Devotions

Every morning at 8am the staff at TOA meet together for a time of devotions. It is a very special time and we have seen God answer so many of our prayers. We meet outside in a building we call our “prayer hut” made out of wood and thatch. Last Thursday we met together and Jodie was sharing her devotion on the fruit of Spirit, Peace. As Jodie was sharing suddenly from the top of the prayer hut a giant lizard fell to the ground…right in the middle of where we were sitting. It just sat there on the ground. I am not sure if it was stunned from the fall or trying to act invisible. But it just sat there without moving an inch.
Jodie continued to share and the next thing I knew about six of our chickens came walking around the building. They decided to dig through the dirt that is right next to the prayer hut while Jodie was sharing. The chickens were loud and noisy and kicked up a mess of dirt and if that was not bad enough the next thing I knew one of the chickens ran right past the prayer hut and stopped less than five feet away with what looked like a snake in her beak.
At that point I apologized to Jodie for interrupting her and asked, “Is that a snake the chicken has?” Everyone responded yes. Then I asked, “Is the snake alive?” Everyone started to laugh as they said yes again. I sat there listening to Jodie and watched the chicken eat a snake about five feet long. At some point the lizard sitting in the middle of the prayer hut ran away but I was too distracted watching the chicken eating a snake that I really didn’t notice. It really was quite amazing.
I can truly say that living here in Tanzania has not been dull or uneventful. Even everyday experiences can turn out to be exciting moments.