"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb."
Rev. 7:9a

We all ponder the reality of heaven. But from time to time it is as though God cracks the door a bit and just as a ray of the Sun breaking through on a cloudy day a burst of heaven rains down from another world. Our time in Ouallam with the Bolls was such an experience for our family. We were so humbled by the sacrificial service of Don and Teresa to the Zerma people.
We are thankful for the fellowship they allowed us to invade for our few short days. They so generously shared the benefits of language, relationships, directional expertise, and cultural knowledge, benefits that take a lifetime to collect and are earned by long hours and in this case true sweat. We were thankful too for the small things that transcend culture and continent, a giggle, a smile, a yawn, a skipping child, or a proud gardener.

We participated in the tree project which was a delight for our Don since he is by profession a landscape architect. It was rewarding to provide and plant trees that won't simply adorn someone's manicured lawn but instead have the potential to provide a year's worth of income once they are grown and fruitful. Even more we were delighted to encourage the few believers in each village. We pray that as these trees grow so too will their faith grow and their numbers multiply. We look to see many of our Zerma sisters and brothers gathered around the throne. We are so far removed from their culture in many ways but also so profoundly connected by our shared experience of humanity. We were all formed from the same lump of clay by the
same creator and one day by God's grace every nation, tribe and tongue will stand in his presence, all barriers of language and culture dissolved, united in purpose and spirit. That will be Heaven!

Written by Denise Bluster