I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me

I have never been to Africa.

I have several friends who have told me countless stories about their adventures to Africa, describing it as an unforgettable experience and something you can’t quite get your mind around.

But I have never been to Africa.

I look at their pictures and listen to their voices as the passion behind their experience seeps through their emotions. You can see it in their eyes, their gestures, their faces. I can tell it changed them.

But I have never been to Africa.

I am part of Mocha Club and Invisible Children.

But I have never been to Africa.

I long to go to Africa, but I don’t think my heart is in the right place for it yet. I tend to be selfish about it, wanting to go so I can pat myself on the back and have stories to tell people who ask about it. That’s not how I want to go into it. I feel like God is calling me to take a trip there, but not just yet. He wants me to wait. He wants my heart to be in the right place, and so do I. If I go there for selfish reasons, then I am not doing anybody any good.

That’s why I have never been to Africa.

Sidestep for a second to another topic (I’ll make my way back around, I promise). I come from a city where material possessions are EVERYTHING. It’s a lifestyle. Having the latest new gadget or a nice car will make you happy. Getting that new purse or having that expensive pair of shoes will make your life better. Or at least that’s what people tend to think around here. I find myself getting caught up in it sometimes, making myself think that if I don’t have the newest thing, I won’t be as happy as that person who does have it. It has been a challenge over the years to keep myself from getting caught up in it, although, I’m human, and slip up sometimes.

I think the first time I realized how much “stuff” I do have, and how much I take it for granted, was two summers ago when I went to Brazil. That trip did a lot to humble me (see my Brazil post for more on that trip).

I long to go on another international mission trip, and I really want it to be in Africa. I don’t think I was emotionally or spiritually mature enough to really appreciate what I was experiencing in Brazil, and I want a second chance.

I want to go to Africa.

My best friends, Sarah and Amanda, and I made a pact that one-day we would go to Africa together. We want to spend time with the people there and hear their stories. We want to play with the children. We want to build things. We want to engage in relationships. We realize there is so much more than materialism and the junk that we think is important in this country really isn’t. We want to go out and find what is important and then show our community that there really is more out there than clothes and cars and new gadgets.

So while I want to help in Africa with orphans, or child mothers, or people affected with AIDS, I think that I will be changed in the process. I think the stories I hear and the people I meet will affect me more than I can even imagine. In a way I don’t think I will go into that trip with no selfish intentions.

I know that I need Africa more than Africa needs me.

I hear songs from musicians that have gone to remote parts of the world, whether to Africa (Sara Groves “I Saw What I Saw,” Brooke Fraser “Albertine,” etc.) or India (Bethany Dillon “Beggar’s Heart”) and I can hear something different in these songs.  These artists aren’t talking about the good things they did or how they changed someone’s life. They are talking about how they were changed.

I want to take that life change and show the world that there are more important things in life. I want to show the world that God cares for EVERYBODY, not just the white and rich Americans. Jesus didn’t say to go to the ends of the Earth and not mean it. He meant it. He meant everything He said. He meant it when He said to love the least of these. He meant it when He said to leave everything behind and follow Him no matter where it led. I think Africa can remind us all of that.

We need Africa more than Africa needs us.

Maybe you can’t travel to Africa, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get involved. Check out Mocha Club, where all you have to do is give $7 a month (the cost of two Mochas) and you are helping someone somewhere in Africa. You can get involved with a special project like helping child mothers, or orphans. The smallest things can help. They can help Africa, and they can help you.

Well a Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Really enjoy your time with your loved ones, and don’t take for granted what you have been blessed with. I'll be with my entire dad's side of my family today, including second cousins and great aunts and uncles. It will be a feast!

Something to chew on this week: “When heaven meets the Earth, we will have no use for numbers to measure who we are or what we are worth” –Sleeping At Last

I feel like that verse of that song just works with everything.

MacKenzie