"All we like sheep have gone astray"

This past weekend I went on a Safari. My pictures are below if you want to check them out! We saw elephants (babies included), giraffes, zebra, lions, rhino (more babies included), monitor lizards, baboons, monkeys, wild dog (the second most endangered carnivore in Africa), impala, and the highlight of our trip had to be when we stumbled upon a whole family of cheetah right as the sun was setting. They were less than 20 yards away from our car, FIVE of them—a mom, dad, and three children. Reg, the executive director here in South Africa and my wonderful safari guide for the weekend, said that he had only seen a cheetah family one other time in his entire life. He was in awe (because they’re his favorite animal), and so were we.

We were all amazed, though, not by the cheetahs themselves, but by the God who created them and every other living thing we saw that weekend. Being in the Lord’s creation for three days straight, observing all that He has made for us is one of the best worship experiences you could ever ask for. At the end of our time at the reserve, Reg left us with a little devotional thought from Job. In chapter 38, after Job has endured an enormous amount of suffering and pain, losing everything, his possessions, his children, and almost his own life, he asks God why. Why the suffering? Why the pain? God responds, but not in the way one might think. He doesn’t answer Job’s question directly. Instead he says, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me if you have understanding […] Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, and caused the dawn to know its place […] Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions?”

Creation is God’s response to suffering. He says, look and SEE—I’ve got the whole world in my hands, so be still and know that I am GOD…That I am the one who sets the boundaries of the sea, causes the rain to come forth, and takes care of the birds of the air, so how much more will I take care of you?

These words from the song “Your Love is Strong” were brought to mind once more.
“Why do I worry, why do I freak out? God knows what I need.”- Jon Foreman

As if that weren’t enough to learn from nature, in class on Tuesday, Reg spoke about the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:12-14.

The text reads…

“If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.”

Reg went on to share with us what a shepherd in Israel actually does when a sheep goes astray. Once he finally finds the lost sheep, he breaks its legs so it can no longer walk. Well, this poses a problem for obvious reasons, but the shepherd is not worried. He takes the sheep up into his arms and holds it over his shoulders as the legs begin to heal. He keeps the sheep this way until its legs are fully recovered, and by that time the sheep has become so accustomed to the smell of the shepherd, it will never depart from him again.

Wow. What a picture of what Jesus does with us when we wander away (as we all so often do). I was holding back a well of tears in the middle of my Life and Teachings Bible class…I must say that I failed to keep them in for the most part.

We serve a God who knows His own. He knows those who are His. Tell me, what other religion can boast of a God like that, who, when we are lost, comes after us, and once we are found, in all our brokenness, takes us up into his arms and holds us close saying,

“I’m not going to let go…not for one second.”

Safari Highlights

Elephants with babies! 

We be on safari.

Baby Rhino! Just days old.

It fit on my hand...kind of. 

More elephants! 

Had to include the food. AMAZING breakfast. 

5:30 AM safari ride!

Mosquito net in my luxury tent.

The whole fam. 

Beauties

They're snuggling!!!

Wild dog. It looks harmless. It's not.

12 hours in a safari truck= lots of meditation time. 

Reg speaking on Job. 

Fresh tears from Reg's talk
(I do shed clear tears...normally. It's the makeup!)

Safari Time…Upload #7

Safari Time…Upload #7, a set on Flickr.

Here are some pictures from this past weekend's Safari. Expect a new blog in the next couple of days!! It's finals week here, and things are bit crazy. Sorry for the delay :)

Zulu Experience

This past weekend I spent the night at a traditional Zulu homestead about 45 minutes outside of Pietermaritzburg. It was shocking, firstly, to see people living in such an extremely rural environment less than an hour away from such a modernized city as Pietermaritzburg. As I arrived at the homestead with 23 other APU students, (we had all split into two groups prior to our weekend fieldtrips, and half the group went on a safari that we will be doing this coming weekend) we were surprised to find out that our leaders were leaving us for the night. From what we could tell, the people running the place were straight up indigenous, decked out in traditional clothing and speaking little to no English—just Zulu. Here we were, a bunch of clueless college students with our little backpacks, flashlights, and cameras, ready to go but not sure where to begin.

            

Luckily, the man who ran the place spoke English quite well, and he guided us through our adventure for the next 24 hours. When we first got there, we were led to our individual huts that we shared with three other students. There was no electricity at the place, but there was a designated hut with running water, toilets, and showers (we were thankful for that). The girls all stayed within the confines of the homestead that was situated in a circular fashion with about five large huts around the perimeter, a kitchen to the side, a campfire in the middle, and below that a place for the cattle to come in and sleep at night (this was located in the very middle of the plot of land because cattle are the Zulus’ most important possession). The whole plot of land was angled up on a hillside so any drainage could flow downward. The view from our huts was beautiful because the homestead overlooked a quite large lake situated less than a quarter of a mile away.

            

There were three women and about five men that helped and entertained us that evening. They fed us an unbelievably tasty dinner of traditional Zulu food. Our first course consisted of steak and Zulu bread that they steam in a pot. It is pretty much the best bread ever, and the steak was so tasty. It was cooked right in front of us on the campfire. When it was finished, they cut it up into little pieces and placed it on a tray with the bread. Then we all sat around in a circle (by lamplight, of course) and took a piece of steak, dipped it in salt that was located in every corner of the tray, and then put it with the bread to eat. We devoured our tray within minutes. In order to receive our second course of the evening, we filed one by one into the open-air kitchen (boys first because that is the traditional Zulu way) and went around in a circle being served small helpings of each dish that was prepared. There were chicken legs, a kind of grits dish, a bean and chickpea type mixture, tomato and onion sauce, and a curried cabbage. Everything was delicious, and I was sufficiently stuffed.

            

After dinner we moved into the main hut at the top of the hill and had our own personal show and training in Zulu dance. We had seen this before, but I’m pretty sure that night’s performance was the best one yet. They also sang as they danced, and that was my favorite part by far. There is something about their voices and the harmonies and the drum and the dance all combined that is electrifying (especially in such a tiny room). After the dancing was done it was time for bed, and at this point we were all exhausted.

            

The next morning we had a breakfast that was almost as good as dinner, with bread that was toasted straight on the fire and coffee in the cutest mugs I had ever seen! The rest of the afternoon was spent making our own personal arts and crafts. One of the main women in the homestead taught us how to make our own clay pottery and beaded bracelets. Once 1 o’clock rolled around it was time to go and we left our new Zulu friends with heavy hearts. It was such a relaxing, entertaining, and beautiful weekend. I enjoyed every second of it.

 

Zulu beadwork time. Representing
 the purple and gold for my high school, CPA.

My pottery! It says, "Shalom" in Hebrew.

I would have stolen a cup if I could have.
LOVED them.

After the Zulu dancing, we definitely needed a personal picture.

Dinnertime! 

Beautiful

Sunset over the lake (and the cattle in the middle there)

Down by the river with my little Christa! 

The doors were miniature. 

Our little hut! 

Zulu Style…Upload #6

Zulu Style…Upload #6, a set on Flickr.

Safari, beach, and Zulu village. All in a weekend. WHEW!