While in Kenya on our mission trip I ate every mid-day meal out in the field with our Kenyan brothers and sisters. Their food of choice for each day was ugali or rice along with boiled goat-meat stew. For the record, I am no fan of goat-meat. It was more grissle and fat than meat and quite chewy. I would chew for a good while and then realize that it wasn't going to get any smaller. I knew it was a generous offering they had set before me and so I would swallow hard and choke it down. While there are many things about our Kenyan experience I will miss, goat at mealtimes will be easily replaced now by hamburgers and tacos.To wash down the goat-centered meals, the pastor I was working with was inclined toward boiling hot "goat-milk tea." After walking five miles down dusty trails in an area located on the equator, there's nothing more satisfying than a boiling hot cup of goat-milk tea...oh what I wouldn't have done for a big drink from Sonic.
Spending time in the third world brought home the truth of the the Model Prayer of Jesus. He taught us to pray, "Give us this day, our daily bread." For people who can't really be sure of where their next meal will come from, particularly in a time of drought, the prayer takes on a whole new meaning. Even a "goat-centered" dining experience can become a gift from God.
I can appreciate the goat-milk tea experience! Here in Saudi Arabia, we do not have goat-milk tea. However, it is considered quite the thing, to spend several hours out in the sun and 105 degree heat and then to top off the experience with a "cuppa!" For the uninitiated, that means a cup of tea, served at a temperature that would have the McDonalds' legal team in a cold sweat! I look forward to those tacos and a big glass of iced tea!
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