2006 Tea in the bush of Mali, Africa

While on a mission trip in Mali, Africa we enjoyed Arabic tea with the nationals there.  Each cup of tea represents something.  We each drank three times....all from the same cup.  Putting aside that we all drank from the same cup, it was a rare treat!
cup one- bitter as life
cup two- bitter as death
cup three- sweet as life

We visited this mans village and he made tea for us.  Off to the side I could see him mixing the tea and testing it before he served it to us.  He wanted to be sure it was perfect for his guests.

As someone who is all about cleanliness, the concept of drinking tea three times out of the same cup as eight other people was not high on my list to do.  But, I got through it just fine.  It was more about being humble and gracious then about the germs.  It was about this man giving to us from what he had and being a blessing and encouragement to us.

 I was not the only one who was not sure about this process!!!

But look, I embraced it and made a memory out of the experience. And who knew seven years later I would blog about it!