Worship. African style worship y’all. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen! When I think of worship, I think of fully embracing God for who He is. Sometimes that means dancing & celebrating! Sometimes that means on your knees, weeping out to the Father. Sometimes it means simply standing in His presence and praising Him for who He is. But worship is never just singing. It is a heart position. Being in Africa for the past 4 months, I have seen that come to life in a brand new way. I have never had so much fun worshiping God in a language I could not understand. I have never seen people have so little, but worship like they have everything they could ever want – which is Jesus. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
Openness. I love this about Africa! You smile at people and they smile back. You start a conversation and they invite you to their home to cook for you. Everyone is your friend and everyone is open to speak to you. I loved walking around town and saying hi to everyone. People light up when you just take the time to ask how they are doing. I love the openness just about everyone had. The word “stranger” is a foreign concept and I LOVE it.
Moments. Africa is never in a hurry. You can plan to start church at 10 am and people start showing up at 12…and that’s just Africa. And although my American mind got frustrated at this, with time, I learned to embrace the moments. This side of the world does not live in a rush. Moments are special. If you are on your way to a meeting but see someone who needs help, you stop and help them…even if that means you will be late. People make the time to say hello and how are you. They make time for each other. I absolutely love this. It also is a great patience tester and teaches you to make the most out of your waiting. Talk to the people around you. Don’t stay glued to your phone. The world is happening and it is beautiful. People just want to feel seen and loved. Thank you Africa for giving me the space and eyes to see this!
Hospitality. Now, this isn’t a huge culture shock for me. My family is from the south and hospitality is a pretty normal thing. I just loved seeing it here. Although, at first it was a bit awkward. The families we would visit never had a lot. They worked their tales off just for a meal and the moment we stepped into their home, they would treat us like royalty. I learned to accept any food/drink they prepared (even if I was stuffed) because they worked so hard and it was a way to love them well. They are some of the most generous people I have ever met.
Simplicity. MY FAVORITE PART OF IT ALL. Seriously. If you knew me before the race, you would know I enjoy fashion. I enjoy makeup. I enjoy fixing my hair and getting my nails done. I love glitz and glam.
But I loved it so much that I believed I needed it to be beautiful.
I needed makeup to be beautiful.
I needed cute clothes to be beautiful.
I needed my hair to look perfect to be beautiful.
But everything changed once we stepped into our first country in Africa. We started in Rwanda and taught at a school. At this school, the children wore the same clothes every single day. Their clothes all had holes and were covered in dirt. Most women and children were bald. I almost never saw women wear makeup. This was the same in Uganda and Kenya. And even though they literally had nothing “glamorous” about them, they were the most beautiful people I have ever seen. They literally took my breathe away. Throughout these months, I learned to hardly wear makeup. I started wearing the same clothes and really started to embrace the simple beauty. My hair was up in a ponytail often. I learned to love the God given beauty I held.
This type of beauty comes from simple kindness.
This beauty comes from a smile and truly seeing people.
This beauty is unique.
This beauty is simple but breathtaking.
This beauty is what I found in Africa. This is the beauty that captured my heart. Now, don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy makeup and cute clothes. But I don’t need it. I just need kindness and compassion. I just need the love of Jesus inside of my heart because that is the most beautiful thing about a person.
Man, God wrecked me in Africa…and then He pieced my heart back together again. This is where I belong. Thank You Jesus. Thank you Africa for changing my life forever. See you soon 🙂
