Vision
"We don't see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright!" 1 Cor 13The frogs, crickets, and other night chirpers are singing in the dark Amboseli night. My roommates are soundly sleeping having succumbed to jet lag earlier. I am hoping to finish this report before the generator turns off at 11 pm stopping the only breeze in our tent coming from the oscillating fan positioned strategically between our three twin beds.
We arrived without incident late last night into Nairobi, drove to the hotel and left again after too few hours of sleep to catch our 7 am flight to Amboseli. Our "camp" is just outside the Amboseli game park so from the airport we actually had a semi-safari to get here. I mentioned the location of Amboseli is at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. Now, I must say this was a thrilling idea having barely glimpsed the peak while visiting Tanzania in 2006.
But today, in the early morning hours there she was in all her glory! Even though I had only a small glimpse 2 years ago it was still one of the most breathtaking things I have ever seen. Today, I didn't care to look at the passing gazelles, the wandering wildebeasts, the occasional warthog - all I wanted to do was to look upon the spectacular snow-capped summit rising up from the African plains.
We serve an amazing, awesome creator God who brings mountains out of the flatlands and fashioned dust into human form. Oh what a mighty God we serve. By the time we settled in, had our lunch and made our plans for visiting the Maasai tribe just outside the game park, the clouds had rolled in and covered "her" beauty. I felt as though the Lord had pulled back the curtain of inspiration and said, "now, back to business".
Back to His business it is. We drove to the Pastor's "boma" (a small group of huts consisting of mostly family members) within the village. We were introduced to his wife and baby and one by one the other women (his sister, aunt, sister-in-law) all came out of their dwellings to greet us. They were dressed in the traditional Maasai wardrobe, varieties of red plaid coverings and heavy beaded necklaces, bracelets, earrings and head dresses; stunning against such a back drop of small domiciles, babies in tow (with most crying at the site of us). It reminded me of the verse in Matthew regarding the lilies of the field "Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed so lovely as these". I couldn't imagine how.
We brought our greetings, and assured them we would return tomorrow. We are not quite sure what we will be able to "do" since our interpretation is limited. What we do know is we are ambassadors of the King and He has placed us here at this time and He will have His way. We are ready, willing and able to do all things through His strength.
We don't see clearly - what His plan is. We are looking through the "fog" of the way we have done things in the past - but tomorrow we pray to see Him clearly - face to face - in the hearts and eyes of the beautiful Maasai.
Sun shining - no rainSmiling still
In His service
