Perspective

Pertaining to perspective, I think all of us had a lesson learned. Most of the team's first impression of Turkana was similar to that of Kate's: "Nothing really all that beautiful grows in Turkana. At first glance the Acacia trees appear nice, but up close you realize they’re covered in three inch thorns. The rivers are all dried up, and walking through the sand is like walking at the beach, except without the relief of an ocean breeze and nearby water. Without water having touched these lands in two years everything seems to be dying, animals and people alike." Yet, once we looked closer, or through the eyes of it's Creator we discovered beauty that we had never seen. The colors and intensity of an African desert sunrise or sunset was one of the first things we noticed. Or when the desert turns so pitch black at night that you can't see your hand in front of your face, you can look up and see stars like you have never seen them. So bright, so many, and so close. When you look at a sky like that and remember how He placed those stars with his fingertips, you can't help but recall what a great and mighty God we serve.

Mel had very powerful lesson learned in perspective that she shared with the group during team time one evening. "As the team knows, God really used nature (in crazy ways) to speak to me while we were in the bush of Kenya. Actually, He used rocks in particular. It reminds me of the verse that says, "if we don’t praise Him, even the rocks will cry out!" I ended up spending most of my quiet times in Turkana walking in circles on a “bushless” patch of sand and praying. I had some really interesting talks with God…many I’m glad no one else had to hear. One of the first mornings, I was praying , singing and walking when I looked down to find a small rock that, to my marine biology-educated eye, looked like a piece of coral or worm-ridden rock that had washed up on shore…in the middle of the desert?? I showed it to the group and shared my lesson with them as well. I had been frustrated with God that day about why He was “forgetting” these people. Why wasn’t He doing something? Looking at that rock, it made me think of perspective. If a friend came up to me here in Charleston and showed me that rock, I’d simply dismiss it as something common here in SC beaches. My perspective was all wrong. I thought I knew what was going on, but with my limited perspective, I was clueless. God was reiterating that I am clueless! He sees it all; He weeps over the suffering of these people as well; He knows all that has happened and will happen in their lives. Who am I to question Him about it? Hmmm…definitely a lesson to take back to the States!"