Tagged: Africa

Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:16-17, NKJV I'm back in East Africa for a season, and memories of my life here over two decades ago are flooding my heart and mind. Before we had children, my husband and I made our home among the coastal Aduruma tribe. I was naive, zealous, and focused on bringing the beauty of the Lord to Africa. How foolish I was, thinking I understood His beauty. What actually happened was the Aduruma became my teachers, and I their student. In the end, the Lord… Read More

for Keith and Hannah, whose legacy stretches across the world. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 I made my way to the hospital To give him your gift today, Not knowing he would give to me The tale of how you gave your life away. To save his little girl, To give her a tomorrow. To feed a village of widows, To comfort them in sorrow. I feel unworthy to have Such givers… Read More

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. Lamentations 3:22 Compassion is directly connected to power. Our human power has limits. For some, compassion can morph into workaholism and exhaustion. Others, looking at the widespread trauma in the world today, feel powerless to help at all. Then compassion becomes despair. Despair becomes avoidance, even as the needs of the world grow greater. There is a compassion that never fails, and it is powered by limitless love. I don’t know about you, dear reader, but my compassion has limits because my love has limits. Does yours? I didn’t want my love to have limits. I once thought I could love endlessly. It took a mere six months among a… Read More

For R and C, and all who feel outside. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.  Hebrews 13:12 He spoke quietly, gently.  We were always taught that the mzungu (white man) knew best. That his way was always better. So I felt shame when asked to lead. I remained quiet, afraid my opinions would not matter. Centuries of colonization left their indelible mark on his belief system:  You are an outsider. Less-than. Keep quiet. My Kenyan friend, a strong and gentle leader, felt outside even after being invited in. Shame silences too many gifted, intelligent, courageous world-changers. [bctt tweet="Are we who are so skilled at proclaiming the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ overlooking the… Read More

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.Psalm 139:23 We are anxious about everything, it would seem.  Today on the Culture Translator, I was introduced to the latest anxiety trend among Generation Z: “eco-anxiety.” Stemming from the belief that there is currently a climate crisis, eco-anxiety is causing a majority of 18-25 year-olds to worry about what will happen in the future. Before you judge Generation Z, stop and evaluate what has your heart racing these days. What makes you worry about the future? How do we know what is really worthy of adrenaline-producing, cortisol-throbbing anxiety?  We have a little saying in our house when stress begins to shake us: “Is it an ant, or an elephant?” And like… Read More