Traveling thoughts
Drawing Near
After leaving Tanzania, we continued our journey to Cape Town, where we joined fourteen Europeans for an adventure filled month travelling through Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe in an overland truck. Three weeks of camping, canoeing rapids, hiking mountains and exploring the African desert. We were pushed beyond our limits, and it was wonderful.
Our tour dropped us off in Bulawayo, home to Marty Barrow, Pittwater Uniting Church member turned honorary Zimbabwean, who arranged for us to spend time visiting the babies’ home and the many other ministries they run.
Our first visit was to a squatter camp at the edge of town. These people have had their homes destroyed by the government and sadly most suffer from AIDS. They have nothing; no homes, no possessions, and yet what they do have they share with one another . They even made us take a bag of corn with us when we left. It makes me wonder, if I went to the supermarket and on my way home met a rich stranger, would I be so willing to give them my fresh groceries to demonstrate God’s love?
Another highlight of our time was helping out in the church soup kitchen, cutting up ostrich liver for about 200 people!
And of course there are all those kids. Despite the sad stories, we heard many tales of courage and love. We had lots of laughs with these brave little people who refuse to give up. They seem to understand far better than we do what’s important in life, and I know we received far more from them than they did from us.
After saying a teary farewell to Zim and her beautiful people we flew to Cairo, Egypt. We saw the Pyramids of Giza, the Temples of Karnak and Abydos. They are amazing. What I found most incredible is the faith of the people who built them. Granted they had faith in the wrong god, but to labour for decades they certainly gave their gods honour and glory the best way they knew how. Sometimes I fear I don’t give my God, the one true God, nearly as much of myself or my life.
We then moved into the Sinai Peninsula and stayed at St Katherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mt Sinai. The monastery is one of the oldest in the world and has a wild raspberry tree traditionally thought to be the burning bush. Watching people write their prayers on little slips of paper and tuck them into the tree I was astounded. Do these people realise that it was never the tree that had the power? The power was always God’s, the tree was merely his vessel.
Climbing Mt Sinai (at 2am!) I truly felt that it was God’s mountain. I heard Him so clearly in that place and I understand why He chose it to be where He handed down His Law. It leaves you speechless, downright breathless too! Only when you can be quiet before God can he really minister to you. On that note, we made our way to the Holy Land.
Jerusalem. A city of many contrasts. Jews, Christians and Muslims all come together in this place where religion and tradition are everything. Where faith defines you. It’s here I’ve learnt that there are as many types of Christian as there are people. There are Christians who chant words, Christians who rub incense, Christians who carry Holy water and Christians who make the sign of the cross wherever they go. There are those who rub scarves on Holy places, those who buy Jesus key rings, those who sing, those who stand in silence and those who push in front of you in the line.
Sometimes I find myself judging their faith. As if these rituals and acts could tell me what this person's heart was saying to God. But they can’t. Just as I can never know if the Church of the Holy Sepulchre really sits on the place of Jesus’ death and resurrection, I can never know what’s in another person's heart. I’m not meant to. God knows what’s in our hearts, He alone judges whether we are honest and true in our prayers and in our lives. And if I feel close to God singing His praises then that’s what I’ll do. And if someone else feels close to God by rubbing a scarf on an altar then that’s fine too. One path is no better than the other. God created us all in His image, and God has more than one side to His personality!
So whether you love to dance, or sing, or read, or cook, or teach, or run, or write or whatever! If you want to write notes to God and stick them in trees, or move to Africa and open a soup kitchen. If you want to build monuments to His glory, great! However you get close to God I encourage you to do it, and as regularly as you can. Because He loves spending time with us in whatever form it takes!
So as I continue my trip across the Holy Land, I’ll continue drawing close to God, and as you travel around the Australian Holy Land (of the Northern Beaches!) I hope you will too!
