Mozambique is hot in January.  My backpack was pushing me slowly into the broken pavement as I trekked in Maputo. It’s a little dicey. Gas stations are equipped with sun-glassed guards toting pump-action shotguns, while malaria-crazed people wander the streets. But still, you get a sense that things are better than they were. This dusty capitol of a country racked by thirty years of war is trying to shake off its past and reach forward to an unsure future. And everyone is thinking about America’s new President, Barak Obama. I was amazed at what our new President meant to people in the distant regions of southern Africa. A few of the many conversations as I traveled in Mozambique, Swaziland, and South Africa:

Border crossing into Swaziland. My friend and I spoke to the father of a young family. When he found out that we were from the United States, he asked, surprisingly, “why is the eagle the symbol of the United States?” My friend replied, “it’s a symbol of freedom.” The man responded, “no, it’s a predator, but that will change with Barack Obama.” He was smiling broadly as we left, glad to have met Americans and to have shared his hope.

T-Shirts in Cape Town. Here, just across the bay from Robbens Island, where Nelson Mandela was held for his fight again Apartheid, a new t-shirt is for sale. Two photos, one of Mandela and the other of Barack Obama, with a brief message in bright red letters, “yes we can!” The fact that South Africans would put the face of anyone next to Nelson Mandela is remarkable, let alone the face of a young President from the United States. Their point is not to anticipate as distinguished of a career as Mandela, but to recognize the depth of hope our new President inspires.

Dinner in a local restaurant with a South African couple. After the usual opening conversations, there was a slight pause. Then the conversation turned to our new President. Again, the hope, the belief that America stood for more than war, that something had changed. “President Obama gives us hope, a nation that has wrestled with some of the deepest racial issues in the world. Maybe someday we will have a leader of color. We may follow America’s example.” I have been all over the world, and I can tell you, it’s been a long time since I heard someone speak positively of an “America’s example.”

I realize that some conservative Christians are struggling with the election of our new President. The former leadership of the “Christian Right” (Dobson, Helms and others) played the fear card many times throughout the campaign. Echoes of anger still ring in many American ears. And to some degree, I get it. I don’t agree with President Obama on all issues. What will he do with abortion? Will he prove to be too young? Will Vice President Biden keep saying dumb stuff?

But I hope we can take a broader and more accurate view of what is happening in America. A beautiful, young, African-American family is moving into the White House. President Obama has repeatedly expressed his Christian commitment and personal faith. He has captivated America and the world, bringing a consistent message of hope in profoundly difficult times. The world is watching us with renewed hope and anticipation. Africa, the most difficult of development stories, sees an example in President Obama that they have not had in many years. This is a profoundly historic moment for all Americans. May the Body of Christ step out with our nation into this fragile moment of hope, doing everything possible to be part of an American re-commitment to ideals which others thought had been lost forever.