Day #3 - Better late than never...

Day 3:

Day 3! More chants last night from the church with the megaphones on the outside! Some of our crew has resorted to ear plugs. Smart move. More peanut butter and banana sandwiches and eggs for breakfast, some words of wisdom from Randy and a 45 minute quiet time before we were on our way back to Sokoni One. We had our usual warm welcome by our rafikis and then we got to work moving more big rocks for the foundation and then filling in the holes with dirt. We had our bowl of rice, beans, avocados, bananas, pineapple, spinach, and cucumbers for lunch prepared for us by the mamas of the village. We are still struggling with looking up at all of the kids lined up on the hill watching us as we eat, waiting for us to finish before they are able to be served. God, please grant (us) the serenity to accept the things which (we) cannot change! After lunch, a little concrete mixing 101 was held- that was comical. We then made an assembly line of buckets with the concrete mix and ultimately spread it on top of all of the rocks. We’re clocking in some long hours. We left around 5:00pm and then got to take a little tour into town and saw three schools where Young Life will hopefully get started pretty soon. At the third school, we got to get out of the bus, walk around and saw monkeys! We then went to see Alexis’ house/the Arusha Young Life office. He has a banana tree and an avocado tree in his backyard and we got to meet his two dogs. On our way back to the hostel, we were able to observe all of the hustle and bustle out on the streets. There are people everywhere! It is still so funny for all of us to see the African women walking down the street with these HUGE loads of stuff on top of their heads. I saw a lady today with a giant bucket of at least 100 tomatoes. No coordination/balance here whatsoever, so I am thoroughly impressed.

After dinner, (same as last night- noodles, carrots, green beans, cabbage, rice, and some type of stew, and pineapple) we came together again to sing, pray, recap and hear from Labon (the mossai warrior who is AWESOME by the way) who shared his life story with us--in English! He doesn’t wear the Mossai garb, but we have seen some other Mossais decked out walking around town. They have this red cloth/blanket that they wear over them and drape over their head and they always have this stick/staff/spear not sure what it is in their hand. It is really easy to pick them out! Apparently, the Mossais are pretty hard core! Sidenote: Labon did share with us that before he started to do Young Life, he worked on Kilimanjaro as part of the rescue crew so feeling good about the fact that he will be hiking kili with the kili crew.

It has been encouraging to hear everyone’s heart each night and their perspective on the day. Tonight, after the tremor we felt from the earthquake (yes, earthquake, but don’t worry we’re fine), we again talked about where we saw God today/where we see God working. Everyone has incredible insight. In particular, Hayward McEver had some neat words that he shared with the group tonight. He mentioned how Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:3 “Truly I tell you unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Hayward spoke about the refreshing ability of these children to trust us so freely and he related this to our personal relationship with Christ-- how it is hard to trust Christ like this with all the distractions life throws you as we get older. If only we could trust the Lord like these little children trust. What would our relationship with the Lord look like? This verse came alive today as Christ was evident in the faces of all of these children. Specifically, I think of Irene who has now had the same dress on for the last three days and is absolutely beautiful. She is timid and shy and loves to be tickled. I think of Douglas who tells us stories and knows so much about the history of Africa. His work ethic is admirable as he shoveled gravel all day long. He is also quick to share his faith with you and is not afraid to ask how your relationship with the Lord is going. I think of Sarah who was just dying for someone just to pick her up and hold her today and the joy she received from being given half of a crayon and a sheet from a coloring book. Our relationship with Christ SHOULD be as these children have demonstrated this trust to us—with an uninhibited faith.

Each day, the children run after the bus as we enter and leave Sokoni One. It is amazing to turn around, look out the window of the bus and see little people sprinting after us- full speed ahead. The imagery is beautiful if you think about it. Hayward said it best. The parallel between these precious kiddos running after us parallels our Heavenly Father, chasing after us with wild abandonment. Thank you Lord for opening our eyes and for creating this visible picture of your love for us! ~ Ashton