Why I'm a Busy Millennial

It’s true.  Millennials are getting a bad rap in American society lately.  With the coming of the Miley Cyrus’ of the world, many young adults have been pinpointed as lazy, not smart, addicted to technology and people who lack the drive their parents had.

Well, that’s false.

Recently, a fantastic piece was written in the Huffington Post that highlighted one of my inspirations and closest friends, William Thomas, and our organization BLOOM Africa.  (Article can be found here)  Finally, a refreshing piece that lifts up young adults and the leadership roles they’re taking in society.  And, not surprisingly, William was highlighted due to his constant optimism and tireless work with BLOOM Africa.  Since our founding, William has been by my side, and when I might feel a sense of discouragement, William is quick to get me back to a hopeful mentality.  It’s William’s strong belief and faith in the good in the world that keeps him going.  And it has helped me endless times.   

William and I in Ramabanta, Lesotho 2013

But looking back on my friendship with William over the past several years, I started to think I may have created allusions of grandeur of what millenials are really like.  Heck, a group of more than 10 constantly volunteer for BLOOM Africa and are deeply passionate about it.  I’ve seen someone take meeting notes until 2am, barely able to keep her eyes open because she’s in her third year of medical school.  I’ve seen someone find a passion for service and help organize over 10 national events.  These acts are more constant in my life than distant, so I really started to think I’m just lucky to have a few driven friends.  But no.  The more I attend events, the more I meet people through work or with BLOOM, I am starting to think my allusions of grandeur are actually reality.  People I’ve never met are doing amazing things for BLOOM Africa, raising money and awareness to fight HIV/AIDs, and becoming leaders in their communities.  I think there’s a lot of wonderful young adults out there.

Lately, I’ve been getting a good deal of constructive criticism from friends.  “You are way overcommitted.”  “Dude, you are too busy, you need to take more time for yourself.”  I’ve really been spending a lot of time thinking about this potential hazardous character trait of mine.  Am I too busy?  Do I spend too much time working and volunteering?  What are my priorities?  Well.  All I can say is that life is my priority.  Your life.  The life of a stranger. My life.  I just want to be a part of other’s lives, impact them in any positive way I can, and hopefully strengthen my own.  As I recently told a friend, life is precious and we’re all in this life together.  Being in solidarity is important and what I live for.

I don’t think I’m one of those busy bees to stay involved because I want to feel accomplished.  I don’t do what I do because I want to “change the world.”  And honestly speaking, I don’t think the world needs to be saved.   I think the world needs to be loved.  It’s this love and hope for the world that keeps me going.  I love this world so much and cannot wait to share its intimacies and beauty with someone I fall in love with.  I absolutely love hearing people’s stories of why they are who they are.  I get overcome with joy when I get to share one of life’s joys with a close friend or relative.  There is just too much love to go around not to want to share it. 

William and I addressing a high school in Roma, Lesotho 2013

That is why I am busy.  That is why I am driven to make a positive impact on people’s lives.  I want to be a leader in my society, in my generation, that stands up for what is right and fights for an equal and fair world for all. 

I know William and I aren’t alone.  Take a look around and I’m sure you’ll find a millennial, seemingly busy, doing some amazing thing in their community.  And you may never know how being busy may just turn into a passion, vocation and love for the world.  That sure does give me hope.

Preventing Prayer in Swaziland: Continuing Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom

Over the last several days, millions of people around the world mourned the passing of Nelson Mandela.  Despite being 95 years old and in poor health, the loss of such a giant symbol of justice and reconciliation still comes as a shock.  In a beautiful demonstration of solidarity, communities around the world held memorial services, prayer vigils, lowered their flags to half-staff and held moments of silence.  Even here in Chicago, I gathered with friends and held a night of prayer and remembrance for Madiba at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Logan Square.  The tears of many were falling to the soil around the world.

Yet, in a part of the world so close to South Africa, some were denied their right to gather, pray, and give thanks for the life of Nelson Mandela.

