During my recent trip to Tanzania I saw something that froze me in my tracks.  You’re thinking, “It was a lion, up close, on safari, right?”  Nope, although we did see a few of those.  Instead, what froze me in my tracks was something I never thought I’d see in Africa.

I was walking near the orphanage in Arusha (a city of 700,000) when two men approached us.  One of them was wearing something familiar.  I blinked and stared.  It couldn’t be  Yes, it was!  He was wearing a sweatshirt that our Tanzania team from 2010 had worn!  We left the sweatshirts behind to be distributed to people in need.  And now, two years later, I was face to face with a guy who was wearing the same sweatshirt our team had worn!  For all I know, it could have been the one I had worn!  Naturally, I asked him if we could take a picture, which you can see.

To me, it was undeniable evidence that we’d been there before.  Which got me thinking.  There’s evidence that I was in Africa.  But what kind of evidence am I leaving here?  What kind of evidence are you leaving here?  If you were suddenly to move to the other side of the country, would you leave any evidence behind that you’d been here?  Would you leave any evidence behind that you were involved in God’s plans and purposes here in this city?

This week, we’re going to explore this idea in depth.  We’d like to help each of us learn how to be “Partners in HOPE.”  I hope you can join us on Sunday morning at 9:15 or 11:00.

-Pastor Mark