I never imagined walking past a restaurant and hearing someone say in all seriousness, “This place serves an excellent camel’s liver salad.”

Then again, I signed up for an adventure—and that is certainly what I’ve got.

I just recently moved to my host town, and every day brings surprising discoveries.

I share a mud house with my roommate. Our humble abode has a zinc roof, which makes a wonderful sound when it rains. There’s a solar panel on top that provides enough electricity for lights and laptops, but not much else.

I’m happy we have running water, even if it’s just one little spigot at the side of the house.

We take bucket showers in the outhouse. Unfortunately, a family of wasps decided to build a nest in the outhouse the first week we moved in. By all appearances, they’re peaceful wasps. But if they ever feel I am intruding on their hospitality, it would make for a very uncomfortable visit.

It could be worse. The previous tenant told me that a large bat used to live in the pit beneath the outhouse and would zoom up and out when patrons were least expecting. So far, the only large pet we have is a friendly hedgehog that frequents our courtyard at night.

My neighbors are surprisingly hospitable. People here always keep their courtyard doors open during the day to welcome visitors, so my roommate and I do the same. Visitors are more or less free to walk in whenever they like. It makes for a different pace of life. The 10-year-old boy next door comes over a lot and tells us wonderful stories about eagles large enough to carry humans away and eat them.
In the winter, things cool down a little. Some mornings the temperature dips below 80 degrees. That’s when my local friends wear turbans and heavy jackets to take the chill off. One friend commented that the climate was getting cold, “just like Russia.”

Life is simple here, and a lot of the daily struggles revolve around physical discomforts such as sickness and heat. The constant challenges make for higher highs and lower lows for my teammates and me.

I am happy to be here and grateful for the opportunity to love those around me as best as I can. But I still struggle to love people the way Jesus would have me love them—especially when they don’t seem to appreciate my sacrifices.

Then again, my local friends didn’t invite me here; Jesus did.

Pray for the grace to be like Jesus, who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:44–45).

• Ask the Lord to give field workers the grace to serve with joy and to love others as Jesus would have them do.
• Pray for men and women ministering in difficult places to persevere with joy in Christ.
• Pray for God to equip workers to excel in language study as they seek to bring the Gospel to the least-reached peoples and places.

**This account comes from a single team leader in Africa.**

Original article: www.frontiersusa.org/blog/article/adventures-in-a-simple-life