When I first moved to the US, it felt like we had entered the wilderness. We were surrounded by people who lived in a different way. I felt alone, I missed home. But I knew God had called us here for a reason. After a year in the US, we visited home. I sat on the flight expecting to return to the same streets, the same food, the same family. But, when I arrived, everything was not the same. My cousins had grown, their home had changed. The stores we would visit to rent movies, or buy candy had closed or moved. We drove past our old house and saw that the new owners had renovated, and the huge mango trees had been cut down. Even the slang that we grew up knowing, that my brother and I had held onto in an effort to preserve our Africanness – it had changed.

Whether or not you believe in the power of manifestation, manifest has come to symbolize the pursuit of turning dreams into reality. What are your dreams? What do you seek to manifest in your life, in your communities…in the world?

The disciples admire the stones in the large buildings as they leave the temple. They are amazed at the scale of the place, but Jesus shuts them down immediately. I find myself being that person in conversations often. I try not to say it out loud, but when my friends get excited about McDonald’s new deals or when they gossip about the latest Tesla model – all I can think of are the atrocities that are fueled by those companies. I’m aware that it kills the mood when I mention colonialism or the evils of capitalism during a night out with friends, so I hold back.