“I think I’ve lost a few pounds down here this time,” I said to my colleague. “It’s strange because I feel like I am eating a lot, but my clothes are fitting more loosely.”
She surprised me with her response: “It’s probably because everything you are eating here is so much more natural!”
Good point.
There is something extraordinary about eating in Africa. At Hope Haven Rwanda, much of our food is grown on site and is as organic as it gets. Avocados grow on tall trees, lettuce sparkles in the morning dew and wholesome bananas abound!
God takes eating seriously. The Bible contains many references to food. It is an important part of everyday life for all of us. There are references to spiritual bread, living water, milk and meat, each reminding us that we depend on God’s provision to sustain our lives, and to enable us to grow spiritually.
Every single day at Hope Haven Rwanda, students are served two meals, breakfast and lunch. It is a time of laughter and excitement as students sit and share a meal together, many of them hurriedly trying to finish so that they can race to the playground for recess. Children do have similar habits around the world!
We are all very familiar with what happens with physical food, but think about what happens when we are well-fed spiritually. When we are feeding on the Word of God, our faith is bolstered and we learn to follow Jesus, step-by-step, with the strength and perspective that He provides.
It reminds me of a song we used to sing in Sunday School, “Read your Bible, pray every day, and you’ll grow, grow, grow!” I can still picture us reaching as high as we could into the air to demonstrate how much we were growing each day, because we were feasting on spiritual food!
If someone were to examine your spiritual health today, would they report that you are well-fed, or undernourished?