I was in North Mozambique 7
years ago. I loved Pemba in all its
poverty, smelliness and government infractions. There was once-a-week
water, short daily hours of electricity & we lived, as the children did, on
2 bowls of rice daily as well as a salt biscuit for breakfast. But, there was
love & that in abundance.
Each morning my friends & I would awaken, before the
fisherwomen hit the water, to bathe in the Indian Ocean. Each morning the
same 3 young boys would follow us trying to get us to buy things from
them. They shadowed us everywhere we went. We shared Jesus, prayed &
fell in love with them. Our final day we honored them with flip flops
& paid twice the asking price for their random items. My little
friend gave me a beaded cross necklace he made just for me. I’ve worn that necklace almost every day for
7 years.
What I do creates in
me a fullness of life. I’m not saying everyone should pack up and head to
the nearest 3rd world country. We’re not all called
overseas. But there is a mission field for all of us. Every
day we have an option. We can stay cocooned in our safe place or we can
take a risk and do something to change someone else's world. Life to the
fullest is a choice. It’s deciding to embrace
it all. I don’t always feel like being an extravagant giver or
listener or encourager but often the times I feel the least compassionate is
when my sacrifice seems the most rewarding.
A cross drawn on a
small white shell and strung with beads reminds me to love at all costs &
never stop.
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