Today our group was up and moving early. At 7am we loaded our vehicles and headed to Ngorongoro Conservation Area for a safari.

The Ngorongoro crater is an amazing place. What had been an active volcano, after it blew, then collapsed upon itself. This formed then a crater, between 12 and 14 miles across, and 2,030 feet deep. Over thousands upon thousands of years, this crater grew into an incredible habitat for plants and animals. It has areas that are arid. It has areas that are fertile. It has lakes and rivers within it. It has a rainforest area, and it has beauty…oh so much beauty.

It took us a couple of hours to get to the crater, but the drive was well worth the experience.

We saw lions. We saw elephants. We saw wildebeasts. We saw zebras. We saw antelope and gazelles, as well as hippos and rhinos.

My favorite animals to see were the lions. At one point, we watched as 3 female lions began stalking several warthogs that had been wallowing in a pond. It was incredible to watch the lions separate and begin moving towards their intended prey. But before they got too far, the warthogs spotted their predators and took off running. (I’ve got to be honest…most of us in our Land Rover were rooting for the lions on this one!)

We broke midday for a picnic lunch, continued our journey and eventually began climbing our vehicle back out of the crater to the main road. From there it was two hours to get back to our hotel. We had a little time to decompress and process our day before dinner, and then we met for devotions.

We were also able to spend significant time with our local drivers, Macha and Tomaah and Jeff. (No idea if these names re spelled correctly). They told us about where they came from and we learned more about the culture of this place.

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19)

Literally out of volcanic ash was formed a place of incredible biodiversity…almost an eco-system unto itself. And in this area now, thousands of animals of all sorts of different sizes and shapes.

While stopping for a photo at a scenic overlook as we exited the crater, we even ran into a group of students from Luther College in Decorah! That was a really fun encounter.

God does beautiful things out of what we’d think might have been lost.

• God can take a collapsed volcano and make it full of life.
• God can take pain and turn it into joy.
• God can take division and turn it into unity.
• God can take brokenness and turn it into grace.
• God can take you and I, and turn us into servants of the living Christ.

Never forget that God is always doing new things. God has imagination, and God is always working within creation. And that is good, good news.

Tomorrow we travel from the area of Arusha down to Singida, where on Friday, we will begin meeting our different partner ministries. And I wonder what new thing God is going to do there?

Peace friends!
Pastor Todd