For Lake Superior
and the Serengeti Plains,
for the Mississippi River
and Mount Kenya,
for the call of the loons
and the graceful giraffes,
for all the beauty of creation,
I thank you God.

For Protas Mahende who
helped me in my early days
with the Kingoreme language
and died at age 17,
for Maria Auma who
showed such faith and joy in her
last days with AIDS
and died at age 34,
I thank you God.

For all the people of Africa
who touched and enriched me,
for all my family and friends
living and dead,
who supported and encouraged me,
through the 40 years of
my struggling humanity and
magnificent missionary journey,
I thank you God.