Last week, in the bombings in Uganda, IC lost one of their guys, Nate Henn.

I didn’t know Nate. But I know and love my friends at IC, and working at Mocha Club- we have a deep love for IC as co-workers on the continent of Africa.

It could have been any of us- IC, Mocha Club, Compassion, Blood:Water – any of us could have lost a friend. Sad. Sad. Sad.

Nate Henn // 1985 – 2010 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Today, 17 of my friends from Midtown Fellowship head to Uganda, including my roomie Laura and two of my besties, Emily and Marisa, and many others that are important to me.

So, please, take a moment and pray.

For Invisible Children, for the family and friends of Nate Henn, for the staff of IC as they deal with this internally and externally.

For our team headed to Uganda- safety, health, protection, all of it.

Have a great weekend. And hug the ones you love.

Today is International Justice Day. Take a few minutes to watch this video from Mocha Club.

1. The desk itself- a folding table. Impressivo, eh? But listen, in the economy we live in, I’m just thrilled to have a job that I absolutely love. So if they said, “hey, sit here under the sink and work” I’d probably say okay. Or, I’d say, “that’s kinda weird- can I just sit on the floor of the conference room?”

2. Me old laptoppy. I have a goal to purchase a new one in 2011. Since, you know, I’ve had this one for over 3 years and it has my paw prints all over it and about as much memory as a nursing home bingo player.

3.  Paper cup. I left my water bottle at home today and barf. I’m having to drink out of one of those cups that gets soggy and squishy and waxy.

4. A super cool painting that my sister Sally did. It’s Africa. [Since I work at Mocha Club and all, I found it to be apropos.] I stole it from her bedroom at home. Sorry bout it.

5. A cool book from my friend Ishita who runs the Fear.Less online magazine. I read a bit of this book everyday.

6. Sticky notes. Because they are cute and funny. [I just wrote that and then realized that I have no idea what makes sticky notes funny, but I wrote it. So. Maybe it's true.]

7. A picture with some of my very bestest friends when we were in Chicago last August. It was one of the greatest trips I’ve taken- full of laughs and relaxation and all around awesome.

8. A little motivation from my friend Seth Godin. I promise it doesn’t mean what you think it does. It’s symbolic and it means a whole lot more.

9. My accountability group. They are always watching. So I better behave.

10. Piles. Because, as you know, I am a big fan of piles.

Hey- if you get the hankering to photograph a table/desk/counter top and label it and tell us about it on your blog, link to it in the comments. I think seeing your world would be pretty fascinating.

Amen.

A: Well yes I do. I mean, I’ve actually had approximately 13 jobs since I moved to Nashville 2 years ago, but this is the first long term job- the kind I want to keep for years. Maybe.

Q: I thought you were a writer. I guess you quit trying to be a writer?

A: First of all, I think your tone is harsh. Secondly, I’m not a quitter. My new job is more than part time but less than full time, so in that happy middle place, I will still write. A lot.

Q: So what is this new job?

A: I am the Social Media/Communications girl at Mocha Club.

Q: Didn’t you already work at Mocha Club before?

A: I did. I actually started as a volunteer, then took a very part time admin job, and now have a real job there.

Q: What is the Mocha Club?

A: I totally know this answer. Mocha Club is a an online community of people giving up the cost of 2 mochas a month – or $7 – to fund relief and development projects in Africa. We work in five main project areas: Clean Water, Education, Child Mothers + Women At Risk, Orphan Care + Vulnerable Children, and HIV/AIDS + Healthcare. You can read more here at the Mocha Club site.

Q: So what does a “Social Media/Communications Girl” do?

A: Well the “girl” part is pretty self-explanatory. And the rest is still being worked out, but the goal is use what I am know [and what I'm learning] about Social Media to benefit Mocha Club, thus benefiting Africa.

Q: But, like, what do you DO?

A: Yeah, I dunno yet. But it will involve blogs, online magazines, twitter, myspace, facebook, being awesome, that kind of stuff.

Q: Why take a real job? Are you not getting enough writing gigs?

A: Part 1- rude. Part 2- it’s not the amount of writing gigs or the money. It is that I really love Mocha Club. I love the leadership there. I love the mission of the organization. I love that my strengths are needed there. I love that many of my friends are musicians who support Mocha Club. And I love the swag. [Just being honest.]

Q: So what does that mean for us, your bloggites?

A: Excellent question. I think it means that anytime I want to try out crazy online stuff for Mocha Club, you get to be the test bunnies. And it also means that you have first dibs when we do bloggy-stuff, twitter stuff, or facebook stuff.

Q: Are you excited?

A: There. Are. No. Words. This is a dream job for an internet nerd like myself. And I uber-respect my boss. And I love my co-workers. And I get energized in meetings. And I laugh all day. And I can’t believe I got this job. And I’m as happy as a pig in slop.

Q: That is such a redneck thing to say.

A: I think we’re done here.

I bet that you can guess by the post title where I am today [New York City!].

And why I was so MIA last week [work + tutoring during finals + prepping for NYC!].

