Hour Eleven - Saa Kumi na Moja

Western sunset blazes red
   Over random piles of rocks.
Balanced boulders scattered ahead;
   Also, hidden dwellings formed with blocks.

Africans are planting rice and maize;
   Women bending low, performing tasks.
Herds of goats and cattle graze.
   "Dream or reality?" This I ask.

Days of wonder fill our heads;
   Mounds of memories we find.
Sunset colors blaze deep red;
   Hearts of love have been entwined.

by Julie Dunlap   10-18-2013

Note:  We are in 'the last hour' of our stay in Africa.  We have been blessed beyond anything we could have imagined.  It has been like living in a dream.  We thank God for bringing us to Africa and blessing us with many new African friends.

Western sunset

 Balanced boulders

Hidden dwellings

Africans are planting

Women bending low

Cattle graze

"Dream or reality?"

Sunset colors blaze

Hearts of love have been entwined.

Prayer for Africa

God bless Africa

Guard her children;

Guide her leaders, and

Give her peace

For Jesus Christ's sake.  Amen.

This short prayer is found in the front of the song books we use at the cathedral in Mwanza.  Please join us in prayer for the African church and the African people, that they will know Christ and follow His way of the cross into the brilliant, everlasting Light.

Hush, This Day is Holy

Hush, this day is holy,
   Holy to the Lord,
   The Lord most high.

Quiet your mind,
Still your thoughts,
For this day is holy
To the Lord.

Joy springs from a grateful heart;
   Give thanks to the Lord
   Almighty.
Joy springs from a grateful heart
   With quietness and trust
   In God.

10-9-2013
Inspired by Amy Carmichael's writings
in Edges of His Ways

Note:  This short song came to me this week, and encouraged me to quiet my mind, still my thoughts, and give thanks to the Lord, and thereby obtain true joy.  This is the joy that comes from a deep trust in God and heartfelt gratitude for His mercy, extended to each of us as we come to realize our frailties.

 
 

You Have Our Faith with Our Bodies

Father, thank you for your revelation
    about death
    and illness
    and sorrow.

Thank you for speaking so plainly to us,
    for calling us all friends
    and hovering over us;
    for extending your arms out to us.

We cannot stand on our own;
    we fall into death without you.
    We fall from faith, left to our own.
    We are really friendless without you.

Your extended arms fill us with joy,
    expressing love,
    love caring and carrying,
    asking and receiving our trust.

You have our trust, Father,
    and our faith,
    with our bodies
    and all that we are and possess.

We fear nothing when with you,
    safe to stretch out and help others,
    those troubled in faith,
    those troubled in body.

Father, help us to do with our bodies what we proclaim,
    that our faith be known to you
    and to others,
    and be effective in all the world.

Masai, Tanzania
from An African Prayer Book by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, copyright 1995

Six Weeks

          Six more weeks remain;
          Seems so short a space.
          Day by day, we gain
          Gratitude for grace.

          Grace that brought us here;
          Friends who bring us cheer.
          Love that will endure,
          Lasting year by year.

          Thanks to Thee, O Lord.
          Thank You for Thy grace.
          Kindness Thou hast poured
          On us.  Africa we embrace.

          9-30-2013