Africa should not wait for the world’s agenda to impact on it, rather it should be the one to come up with an agenda to impact the world.
This was highlighted during the closing ceremony of the African Biblical Leadership Initiative (ABLI) Forum on Friday.
The closing session was held under the sub-theme ‘Reimagining Africa: Peace and social cohesion.’
Reverend Dr Samuel Kobia from Kenya said that for long, Africa has been used and abused citing examples of how rich mineral resources of the continent became a fair game for others, something he said led to a declining standard of living for Africans.
"One thing is clear, we cannot sit still waiting for the world’s agenda to impact on us rather we should be the ones to come up with an agenda to impact the world. Only then can we imagine Africa as a home where justice, social cohesion and harmony will be a reality, not only just for a few but for many ordinary Africans,” he said.
Delegates at the event cited conflicts, corruption and poverty among other factors as those that are deterring the continent’s progress.
Reverend Professor Elysée Musemakweli said that some issues such as conflict in society stem way back to biblical times. He, however, said that there was a need to strive for peaceful coexistence in society regardless of how hard it can be to achieve.
"The church must show that communities have a lot in common that needs to be brought forward. The church must lead by example, we cannot give what we don’t have and in this line, I really appreciate what ABLI is doing. ABLI and other Bible societies give acumen in the true sense of the word fraternity,” he said.
He observed that Christianity has changed today and that it plays more according to religious emotions than on intelligence.
"Today Christianity is unbalanced because its spiritual life and social life are not balanced. It’s more religious than social political, in order for Christianity to effectively fulfil its role in social behaviour and the recovery of society, it needs this balance between its spirituality and social responsibility,” Musemakweli said.
He, therefore, emphasised that the church in Africa should follow this path and must support common actions.
"Let us shift from the theology of miracles to the one of action.”
American evangelist and author, Rick Warren observed that the problems that are affecting people today are mostly caused by conflict and spiritual dissatisfaction, corruption from self-serving leadership, poverty from social and personal barriers, poor health from inadequate healthcare and a lack of opportunities from lack of education.
Warren pointed out at leaders who instead of serving, want to be served. That, he said, comes as a result of not being contented.
He said that since the church is a big institution in the world, it should assume its role in finding a solution for those problems.
He, therefore, called onto the church’s involvement in solving those by, first of all, planting churches that preach reconciliation, equip ethical (servant) leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation.
"There are conflicts everywhere, conflicts between nations, religions, young and old generation. God says all the conflicts stem from inside us, when we are at war with God, we go at war with each other. Conflict is a spiritual issue, it starts in the heart and until we change the heart, we are not going to end the conflict,” he said.
editor@newtimesrwanda.com