Rising Early to Pray

so the light in our dorm gets flipped on at 4.45 in order to begin our morning prayers. not quite sure why we can't have morning prayers at 12.30 to 2 when we have a break, but i guess this is what time we've been appointed to pray. and it's not like one can sleep through the prayers either. the place where we all meet is next door to the women's dorm. praying here in africa means to pray out loud at the top of your lungs. (i may have mentioned that before, but i'm still trying to accept this.) so i hear all the prayers of everyone praying in the next room the different in their prayers, is these people only pray for themselves and to exalt God. they don't seem to know how to pray for others or pray in silence.

I wonder what God thinks of this? i have my thoughts, but that is because i grew up in the western hemisphere, with the american church being my norm. but if i had a friendship - and i never let the friend say anything - and only yelled at the friend how great she is, but never allow her to speak to me... i can't imagine that friend would be very appreciative of my friendship.

so this is my prayer: that these new-found friends would experience a real and loving God who desires to have a friendship with them.

highlight of my morning: meeting a maasai man walking along a trail. he and i spoke briefly for a few minutes. he did most of the talking, and pointing, and i asked a few questions. it was really cool. here's how it went down. between 7.30 and 8.30 every day we have our quiet time. i've found this great place to sit and enjoy the view of the mountains and the landscape. but instead of sitting there this morning, i felt like walking. so i headed south from the base and began my trek. i'm not sure how far it was, maybe a mile or so. this bush is quite tame, including some plowed fields with some rock piles. it's very flat where i live. so i'm walking along and had to have surgery on my crocs. stepped on a thorn and it went right through the bottom of my shoes into my foot. so lucky for me, i had my handy-dandy multi-tool (just in case i see a black mambo!) and pulled out the thorn. after the thorn, i kept walking and found a trail. so i followed the trail a while, and noticed some houses further into the bush. they are maasai houses. it was very exciting for me. so i walked a bit further and saw some goats. and sure enough, the herd's boy was walking his goats. at this point i decided to turn around and not go any further

so i began my treck back to the base, and noticed a man following me. he was a maasai man wearing a purple robe and simple sandals and a really nice digital watch. i've discovered that most people wave to greet each other, so i waved. he waved back, so i waited on the trail for him to catch up. he shook my hand and asked me if i was with the Mission. guess he has a good relationship with us. we may buy rice from him - who knows? he knew a few words of english, and now i know a few words of swahili, and together we made it work. he mentioned that he lives near the river (which i didn't know there was a river!) and that he was traveling to boma. he also said that he knows an american friend in boma. oh the things i learn from these africans!

it was incredible to talk w/ him. my heart rejoiced that he was friendly and knew some english. i loved the interaction. seeing him and conversing with him was a great encouragement.