Climbing trees and picking mangos with an African boy named Moses.
This is an excerpt from my book “21 Days in Africa.”
"His eyes convinced his heart that God existed and created everything.”
As we were walking, I ran into Moses. We were both happy to see each other. He invited me to go pick mangos with him and the next thing you know, I was climbing a tree and picking mangos with a thirteen-year-old African boy. Who would have thought?
I blessed him with some delicious Dove Chocolates from the house, and he shoved them in his mouth without taking the wrapper off. I made fun of him for it, but also felt bad like “Dang, my fault dude, I should have told you.” There is so much that is unknown here to the African people. They are seriously sixty years behind America, if not more. They grow all their own food and sell it at markets on the streets. They are behind the curve on so much innovation and progress in the post-modern world.
Moses and I washed the mangos off, sat on the stoop and enjoyed them as goats passed by on the front lawn. Once we were finished, we took our half eaten mangos and threw them as far as we could into a field of bushes. We had a good laugh as my mango beat his mango throw by a few feet. I can’t let a thirteen year old kid throw his mango further than me. I’m a nice guy, but I can’t let him punk me.
After lunch, Moses and I walked around the Suubi compound. I decided to be brave and approach an African cow. Moses must have known something I didn’t because he kept his distance. How’s he ever going to beat me in a mango-throwing contest if he can’t approach a cow? He had good reason to hang back because, apparently, these cows out here are intense. They will knock you on your booty if you get to close. One even put Godfrey, the Shepherd of Suubi, in the hospital. I calmly approached the black and white cow. I passively pet him and even fed him some leaves off a broken branch. I must have had some of the Lord’s favor on me, because I swear, me and this cow were buddies for ten minutes.
Moses and I kept it moving and we finally found a spot to post up at. The ground was hard, but the vibe was right. We started talking and he shared his story. He told me more about his father not being a good man and his older brothers falling in his footsteps. Moses shared how at just thirteen years old, he has to work on building houses to earn enough money to buy his own clothes, books, pens, brooms, and toilet paper.
The Ugandans do have cell phones, but they’re the old-school Nokias. No free minutes or unlimited data out here Jack. Airtime must be paid for like we did in the U.S. at the turn of the century. They can buy these minutes at little mobile stands in the villages. The same goes for wifi access. Sarge told me, this idea of cellphones with data was started by a man who was passionate about helping Africans communicate. He persisted when his idea was shot down and he developed it anyway. Now, he is worth billions, and the Africans are able to call their friends. This has revolutionized the way they live and communicate.
Moses shared that his family saved up enough to get him a phone for when he works or leaves the house. He confessed to me, sadly, that his phone was stolen. Moses was fetching water when a grown man suddenly took it out of his back pocket and ran off. He feared what his mom might do if she found out, so he’s been keeping it on the down-low for the last few weeks.
Moses not only shared his stolen phone story, but he also shared his newfound faith in Jesus. It was inspiring. He described how he came to Jesus. His eyes convinced his heart that God existed and created everything. He pondered how the sky doesn’t fall down because God designed it to stay up. As we dove deeper in conversation, he talked about how the land, the cows, the birds, and even the oxygen we breath is a blessing from God.
