when God's presence is just sweet...

...but first, a bunny trail. i think it's hilarious that i can't log in to paypal, wachovia, and many other websites that i am not yet aware of on the Sudanese connection we get on compound. Sudan comes up as a sanctioned nation. i can't believe i live in a country that is internationally sanctioned online...that is crazy, in a funny way, to me.

ok, back to the road (bye bunnies)! one of the best times on compound is nightly prayers. it was the first thing i experienced when i came, and continues to be one of my favorites. it's something the kids began on their own. one of the older girls, Onzima, felt the Lord call her to do it and it's happened every night ever since. the kids love it. it's not forced or mandatory or official, which is why i think they love it so much. they feel free in it. after dinner, the kids will gather our drums and start playing. eventually more come, form a circle around the drummers, and dance around and around in African fashion. some more time passes, and one of the older girls joins as the worship leader. they're not picked beforehand, it's just whoever comes over whenever. African worship is call and response (how Gospel came about) where the worship leader sings a phrase and the rest respond by singing a new phrase or repeating the leader's words. the songs are very simple, and they often repeat the same sentence for 15 minutes. but they don't get tired of it, it's their style and their sound. so we go around and around for 45 minutes. at some point, we transition from fast songs to slow, and everyone stands still, kneels, and worships the Lord. finally, there's a time for prayer at the end, and all corporately cry out to the Lord.

tonight was beautiful. God's presence was just plain sweet. that's the best way i can describe it. it wasn't overwhelming power, laughter, tears. He was just there and everyone knew it. it was very dark out. i didn't realize the difference the stars and moon make in lighting the world until i came here. tonight there was no moon and the stars were covered by thick clouds. i couldn't see faces, but as i looked around, i could see children worshiping, hands raised to Jesus. the worship and prayer was so sincere, so from the heart. sometimes it's not. the religious spirit will rear its ugly, horrible head from time to time and everything will feel so mechanical. not tonight. the children's hearts were meeting with Jesus. i had my arm around Blessing on one side and Moriba and Asa on another (who would jab at each other a bit trying to win full possession of my one hand). i prayed for God to do among these kids what He did with H.A. Baker's kids in China in the early 1900s. ("Visions Beyond the Veil" is a must-read. it's about 100 pages and will take you an hour). they were beggar street kids who were reluctant to attend weekly chapel, until God came down. they were caught them up in visions of heaven, hell, angels, and the end of the age...for months. they wouldn't eat or sleep for days sometimes; all they wanted was to be with God. they accurately described the events in the Book of Revelation. 10-year olds would preach and prophesy on the streets with a voice that was not their own. i prayed this for our kids. "why not, Lord? these, too, are the poorest of the poor, the cast-asides...Your favorite ones."

i'm gonna believe for it and believe Him to do it. but for now, His presence was just plain sweet.