A strange thing happens to me when I come to Africa: I tend to want to see a lot of things. After all there is so much to take in. There are new people, new cities and towns, new countrysides, and new aspects of God's beautiful and variegated creation to take in.
In all of this newness I actually noticed myself getting a little selfish. It happened simply and quite naturally really; I suppose that's the case because down deep I can just want what I want when I want it. I even tend to wrap up such selfisheness in spiritual garb sometimes. It was like this when I prayed during one of our drives in "The Kruger." We had seen many beautiful things already but I wanted to see what I wanted to see so I prayed a silly little prayer that went something like "Lord, give me eyes to see a leopard!" Yep, that's actually what I prayed.
Guess what?
I never did see that leopard... And I'm glad.
Somewhere along the way of not seeing what I wanted to see, I ended up hearing what I - what we on the trip and all of us in the church - needed to hear. It came quietly to me in one of those still small voice kind of moments: "It isn't what you want to see that is important, Reed, it is what I need you to see that is."
I needed that. We all need that. Imagine a world where the followers of Christ saw the needs he sees and the pathways to hope he offers. Imagine a world where we simply prayed every day asking the Lord to help us see what he needs us to see so that we can give or forgive, or listen or share, or heal and receive healing as he directs.
That's what we want as a team here, to see what he needs us to see for the good of the people of Mhlosheni and for the healing of the selfishness that we all struggle with.
Please pray for us that we would have eyes to see what He needs us to see... And as you do this, pray for yourself in this way, too, for the good of your world there! In this I pray that we all will be nudged toward the ends God desires.
"Whenever someone has a ready heart the insights and and understandings flow freely..." Matthew 13:12
Reed
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