Ge 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Mary and I taught a Bible conference in Ugunja, Kenya.
Ugunja is located in the Siaya District, close to the town of Kogelo, the home of Mr. Obama’s family.
At the end of the conference, the senior pastor exhorted those present to bring us an offering.
People in the rural areas of Kenya, are especially poor.
But it’s the poor who give the shirt off their backs.
He urged, “If you don’t have anything, bring a piece of grass or a leaf…anything, but bring these people of God something. They have traveled a long way to bless us!”
As the band worshiped in Luo for the offering, I closed my eyes lifting my hands to the Lord.
When the song finished I opened them.
Lo and behold, a baby laid at my feet!
I was stunned, and shocked.
I elbowed the pastor who still had his eyes closed, pointing down at my feet.
He chuckled in amazement.
It came to be that this child’s mother had followed the pastor’s summon and offered all that she had, her only child.
It reminded me of what the Father did with Jesus.
My chest welled up with emotion.
Such faith, such sacrifice, in the midst of such poverty!
Surely I would not have done that! Are you kidding!
Most times it’s the poor who are the greatest of givers.
We located the mother, who was embarrassed, and hid in the crowd.
We blessed the child, and gave him back to her.
I think back to the other dear people in Siaya who blessed us.
They are poor farmers.
When the pastor asked them to bless us, they ran back to their farms.
I don’t know how far they walked.
They came back later with corn, a goat and all sorts of vegetable.
Mary and I wept when a tiny old lady came, bowed down at the altar depositing two hen eggs.
She was followed by another fragile woman who placed a few coins from a wrinkled hand.
This is the baby boy at my feet, next to the offering basket.
1 Samuel 1:22 But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.
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