How Great Is Our God!

It's ridiculously late and I should be asleep in bed. However, I'm sitting on my bed listening to a new version of one of my favorite songs on repeat. Tears continuously filling my eyes. I first went to Kenya in August of 2005. The song "How Great Is Our God" had recently come out and on that trip, we decided to teach the song to the Kenyan children that we met. This was usually in a school setting where there would be a couple hundred or so kids. I wish that I could even put into words what it was like to hear hundreds of Kenyan children belting out those lyrics. Their pronunciation has a slight British sound and their voices, oh their voices! I don't know much that rings more beautifully in my ears. It's a proven fact that I will cry every time I hear an African child sing. I can't help it. It always brings me back to that place. Dirt beneath my feet. The wide landscape of the African countryside. Children clothed in rags singing lyrics that defy their circumstances and praise our Lord. Their voices echo in my mind and in my heart. It is not only the beautiful sound but knowing that these words come from the heart of these children that have experienced far more than I ever have. They know poverty at a level that I have only seen. They know need. They know desperation. They truly know how great our God is. 

Every time this song is sung, I close my eyes and travel thousands of miles away. The greatest worship leader that America has to offer has nothing on these kids. This past October I headed to Atlanta for Catalyst Conference. It was my third year in a row and I'm always thrilled to be challenged by the speakers and overwhelmed by what God teaches me. I wasn't ready for Africa to meet me there. One of the co-hosts has started some incredible work in Kenya and has formed a choir out of some of the kids. They performed a few songs there. The tears overflowed down my cheeks. My heart ACHED. Just today I found the album that they had made: The Daraja Children's Choir of Africa. Different Christian artists sing various worship songs and the choir sings along with them. My heart jumped when I saw "How Great Is Our God" on the list. My throat choked. Tears immediately sprung into my eyes. I listened to the 30 second tease over and over again until I at last clicked to buy it. I can't stop listening. Oh, those voices! I close my eyes and I am there again. It feeds my soul. It stirs my passion. It reminds me that God has put this desire on my heart. I praise Him that He is at last guiding me to what He has called me to! I absolutely cannot wait to head over to Uganda. To see/touch/smell/listen/hug those children. To look into those poverty ridden eyes, see their ragged clothes, walk into their shack and hear how they praise our King. It humbles me to my knees.