On December 13^th, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa gathered at the Lutheran Community Center in Manzini, Swaziland to pray and give thanks for Madiba’s leadership and life’s work.  But, in some kind of cruel irony, the prayer service was broken up by police and even Bishop A. Mnisi was apprehended and ordered to stop. 

My dear friend, Christine, sent this message earlier today:

"People all over the world have gathered to remember the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela.  And yet, in Swaziland, a neighboring country of South Africa that is still ruled by an absolute monarchy, armed police raided the Lutheran Church in Manzini, Swaziland's main business city, on Dec. 13 and stopped people attending a prayer service to mark the life of Mandela.  

Bishop A.M. Mnisi of the Eastern Diocese of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa shared these words: 'Mandela's teachings are not for South Africa only but for the whole world.  These events around his death are a lesson for African leaders, that dialogue is better than war, and freedom of your enemy is your own freedom, restoring dignity to a fellow being, is guaranteeing your own freedom.  The doctrine of reconciliation introduced by Mandela as President of a powerful state is indicative to many leaders.  It is painful to note that in many African countries today, there are still political prisoners.  Christian souls that languish in jail for simple reasons that they hold a different opinion.  That security forces are used to refuse people the right to worship freely. Mandela fought for human rights as God given rights we ought to align ourselves with.'

Please join me in prayer for the people of Swaziland, that Madiba's legazy may live on through religious and political leaders who are committed to love instead of oppression."

Swaziland has been suffering under the oppression of the last absolute monarchy in Africa.  King Mswati III has been in power since 1986.  While his nation suffers extreme poverty and the ravishing effects of HIV/AIDS, he has been living a lavish life with his 15 wives.  His iron fist approach has squashed all attempts at democracy, exacerbated poverty and disease, and now prevented peaceful prayer for a man who exemplified freedom and peace.

After I read this note and continued reading about the incident on blog sites, I coulnd't help but ask myself, "What would Mandela do?"

While prayer is important and the foundation of solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Swaziland, I believe we must do more.  We must advocate.  We must share this news.  We must raise our collective voices for all the world to hear.  The oppression in Swaziland is crippling and preventing basic human dignity from blooming into hope and a future.  And for this tyranny to happen in a city only a 4 hour drive from Johannesburg, it is just too close to the shining star of reconciliation for this to be ignored.

Join me.  Share the news.  Advocate for the need of change.  Post about this on social media.  Pray for our brothers and sisters in Swaziland.

Let us all raise our fists and continue Mandela’s long walk to freedom in solidarity with our brothers and sisters whose paths to freedom are blocked by police and oppressive rule.

To read the statements that were to be given at the prayer service, click here and here.

To contact the U.S. Embassy in Swaziland, click here.

To learn more about Swaziland, click here.

Bishop Mnisi's Presentation for Nelson Mandela Memorial

Bishop A Mnisi message for Nelson Mandelas memorial

13 Dec 2013

Lutheran Community Centre Manzini

May the grace of God be with you all Amen,

We are gathered here today to bid farewell to Africa’s greatest personality. A universal teacher that taught all of us the meaning of African values, values that are for all human beings. 1Corinthias 13:6 Love takes no pleasure in injustice but sides happily with the truth. Our Christian faith teaches us love, Love thy neighbour, Jesus instructed us. Nelson Mandela showed love and sacrifice. He said in 26 JUNE 1961, “I have had to separate myself from my dear wife and children, from my mother and sisters, to live as an outlaw in my own land. I have had to close my business, to abandon my profession, and live in poverty and misery, as many of my people are doing I shall fight the government side by side with you, inch by inch, and mile by mile, until victory is won”. Struggle is a painful sacrifice.

You cannot be free until your neighbour is free, that is the love Jesus Christ taught us.

