Sorry for the lack of posting about my trip to Africa. Life has really been nuts and my energy level has been somewhat low.
Truthfully, It’s really hard to post my thoughts about Africa. Being there for 9 days does not make me an expert and if anything I probably have more questions now then before I went. *sigh*
I also don’t want to discuss Africa in a way that will offend Africans. We in the West have a “we need to help them” mentality at times. But the truth is we need to collaborate and partner and help each other. The West has so much to learn from the Global South and East. I really doubt the West will be the key leaders of the church in the next 20 years. It’s time we hand the baton to our brothers and sisters in other areas of the world and we become learners.
I have a lot of vision and big plans in the works. We will be doing an art show in Austin and I will be doing some small and large fund raising soon. If you know me there is a good chance I will be calling and asking for help. And I’m going to need a lot of help. My goal is raise close to $150,000 for a orphanage/farm in Zimbabwe. So we have lots of work to do and I’m way motivated to get the job done.
Now, this may sound crazy but I think I’m going to try and raise these funds in 6-9 months. Tonight many kids are (literally as I type) sleeping outside with no home, food, or family. And we all know that is not right.
When you travel and meet people, they become a part of you-their story becomes your story. It’s no longer an African thing or a poverty thing, or let’s be cool and act like we care about social justice issues. When you hug a kid and he holds you tight, at that moment he becomes a friend and the gospel explodes in you and action is the only acceptable course to take.
So today is my day to unpack my thoughts. There is a good chance I will have tears, my heart will be broken and the task will seem daunting. But I have so much hope and I know that this is really a Jesus issue and I will rely on the beauty of the gospel.
I’m with you, friend. I still can’t articulate the trip well, hopefully my pictures will do some justice. Sometimes it just hits me though…like yesterday I realized it was 10 days since we left John and Orpah with ~10 days worth of food. I’m finally learning what it means to “pray continually”.