Contrast

black vs. white
poor vs. rich
soccer vs. rugby
bare feet vs. designer sandals
shack vs. house
pap vs. steak
majority vs. minority
Xhosa vs. Afrikaans

I spend my weeks with one of South Africa's poorest communities. I take kids and students into my arms who are abused, raped, orphaned, abandoned, hungry, sick and tired. They are my loves. They get me out of bed in the morning. I run around for hours a day doing life with my African family. I am exhausted and dependent on morning coffee but would have it no other way. That is Xhosa life.
This weekend I fully experienced the Afrikaans life. A friend from Pneumatix won a contest for a free "Girl's Night Out" in Cape Town on Friday night. I had to go out and get something to wear and we had a night on the town. There was a fashion show, popular South African bands, a live DJ and dinner. They wined-and-dined us until we were content.

These two worlds contrast each other in every single aspect. I have yet to figure out how to blend them together. I'm not even sure if these two can be blended. The entire time I was in Cape Town I was uncomfortable. I wanted to pull my hair back into a pony-tail. I wanted to take off my heels and run around bare foot. I wanted to trade in my dress for jeans and a t-shirt. I wanted to trade lifting my fork full of classy cuisine for lifting a child. I was also distracted with concern for my kids. Here I am having a high class evening when I know some of my kids in Kayamandi didn't eat after school and others are being abused by their fathers.

Then I was forced to think: Am I here to "experience South Africa" or am I here to love, nurture, teach and encourage? The latter is what I chose. It is nice to have a weekend to get-away, to refresh after adjusting to a completely different world the past 6 weeks, but I did not come here as an American tourist on a feel-good holiday. I willingly left the comforts of a land of wealth to get dirty, to laugh, to cry and to live the Xhosa life. This might be a case of "you can take the girl out of Kayamandi but you can't take the Kayamandi out of the girl." I have committed to the world in Kayamandi and it has become a part of me.

We are told to follow Jesus' example. My summary of the example He left is this:
My God left the splendor and glory of Heaven. He left the community with His Father to lower himself to a mere human. He could have lived in a Roman palace and become king over everything but He chose to live with the poor and needy. He sacrificed absolutely everything for me.

That is what I am created to follow. It may seem that this lifestyle contrasts with everything in the Western culture. But all it says is to take the mindset of a humble, obedient servant. I firmly believe not every person is to go to Africa or a developing country. God did not put that desire or call on very many people. I'm also not saying that the Western world is bad by any means. In fact, I think it is very good most of the time. But there are definitely 2 contrasting worlds available; the one of contentment and apathy or the one of acknowledgment and action. These two exist in every world. I suppose these are the thoughts I will carry with me if I ever go back for a night out in Cape Town.

peace.