40/40 Day 27- Hope for Africa

AIDS has decimated Africa. Everyone has been touched by the epidemic in some way, and some people’s lives have been drastically changed. Some grandparents and great-grandparents who should be resting and enjoying the last few years of their lives are now raising a second or third generation of children. Mothers are trying to find ways to support their families on their own. Children have to grow up and become responsible for themselves, and possibly younger brothers and sisters, long before they should.

I spent the last 3 days living with Greyson and Rachel Mwanza, a Zambian couple. They have been married for 24 years and have 6 children; the oldest is 22, and the youngest is 6. The children are all well and healthy, and doing well in school. Greyson serves as a deacon at their local church. He and Rachel farm a few acres about a 30-minute walk away from their homestead; they grow sweet potatoes, groundnuts, sunflowers, tomatoes, and maize, among other things. Rachel may very well be the hardest-working woman in Africa; I don’t think she stopped moving during our entire stay at their home.

It didn’t dawn on me until after we left this morning that there is a reason the Mwanza family is so healthy and intact. Even though they were very stoic and disciplined their children sometimes harshly, you can watch them and tell how much Greyson and Rachel love their children. You can tell this is a couple who are devoted to one another. Their faith is deep and genuine. They are close to their children, even the ones who are grown.

I’m sure Greyson and Rachel have been affected by AIDS in some way. I’m sure they know people who have been infected, and are concerned for their children in the future. But the Mwanza family does not carry the scars of AIDS that most families in Africa do.

In the face of the AIDS crisis, the hope for Africa is Jesus. Greyson and Rachel are proof that faithful marriages can work in Africa. That if people hear and believe the Gospel and experience the life-change it can bring, entire families can be saved. Even in the middle of hunger, pain, illness and death, there is hope for Africa. There is hope for Asia, and Europe, and even America. The only hope for any of us is Jesus.