Africa Needs a New Hallelujah Song
Jubilee Centre November 12th, 2009
“Ending apartheid is a cause for which I will gladly invest everyday for the rest of my life and a purpose for which I am prepared to die”, said Nelson Mandela at his Rivonia trial. Bill Hybels, the founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek used the story of Mandela in his video cast recently. At the first Global Leadership Summit in Lusaka where 350 church leaders, business, market-place and youth leaders where invited to consider the dramatic impact their life will have if they willingly converted the frustration of their holy discontent into a fuel of change for their communities and the world. Hybels defined a holy discontent as a time when you reach the point where you can’t stand it any more. The question that came to me during this session was do we have a holy discontent? If yes, why are our efforts doing so little in our nation to eradicate AIDS, reduce poverty, child mortality and corruption and prevent malaria deaths?
There are enough resources going around responding to the pains of injustices, poverty, and oppression in Africa. Sadly these resources are doing so little good. William Easterly states that, “The West has spent $2.3 trillion on foreign aid over the last five decades and still had not managed to get 12% medicines to children to prevent half of all malaria deaths. … and still has not managed to get four-dollar bed nets to poor families…and still have not managed to get $3 to each new mother to prevent five millions deaths” (2006:4). A key factor why these efforts have done so little is largely in part because these resources fall into the hands of African leaders who have not determined what it is they can’t stand or what it is that caused the problem. Another factor why so little good is happening in Africa is because majority of African leaders who know what is wrong and have the intellect, the connection and resources to make things happen are not ready to sacrifice their time, money, or energy to make things right.
Moses is a good example of a person who had the intellect, resources and energy and who chose not stand any more injustices, poverty and oppression of his people. Moses received the best education in Egypt and lived in the highest level of society and yet he chose to identify and to help his people who where being oppressed (Heb. 11:24-26
). Christian men and women in Africa need to read the Bible differently if Africa is going to sing a new Hallelujah song.
Luke 4:16-18 tells us how Jesus could not stand it any more. The expression of Isaiah 61:2 “year of the Lord’s favor” clearly refers to the prescriptions in the Book of Leviticus on the jubilee year (Lev 25:10-13). Therefore Jesus was saying that he has come to proclaim a jubilee year to both those who were in sin and to those who were poor in the social, economic, and political context. These are purposes for which God had sent Jesus. Jesus came that we might have life to the full here on earth, in this age and eternal life in the age to come. “In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.” Is this what you’re doing? Determine what you can’t stand and allow God to anoint you to go for it. You will surprise yourself how God will use you to bring forth His salvation, justice, and prosperity to your generation.
Lawrence Temfwe
