On leaving Liberia...

There is a part of me that is relieved to leave Africa, where 'corruption' has become a cliche, where malaria looms and parasites threaten my Western immune system, where police checkpoints induce fear rather than feelings of security. I'm relieved that I will no longer be asked for money on all corners, that I will no longer be asked for my address, that I will no longer be known only by the color of my skin.

There is a part of me that breaks for Africa, where government officials have betrayed their people, where parents neglect their children and children kill their parents, where satan's malevolent deception pervades God's loved ones. I am broken over the hundreds who are unjustly imprisoned, over the hundreds of thousands who where killed senselessly because of the greed of a few, over the countless children who are denied nutrition, family and hope.

And there is a part of me that rejoices with Africa, where people are quick to praise the name of Jesus, where God's existence is not intellectually debated but accepted and exalted, where restoration is evident. I rejoice because Christ's righteousness is preached, Christ's reconciliatory nature is enabling, and Christ's miracles are happening.