An African Thanksgiving!

Written by Alvin Smith

Some of the most grateful people in whom I have had the pleasure of knowing are the people of Africa. In the early days of my ministry in Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa, on many occasions I would give bags of rice to some of my neighbors. I would carry a 100 pound bag of rice on my shoulder to various places in the village area in which I lived. I would try to carry it on my head like the Africans, but it was much too painful! By the way carrying items on your head properly takes years of training – you have to start young. After delivering the bag of rice, I return home with the feeling of “I just climbed that hill with a 100 pound bag of rice – I’m the man”.

Later on that evening to my amazement knocking at my gate was the entire family who received the bag of rice. The man of the house was named Pa Jalloh. As I opened the gate to greet them, he began the greeting and salutations by bending down and putting his hands toward my feet and saying – Pastor, plenty, plenty thank you for all that you have done for us. May God bless your family and your children and their children, may God give you good health and long life. May God make his face to shine upon you and keep you. I must say I have never experienced this type of thanksgiving and appreciation to this extent before. His entire family was gleaming with smiles on their faces – and they were not going to enjoy their blessing without first speaking blessing and appreciation to the hand of the one who was used to bring it to pass.

The Jalloh family though poor by the standards of the world, were rich towards God, because they knew how to give thanks. One of my favorite PSALMS is one that we should and learn and recognize to be true: PS 124:1 “If he had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say”.
The law of recognition teaches that everything you need in your life is already in your life you just have to recognize it. How easy it is to miss the very thing we need many times standing right in front of us. When you have a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving is not easy to miss the good things that come into your life.