, we don't understand or see the people who live in daily bondage to idol worship, to oppression, and who have never experienced freedom or truth but we can trust that God sees each and everyone one of them, and has not forgotten about his people.

As I began to ask God the "tough questions" he has been showing me how much he loves me. Sometimes it is in the little things, a conversation with a teammate, a pack of beautiful giraffes, a letter from home. Whatever it may be, God leaves little marks of his love for me throughout the day. And as his Child, I have the incredible opportunity to pour what little I have at his feet, thanking him for revealing himself to me. As God begins to show me his love for me, I see his love for other people. I am compelled to love because I see how much he loves me... and how much he loves his people.

This past Saturday, I held a starving five year old girl named Esther. She is five, yet because of malnutrition, she has the body weight and size of a 2 year old. As tears poured from her eyes, I fed her tiny bites of a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich. Some bites were to big, and she would cry as she tried to digest. Her little tummy was protruding and this was her first meal of the day, as I held her I wanted to badly to cry with her. Holding this beautiful girl was a powerful reminder of the love God has for each of us, his Children. His heart breaks when he sees his children starving, whether spiritually or physically. And he takes us and feeds us gently, bite by bite, allowing the tears to fall but refusing to let us go. Today, allow God to love on you, to feed you little by little, and to show you more about who he is. His desire to feed Esther is the same desire he has to love on you...