I had the incredible opportunity of being there, in the flesh... well, as close to as I think one could ever come on this earth today. I found myself on dusty streets, in a small village on the Eastern Escarpment of the Great Rift Valley looking towards Lake Malawi in the distance, dotted with fishing boats. Wherever we walked, (because that's how one gets around), we were followed by inquisitive children, their faces animated with grins and sometimes fear as I pointed the camera in their direction.
We sat on mud plastered "patios" of small thatch houses and read accounts of Jesus' life and His character. People literally appeared in the hundreds almost as if from nowhere to join us.
Ladies sat on their sarongs or simply in the dirt and listened to what the "Baba" (a distinguished man) with us had to say about this Son of God. Men chatted at the back amongst themselves inquiring as to these people's intentions, children forced their way to the front to prove to each other, they could get closer and mothers nursed content babies while they listened.
It wasn't as much what he spoke about, as much as it was the acts of service and love that had attracted these people's attention in the first place that captivated me in a different place, in a different era. It was the eagerness of people to hear what had to be said by Christ like characters who had earned respect over many years by providing practically for people's needs, just like Jesus himself did. It was the hospitality that people showed us, just as they must have shown to Jesus and His disciples. It was the smiles on people's faces despite their conditions because of the hope that was represented! It was the kids who didn't have a care in the world but to get closer to these strangers in their simple yet familiar world just to listen to stories.
As the sun set over the lake, I prayed and thanked Jesus for taking me back to a time where He walked and talked among people, where he sweated in the heat and became hungry after a long day and sought rest for his tired body and I thanked Him for the hope that he brought to so many in this small village, 2000 years later.
