Family lesson from elphants

Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)

Train up a child in the way he should go;

    even when he is old he will not depart from it.

I came across a story that shows what happens when the family structure breaks down – the fun part of it is it’s about elephants.

In Kruger National Park in South Africa a group of adolescent bull elephants whose family members had been gunned down during a culling operation were transported to another wildlife reserve. While at the other reserve, the young elephants embarked on a killing spree that lasted several years leaving more than 100 animals dead, including 40 white rhinoceroses. To stop the killing, a strategy was implemented to ship in older male elephants from Kruger to establish a new male hierarchy which would keep the adolescent elephants in check. Thus the killing stopped.

Like human society, the elephant family defines established roles for training and discipline in family life. And like humans, young elephants require a prolonged period of nurture with family units to prepare them for adult life. Damage and loss in family life will produce painful and sometimes devastating results. In this situation the loss of the mature males was catastrophic.

Many of us in the body of Jesus have not had healthy parental role models, and some have had none at all; but our life as a believing family will generally begin to improve, correct, and heal the results of broken family life which many suffer from. Mature believers ought to be role models and examples, not only to our children, but also to younger believers.

Ideally, Christian leaders will be healthy role models, but many are themselves, deficient and unhealed in certain ways. We all ought to have grace when it comes to this area of body life. Our expectations will not always be met and may even be severely disappointed. Our saving grace -- and it is truly an amazing one-- is that we all have a Heavenly Father who is a perfect parent, and who can love and nurture us in both male and female ways, and who is also able to provide human role models and healers to help bring us to wholeness.

Be thankful for any good parenting you have received; forgive all that was negative or deficient. Then ask your Heavenly Father to parent you by His personal parental love and providence in your human relationships. This will free you from deep resentment and bitterness, and will begin to move you toward maturity and peace, and will prepare you to be a good parent and role model for others.

Dear Lord, we thank You for the good parenting that we have received.  Help us to be the parental influence that we should to those around us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Elephants, Water and a Prayer

2 Timothy 1:3 (NIV)

I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

On the morning of 24 May 1985, Kent Lenard awoke at his home in Lake Moses, Washington at 1 am. He became aware that his missionary son John and his family in South Africa needed his prayer. “PRAY! The command I sensed was urgent” recalls Kent.

Fully awake, Kent began to pray not knowing his sons situation, “Please Lord, help John and Sandy and their girls, protect them if they are in danger.”

Meanwhile in South Africa, John and Sandy were with their two daughters driving through the bush to photograph elephants. John parked and left his family in the car while he explored a trail. He saw an older bull elephant and began photographing it. John then began hearing a “low rumbling” that reminded him of thunder. He began having an uneasy feeling and headed back to the car.

Suddenly, John spotted 200 hundred huge, thirsty elephants stampeding toward his car. The rumbling that he had heard was their running for miles across the dry bush. Racing through John’s mind were the pictures that he has seen of uprooted trees and overturned cars in the path of angry elephants. He recalled a seasoned missionary telling him to never stand between thirsty elephants and their source of water, because they become violent if their access is threatened. But right in the middle of the path to their water stood John and the car with his family in it.

Hearing his family’s screams, John raced for his car and reached the door just as the first of the elephants was upon him. He jumped in and slammed the door and immediately the car was engulfed in dust. Miraculously, the elephants passed on both sides of the car, only scraping the bumpers and rocking it. When the last of the elephants passed and the dust settled, John told his family that someone must be praying for them, because it was a miracle that they were not crushed. After almost an hour of prayer, Kent sensed the Lord’s peace and closed in prayer saying “Thank You Lord I know that John’s family is in your hands” and he went back to sleep.

I count it an honor when the Lord prompts me to pray specifically for someone no matter the time of day. Has the Lord put someone on your mind or heart? Pray for them.

Dear Lord, thank You for the power of prayer. Help our hearts and minds be open when You have someone that we should pray. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

Do You Feel Alone and Desperate?

2 Corinthians 6:18 (NIV)

And, “I will be a Father to you,

    and you will be my sons and daughters,

says the Lord Almighty.”

March 26, 2009: Tassia was only 9 months when he was found, very weak and thin, wandering around alone. He had been an innocent bystander as poachers had killed his mother for her ivory. Now he was doomed to die, alone and desperate.

April 17, 2009: Bhaawa,a five month old baby, was found in despair, bogged down in the mud of a drying waterhole in the Kirisia Hills near Maralal in Northern Kenya. He was suffering from shock and grief.

Were it not for the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, these orphan elephants would have died.

Sheldrick began doing these kinds of rescue missions in 1952, and not only did he rescue orphan elephants, but orphan rhinoceros as well. Though he passed away in 1977, his wife continued his dream, and as a result, more than 100 elephant orphans, as well as numerous rhino orphans, have been saved. All of these elephants and rhinos were raised by the Trust and gradually rehabilitated back to communities in Tsavo National Park.

To a baby elephant, his mother and extended family are of utmost importance. Without them he is completely lost and vulnerable, both physically, and psychologically.

When an elephant baby is found alone, these ties have to somehow be re-established through humans. Elephant keepers remain with these orphan babies 24 hours a day, travelling as a group during the day, and sleeping next to them at night. Different keepers sleep with different cubs every night, so that strong attachments to one person can be prevented. As elephants are highly tactile and sociable animals, great care is given to shower them with love and acceptance.

Initially, feeding is a 24 hour job, but bit by bit the elephant babies are weaned onto a 3 hour feeding routine. When they reach one year of age, they are transferred to Tsavo National Park and absorbed back into older elephant families. In this way, they can begin their gradual integration back into the wild. This transition is made easier by the fact that elephants are highly sociable and that they are automatically fond of their young.

Elephants also have a remarkable memory. They are often able to recognize people who cared for them, even after more than 37 years. This happened to Eleanor, age 42, when she recognized the one who had been her keeper when she was just 5 years old!

None of these elephants would have ever been able to survive if it hadn't been for these keepers who devoted their life in saving them. I am sure if elephants could applaud, they sure would cheer their human rescuers! Hurray!

We too were doomed for a solitary life with no hope in sight. As we wandered into forbidden territory, we became lost and entwined by the vicious snare called sin, and we, too, became orphans from our Heavenly Father, "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Rom 3:10-12 NIV)

Someone did reach out to us, however, offering us eternity with Him: "Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master." (Rom 6:23 The Message)

We don't need to wander around as orphans any longer. We can be adopted by the Most High God, and thus experience His immeasurable love for each one of us: "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." (2 Cor 6:18 NIV)

All we need to do to have such a wonderful gift is to stop running away from God! We need to accept His offer. We need to welcome Him, as well as His adoption, into our lives.

Are you lost and desperate? There is hope. Come to the One who will never turn you down. Experience His love for you.

Dear Lord, Thank you for rescuing us when we were totally lost and desperate! Thank you for bringing us home and allowing us to experience Your love. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.