Against All Hope: Hope for Africa
The Blessed Continent
Q: Is Africa Cursed?
Two Answers
1) Yes, but not any more than any other continent!
2) No! Africa is Blessed
Africa is Blessed!
- Her Natural Resources
- Her Rich Heritage
- Her People
- The Church
THE LAND IS BLESSED
The Blessing of Her Natural Resources
Ironically, the world’s poorest continent is the world’s richest continent in terms of natural resource.
MINERAL RESOURCES:
- Africa holds most of the worlds known minerals
- Every country has some
o Congo: 90% of worlds cobalt
o Sierra Leone: world’s largest supply of titanium
o Nigeria, Angola, Chad, Ghana, Sudan: Oil
WATER:
Some of the greatest rivers in the world:
Some of the greatest rivers in the world:
o Nile, Congo, Niger, Zambezi
AGRICULTURE:
Land that is considered “perfect” for farming:
o Zambia, Zimbabwe, DR Congo have the potential to feed the entire continent
PEOPLE:
General
o Made in the image of God
o Mandate to develop Africa (Genesis 1:26-28)
o Equal in worth and capability of any of the worlds peoples
o Filled with natural and God given talents to solve problems and create resources.
Rich Tapestry of people
o Over 3,500 ethnic groups with 2,110 languages
CHURCH
- The church is God’s primary instrument for social transformation
- Growth of the church
o 1900 there were 8M Christians on the continent (10% of the population).
o 2000 there were 351M Christians on the continent
- 48.4 % of the population of the continent
- 60% of sub-Saharan Africa
Foreign Aid
“Africa has attracted more aid per capita than any other region.”
> Between 1980-1988, sub-Saharan Africa received $83 billion. And yet:
o Living standards declined 1.2% a year.
o The continents’ gross domestic product (in per capita terms) declined 2.0 % in 1986 and 2.2% in 1987
> From 1990 – 2003 averaged 20.4 B US$/year in foreign aid
> GDP is lower in 2009 then in 1980.
> GDP is lower in 2009 then in 1980.
And Yet?
Poverty!
Infant Mortality Rate (Under Five)
- AFRICA: Of 1,000 births, 148 children will die before the age of 5 years
- Worldwide: 81 deaths per 1000 births
Life Expectancy
- Declined from 51 years in 1985 to 50 in 2000
- Lowest in the world: Sierra Leone 28.6 years
- Highest in world: the West 73 years
HIV Statistics
- In 1999 71% of world’s cases in Africa
- 6,000 deaths per day
- 24,000,000 infected with HIV
- 12,000,000 AIDS orphans
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
- 42 countries eligible for this designation
- 30 are in Africa
Human Suffering Index
- Extreme Human Suffering
- 24 out of 30 in Africa
Corruption Perception Index – CPI
- 0 African nations are seen as Highly Clean
- 16 African nations are seen as Highly Corrupt
Dr. Tokunboh Adeyemo
Founder and Executive Director of the Center of Biblical Transformation:
Founder and Executive Director of the Center of Biblical Transformation:
“Africa has been evangelized but the African mind has not been captured for Christ.”
Dr. Charles Malik
Former President of the Security Council and the General Assembly of the UN:
Former President of the Security Council and the General Assembly of the UN:
“The problem is not only to win souls but to save minds. If you win the whole world and loose the mind of the world you will soon discover you have not won the world. Indeed, it may turn out that you have lost the world.”
The Roots Produce the Fruit
The Problem: Worldview
- The belief system conveyed in the tribal story
- The mindset of a people
- Mental infrastructure
- It is like:
- A set of glasses for the mind
- The software of the a computer
The poverty in Africa is not a material problem;
Western money won’t solve the problem.
If Africa had a Biblical worldview, she would lead the world.
