Every tongue, tribe, and nation

In the midst of all that happened last week, in typical God fashion, God allowed me to be a part of a sweet, and fun type of worship. He always seems to meet me right where I am and remind me that He is still sovereign. Friday was the last day of our weeklong seminar with the teachers. Throughout all the fabulous teaching and useful tips given, one of the most amazing things was seeing a sense of unity and community developing amongst the teachers of all the Imara schools. So, Friday morning, worship was big giant party, literally. We broke it down, danced around, and all in all just got a great workout, Jesus style. However, my favorite part was the last song that we sang. Here in Tanzania, there are over 120 different tribes. Some are very different from each others, not so much; but, each definitely has its own unique personality and language. What does that have to do with worship, well let me tell you... WOW! I must admit that I am definitely not a Bible scholar. I must admit that there are times when I read the Bible and I feel at a complete loss and don't feel like I understood anything or got much out of it. However, there are times when I feel like my soul has been nourished from a rich time in the word. Friday, I felt like I saw the Bible come to life. In front of me, I saw a passage of scripture played out in front of me. As we were worshipping, the leader called all of the Massai up to dance and worship with their dance. He led them in a song about the people from that tribe knowing God and worshipping and celebrating their way. The Massai are the ones that jump up and down and move their shoulders in ways I didn't realize were possible. After them, he continued to all up all the tribes represented: Chagga, Meru, Pare, and many others. They even let the Wazungu tribe come up, which was just little ol me representing the white people of the world that can't dance. =) I was right in the midst of Revelation 7:9-10, "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: 'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'" Aren't you glad that heaven is not going to be sitting on clouds playing harps but a whole lot more fun?

Listen, drop everything, get on a plane and come to Tanzania because worship here is just to amazing to miss!