The one thing I enjoy most about African culture is the priority it puts on relationships. Schedules and to-do lists take a back seat to friendships and time with another person. I sometimes chuckle on the inside when I hear people return from a mission trip and say "those people in Africa, they have nothing, yet they are so happy!" I would replace the word happy with resilient. How happy would you be if you knew your kids were going to bed hungry for the third night in a row because you couldn't find work? Thought so.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons I so love the African people - because of their resiliency. The amount of need here is unfathomable, yet the people do what they can to survive. When you see that with your own eyes - when you have lunch with a Ugandan man struggling to find work to feed his family, there comes an overwhelming sense of urgency to supplement their fight to survive with the joy found only in Jesus Christ. A passion for giving them hope. Not hope not that a white man will come and spend money on their problems, but that the Son of Man has already come and spent his life for their sins.
Over the years, I have seen my passion for humanitarian aid grow - a burning desire to spend my life fighting social injustice. I want to see children be given the chance to chase their dreams through education, for mothers to have healthy babies, for fathers to have a skilled trade to provide for their family. But I will attest with every ounce of my character that the one thing people need most has always been, and will always be, Jesus.
Many stories from Africa to share. Will get to typing them up in the next few days. Come back and read!
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