A WORD ON AFRICA

I sit, I think, I recall. Africa. I was there. What comes to mind? Hot, scantly clad natives, mud huts, malaria, harvest field, hunger, poverty and AIDS. Well every one of those words would describe Africa quite well, except hot, it wasn't it was actually quite nice. I saw mud huts, I slept under a mosquito net, I saw hunger, I saw poverty, I shook hands with and touched hundreds of people being destroyed by AIDS.

I saw. This is my testimony and my experience. I saw. Hearing something only allows you to be taken into a shallow level of understanding about something. Hearing about something makes you aware of its presence, it allows you to think over what it is you hear about and wonder. Well I not only heard but I saw. I saw a lot of things that words alone don't accurately describe but things that will forever change my outlook on life. I cannot articulate all of it, but I give you this testimony in a few short words. I saw a boy covered in dirt, yet smiling ear to ear. I saw a child whose enlarged stomach gave evidence of its emptiness. I saw pain. I saw people whose flesh covered up the death that fills their blood. I saw youth laugh at the thought of a life of sexual morality and purity. I saw a country being destroyed by AIDS resulting in 84,000 deaths a year. I saw a country that AIDS keeps the average lifespan at 20 years. I saw injustice to humanity. I saw poverty at its best. I saw an orphan ailed by HIV healed by God. I saw faces illuminate with hope because a message of good news. I saw a man walk 12 miles to find out how to become a follower of Jesus Christ. I saw a New Testament church. I saw men of God who are tirelessly expanding the kingdom of God in Africa. I saw much. My heart is in Africa for my heart belongs to the God who is indeed on the move in Africa.