No, there is not a parade that I’ve dreamt of attending for 29 years and no, I am not giving that Peruvian restaurant on the Upper West Side another chance to turn me inside out. [See NYC '09 post here.]

I am going to meet with Seth Godin.

Seth Godin is considered America’s greatest marketer. He writes lots of books I find HUGELY helpful in my life and my professional career(s). He has a blog that is great. And he’s smart. Really smart.

And at 4pm EST today, I’ll be sitting in a room with him, discussing all things marketing, probably talking about the Mocha Club, and possibly going over the fact that HEY I KEEP GETTING MARKETING-LIKE JOBS BUT I DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT MARKETING (but I want to) SO TEACH ME PLEASE.

And by “don’t know everything.” I mean, “I’m a former elementary school teacher who was trained in many-a-thing, none having to do with social media marketing in 2010.”

Seth is hosting a seminar for 11 people in New York mid-May and I am one of the 22 finalists trying to get one of the 11 seats around his desk.

I’m pretty thrilled to just get 1 seat today, but it would be rad for me to have that same seat in a few weeks to learn. learn. learn.

I’m wearing my pink cardigan because pink goes well with my skin tone- pale. I’m bringing my laptop, mainly because it looks important, not because I plan on showing him any of my facebook albums. I’m staying on the same street as Magnolia Bakery and somehow, by the grace of God alone, I will not have a cupcake.

I am going to have a really good time- in the interview, on the train, with my friend Sara Beth, walking down the streets.

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll get to see New York again in a few weeks.

[And. Your prayers would be appreciated. For the travel. For the interview. For the etc. that comes to your mind. Gracias.]

First of all, sorry my blog was broken this morning. It happens.

Here are some clicks for today that, while they aren’t free, are all awesome.

First of all, my friend Lady Antebellum released their sophomore album today and it. is. great. So click on this iTunes button and it will send you straight to the new album Need You Now. You won’t regret it.

Also, our friend Dave Barnes has released the first single from his new album. The single is “God Gave Me You” and good gracious, people. That’s a good way to spend 99 cents. [I gave Dave a dollar one time. But it's because I lost a bet. It involved a lot of skewers of chicken. And he won. Cause he loves chicken on a skewer more than you would believe.]

Anyways, click on this iTunes button and you can spend a dollar on Dave. For a much better gift than watching him eat 20+ skewers of chicken. Trust. Me.

Finally, tonight is going to be so.much.fun. I’ll be there. Dave will be there. Brandon Heath will be there. Matt Wertz will be there. And YOU can be there too! For only $1.50! And you can be in your pajamas. [But we won't.]

It’s a live concert, streaming online, with songs, interviews, and me running the live twitter stream! And the money goes to building wells in Africa. So tonight at 8pm CST, log on to the Mocha Club website and watch the concert.

Go ahead and register NOW then remind yourself to come tonight! I’ll see you there!!

I know there are some more albums coming out today– any recommendations from you??

Here’s the funny thing. It seems that about once a month something will fall into my heart and it will take me back to Cape Town. And in that moment, I realize that Cape Town was completely life-changing.

This was the case when I saw Invictus last week. Invictus is a movie about the first year that Nelson Mandela was the President of South Africa. It’s about how he worked to bring unity to the people, black and white, and how the country responded to that.

Oh, and Matt Damon is in the movie. Amen.

[Marisa did a beautiful job writing about the movie as well, so you can check that out here.]

I left the movie with a few questions rolling around in my mind. And I don’t know the answers yet.

I am officially shaken up.

Because I’m white. And I was the same age as a lot of the dudes in the movie. And in Cape Town.

So what if I would have been born in Cape Town?

I would have told you all the things that I can tell you about my life now: I’m a Christian, raised by Godly parents, on a path to a normal adult life.

And I would have THOUGHT like the other white people did.

And I would have THOUGHT segregation was good for my country.

And I would have THOUGHT I was RIGHT.

Do you see what I’m saying?

For many of you, racism is still very real where you live. I know that is true here in the South in some ways. But segregation like is shown in this movie, like was real in the 90s in Cape Town, like was real in the 50s in the USA- that isn’t real for me.

It was real in May 2009, when I stood in a campground kitchen, trying to help out the mamas who were cooking lunch for 70+ kids from the slums of Cape Town. There was always a wall there, always something that kept them from really allowing us to help. I thought it was mostly the language barrier, with just a hint of the leftovers of apartheid.

I am so ignorant.

Invictus showed me reality.

Reality says that when those mamas look at me, I look like a white girl born in Cape Town.

And though I don’t think like that girl, I look like her.

And dumb ole me just kept thinking, “if I only I could speak Xhosa cause surely they would hug me and love me if I spoke their language.”  Nevermind the years and years when people, who looked JUST LIKE ME, were horribly unkind and unfair and treated them terribly.

So yeah, I’m a little shaken up. And yeah, Cape Town changed my life. Again last week. I just don’t know how yet. I don’t have the answers.

But Invictus is a great movie. Go see it, and I dare you ask some questions when it’s done.

