Letting God use your life
Topic: God things
There is a little, tiny village at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. After an 8 mile hike down and through the Canyon, you come upon some wooden rail fencing, you begin to see animals like dogs, a cow, a horse, then a very humble home or two. As you pass, you notice somber Native American faces watching you. These are the Supai people and they have always lived in the bottom of the Grand Canyon, west of where most of the tourists go. I have been on this hike once and it is etched in my memory. It is beautiful there. They live where springs come gushing out of the walls of the canyon, pouring into streams and rivers, then off a sheer cliff, forming a waterfall.

The waterfalls (there are 3 of them I think....maybe 4) carve a pool at their base, which is the destination most hikers are seeking who come to Havasupai Canyon. The pools are a beautiful greenish blue color as they are carved from limestone. From the pool, the limestone forms terraced mini pools and then into a stream again, until it jets off of another cliff, into another pool. This finally concludes at the Colorado River and makes a spectacular place to visit. The Supai Indians run the campgrounds, a store and sell things to hikers. (Hiking is the only way there) They depend on the tourism, but they distance themselves from the toursists as well. They are used to and love their simple way of life there. This was the destination of a group of college kids on a spring break mission trip. My daughter Hannah knew a lot of the people who went on it from a Christian organization on campus.

She called from college last week, a week after spring break was over and seemed out of sorts. She told me that a friend of hers from school had died over the break while on the mission trip. She couldn't wrap her head around that and frankly, neither could I. Looking at this young man's myspace page, it was obvious that he loved the Lord and wanted with all his being to make a difference in the world. Why would God allow this seemingly senseless thing to happen? A young man jumps into a pool by a waterfall and never resurfaces alive. It's tragic and confusing. It's been on my mind and in my prayers all week.

Then she called again and I asked about how her friends were doing. The sudden death of a young person can cause such confusion and pain. She told me that some of the people who were with him on the trip were feeling so overwelmed with guilt about the incident. Please pray for these young adults.

When I read Hannah's blog today, my heart swelled and in a moment, all the details made sense. The Supai people have seen many drownings in their years of letting tourists come onto their land. It is a wild and rugged place. There are no emergency resources to call upon there. If you have an emergency, you have to wait for a helicopter to come. They have seen many groups handle the death of a loved one who drown in the rivers. But they had never seen a group handle a death with such hope and peace and unity as this college group did. As a result, the people listened more closely to what the mission group was teaching them.....and 15 of them gave their lives to Jesus. One of the women even made the journey out of the canyon to attend the young man's funeral.

Don't you know that young man who wanted to make a difference probably prayed with a sincere heart. "God use me in that village to bring people to know You."

And God did....

....and I have to ask myself, am I willing to let God make a difference with my life?