It calls me from the rest I so desired the night before.
It lays bare my soul to the unending possibilities that linger ahead but
like the sun that slowly shows itself, Africa slowly takes back any thoughts of greatness.
It humbles me into a place of dependence on God like no other.
It draws me out of comfort and has me long for the dusty, dirty hand of an orphan or the desperate hug of a widow.
It overwhelms my heart with emotion and hardens it at the same time.
It makes me want to run away and yet draws and envelopes me in a desire to dwell in it's hold on me.
Africa has my heart, my soul. It owns the places that I have walked. The places where I have sat and stared out at the vast expanse that lay before me.
And as I take a deep breath in awe of it's beauty; at the same time, Africa removes life from a soul that has known no other place.
Then at the end of the day I am ready to lay down my mistakes and seeming failures because of the smile and hope in a child's eye.
It then calls my gaze upward to the night sky and the stars that seem brighter and I am reminded that tomorrow will bring more unending possibilities to love, to care, to show compassion in this place called Africa...
By-Kristin Choitz, written in Zambia May, 2010
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