Today is one of those days.

Today is International Justice Day- where people around the world have the opportunity to look at the injustices of the world and actually discuss them. Maybe, somehow, taking a step towards making a difference.

And Mocha Club is about those conversations, and more importantly- those actions.

What does that video do to you? It makes me deeply sad that those words are real life for someone. I mean, clean water. CLEAN WATER?!? I start to roll my eyes if the water in the shower starts to lose its heat. But there are people who have No. Clean. Water.

Child Labor. AIDS. War. Debt. Sex Trafficking. It’s horrible.

And yet, at the same time, it makes me deeply grateful that Mocha Club considers this day one worth noting and bringing to the forefront of our minds. And I’m glad that these injustices aren’t invisible to us anymore- instead, they are a focus.

Today, Mocha Club launches a new website. And a new blog. And they have SO MUCH to say about international justice. Check it out.

What do YOU have to say? What does that make you want to say? I want to know. Leave a comment or write a blog post and link it in the comments. I would love to get a conversation going about what justice looks like to you and what we can do, here in the States, to be a part of bringing justice to the rest of the world. [And feel free to post the badge or the video- just link to mochaclub.org at some point too so all our conversations can have a home.]

Enjoy a glass of water today. Really enjoy it.

And have a great weekend.

I’m pretty sure I have a working knowledge of English. Sorta.

So that leaves 199 for me to learn. Starting with French.

And here is why.

I tend to overshare. Hence the reason I have this blog. Hence the reason I didn’t get any work done yesterday at Frothy Monkey and instead just caught up with friends that were there. Hence the reason I sent upwards of 50 emails last night. Because HELLO MY NAME IS ANNIE AND I DO NOT RUN OUT OF THINGS TO SAY.

And Cape Town seriously challenged that. Because I don’t know Xhosa. In fact, I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know there was a language named Xhosa until I was preparing for this trip.

Once we got there, I got to hang out with some seriously cute kids. Like these dudes (from L to R: Eric, Logan, Ayanda, me, and Patrick).

Saturday afternoon of our kids camp, I watched Eric as he walked into the dining hall, sat down, and laid his head on the table. I walked over and put my hand on his back- just to say hey. He began to shake, weeping. If you are new to these here blog parts, you may not know that I used to be a teacher- in fact, 4th/5th grade boys were always my favs. So this moment seriously broke my heart.

I tried to ask him what was wrong. But his English was so limited; my Xhosa, surprisingly, also limited. So instead of helping this sweet dude, I had to get Wonga, one of the local college guys, to come take care of it. It ended up being fine, but the Wanna-be-a-Mama in me hated that I was unable to fix the situation myself.

The children’s church teachers, lovingly called “The Mamas”, helped in the kitchen a lot. Because I am a self-professed foodie, I thought it would be awesome to hang with them and learn from them as they cooked. I don’t know how much you know about apartheid [probably more than me], but it still affects the people of South Africa- especially (and probably only) the adults. And I could feel it.

I wanted so badly to show them how much I respected them, tell them that white girl was in the kitchen to learn, not to hover. [I don't know.... I'm trying to explain all this to you without ruffling any racial feathers. How do I say this?] I guess I just wanted to serve WITH them. And there were walls between us- not so much language, but deeper stuff. We had bonded pretty well by Sunday morning, but I would have given anything to show up and be able to ask questions about their recipes, ask how I could help, and communicate love and respect to them in their own language. I felt like I was unable to minister to the women as deeply as I wanted because I didn’t know Xhosa.

And I don’t want that to ever happen again.

Five days after leaving Cape Town, this is one of a short list of things I can identify from the trip that has changed me. [I'm sure more are to come... just give me some more time.]

So I’m starting with French. It seems useful and fun and I love crepes. [So, a very scientific decision, obviously.] I wish I could learn Xhosa, and maybe one day I will. But I really have no clue when I’ll get back to Cape Town, and a very small population speaks that language. So French makes more sense.

But Xhosa is on my list. Because even if just a few people worldwide speak it, the ones that do are pretty important to me now.

Next week, I’ll be back on the bloggy train, I promise. I just don’t know what to say about Africa yet, and I know you want to hear about it. I want to tell you …. I just don’t know how yet.

Here’s what I can tell you:

1) I’ll show you lots of pics next week as well. Don’t worry about that. I didn’t wear a lot of make-up in Africa and I didn’t get the chance to wash my hair all that often. The pics depict these sad truths. I’m sorry.

2) I still cry when I watch this video. Hearing Ernie sing makes me miss him (and the rest of our team) terribly.

[for you feed reader peeps, there's a video over here, so click on over.]

3) I’m still really tired. I don’t know if it’s jet-lag or just exhaustion, but it makes my eyes hurt and my head droop at unexpected times. Which can get awkward for the people around me.

And sadly, that is the fullness of material that my brain is managing well right now.

Yikes-a-rama.

But you know me. You know how I roll.

I’m not right in the head.

Check it out.

MOCHA CLUB BLOG VIDEO WHERE ANNIE IS A DORK

Love you peeps.