"Wait, Stop....Africa???"

I had dinner with some friends of mine tonight that I hadn't seen for awhile. They have two kids (ages 3 and 5) who are very much into safari stuff right now. This is the conversation that unfolded at the dinner table:

Gary: So how is everything with the trip going?
Me: Good...I had no idea the amount of things you have to have done before you go to Africa though!
Kaleb (3 yr. old): "Wait, Stop...Africa????"
Me: Yes, Africa.
Kim: Yes, Lena is going to tell people about Jesus in Africa.
Me: Do you want to go to Africa?
Kaleb: Yes!!! Can I go mom?
Kim: Not until you are much older.
Kaleb: Okay. They have animals.
Me: You are right

This conversation happened at the beginning of dinner. It was cute how Kaleb totally interrupted me when he heard the word Africa. The conversation was brief though (as any conversation with a 3 year old would be) and we moved on to other topics.

After dinner we decided we would hang out some more so Gary took the kids in his car and Kim and I rode together in mine. Gary told me later about the conversation that unfolded in the car...Here's the gist of it:

Kaleb: Lena is going to Africa.
Gary: Yes, she is going to tell people about Jesus
Kaitlyn (5 yrs old): She should be careful of lions
Kaleb: No hippos
Kaitlyn: Yeah hippos, they bite.
Kaleb: Yeah.
Kaitlyn: She should be careful of zebras
Kaleb: no zebras, they don't bite
Kaitlyn: Yes zebras, they can kick!

That made me laugh! So often people are concerned about my wealth, or my possessions, or my job when I tell them that I am going to Africa...the two most asked questions are "What about your condo?" and "Will you make enough money to live?"

I liked that these kids didn't question that. They were truly excited about the prospect of living among God's creation and they didn't question the reason why because in their minds, of course we should be telling people about Jesus! Duh!

I love how kids think and I wish we as adults could think the same way!