So I thought it would be easy to walk away from South Africa - to move on to London and start a new life. Last night that hasty assumption was shattered in the most unlikely of circumstances.
Some of you may remember Adam Morris from my days at CAI; he is the son of one of the staff members who I befriended while we lead the first youth conference for missionary kids. Well Adam lives in Nottingham and came to the city last night so we could catch up. He bought tickets for us to see The Lion King musical and we had the most amazing seats. We are both theatre nuts so we expected to be in for an amazing time. The moment the curtains opened and the singers started to sing in Zulu, I broke out in tears!
I could not believe it! As the music and voices grew, I was reduced to a sobbing mess. At that moment, I started to realise how much I will miss Africa. It just snuck up on me. Suddenly, I was flooded with thousands of images, scenes and experiences that I will genuinely grieve as I move from the place of their origin.
It truly became Mama Africa, to me, because of the hearts of the many people who accepted me into their family. Africa, particularly South Africa, is a place and a country that is in metamorphosis and I too became caught up in her flux. I will miss crawling into to the warmth of her bosom, where one is nurtured and strengthened. Africa has made me stronger and I will carry her strength with me, but I also pray for the strength to leave her when the time comes.
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