The gospel according to Crystal Light

God, in the silly little details.

I was cleaning up some clothes in the bedroom yesterday morning when I found a package of individual-serving drink mix packets. You know, the little packets like the one in the picture, that you can dump into a water bottle to turn water into lemonade, or orange drink, or iced tea, or a whole range of other flavors? The box had slid underneath the bed during our Tanzania packing, and for no apparent reason, when I saw it this morning, I threw it in my purse and brought it to work with me.

I went to put it in my desk drawer at work (the drawer I reserve for food and candy stuff), only to find that I already have a whole mug filled with little packets of drink mix. I'm set for a while. No one needs to buy me any, ok?  It was a hot and thirsty day, so I  filled up my water bottle twice (hydration is good!). Both times, since they were on my mind, I added in a packet of drink mix. First lemonade. Then orange.

As I was ripping the top of the second packet, I flashed back to Tanzania. We brought with an impressive amount of drink mix. Every fruit flavor imaginable. Iced tea. Packets of Starbucks Via instant coffee: the hot version, the iced version, AND flavored versions. And as soon as Dr. Friberg caught a glimpse of all of these packets, he made a special announcement to our group, asking us to save our used packets throughout the week, because he likes to use them to distribute pills. They work better than trying to fold paper around the pills, he told us.

We drank a lot during our work week in Mto wa Mbu. Via with breakfast, or maybe some chai. Filling our water bottles with treated water, and adding mix to make it fruity. Taking a late-morning break from work to drink more chai, or more Via, or more lemonade. Relaxing after dinner with more chai, more Via, hot chocolate, tea, and even more fruity water.

One photographic regret for me is that I never thought to take a picture of all of our used packets, nestled into a basket or a mug, waiting to do good in the world thanks to the resourcefulness of Dr. Friberg.

I'm not sure if this is a story of resourcefulness, of a strangely useful culture clash, or of a work crew that had to use the bathroom a lot.  But I DO know that this is a story of doing good in the world, and a story of how stupid simple things like little foil packets can be resurrected as useful, meaningful, and life-giving objects. And it's a story of being humbled. We thought we knew all the ways that we could blow through Mto wa Mbu and be useful. We thought we knew what gifts we had to offer. But who would have thought that one of the most practical ways we could help out was to simply drink our coffee and remember to throw our Via packet into the basket on the table rather than the garbage can in the corner. Humbling. Small things can make a world of difference.

At least for me, this was the sort of detail that elevated our experiences beyond what we expected a mission trip to Tanzania to feel like. It is in those silly but crucial everyday details that you really see God's love at work.

Peace,
Melissa