the Lord of the harvest

my team spent last Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday out in the field in Kilifi County, Kenya.  we visited the villages and met some the people who will benefit from the water projects we are working on.  it was three days of beautiful scenery, bumpy roads, and thirsty, hungry, grateful people. 

i had lots of time to think during the travel on these days, and during that time i thought of the verse where Jesus talked about having compassion on the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  i looked a few places in my Bible, couldn't find it, and didn't think about it much after that...
until this morning, when i read my devotion.  the scripture was Matthew 9:35-38.
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.  When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
there are so many people here in Kenya who need Jesus!  i have been especially burdened to pray for the large population of Muslims, here in Mombasa, that i have contact with every day.
now i'm going to go a totally different direction with this...
when i heard about President Obama sending troops to help Ugandans find Joseph Kony, the leader of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, my first thought was....great! they need to find that guy, he has been wreaking havoc in east Africa for way too long.  then i thought....wait, why are we getting involved? yes, they need help finding him.  yes, he is terrible! but since coming to Africa i have learned first hand that U.S. involvement is not always best, for a number of reasons. (i could go on and on here, but i'll just leave it at that.)
then, when i read this scripture this morning, i thought....God can use anything to get more people to "pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest", why not this too!
so i started praying for the Lord to use this situation specifically to motivate others to prayer.  so next time you think of a political situation that you don't like or understand, pray! Pray that God will use it for His glory.  Pray for the afflicted people, pray for our leaders' decisions, pray for...yes...Joseph Kony.  he needs Jesus, too.