I awoke to the sound of pounding rain at 5.30 AM. Most of the time the rain is a great blessing- except on Sundays. Loading up the sound equipment, instruments, and supplies for our Sunday morning gathering in the rain isn’t much fun at all. After just a few minutes I was soaking wet and shivering. (I’m just not used to the chill of 70 degree weather compared to the normal 100+ Dar heat). The cat and two dogs were hiding from the downpour under the awning of the house as Paul and I worked for 30 minutes to get everything loaded. They stared at us as if we had lost our minds; at the time I think I whole-heartedly agreed with them.
Our cat recently had 4 kittens. ( For clarification: it’s not my cat. And I don’t like the cate. And the cat doesn’t like me. And if I could somehow get rid of the cat….but that is another story for another wet and dreary Dar day.) Moody took two of the kittens to his place leaving two with their mother. As I headed inside to change my soaked shirt I noticed that the remaining two kittens were nowhere to be seen as their mother gloomily stared at me from the corner. Experiencing a sudden burst of insight I thought to myself: “huh….cats must not like the rain too much”.
We connected the trailer and started the trek over to the cinema where the Ocean International Community Church meets every week. The road was like a river as the rain continued to pour down. I feared getting stuck in the mud. Reaching the cinema, we were promptly soaking wet again after a couple of miniutes as we unloaded everything in the sustained downpour.
The service was amazing. One of the best we have ever had. (Check out our podcasts at www.theoceanindar.net or find us on I Tunes at the Ocean in Dar). Several people made a decision to follow Christ and the worship was glorious!
We closed the service and packed everything up in the incessant rain. After a few minutes….yeah you get the idea….. Being soaked 3 times on one Sunday morning isn’t the best way to celebrate Easter in my opinion. It reminded me of the flood that hit church last Easter in Burundi when the whole sanctuary was under 3 feet of water before the end of the service (see last year’s blog entry).
I jumped into the landcruiser, connected the trailer, and started to turn around in the parking lot turned mud-bath. I longed for some dry clothes. And of course- the inevitable finally happened after days of soaking rain. The trailer sunk into the mud and the Land-Cruiser’s tires started spinning uncontrollably.
“How in the world do you get stuck in the mud on a multi-million dollar cinema facility & property?!??” I fumed as I jumped out of the car into the mud barely keeping my balance from flopping face forward into the slop.
As I assessed the damage our worship leader came over to try and help me. We decided to push the trailer as he gunned the accelator. Mud was flying every which way when suddenly- a high-pitched cry rang out from the trailer.
“Miaow!”
“Was that your stomach?” I thought to myself. Being wet and hungry left me in no mood for gastrinal feline impersonations.
“Miaow!” “Miaow!” “Miaow” came the reply from the mud under the trailer.
A stow-away kitten from the house emerged from his dismal hideout under the muddy tires of the trailer. He was totally caked with mud and soaked to the bone.
But for the “miaow” I would have thought him to be a Tanzanian swamp-rat with blue eyes- which would have been a rare find indeed in a Dar parking lot! And a very fortuituous one at that! (I probably could have sold him to some Swahili chef for a tasty Easter dish). But alas no swamp-rat stew this Easter- just one really petrified little kitty.
Apparently, he had taken refuge in the wheel casing of my axle from the pouring rain many hours earlier hoping to stay dry only to end up with the adventure of his little kitty lifetime. If the wheels of the tralier hadn’t sunk into the mud he would have been left or worse- crushed.
As I looked at the little feline swamp-rat I thought about the message I had just preached. Simon had come up to me after the service and said: “Steve I get it! Easter is all about getting a 2nd chance and a new beginning with God.” Awesome insight from a dear Kenyan brother! As swamp-rat kitty continued to “miaow” and purr grateful for the rescue from the nasty, slimy parking lot mud I saw it: “You sure got a 2nd chance on life this Easter my little swamp rat explorer!”
So I leave you with the message that Kitten #2 the adventurous feline turned soaking-wet Swahili swamp rat preached to me on Easter 2010:
We were all sinking in the mud of sin under the heavy trailer of this world headed nowhere fast as the rains of gloom soaked us through ….our identity was totally distorted because of our iniquity….. When suddenly Jesus Christ pulled us out, cleaned us up, restored us to our rightful identity, and took us in His glorious arms back to our proper home….. all because He is Alive!
