About a year and a half ago I was introduced to the crisis that is Africa by Mr. Paul Hewson, aka Bono of U2. I was at a leader conference, or Summit as it were. They played a pre-recorded interview with Bono where he explained a bit about the hardships facing many African nations and then spoke of how the Church should be responding to this. Orphans and widows abound in the motherland and the bible speaks directly of it being the responsibility of the Church to take care of them.

I left that conference on a we-have-to-do-something-about-this high. If you've ever been to a Christian leadership conference, you know what I am talking about. You get pumped up while you are in the bubble and then you walk out ready to change the world, only to get smacked in the face by life. Well, at least that's how it works with me.

After the Leadership Summit, we played the interview on a Sunday morning at Visio Dei. Listening to it a second time reaffirmed that we-have-to-do-something-about-this feeling. Then, it was like I couldn't go anywhere with hearing something or read anything without it relating back to the crisis in Africa. Then, one day, I read something that said that the lack of clean drinking water is a core component of many of the issues facing Africans today.

You should know that my personality, as I am finding more and more to be true, is such that I can see a need and see in the big picture "if only we could do A, B and C, we could fix this." The problem is that when it comes to the details of accomplishing A, B, or C, it's not always as clear or easy.

So, my response was, "We have to find a way to bring people clean drinking water." Seems easy enough, right. Pay someone to drill a hole in the ground and put a pump at the top. Voila. Done.

Over the past year and a half, I have learned that though it seems that simple, it is simply not. There are cultural, governmental, and geographic factors to consider.

So, at times, my passion wanes and the going is slow. Then, at other times, I get a lead and I am once again excited about the opportunity to bring water to people that need it. Right now, I feel as though I am on the cusp of making a major breakthrough and it scares me like nothing else.

Labels: activism, africa