Why I Love Africa

As I spent some time this morning randomly staring at pictures of my kids in Uganda, I was reminded why I love it there:  It brings out the best in them.  Yes, there are more reasons, but I think this is the biggest.  Anytime they are not being my favorite people at that moment, I can come back to these memories and I am reminded that this is not really who they are - they actually do care deeply for others.  None of the trappings of today's American culture gets in the way over there.  We see what it looks like to prioritize relationship over time, and that begins to rub off on us.  

Nothing has brought them closer to being who God created them to be -  not worrying about what other people expect them to be - than Africa has.  And now, of course, we're hooked.  We didn't ask for this - to be hooked on a people and their country halfway across the world.  We only meant to go once.  But we have discovered something, more to James 1:27 than why we should go.  The (disputable) root of religion is from "to tie, fasten, or bind".  "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."(James 1:27 NLT).  When we allow ourselves to be bound with these beautiful people halfway across the world, we become whole - as we are bound with our Creator.  Therefore, we no longer need to look for the things of this world to satisfy (corrupt) us.  Joan Chittister echoes something similar below:

"We run forever in our own crowd, with our own kind, for our own sakes and so never really get to experience the fact that we are all the same kind...  Only when we begin to mix with those unlike us are we capable of truly becoming religious."

As I sat with a college prep advisor helping me (first child applying to colleges and I know nothing), she asked my daughter to think about something that had happened in her life that shows others who she is?  My eyes welled up and tears started crawling down my cheeks.  She looked at me (probably mortified that her mother was crying in front of a stranger), and an amazing thing happened - she allowed me to explain what was causing this emotional reaction.  Then she started crying.  Africa.  When we don't live for ourselves anymore - and we remember how much joy that brings us!  She had given one of the girls the shoes off her feet one day and spent the rest of the day walking around in the dirt barefoot.  Joyfully.  Worth.  Every.  Penny.  It reminded her (and me) who she really is.

“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time.  But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” - Lilla Watson (aboriginal Australian leader)

My youngest daughter has learned that emptying herself into others is actually what fills her up.  She has learned this through Safe Families for Children, as well.  Her love tank gets filled when she empties it.  Sarah Young portrays this beautifully in her hugely popular, Jesus Calling, when she describes us as  a living channel absorbing some of whatever flows through it.

The plane flight(s) and layovers are long.  It is expensive.  I don't go to the bathroom.  We need to get shots.  We need to remember to take malaria pills (painless).  We get used to drinking room-temp water and pouring the same on our tooth brushes.  It is worth every one of these minor inconveniences.  I realize that we could learn this here, but it really took leaving.  And that our reason for going might be better if we were to go "help the poor".  But if you've been keeping up with short-term missions, you know the most influential piece is relationship.  They don't need our help.  They need us to come and see and learn what they have to teach us.  And support those who are there for the long haul.

“The problem with ghettoizing the world is that behind our walls we will only become more and more afraid of what we do not know and therefore fear.  It is outreach - standing with those who want what we want but look different than we do as they seek it - that is our security, not our destruction." - Joan Chittister

Many people are afraid of visiting Africa.  Uganda is our safe place and this explains why.  We all want the same thing.  Love.  Which comes with fearlessly pursuing unity.