by Brittany Mullett, 6-month Africa Immersion team member
The Africa Immersion term has just transitioned to South Africa from their first community on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. Here's a short story from their time with the Navajo people.
Tonight is a Wednesday so it's a church night, and church is an all night thing. I'm talking three to four hours long. It's amazing.
The Navajo people wanted to treat us and make us "Navajo Tacos," and let me tell you they were like mouth-watering good. From preparing the fry bread to stuffing my plate full of food, they treated us like royalty. After being fattened up like a cow we proceeded to the service. The people were singing hymns in Navajo and it was sounds of love and joy to The Lord praising Him. After much worship, people came up sharing testimonies or singing or playing instruments. The little old ladies who dressed up and came miles and miles by themselves to be here were my favorite. With their curls still in their hair and all their beautiful turquoise jewelry draped across their bodies, they were living the life.
After service ended we served them their dinner since most of them don't have dinners or food every night. That's when a light bulb clicked.
Rhonda is pretty much the Queen of White Rock, and she asked us to help out with making dinner tonight. While dicing tomatoes in preparation for the tacos, I threw the little ugly green stem away, because that is what I routinely do. But then, Rhonda spotted me in the corner of her eye and rushed over and said, "No, Sunshine, use all of it." All of it as in like the green part? Like eat the green part?
The word "all" hit me like a freight train. They don't waste anything. They use it ALL. They have a bucket right next to the trash can to put food scraps for their livestock. They have nothing to throw away.
That made me think. Am I using ALL my potential? Am I serving with ALL of my heart? To not have anything go to waste?
I feel like our society is bad at that. Throwing the ugly things away. Literally and emotionally. Throwing away the crust of bread. Throwing away our left over food. Throwing away paper. Why? Because all of those things we know we can get more of.
We also throw away emotions. We throw away people. We throw away the feelings of love and companionship for pride and power. We throw away our purity for self-worth. We throw away our time for pleasure in the moment. We throw away people when their going gets too tough. We throw away people who are different than us and we don't want to help. We throw so much away.
But they use it ALL. From the little scraps of food, to their mad bball skills (like I kid you not, these kids have game), to their hearts—they give ALL their love too.
That's what I am trying to learn. To not waste, but to use. Use all. Use all The Lord has given me. "And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to his purpose."
- Romans 8:28
I am challenging myself to not waste, but to use all that I have been given, whether tangible or spiritual to glorify My God.
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