"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1 (NIV)

We have returned from a dry and weary land; we are back in Nairobi. This morning, at church, Psalm 63 was read before the message. It was so appropriate to our time in Kenya that it nearly brought tears to my eyes. (Okay, not nearly; it did bring tears to my eyes.) We have spent more than three weeks in Northeastern Province, Kenya--a very dry and weary land. A place where the living water is sparse and the people are dying of thirst. I found myself thirsting after God in a way I seldom do back home. Earnestly seeking God is the only hope for survival in lands as dry as we have seen. The terrible drought currently affecting Northeastern Province seems to mirror the spiritual drought that we have witnessed. The lands have been plowed by many workers, seeds have been planted, but the land is so dry. Only living waters can revive the barren lands, which made prayer such an integral part of the trip. God brought us to the end of ourselves and taught us to depend on Him.

Despite the drought, God is doing a lot in Northeastern Province.

It is hard to see sometimes, especially for us short-termers, but God is working and "there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?" Eccl. 3:22 (NIV) God knows the work that we have done and the works of all his workers. The efforts of those who trust in the Lord are not in vain. We humans usually want to see the end of our efforts. We demand, often selfishly, to see results. We do not trust that God's hand is at work even when we can not see it. Learning to trust God has been a massive part of this trip. He has been teaching the three of us (especially me) to cast our cares upon him.

I will be going back to Canada with complete uncertainty in my life:

I am unemployed and broke; I feel like I have been called to Northeastern Province or to a similar ministry but I have no idea what the next step is; I know that I want to serve God but I have no idea how that will look in my life; and, of course, I worry about all of it, even though I know I shouldn't. After all, my God is great, "He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes the grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call." Psalm 147:8-9 (NIV) My God cares about the big things and the small things. He even provides for the young ravens! What do I have to worry about?

We are all learning to trust God more, but we are works in progress.

Continue to pray for us and for God's work in Northeastern Province. We have so much more to share with all of you when we get home. Please ask us to share and be patient with us, for it will be difficult to find the right words to describe our experiences. Check back on this blog for further reflections and closing remarks.

Thank you for reading.

- Mark, for Andrew and Ben