I need Africa more than Africa needs me

So I found this video last week sometime and I just can’t stop watching it. This video hits really close to home for me and honestly makes me want to pack up right now and move over there. Like the video says Africa does need our partnerships and our relationships. After going to Kenya with 410 Bridge this summer I realized that that is true and the people of Africa do need our help. But I also realized that on my end of the relationship I need Africa too. Every time I saw people dancing and singing and I saw their smiling faces and heard their laughter it made me think about my attitude. If I was forced to live in the situations they live in everyday I can almost guarantee that I would not handle it with as much happiness and joy as they do. The people in Africa taught me how to love unconditionally and find joy in horrible situations. I went over to Africa thinking that I was bringing something to the people their but I left being the one who received so much.



aids. starvation. child soldiers. genocide. orphans.

These are the images that come to mind when i think of Africa.
How can I help? How can I make a difference?
I think, "I am needed here...they have so little and i have so much."
Often there is a level of suffering here that is unimaginable, but it's hard to reconcile the challenges many Africans face with the joy I see in the people.
The images spilling out of my television showed only misery, and I was fooled.
I bought into the lie that circumstances define happiness.
In places where despair should thrive, I find adults dancing and singing.
Children playing soccer with a ball tied of trash.
Relationships provide faith and joy.
My new reality...
my joy should have no regard for my circumstances.
I want what I have learned to trickle down from my head into my heart.
I no longer want to need the "next thing" to have joy.
Africa does need our efforts and partnership, but for me...

I need Africa more than Africa needs me.

Because it is Africa that has taught me that possessions in my hands will never be as valuable as peace in my heart.

https://www.mochaclub.org/mochaclub/welcome

The link above is the link to Mocha Club's website. It has more information about the organization and what they are doing. You can join mocha club and you can also get the t-shirt that you see in the video on the their website.