I was excited to come to Africa. Since I was a young girl, I always wanted to visit Africa. I loved the animals, landscape, history and romanticized the adventures I could have there. I knew there were lots of problems and lots of poverty, but it was Africa; the land of the pyramids and elephants! This was the land of adventure that captured my imagination and promised inspiration with every sunset. Well, it is definitely beautiful and we have had some really funny adventures, but the older version of me is learning that the younger version of me was a bit of a dreamer. I am glad I came, but it is definitely not as romantic as I thought.
Africa has been the hardest country as far as comfort goes. It is the most foreign for us so far and it has been six months since we’ve seen our friends and family. What the older me has realized is that Africa is dirty. The people are poorer than I actually thought, I can go longer without a shower than I thought I could, and you can definitely fit 20 people in a 15 passenger van. But I also learned that God’s ways are not my ways, His love for people is unending and there is beauty even in the dark, dirty places.
I could spend this blog telling you about the poverty and comparing our cultures, but to do so, wouldn’t really give you a clear understanding of what God did in my heart while in Tanzania. Yes, the poverty is humbling and shocking and I feel so spoiled. But honestly, we know that poverty is everywhere even though it is on a much grander scale here than in the U.S. Instead, I choose to dedicate this blog to telling you how God has changed my heart toward my own country.
We are getting used to being celebrities in every country we go to. In Central America and here in Africa, we get stared at constantly. We walk down the streets and people point and stare and take pictures. The girls get hit on all the time and it is assumed that we have more money than the Pope and can buy everything! It really makes me feel bad for famous people who have to deal with fans and paparazzi. We have gotten used to being used by the local ministries as attention grabbers and kind of like sideshow freaks (in a good way). But Africa brought this underserved notoriety to a whole new level. Everywhere we went, people swarmed us and called out Mzungu! Mzungu! (White person). All our ministry contacts really wanted us to do was to preach and pray and talk about Jesus to everyone we met. It was exhausting and the intensity was so high, that it was a bit intimidating. I personally was able to speak to several different Pastors from several different churches at different times, and asked them why there was such strong reactions to our presence. The answers I received shocked me and humbled me and changed my heart for America.
What I learned from these Pastors was that they felt a great indebtedness to the U.S. To them, the U.S. was one of the only Superpowers that didn’t try to take over Africa and take all it’s resources. They also see the U.S. as the major source of the gospel into the African culture. The African preachers say that in most of their minds, America is a blessed nation for having brought Christ to Africa.
Sadly, as time goes on, more and more Americans are coming to Africa that do not believe in Christ, and are very vocal about it. This is having a very negative effect on evangelism in Tanzania. Those who do not believe or those that are very young in their faith are saying, “why should we believe in a God that the Mzungu’s don’t even believe in anymore? How can God be real if the Americans say He isn’t?”
This is the reason they are so passionate about our sharing the gospel, because they want to prove to their people that there are still Americans who believe in God. There are still Americans who trust in the Lord and have hearts to tell the world about Him and His goodness.
This reality broke my heart. God started convicting me and showing me how lazy I had become, not just in my outreach to those around me, but even in my prayer life. How often do I pray for my country? How often do I pray for my neighbors, let alone talk to them? How much time do I spend sitting on the couch watching TV when I could be volunteering even just once a week helping those around me?
What I have learned while on this Race is that the U.S. really does impact the world. We really do send more people and money out to the world than anyone else and we are more idealized than any other nation. I have seen that if the U.S. falls spiritually or financially, the rest of the world will be greatly and negatively affected. If America turns it’s back on God like Europe has, there will be exponentially more devastating consequences.
I have realized that it is time for me, and hopefully for others, to wake up. It is time for the church to stop fighting about things to do to show you are a good Christian and actually do something to prove you are. It’s time to stop fighting over stupid legalistic issues and start fighting for our country. It is time for the educated amongst us to stand up and run for public office. It is time for the affluent amongst us to use their resources to support solid, true believers. It is time for the artists, the lawyers, the college professors, and even the garbage men to step up and be proud of their beliefs and trust God by loving and witnessing to those around them. Not preaching at them a list of do’s and don’ts, but preach to them Jesus and His crucifixion. It is time for moms and dads to stop being their kids best friends, and be their parents. It is time for wives to stop belittling their husbands and for husbands to be men and love their wives. It is time for Pastors to break a few politically correct rules and preach what will make the congregations uncomfortable. It is time for denominations to love each other and agree to disagree on nonessential issues and show the world what brotherly love and forgiveness really look like. It is time for us to talk to our neighbors and accept nonbelievers as friends and help them. It is time we fight for the youth and college age men and women of our country before it is too late. The honest reality is that we are failing. We are too comfortable and allow our lives to be too busy and we don’t have enough time to dedicate to doing what is the most important thing to do.
This thought is good and so overwhelming! But it is truth. We can’t do everything all at once, but we can each start somewhere. We can start paying our tithes so there is money to do outreach. We can pray for our nation and our leaders. We can pray and encourage our Pastors. We can love our church family and be involved enough in each others lives so we can know how to help each other. We can pick one person at work or in your neighborhood, and start praying for them. Pray that God will open doors not for us to preach at them and judge them, but to love them. Pray God would break your heart for that one person and then pursue them as if you are the only one who has ever loved them! Can you imagine if every Christian in America did that for just one person for one year? The thing is there is something we can do. THERE IS! We have to stop allowing the enemy to make us too tired or tell us we are too insignificant and can’t make a difference. We are losing the battle, and if we fail, the world suffers. Make no mistake, God will win in the end, but I want to be a bigger part of the battle than just a spectator. I choose to change and I hope you choose to change with me. We must save our country in order to save our world.
