As some of you know, I have partnered with Mocha Club (a fundraising arm of African Leadership) for the past couple of years. Each night during my show, I get the opportunity to communicate just how good we have it in this country and how, for very little money ($7/month: the cost of 2 mochas, hence the name), we can choose to sacrifice such small luxuries and amenities, targeting this money, instead, to do some fairly astounding things in Africa, a continent long-ravaged by the AIDS epidemic, severe drought, starvation, genocide, displaced and abandoned orphans, lack of fresh drinking water. The list goes on, and it is difficult to fathom. It has been one of the most fulfilling, and one of my favorite, things to talk about at shows since I was first given the privilege of partnering with Mocha Club.

* $7 can feed a family of four in Kenya for one month. I can’t eat at McDonald’s with my family for a single meal for $7.

* $7 can provide malaria medicine to literally save a human being’s life from the threat of disease-carrying mosquitos.

* $7 can enable the digging of fresh-water wells in Sudan.

* $7 can go to educate former child-soldiers in Zimbabwe for a one-year school term.

* $7 can help fund an orphanage of 400 children that have fled as orphans, as well as provide care and rehabilitation for former sex slaves in the war-torn region of Darfur.

The list goes on. The prospects are humbling.

Let me be absolutely clear, I am just as self-centered as anybody else. Probably more so. As I type this, I am in a local coffeeshop in my neighborhood, sipping on, yes, a fresh, warm mocha. The irony of the blessing – and the gravity – is not lost on me here and now. It is in this place, this structurally sound, well-lit, safe, comfy building where I realize that Africa does not need me. Its people are, more than likely, richer than I will ever be when it comes to matters of the soul and spirit. I need Africa more than Africa needs me. I need the spirit of joy – that continent-wide trait of Africa – in my very American, westernized life. I need Africa to change me, to make me a more compassionate, empathetic, resolute soul who would consider others long before he considers himself. This is the freedom of the gospel. We are the living. I hope you will consider joining me in the endeavour.