(Inspired by a recollection of the Adventures in Lbaa-Onyeke, initially recorded in my journal on Wednesday, 24th December 2025, 0715hrs…)
I’ve just finished making my bracelet and wearing it. I’ve been waiting to do this ever since we left Samburu East. Since I was in charge of Sunday School, I got to engage the children in this particular activity. This and many more big-little acts left an indelible mark in the pages of my memory. Perhaps I could try to etch them in yours too ( ◜‿◝ )♡.
It just so happened that I was placed in the station with the harshest conditions. It was a little nursery school in the middle of nowhere, with just a single building in sight – one class – which served as the ladies’ room by night and literally everything else by day. The only other structures were the washrooms-cum-bathrooms and a church nearby where our able Adams resided. We had to go and dig up for water in a laga a ways off from our station, fill the jerricans, then carry them all the way back. Quite an arduous undertaking, I must say. And did I mention that there was barely any network?
As you can already tell, I wasn’t too thrilled about any of it – at first. Whoever gave anyone the idea that I had the wherewithal to survive in such a setting? But as I sit here reminiscing, I realize that the very things I considered hardships at first were actually blessings in disguise. Every one of them had a way of pointing me towards God, enabling me to catch glimpses of the great unseen.
Because we had to eat, cook, teach the children and have our morning devotions outside, I had a chance to look up into the sky and around at the surroundings long enough to be amazed at the sight. A truly breathtaking view I must say. And to think that our God made it all – I couldn’t help but stand in awe of Him!
One of my favorite psalms – Psalm 8 – became even more favorite. I’d recite the whole chapter under my breath and gasp in wonder as I stared into the beautiful night sky: “O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above the heavens!”
I dare not forget the children’s songs – how beautifully and gracefully they danced to the rhythms of the traditional beaded collars on their necks. Even this brought Scripture alive, “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger.”
It was these very children who helped tell the story of Jesus to their parents using the beaded bracelets we helped them make. I was initially worried that these bracelets would become just another addition to their enormous collection and would lose their meaning. How wrong I was!
The adults mingled with the Sunday School children on the last day and asked for beads to make their own bracelets. Since we had run out of elastic string, they offered to pull out fibers from their sacks, use a little fire to make the ends firm and voilà – the bracelets were done!
What a joy it was to watch the children enthusiastically tell them the story of Jesus using those beads! I could already tell that this wasn’t going to be just another addition to their collection. It was going to be a constant reminder of God. How wonderful!
Ever since I read Jerry Bridges’ Respectable Sins, I have always tried to be conscious of what he considers the most basic of all sins – ungodliness. It gives life to our more visible sins as it entails living one’s everyday life with little or no thought of God, His will, His glory, or our dependence on Him. We don’t think of living every moment of our lives in the presence of an all-seeing, all-hearing God. How differently would we live our lives if we had little cues to help us be more mindful of God?
God was certainly on to something when He instructed the Israelites to tie His commands as symbols on their hands, bind them on their foreheads, and to write them on the doorframes of their houses and gates (Deuteronomy 6:4-12). In Numbers 15:37-41, He asks them to make tassels on the corners of their garments, with a blue cord on each tassel – all this to the end that they would look at them, remember all His commands and be consecrated to Him. God certainly wants to be constantly in our thoughts too, don’t you think?
Lbaa-Onyeke gave me that gift – it reminded me of God. The beautiful night sky, the beautiful songs the women and children sang and danced to, the trips made to the laga, the long walks to scout for manyattas, the privilege of sharing the gospel with people of an unknown tongue, the lovely fellowship with my fellow missioners (our phones were virtually useless so we just had to bond), the rich laughter we shared (this was truly the A-team ( ◜‿◝ )), the beauty of learning a few Samburu phrases thanks to our translators, and the joy of sharing everything – food, water, utensils, chores, and the little solar power in that tiny classroom that had become our home. How could I not see God?
I cannot help but think of how differently I’d live my life if I could see God in everything – if I could take pauses long enough to catch glimpses of Him all around me. That shouldn’t be very hard to do (except if my phone is constantly glued to my hand).
All creation literally testifies of Him. The mountains and the hills burst into song before Him. The trees of the forest clap their hands and sing for joy. Oh, that I may join in the chorus! Oh, that I may see Him!
***
I WILL NOT HURRY…
I will not hurry through this day!
Lord, I will listen by the way,
To humming bees and singing birds,
To speaking trees and friendly words;
And for the moments in between
Seek glimpses of Thy great unseen.
I will not hurry through this day;
I will take time to think and pray;
I will look up into the sky,
Where fleecy clouds and swallows fly;
And somewhere in the day, maybe
I will catch whispers, Lord, from Thee!
~ Ralph Spaulding Cushman, 1879.
***
( ◜‿◝ )♡
Joy Chege.