Love and sacrifice are sides of the same coin. Jesus showed that by dying at Calvary for us. You can image the power of the heavens that he could have let to bear against the people who wanted to crucify him, but instead he decided to teach us the value of sacrifice for the better good. Mandela speaking from the dock at the Rivonia trail said, “have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society.... It is an ideal, which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” It is now a historical fact that he meant those words. He made the sacrifice, it achieved its goal. A good South African society has emerged.

Mandela’s teachings are not for South Africa’s only but for the whole world. These events around his death are a lesson for African leaders, that dialogue is better than war, that freedom of your enemy is your own freedom, restoring dignity to a fellow being, is guarantying your own freedom. The doctrine of reconciliation introduced by Mandela as president of a powerful state is indictment to many leaders.

It is painful to note that in many African countries today, there are still political prisoners. Christian souls that languish in jail for simple reason that the hold a different opinion. That security forces are used to refuse people the right to worship freely. Mandela fought for human rights as Gods given rights we out to align ourselves with.

This is a moment of reflection for each leader. What do I need to do to be a Mandela? To have multitudes shed rivers of genuine tears. One ear shedding a tear of pain, the other a tear of joy. The answer is simple, do the right thing always. The legacy Mandiba teaches us is Love thy neighbour, as you love yourself. Do the right thing no matter what. On children, he said play in the open veld, no longer tortured by the pangs of hunger or ravaged by disease or threatened with the scourge of ignorance, molestation and abuse . . . children are the greatest of our treasures.

He also said, “As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.”On poverty, he said, “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.”

We are blessed to have lived during this extra ordinary time. When Mandela was released from prison, he went to Sweden and attended a service at our Cathedral at Uppsala the Lutheran church. Forever we shall be proud.

Let us pray:

I pray for our neighbours, colleagues, business friends, for consolation and comrades who share the same sentiments as the icon of democracy had. God give them strength especially those who promote social welfare and peace in the world and for the end of all racial and national hatred. I pray for those that are in authority to be able to listen to those that they govern. I pray for unity among the civic society in the country for it will make them strong when they speak in one voice. I pray for genuine talks about talks in the kingdom for the country develop economically and socially.   

Bani nelive lakitsi nebantfu balo, yenta kube nenhlalakahle, nekuthula nelutsandvo. Susa kuzindla nekunganakekeli kulaba phetse. Yenta bonkhe bantfu bavakale, babe nelitfuba lapho kwentiwa khona tincumo. Asitfole natsi tibusiso lotiphe lelive lakitsi kute buphuya bungaveli ebugovini. Nelulaka lolusuka elubandlululweni. Bani nalabo labanesitunge ngenca yelutsandvo nekucabangela labanye.

I pray for faith and Gods guidance and His power to heal the wounds of the world.

In the name of the father and the Holy Spirit. Amen

My God Bless all of you.

A Message from the Swaziland Concerned Church Leaders

09 Dec 2013

A Message of Condolences for Mandela

The World Hero

We want to thank the people of South Africa for having raised a good son of the soil Africa and the world over who has changed people’s lives by sacrificing his own. When a farmer goes around his garden, he always looks at the rose that has blossomed and indeed God has taken Madiba because he was ready, only the best is taken. We thank God Almighty for the life of Madiba and effect it has on our lives. We are grateful that we have lived to see this Icon of a world leader, Nelson Mandela.

The death of this great man has left the world with good lessons that for decades we will cherish and honor. In his book LONG WALK to FREEDOM when he was at Pollsmor prison when asked by Professor Dash of United States that was he a Christian?

Madiba answered “I told him that I was a Christian and always been”. The reason he was radical at times is that he said even Christ, was left with no alternative, he used force to expel the moneylenders from the temple. He was not a man of violence, but had no choice but to use force against evil.

