Let’s just think out loud for a moment, shall we?
What do you think of when you think of Africa? Orphanages? Children running around barefoot laughing with an unexplainable joy? Single mothers? Witch Doctors? Poverty? Hunger? Desperation? Yes, these are some of the first things that come to my mind when I think of Africa but let me just say this is not the picture that South Africa has painted for me.
While these things may be very present in other areas of Africa, South Africa has shown me what it looks like to put a splash of light on a canvas that has been painted pretty dark. You see, here the problem isn’t necessarily abandoned babies and people walking out on life- the problem is that people are being sucked into darkness before they even realize. We are working in a town riddled with gang violence, drug wars and the struggle for a sense of belonging that that seems hard to find. They look for confirmation in people, places and things rather than in the One who made them and holds them in the palm of their hand. And if we are being honest, this is a fight that we all have to battle. We all are tempted to look for love and confirmation in the things that this world gives us. However, when it comes to the ways of this world, we will always come up short. So I don’t look at the people walking these streets as gangsters or people who are violent and just looking to harm. They are people, just like you and me. They need love, just like you and me. Their souls need to be fought for, just like you and me. They need the love of Jesus, just like you and me. They need someone to be interceding for them, just like you and me. So this month, we are walking these streets. We are meeting these people right where they are. We are loving on them, we are praying for them, and we are just getting to know them. We are staying prayerful and trusting that the God of Angel armies is surrounding us as we do these things.
So far we have been so blessed to get to walk through these neighborhoods and meet these people. Despite all that they have going on in this area, they still smile, they still show kindness- and their children, well let me just say, they are precious and wise beyond their years. They love so big, laugh so much, and play so hard.
So, while this may not be the picture I had painted in my mind for South Africa- it’s more beautiful than I could have imagined. It’s hard, and some days have a pretty big splash of red- but other days are bold and bright and God truly reminds us why we are here and why we are doing what we are doing.
With all of this said I just want to challenge you- what kind of picture is God painting in your life? Don’t worry if it’s not what you pictured or had planned, because let me just tell you- His ways are always better. The days splashed red with pain, and the days splashed radiant blue with joy- He’s working. He’s moving, He’s creating. He’s loving and He is teaching. So let go of what you thought it should look like and let Him paint the perfect picture in your life. It’s going to be beautiful, I promise.
