Why I Needed Africa More Than Africa Needed Me

At the beginning of this trip one of my teammates told our team about a company called “I need Africa more than Africa needs me.” For the past 3 months i’ve kept a list of why I personally needed Africa more than Africa ever needed me. Here is a short (well long) list of some of the life changing things i’ve learned and recorded during my stay in Africa:

1)to learn that others and their needs need to be placed before my own
2) to learn how to live fully with nothing
3)to surrender everything so my hands are free and open to God’s abundant grace and blessings
4)to open my eyes of the oblivion and arrogance I’ve had to the injustices of the world
5)to gain a voice for those who cannot speak up for themselves
6) to become an advocate against world hunger
7)to learn what it feels like to jump and depend solely on God’s strength and empowerment.
8)for God to fill me with his strength so i may accomplish far more than i could ever imagine
9) to realize how people can have nothing yet be so full of joy and love for the Lord.
10)to realize how incredibly spoiled and blessed i am
11) to make me see how amazing my friends, family, and boyfriend are and how they are an answered prayer
12) to give me quiet time with God and make me see how I need that more each day at home
13) to feel dirty, smelly, and disgusting; yet feel like a beautiful and beloved daughter of god.
14) to delve into the Word more fully and daily
15)to live and learn what community looks like
16)to value education and the opportunities i have both as a person and as a woman specially.
17) for my heart to be broken for what breaks god’s
18)to hear the voices of singing children and value my own voice to bring Him praise and glory
19) to literally walk a mile in their shoes
20)to value more all my parents have done and will do for me and cherish our relationship more
21)to learn to be content in every circumstance
22)to learn to be present in the here and now, not living in the past/future/wishing time away. to cherish and live in every moment
23)to realize monetary things don’t define me
24)to see that language is not a barrier when it comes to showing Gods love or my own love to others
25)to find fulfillment
26)to miss people so much so i may see how much they mean to me and how blessed i am to have them
27) to learn to talk less and listen more intently
28)to open my eyes to the realization of how enslaved i was to sin and through Christ i am FREE
29)to bring me into a great communion with the Lord
30)to take ownership of my life
31)to realize i am not my own. I was bought at a high price. Jesus paid it all and removed my sin. I am HIS not my own.
32)to make me value quiet/alone time with God and myself
33)to give me friends to become family
34)to learn sometimes you’ll never know the impact of your work-but to do it anyways!
35)to learn to empower/encourage others more deeply
36)to learn to boast in my weaknesses so that god might be glorified and his power can be seen
37)to see prayer works
38)to learn to minister to HIS heart first
39)to be filled with his living water
40)to put Christ as my cornerstone and foundation
41)to realize silence IS an answer
42)to have a spiritual retreat/ time of life discernment
43)to value daily interactions with friends and strangers as ministry opportunities
44)to learn to ask people how they are and genuinely mean it and care about their answer
45) to physically feel the shield of god’s protection
46)to humble myself (get knocked down a few pegs)
47)to get sick to appreciate health and learn to find joy in sufferings
48)to learn God can and does speak powerful words through me
49)to awaken my passion for the Word and yearning to know more
50)to experience joy directly from the Lord’s heart, untouched by the world
51)to awake morning by morning to new and amazing mercies
52)to learn the way to heal, preach, teach, guide, and the way to achieve anything and everything is through LOVE
53)to work on learning patience
54)to feel and see the devil face to face and see we are at war; but God always conquers evil and protects us from the enemy
55)to open my eyes to my strengths and potentials that i do have what it takes to be a youth pastor
56)to walk out in honesty and not be afraid to speak up
57)to reaffirm my call into youth ministry
58)to produce in me a spirit of maturity for this next season of my life
59)to realign my ways with HIS
60)to be held accountable
61)to learn simple life lessons from kids half or one third of my age
62)to walk in selfless love
63)to find JOY..literally (the girl i met) and emotionally
64) to get over myself and get out of the way so god can move
65)to learn there is much that i could do/live without
66)to give freely as freely i have received
67)to learn about perseverance
68)to fall in love with god all over again and to view my relationship with him as a ongoing love story
69)to be surround by 13 amazing girls who challenge me to be a better person by watching their examples
70)to find my identity in Christ
71)CONFIDENCE- in all areas of my life
72)to know im enough
73)to learn i have wisdom to give and more to learn.
74) to learn that i am more than a conquerer through Christ
75) to have my heart captured by Africa so much so, that because this trip i will never be the same ever again. Africa will always hold a special place in my heart and has left me different then when i started.

There are countless other things that I could add to this list, it could go on for years. You see, while I thought God called me to Africa because Africa needed me, I’ve come to see, quite clearly, that I personally needed Africa so much more. Africa had so much more to offer me than i could ever imagine offering in return. Africa has changed my life forever, and for this I am a better person. No matter where life from here on out takes me I will carry life lessons and unexplainable and incredible God moments that no one could ever take away from me. And i have one thing to thank for all that…. Africa. The truth is, I needed Africa way more than Africa ever needed me , Praise God! 🙂