Things we learned in his leadership style as an Africa and Christian are:

• Forgiveness
• Unity in diversity
• Humanity
• Equality is possible
• Love everyone in spite of color, race and creed
• A leader can lead without being selfish and greedy
• Human rights are a God given right

He has handed this button to the next person in the race especially the African leaders who are failing the people of Africa through their undemocratic leadership styles. Who in the continent has relinquished power without trying means to flout the constitution? We are yet to see one that can emulate Mandela even if, he was to have one or two attributes of this great leader. Mandela gave us a lesson that says “An oppressive system cannot be reformed, I say; it must be entirely casted aside.” As SCCL, we believe that he was God sent to facilitate a bloodless revolution for the people South Africa and the world.

Nelson Mandela, we can only say you have fought a good fight in your entire life for your people to have quality life and you have given the world the true meaning of democracy.

HAMBA KAHLE TATA MANDELA YOU WILL BE MISSED BY ALL PEACE LOVING PEOPLE. MAY YOUR SOUL REST IN PEACE

Rev S Nxumalo                                                                       Mr. S Nyembe

Vice Chairperson                                                                    Secretary

Hot Dogs Worth the Price of Filet

This is another guest entry by my very close friend, Sarah Jurewicz.

On a recent trip to Minnesota, I spent some time on the lake. In Minnesota, this is not an atypical way to spend nice-weather days. It is true: there is a lake everywhere you look. It’s the land of 10,000 lakes and the last census identified that now there are even more than that. That’s a lot of water. A body of water is mesmerizing and perplexing – at once calm and peaceful at another time tumultuous and threatening. Mostly it is serene and tranquil to my spirit; simply by being on the water I am relaxed and happy. This last visit to the lake was a time for my partner, Kelly, to visit with her family, for her to fish (which she loves to do) and for me to read a couple of books while floating adrift on the water. The site where we stayed had many established friends of Kelly’s family and, of the four days we were there, we shared meals with them a couple of times. While most of the meals are planned events where person “A” brings a salad while person “B” brings the veggie side dish and so on, other times it may be a BYOP – bring your own plate – and all gather on someone’s deck to enjoy one another’s company while eating.

One evening Kelly and I had finished a run, in air that felt like it had half the lake water suspended in it, when we stopped in at a neighboring porch where a half dozen people were sitting, including Kelly’s parents. It was coming up on dinnertime so we decided to prepare food to eat and while we were at it, we decided to make enough to share with everyone. When we came back to the social porch with food in hand, the group was delighted! They thanked us so many times you would have thought we made them filet mignon, twice-baked potatoes and roasted asparagus (one of my personal favorite meals). The feast was hot dogs, potato salad and a mixed green salad – almost close to filet. It seemed like a simple decision to make food for everyone as long as we were preparing dinner for ourselves but their reaction to our act made it feel so much more important. As I was cleaning up after dinner I realized that all of these people, besides Kelly’s parents, are women who live by themselves at the lake. The gesture of making dinner for them was indeed one of importance because it gave them a “night off” from cooking and cleaning and allowed them to just relax and enjoy one another’s company and have someone cater to them, even if it was just hot dogs and salad. This exchange proved to me, yet again, that you never know how impactful an act, even one that seems minor and simple, can be to someone. It was no burden for us to prepare dinner for this small group of people and, if anything, their appreciation heightened the natural joy I get from making a meal for people. As usual, this act of kindness benefited not just the receiver, but also, the giver.

A Squeeze to Please

This is a guest entry by my close friend, Sarah Jurewicz.

The pedicure is an indulgence that I find both ridiculous and respectable. Spending $30+ dollars for someone to paint my toenails and buff my feet is a luxury that, although feels really good in the care of someone else’s capable hands, I do not need to spend frivolously. At the same time I understand this is a service provided that, if I can afford it, I like to use it to take 30 minutes out of my hectic schedule to sit back, relax and enjoy the mini pampering session. I have had three pedicures in my life. My most recent one came at a time when I had gotten back into running. As someone with notoriously tight calves running only increases the build-up of lactic acid, promoting even more tightness in said area of my body. This particular trip to get a pedicure was made that more amazing by the calf massage I got prior to the painting of my toenails, following the kneading of the soles of my feet. I let out a small gasp of relief when the pedicurist first moved his hands up my calf because I realized how truly tight my calves were and how good it felt to have someone else work out the tension and soreness. As I sat back through the leg massage, I thought about how simple a gesture human touch is and how much stress many of us carry which in turn is alleviated by human touch.

