Its Hailing Giraffes

Well today we check out of the Amani and head out to Akagara to go on safari.  Jean Marie came and picked me up from the Amani and we loaded up the van with all of the luggage and headed over to the PEACE office to drop it all off and pick up Shawn.  We locked it up, headed back to the Amani, and picked up the team.  We headed out to Akagara which is about a 2 ½ hour drive.  Once we got out to the dirt road which is about 40 minutes from the lodge it started raining, and then it started really raining, and then it started hailing.  It was hailing so loud we could not hear each other talk nor could we see anything!  Jean Marie stopped the car and we waited out the hail.  Once we could see again we kept driving down the road until we came to a tree that was lying in the middle of the road.  The only way to get through it was to move the tree.  There was another car that was trying to come the other direction that was sitting there waiting as well.  So Shawn, Cindy, Phil, Jean Marie, and I all jumped out of the car and pulled the tree back.  We could not actually move it because it was too heavy but we held it back while Jean Marie ran back to the van and drove through.  We held it for the other car as well and once we were able to get back in the van it looked as though we had all jumped into the lake.  To say we were soaked was a complete understatement. 

 

We finally got to the resort and the rain had stopped and we checked into the lodge.  We got our rooms only to find out that the power was out once again, but we dropped out stuff and headed out on safari.  We picked up our guide and drove around for about and hour and a half.  We saw lots of impalas, warthogs, zebras, buffalo, and the best thing was the giraffe’s.  We drove pretty close to them and jumped out of the van taking pictures.  We were able to get about 10 feet from them, it was incredible!  We saw more animals but nothing that cool.  Once it started getting dark we headed back to the lodge and settled in and ate dinner.  We had a team debrief which was pretty good to reflect back on our week together and everything that we have seen, learned, and experienced.  

 

The biggest thing for me was seeing how much these people love the Lord.  Despite all of their poverty and emotional problems and sicknesses they have so much joy.  Joy is something that comes from within.  You cannot buy it and nobody can give it to you except the Lord.  Most of us have happiness which is bought and temporary.  We have so much and yet we are ungrateful, lazy and complain so much about things.  The people here work so hard and yet they have so little.  They are not as concerned with getting riches here on earth but rather the riches they will be given in heaven.  Their main concern is survival, forgiveness, and worshipping the Lord.  Christ is the center of everything here and it is amazing to see.  Even the shop names say things like, Praise the Lord.  I am not saying that all Americans or westerners are ungrateful, lazy, and complain, but the majority of us do.  I know that I do it.  It is because we get so caught up in our society and man pleasing that we forget what is truly important.  We forget that we do not need to be rich or have such earthly wealth, but that we need the love and joy that only God can give us and to reflect that love and joy on the people around us.  Making new believers and being Christ-like.  That is what our focus should be on.  Not on making lots of money so we can gain status on earth, but being a Christ follower and then being rich in heaven.  By accepting the blessings and the hurts that come from the Lord, we too can be joyful despite our hurts and pains and struggles here on earth.  This life is so short.  Where is your focus?  Is it temporary, just focused on the few short years that we will spend here?  Or is it eternal?  Focusing on spending our eternity in heaven with the Lord, enjoying the riches that he will give us when that day comes.