God Works Through Africa's Troubles
By Fohle Lygunda li-M
Where is God in Africa ?
“Where is God in Africa ?” wrote the Nigerian writer Femi Adeley in 1994.1 This question is still valid today:
“Imagine a nation where one in 5 of the adults you see will be dead from a terrible disease by the end of this decade. Where a 15-year-old enters adulthood with a more than 50% probability of dying from the epidemic. Where the social infrastructure is collapsing, schools are closing, businesses are shutting their doors, hospitals are crowded with patients but no staff, and the GNP is sinking every year. Now imagine a whole continent facing the same future. This is Africa today, in the grip of HIV / AIDS.”2
The reality of African life leads to a stunning “afropessimism” and sense of hopelessness. The title of the present article is inspired by the Chadian René Daidanso, who affirmed at the Association of African Evangelicals general assembly in 2000 that “ Africa has many problems, but God is at work”.3 This article will show how God's presence is seen not only in what He is doing for and in Africa , but also in what He is doing through Africa for the whole world. Africa has great troubles, but God is at work!
Africa ’s role in God’s global historic mission
Through history, Africa played a part in God’s plan of salvation, a holistic process involving all aspects of the human being - physical, spiritual, and mental (1 Thessalonians 5:23). I n Africa , Abraham found refuge from famine, prospered, and became a blessing for all the nations (Genesis 12 :10,16,20 ; 13 :1-7; Galatians 3:27-29). The people of Israel, chosen by God to serve as a light to the nations, also escaped famine by going to Africa, (Genesis 45 : 5-11, 17-28) and came out “with great riches” (Genesis 15 :14 ; Exodus 3 :22, 11 :2, 12 :35,36). Jesus survived by going into exile in Africa as a child (Matthew 2 :13 -15). When He stumbled, the African Simon of Cyrene carried His cross (Mark 15 :21 ). In going to the “ends of the earth”, the early church started with the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8 :27 -39), a royal minister who “went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8 :39 ). This is in contrast to the rich young ruler who departed sadly when the Lord asked him to forsake riches and follow Him (Luke 18 :24 ). African Christians know that there is more joy in being a tool in the hands of Lord than in amassing wealth or living apart from God!
The first schools of Christian theology were planted on African soil, in Alexandria and Carthage . The Church Fathers, notably Cyprian, Origen, Augustine, and Tertullian, emerged in Africa . The list of God's acts in and for Africa in church history is long.4
Whenever God’s chosen people moved towards Africa , God intervened in all three domains of human need – physical need (body), spiritual need (spirit) and psychological need (soul). Because of this, Africa – one of God’s strategic locations – cannot help but be a target for the devil ! The consequences of sin abound in Africa : suffering, famine, disease, war and death. Despite these, God, who was present during the sufferings of Job, is not absent from His servant Africa .
God’s sovereign action today
Dr. Kä Mana of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , one of the great ecumenical voices in Africa today, writes of four types of perversions – social, political, cultural and moral – that contributed to the destruction of our nation, the Congo.5 We could ask Dr. Mana whether Africa is still an instrument in God's mission. Why invoke the Kingdom of Heaven when Christians on earth are suffering so greatly? Why preach the Beatitudes (blessed are the poor . . . ) when the preachers live in opulence ? Yet we believe that God continues to work in Africa , and that His powerful hand is manifest amidst difficulty and in accord with His global and holistic plan of salvation.
Africa – Troubled, but used for physical needs
The problems of health and economics in Africa are acute. Life expectancy in many countries is less than 40 years due to AIDS, but also to tuberculosis, sleeping sickness, malaria, etc. The few poor roads are often destroyed by war, cutting the circulation of goods and people. Millions of refugees live in subhuman conditions. An economy seems a utopian ideal. In many remote regions, husband and wife share one outfit, and parents and children take turns eating. Africa is a paradox : a continent rich in resources (human, spiritual, material and financial) that is home to the world’s poorest people.
How then is God at work? He uses all of these situtions to show His power and the weakness of man. Many have seen His hand at work in the midst of grief. In Unganda, the rate of AIDS infection declined after God brought about a spiritual awakening. In many loctions, peole testify to being cured of illnesses - even AIDS - after coming to God. The Evangelical Christian Church of the Congo among others used natural medicines against diseases tht do not yeild to modern medicine. Refugees bring the Gospel with them to new lands. After horrifying combat subsides, peace brings a resumption of normal life, new jobs, better health, and nutritional self-sufficiency. Production of coffee, cotton, corn, rice, wheat are signs of God working. In addition, native non-governmental organizations show God using Africans to respond to African needs. African Christian organizations are ministering physical and spiritual food to needy and unreached groups such as pygmies, street children, war refugees, etc.
