For Reverend Clements, ministry came late in life, having experienced an entirely different career prior to his calling. In the summer of 2017, he was offered a life-changing role to serve as an interim minister in South Africa. While living and working in Cape Town, he kept a daily journal, and it is from those pages that his story unfolds. In When the Elephant Laughed, Clements relates his experiences while living and working outside his native country and ministering to a multicultural and multiracial congregation in Africa. Tasked with leading his congregants he persevered by fostering deep, spiritual connections and discovered that the Holy is often best heard in life's quiet moments. A moving testament to the complex cultural and political history of South Africa, the book pays tribute to the strength of its people, and in doing so, ignites a desire for self-reflection and a better understanding of oneself.