On Wednesday I returned home from Mozambique. Seen from an airplane, Michigan's landscape was incredibly beautiful. The abundance of water and the many colors of green were a sharp contrast to the landscape of Mozambique.
The women of Chinhangane are beautiful - strong, joyful, friendly. They welcome us with open arms and are generous with their love and friendship. Their land is dusty, hot, dry and barren. There hasn't been a good crop for several years, so food is scarce. Day to day to life is hard.
I don't find it easy to teach about God's goodness in a place where people are hungry, tired, and sick. I see the hardship and wonder how God's goodness allows such hardship. How can I tell them God cares for them when I have so much and they have so little? Do they see Jesus in us? Do they see a loving God in the beauty that does exist in the village? In the beautiful sunrise and sunset? In the beauty of each person? In the millions of stars in the night sky?
"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1
