Mocha Club

So it's been a little more than a week since I've blogged. Just trying to let everything sink in and get back to my life . . . and yet I don't want to get back to the life I had before.

Found a great website called Mocha Club - the idea is that you give up two Mochas (or whatever expensive Starbucks type of drink you drink) a week and donate that money to Africa. Well, that's right up my alley except Starbucks was long ago nixed out of my budget. As I was looking around, I came across this incredible quote:

When I think of Africa, the following images immediately come to mind: Starvation. AIDS. Child soldiers. Genocide. Sex slaves. Orphans. From there, my thoughts naturally turn to how I can help, how I can make a difference. "I am needed here," I think. "They have so little, and I have so much." It's true, there are great tragedies playing out in Africa everyday. There is often a level of suffering here that is unimaginable until you have seen it, and even then it is difficult to believe. But what is even harder is reconciling the challenges that many Africans face with the joy I see in those same people. It's a joy that comes from somewhere I cannot fathom, not within the framework that has been my life to this day.

The images spilling out of my television showed circumstances that could seemingly only equal misery, and I was fooled. I bought into the lie that circumstance defines happiness. The truth is, in Africa I find hearts full of victory, indomitable spirits. In places where despair should thrive, instead I find adults dancing and singing, and children playing soccer with a ball crafted of tied up trash. Instead of payback, I find grace. Here, weekend getaways are not options to provide relief from the pains of daily life. Relationships and faith provide joy. Love is sovereign.

My new reality… I know now that my joy should have no regard for my circumstances. I'm ashamed by my lack of faith, but at the very same moment I am excited by my new pursuit. I'm forced to redefine the meaning of having much or having little. I'm uneasy with the prospect of change and of letting go, but just the thought of freedom is liberating. I want what I have learned to trickle down from my head into my heart - I no longer want to need the "next thing" to have joy.

I'm not saying that Africa does not need our efforts. It absolutely does need our partnership. But for me, I've come to understand that I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME. Why? Because it is Africa that has taught me that possessions in my hands will never be as valuable as peace in my heart. I've learned that I don't need what I have and that I have what I need. These are just a few of this continent's many lessons. I came here to serve and yet I've found that I have so much to learn, and Africa, with all its need, has much to teach me.

They even have tote bags and shirts (which I would really love to have) with this slogan. The shirts are $20 each and they have the quote above printed on the inside of the shirt. The bags are $12. Or you can join the Mocha Club for $7 a month and get the t-shirt free. The cool thing is no matter how you spend your money, you get to select which Africa project you want the money to go to - AIDS, clean water, genocide survivors, health care for women and children, or care of orphans and vulnerable children.



So I challenge each of you today to think of others first. What is something that you could easily do away with in your own life that might completely change the life of someone else? I mean after all, for most people skipping 2 mochas a week still leaves them with at least 5 more to continue to drink . . .