Africa : Troubled, but used for the soulAcross Africa , education is crippled. Schools lose years of instruction due to war and inability to pay teachers. Children’s schooling often depends on extra monthly contributions from parents who can’t even feed their families. Naturally, many families stop sending their children to school. Others educate only their sons. If “to educate a woman is to educate a nation”, what future can we expect with illiterate mothers? Furthermore, the children attending the best schools are often from non-Christian or only nominally Christian backgrounds, putting poorly educated non-believers in government leadership.
Political ideologies feed armed conflicts and escalate ethnic disputes into disasters: civil wars, genocides, ethnic cleansing and apartheid. The majority of conflicts are caused by the lasting effects of arbitrary colonial borders established by Europeans in the 19th century. Africa was cut up like a cake, separating families and whole clans. One of the worst effects of this is seen in the Hutu – Tutsi atrocities that stem largely from the desire of Tutsis to unite their tribe, which is spread across four countries.
Modern life, with its materialism, secularisation and moral degradation, is becoming a great danger. Materialism destroys the African culture of brotherhood. Homosexuality, a practice long reserved to Western societies, is growing alarmingly in schools, as has been seen in Cameroon .
But how is God at work? He is raising up local initiatives to address educational problems. Even where private schools are created for commercial reasons, God uses these schools to raise the quality of instruction and morale. In the past, many Africans went to school to aspire to a position that would advance their personal goals. Today, many aspire to help build the next generation of leaders to transform their societies. Their mottos include “education for transformation”, “let us be taught to teach others to teach”, “we come to learn and leave to serve”.
God is even molding political ideologies. Historically, animal symbols have been the emblems of our states and political parties. Our political leaders appear to have been led more by these totems than by human spirits. However, many now recognize that their ideologies do not ensure civil rights or national cohesion. In many countries, pastors and priests have led the public dialog to change their minds. God is raising up local initiatives to transform the political scene, and leaders who are committed to Christ's lordship. The South Africa-based Operation Africa, for example, focuses on evangelizing the African elite with the goal of transforming government from the top.
Africa : Troubled, but used for spiritual needs
Africa 's spiritual deficit is evident even in church life, which is divided by denominational traditions inherited from western missionaries. Divisions in Christ's church poison the evangelical message and the body of Christ, which should be characterized by “unity in diversity.”
The challenge of missions among the unreached and unsaved in Africa is immense. Many church members practice a nominal faith without works. Cults proliferate, due to their founders’ thirst for power, as well as weak Christian leadership. Animism and Islam challenge the church from outside. Animism seems to offer protection and security, while Islam threatens the advance of the Gospel and seems to offer a response to the social plight of poor Africans by integrating them into a community of mutual aid.
But how is God at work ? He is working in Africa by raising the spirit of Christian unity. Western missions brought us the Good News of salvation, but the envelope that it came in has been torn by sin. Today, many people have realized this. The sectarianism that characterized generations of African Christian leaders is yielding to the spirit of unity (John 17:21 ). In the face of conflicts that often characterized the western missionary churches, God has raised up Africans to create Christian interdenominational and independent churches and missions. Ironically, these local initiatives have often not been accepted due to their “black” origin, despite their true evangelical faith. Today, God is helping groups to accept and join each other as laborers in the Lord's harvest. The Association of African Evangelicals of Africa (AEA) for the evangelical wing and the Conference of All African Churches (CETA) for the ecumenical line include churches from western and African origins. The Missionary Center for the Heart of Africa (CEMICA) that we lead grew out of a conference of representatives of 35 denominations and ministries in August 2002 at Gbadolite , Democratic Republic of the Congo . This interdenominational, international ministry works in two countries, with students representing 55 denominations receiving pastoral and missionary training.
Conclusion
Dr. Yusufu Turaki of Nigeria , while recognizing Africa 's weaknesses, illuminates the power of this continent for God’s mission. With Dr. Turaki, we conclude that missionaries should be recruited from Africa , just as the best soccer players are.6 God’s mission is global, and partnership in the body of Christ is most urgent today.
The response to the question, “Where is God in Africa?” is clear : He is everywhere – North and South, East and West, where there is peace and where there are troubles, in richness and in famine. God is present and working to accomplish His mission of saving all people, and the whole person. God wants our resources – spiritual, material and financial – to realize His global vision and accomplish His holistic mission. Those resources that are abundant in Africa .
