I have heard my whole life about Africa and the issues Africa is facing. It is really sad when you think about the natural as well as man made disasters that have lampooned the continent in pretty much the same way with the droughts and famine such as endured for years in countries like Ethiopia and the region of Sub-Saharan Africa, and now Niger where millions are at risk of annihilation. I have witnessed civil wars and related conflicts that have culminated in genocides of the sort that have been witnessed in Rwanda, some parts of the DR Congo, and lately Sudan’s Darfur region.
I might say that Africa is like a demonstration continent that is constructed and then demolished, and constructed again, only to be demolished once again. It literally goes on and on in Africa. There seems to be no permanent or consistent pattern of development and advancement on the continent that is one of the richest in resources yet has the poorest and most miserable people in the world.
Something I really fight for is the change of social problems in Africa because there are some well to do African families that are living quite comfortably although these are surrounded by the sad realities of deprivation that hound the generality of the African populace.
Once again the pleading eyes of African mothers and children are watching us from our TV screens. They are destitute and starving. This time it is Darfur, Sudan. The terrible TV images of children with bloated bellies and stick-like limbs. Why does it keep happening? Is Africa somehow doomed eternally to hunger and misery? Can we not do something about it? Yes I believe we can.
I have been very frustrated every time I go to Africa because I see horrible social injustice in Africa and I think about our world that is just standing by and watching what`s happening in Africa. There are millions of refugees and internally displaced people from conflicts in Africa. Hundreds and thousands of people have been slaughtered from a number of conflicts and civil wars like in Sudan. I have been to Sudan and I heard the missionaries and people telling me stories of kids fighting for something they don`t even know. They are just kids but child soldiers in the same time and if you would ask them how old they are they would tell you I believe that they are 11 or 12 years old. If this scale of destruction and fighting was in Europe or in Americas, then people would be calling it World War III with the entire world rushing to report, provide aid, mediate and otherwise try to diffuse the situation.
I am going to tell you stories from my mission trips to Africa and I am only telling you these stories because I believe we can change Africa. We were created to be agents of transformation, change and healing. God has called us to be a difference-maker and a generation that is willing to give up everything for the Gospel and my greatest joy is Africa but it is also my greatest cross.
I love Africa and I always will. I have been to Africa 3 times and this year I am planning and praying to go twice. I have been to many countries like South Africa, Mozambique, Uganda, Sudan,etc. God has been so good to me because he has allowed me to see or hear many different things in Africa. I will never be the same. My testimony seems or becomes small when I am in Africa. My problems become small when I hear or see what`s happening to millions of people in Africa.
My heart is to bring doctors, lawyers, police officers, nurses, teachers, politicians, pastors, missionaries, worship leaders to Africa for short-term or long term to see the realities of Africa. And I know when they see the realities of Africa they will never be the same and I pray many of these people that go to Africa with me they will go back to stay and live in Africa to transform communities from the inside out.
Africa is in the heart of God and I know he loves every African person just as much as he loves me and you that live outside of Africa. God is bigger than the problems in Africa and he will raise up a generation in Africa that will love and serve him with everything they are. I believe Africa is going to be the epicenter of the revival that is about to happen in our world. I believe Africa will shine and will be great among us. God is rising up a new generation in Africa of pastors, missionaries, worship leaders and true followers of Jesus Christ that will impact the whole world for Jesus. Africa is ready and the time is now!!!
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