Salvation Blues

I land in Harare on the day of the Million Man March. They were a quarter of  a million by all acounts, not quite the million, but who would have thought that such a turn out would be there marching on hungry stomachs.
The last time I was home, a mere 6 months ago, the situation was not as desperate...a turn for the worse has been sudden (perhaps hidden from those of us who watch from a distance). I am immediately overcome by a sense of helplessness which slowly turns into a pervading darkness within me. I was there for all of 5 days, but there was no warmth in my heart, no joy in my laughter, even in seeing my mother. It's like when you receive news that someone dear to you has a terminal illness, and you just wait for that cancer to choke the lungs and stretch it's deadly tentacles to other vital organs. Watching, waiting, hoping...helplessly, patiently, but with no idea how long it will take to suck the air and life out of that person. This country, is that loved one, and her gurgles / curdles of blood and gasping of breath is distressing.
I have thought long and hard about what to do. Facebook has had the bright Facebook people with their Facebook ideas shared and re-shaped, and liked and re-shared. Solutions have been proffered by the tweets, some have cautioned, others hashtagged encouraging, patriotic nonsense. For nothing makes sense at the moment. How did we get to this spot; how did we get into the never-ending loop of nightmares?  How did we check into Hotel California, where we can check out any time but never be able to leave?
At a braai over that weekend, the discussion veered (again) towards the crisis and solutions (if any). These were party men, patriots. Even they acknowledge that there is a crisis.  They talked about the competing factions and the fight to the death. I was quiet, cautious for a long time. Fear stalls me when I am here...I keep my counsel.
Gentlemen, I said, at last, unable to continue to hold my silence,  what is needed is a not party politics anymore!
We have now moved beyond the point when politics of the party, and party-led politics will help this country. Unfortunately no-one will admit that, because it is in the party that many can hide and continue the chaos which provides them with cover. What this country needs now, I said, in my foolishness (for these were party people) is a Government of National Salvation...an animal that will draw from all the expertise and skills of the sons and daughters of this land - local and foreign-based. And for a while, let us forget partisanship.
That is the solution...but does anyone see it that way, or care for the country more than for self? For such a thing to happen, those with the power will have to step back and sacrifice themselves for a greater good; commit an honorable hara kiri; find their servanthood, and their love for this land as it gasps...it's last.

A message of hope

We have interesting discussions at youth. And working with young people is good…they challenge you; they ask questions; they are sceptical. So this Friday we were talking about culture and Christian. Being African, being Christian and being African Christians.

“I don’t really feel included because the pictures of Christian heroes and characters are all white. So, really, where are Africans in the bible,” one young man said quietly, provocatively

It got me thinking…

In fact, where is Africa in history…where is Africa in today’s global events. So I thought I would read you this, as a starting point…

The kingdom of the Zaghawa (Lake Chad) is said to the  great kingdom among the kigs of the Sudan. They are many tribes. Their houses are all of gypsum and so is the castle of their king. Their cattle are goats and cows and camels and horses. Millet chiefly is cultivated in their land, and beans and also wheat.

Of the Benin Kingdom was written by a Dutch traveler in 1602

The town seemeth to be very great, with streets which seen seven or eight times broader than those of Amsterdam.  The houses in this town stand in good order, one close and even with the other, as the houses in Holland. It seems the King has many soldiers; he has also many gentlemen, who when they come to court ride upon horses.

So Africa has a great history, a great heritage…a good story to tell. But it is for us as Africans to tell it.

Africa appears many times in the bible – it is a place of refuge; a place of plentiful.

Abraham flees to Egypt with Sarah in a time of famine.

Jacob and his sons  go there when again famine stalks the land, and the Jewish nation is saved by a child they had sold into slavery, Joseph, who rises to be a Chief Minister of an African government.

Moses is an African. He is born in Africa. Later on he marries Zipporah, a Kushite woman, an African Book of Numbers 12:1               

Later, Jesus also finds shelter there. So Jesus encounters Africa at the beginning of his life, and on his way to the cross, he is helped to carry the cross by Simon of Cyrene, who is in fact a Libyan, and therefore an African.

Thus God has been involved with Africans directly from ancient times.

The core values of Christianity – loving thy neighbour, forgiveness, respecting parents – are essentially the same as African values.

Being African is not being black. In fact, historically there are three original cultural groups which are thought to have been the first people of this continent – the Caucasoid semites (fair skinned people) of the north, the Ethiopians (burnt faces – negroids) of East, Central and West Africa and the pygmy / Khoisan of Central and Southern Africa.

Africa therefore is the most diverse mass of land, culturally and linguistically rich. This diversity is surely an asset. That is why we can claim Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere,  Barack Obama snr, Nelson Mandela, Moses of the bible.

So what of Africa to-day?  Despite the negativity which is real, there is much to celebrate. Africa is at it’s most peaceful, and most stable in recent history – there are fewer wars, fewer people dying in wars. Democracy is beginning to thrive and there is a generational awakening. With the youngest population in the world and 1 billion citizens, there should be nothing to stop this juggernaut of a country moving forward. So let us continue to pray to God to continue to choose Africa and Africans to a higher calling.

God bless Africa.

God bless her children, guard them, guide them.

God bless her leaders, guard them, soften their hearts so they may serve their people.

 Mwari Komoborerai Afrika. Nkosi sikeleli Africa.