Africa 2011

       When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I think about is their smiling faces. When I eat, all that's going through my head is whether or not they have had food. When I sing to the Lord praising Him for all He has done, I sing louder because I know they're singing too. My whole perspective has changed, and this is why...

       From June 12-June 25 I was in Africa. I've posted before about Africa's significance to my life, and this trip brought that point home once again. Literally. I got back a week ago and I've been struggling these seven days to find words that fit the experiences I had, the faces I saw, and the emotions I felt. It is near impossible to express how much this trip broke me, blessed me, and challenged me in every way possible.

      The community I spent my days with was a church (fortunate enough to actually have a building) that was functioning as a pre-school during the week. My team and I got to play with the 40 -50 five and six year olds that came everyday. There was a core group of GoGos (Grandmothers) that were volunteers who taught and fed these children. Some of them eat one meal a day, but you wouldn't know it by their smiles.

      We sang, danced, played soccer, blew bubbles, and tried to communicate across a gaping language barrier. One of the moments that got me was all the kids chanting the song they love the most "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they're all precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world." How true it is. Here are some of their faces.

  

       One day we brought carrots to the school. I doubt if they've ever had carrots before. Carrots are like a candy bar to them. When they served up lunch (just a thick grits like filler and the beans and carrots we'd brought) this little girl came and offered me all her carrots. To think that she is probably hungry all the time, but still smiled and held out her couple slices of carrots!

       This little girl is the most beautiful leader I have ever seen. The children would sing and dance and worship for 20 minutes at a time without being led by a teacher... this little girl would shout out at the top of her lungs "Jesus I love youuuuu, Jesus I love youuuuu. I dance and sing to show that I love Jesussss" and every boy and girl would come running and dance and sing along. She is absolutely beautiful.

       This is mother and baby. This is the only mother and baby we got to meet all week. Our pastor told our team that both are HIV positive. How much more precious that makes their worship. Truthfully these are just a few of the beautiful, inspiring, joyful people I met.

       So now I cry at Crackle Barrel because there's so much food and my dad says I can get whatever I want. Now I don't feel right buying a new pair of shoes just because I "need" them for school. Need has a new definition, and our culture isn't near as attractive as it was before I went to Swaziland. I am re-evaluating everything.

My life has changed... and they are why.