Following my pedicure I returned home and decided to offer neck, back, head and foot massages to those around me.  I am notorious for being a hugger. Better yet, I am often referred to as a BEAR hugger (it is my personal belief that if you are going to go in for a hug, it should be worth every ounce of comfort you can share in that friendly, oftentimes loving, exchange with another human). When I realized offering 10-15 minute massages to people could be a way to share some caring human contact, I found it would undoubtedly be a reward to me as much as it would be to the receiver. Examples of people who have already taken to my powerful hands: my better half indulged in a back and hip massage while my neighbor opted for a neck and head massage. A friend’s mom asked for an arm massage, to which I threw in some hand massaging and she was delighted at how awesome that made her feel (this woman works with her hands in a factory all day long). I have not been formally trained in osteopathic/neurological/pressure point therapy; I do not have a background in physical therapy. What I do know is what feels relaxing and relieves tension for me probably equally translates to what feels relaxing and alleviating to others. Once people get over the sometimes-awkward offer of a complimentary massage, they soon fall into a trance-like state where they let the tenseness of the day, the week or even the month release from their mind and their shoulders. Or back. Or neck. Or legs. Or, well, you get the point. This is not a scheduled action in my life but rather a recent offering to loved ones around me when they are not expecting it and when I can tell they could use some extra TLC – maybe even when I can’t tell they need it because, chances are, they probably still need it.

If you ever get the chance to offer this gesture to someone, notice the type of conversation you have while you are giving this massage. Most of the time the conversation is about uplifting and positive topics, not the things that are weighing that person down. To me this random act of kindness, without spending a single cent, becomes incredibly valuable for the physical, mental and emotional benefit it provides both the recipient and me. 

A RAK for a RAK

Lately, I have heard some awesome stories from friends about how they did a random act of kindness (RAK) only to receive one back.

A close friend of mine was recently at a Starbucks buying her morning coffee.  For whatever reason on this morning, there was a $5 minimum for any purchase with her card.  She was somewhat caught off guard by this since she'd bought her delicious espresso with her card before.  So, she had to think about what to spend that additional $3+ on.  Well, instead of buying a pastry or something else that only she would benefit from, she did something that would make someone's day.

She paid for the coffee of the person behind her.  She told me, "I remembered your cake story and your blog, and I thought this was a great way to give back."  Well, this was certainly a random act of kindness that made someone's morning.  The customer behind her was so shocked and happy with this RAK that she ran out of the store only to return with flowers for my friend.  Smile abounding, the woman thanked my friend and went about her day.

Then recently, another friend told me about her little act of kindness that she thought of after reading this blog.  As she was passing by some candy machines, an idea struck her.  "What kid doesn't love candy? And what a great way to teach a child how to pay it forward!" she thought.  With that, she slipped the 25 cents into each candy machine, leaving an opportunity for a child to get free candy on a summer day.  What a fantastic idea!

As if these fabulous acts of kindness weren't enough, I experienced something beautiful tonight.

I was back at the restaurant where this all started, when I bought the piece of cake for a random table. (Be Random, Be Kind...Everyday)  I happened to have the same server as I did that night.  As my server approached our table to take our orders, I asked if she remembered me.  For a second, she definitely had no clue who I was.  But then, she smiled, took out her booklet, and took out my receipt from that first night with "Tuesdays are always better with chocolate cake" written on the back.

"Every day before work I read this.  I can't help but have a good day after being reminded that there's still good in the world."

My heart is full, and I am overjoyed that these little acts have the power to make a great impact.  I  can't wait to hear of the many ways you all continue to shine bright in this sometimes dark world.