Adventure to Emurutoto

      I am thankful that this blog is a tool, a window, to the journey that God has me on.  This is one of those posts that takes some time as I process.  And really, I am happy for you to read but truly is more important for me to write.  For these simple entries allow me to process, rest, and dwell on the experiences that I share with my Creator.  I am able to do what is needed, love how needed, and make sound decisions as needed.  However, following especially adventurous days like these rest and reflection are important.  I am grateful that so many read and follow the entries for they help to provide a connection along with ways for you as the reader to pray and be connected to how God is moving in and through.  I am afraid no matter the number of words or pictures that the window at times just is not clear enough.  I have come to realize that most of these scenes have become normal or home.  But, at times I still pinch myself and inwardly say these are the scenes of the story.  With tears and knowledge this day I am a part of the story that begins before the start of time.  A story of God's love for us.  
     I often laugh when I see movies and one character asks another "how was your day" or "what did you do today?"  The degree of laughter probably is on a scale that depends on the day.  Rarely can I give my typical home culture one word answer.  And on the way home after several days in Emurutoto I found humor in the question "honestly, Wendy what did you do today?"   Well, you didn't ask but I did for you so here is a list of words that could have filled the answer to the typical inquisitive greeting.  I...

... drove as a "bush momma" down the escarpment and back out again, stopped breathing for a split second when the boys thought they saw a 6ft spitting cobra sunning itself along the road, watched children appreciate the gift of desks made of flat boards for their cold concrete classroom, set up camp beside a dried up river bed, cooked chili beneath the stars by the light of the moon, encouraged the faces of hundreds of children in Emurutoto to learn from all around, listened to a "head master" (principal) broken by the demand to build a "proper" kitchen or the corn meal for the kids only meal of the day would no longer be delivered by the food program, traveled to a remote preschool/Kind with not even a dirt road that lead to the simple tree, watched a toddler write in the dirt with his finger desperate to learn, observed a teacher work with a group of kids with a stick as his only tool, held back tears as I watched Peter the church planter care for people, hugged children with tattered clothes and fly covered faces, brainstormed ways to come along side the people in such a remote place, rode up the river bed with giraffe close enough to touch outside my window, held a spot light to find animal eyes at night, hiked in a gorge, marveled at the stories told over a muddy well, helped a woman whose ear had been cut off by an abusive husband, cooked over a fire, became official splinter remover, prayed for protection from a man filled with demons, visited a Maasai boma so the interns could take in a bit of culture, watched the goats as they returned home and were milked, marveled at the African sunset, welcomed by the grandma who spit on the top of my head, held a baby with no mother till he feel asleep, treated a woman for pain with an abbess in her mouth, sang in multiple languages, shared words of encouragement, prayed over hurts and healing, claimed the hills that the love of Jesus would dwell...    

      My list isn't meant to impress but I don't know how else to answer of what I did all day.  And it is only by the grace of God that I am able to pull myself off the sleeping bag in the morning.  Sometimes I wonder if my heart is big enough to take in or put out either one.  There are many hurts here but there are many hurts that fill this world.  The beautiful thing is that we are indeed part of the story sharing the love of a mighty God who calls us to Him.  Will the fearful mother of two small children a patched up ear with a husband who showed her harm come to know Jesus?  Will the little boy with no mother who just learned to walk worship among the church to be loved by an eternal Father?  Will the hills of Emurutoto "give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known to the nations what he has done?" (Psalm 105:1)  Will the school children who sit under a tree with empty bellies "sing to Him, sing Praise to Him" for all eternity?    

     I can not answer those questions.  I hope one day to see glimpses of those victories but truly it is not up to me.  It is between their heart and God's.  What is up to me?  I asked myself that as I gripped the stirring wheel bumping up the escarpment.  What is up to me is that I love with a love that is not of my own.  A love that sees through the dirt, disease, and destruction.  Eyes, Hands and Feet that see the beauty in the culture and the people who share my day.  I pray I make good decisions but I hope with all of my heart that I love in the name of Jesus.   

Some days I do wonder (which can sometimes get me into trouble) who would play me in a movie!  I have to say that I wouldn't even know movie character names any more to make suggestions!  The good aspect to my wondering is that I am more and more in awe of God.  I can answer what I did today but the "doing" is not always the most important part of the day.  There are so many questions that I can not answer.  I am leaving a season of being overwhelmed in the unanswered but embracing a new season where I bask in God's Wonder ~ all the answer that I need.  My day is not to answer the questions I can not, solve all the wounds of the day, or to out do the next person.  It is filled with living a life in love to love.

What do I do all day?  I worship a God that loves me more than I can ever hope or imagine.  I serve in a place where I learn more of His character and calls me to a deeper worship.  I give thanksgiving for the creation around me and delight to get to explore.  I love with an everlasting love that was given to me for hearts such as these.

What did you do all day?  The elements of your day might be a bit different.  Your list might be free of a cobra sighting, under a different set of stars clouded by city lights, but what matters is the same.  We worship a God that loves and sings over His creation.  I hope brothers and sisters what we did all day today is worship and love those around us with an everlasting love!  

 







Prayer Points~

• I am thankful that by your partnership and support I can be a tool to love those here in Tanzania!
• Protection, Peace, and Courage for Peter and Joelica who are the church planter family in the Emurutoto area. 
• May the people of Emurutoto be people who are freed from the darkness and brought to the saving light of Jesus!  
• For the teachers in the area who are trying to give the children knowledge and hope
• My dear children who are hungry, who desire to learn, and who will rise to conquer the darkness
• That I may know how to love, how to be a resource, and ways the Lord wants to use me to shatter the darkness that fills remote yet beautiful places.