3.
Why all the effort towards the Bushman Tribes?
As you may know, the Bushmen/San
people's group is widely regarded as the oldest inhabitants of southern
Africa and is undoubtedly one of the most studied, documented, and photographed
ethnic groups in the world. One of the reasons for that is because they
are amongst the only people in the world who have learned to live in
desert conditions with no permanent access to water. Another possibility
is because they are so tiny and the ancient history and culture they
represent. Therefor they are not only well known over the world but
also in southern Africa where they live in harsh conditions in the Namib/Kalahari
deserts across Botswana and Namibia, the joining Caprivi region in Angola
and also the northern parts of South Africa's northern Cape Province.
How unfortunate it is that
poverty, unemployment, powerlessness, and above all despair afflicts
most of this interesting people's group, in such a way that they form
an "underclass" in southern Africa. Our vision is to
uplift this wonderful group of people and make sure through the process
that all credit goes to the Lord, just think of what we could accomplish
for Christianity.
4.
Who is the Afrikaner of southern Africa?
The name "Afrikaner"
is the Dutch-Afrikaans word for "African." (Afrikaans is
a language that developed from Dutch, words were also borrowed from
the local people and changes were introduced to enable the Malay and
Khoikhoi people to speak Afrikaans) The term Afrikaner came to be
applied to the permanent Dutch (European) settlers in South Africa by
the Dutch in Europe. These Dutch settlers worked for Dutch East India
Company, which used the Cape of Good Hope as a reprovisioning station.
Traditionally virtually all
Afrikaners were farmers (Boere). Afrikaners always loved the
bush and outdoor life. Without doubt, rugby is the national sport of
Afrikaners, followed fairly closely by cricket.
Christianity among the
Afrikaner:
Throughout their history of more than three hundred years, Afrikaners
have been held together and fortified by a love for their language,
their culture and their church. Religion plays an important part in
the lives of most Afrikaners. The Afrikaners are considered to be 100%
evangelized. About 99% are cultural Christians and about 50% Evangelical.
The Afrikaner Church was founded
as early as 1652 and gained independence from the Dutch around 1824.
Theologically these Churches take their stand within the Calvinist,
and ultimately Augustinian, tradition, stressing Gods sovereign control
over the universe, the thoroughgoing pervasiveness of human sinfulness
in a fallen world, and the reality of Jesus Christ's redemptive work,
saving, not only human souls, but also redeeming human culture, through
the work of the Holy Spirit within the Christian community.
The Afrikaners saw strong parallels between themselves as the people
of God, and the Biblical nation of Israel as the people of God. As a
result their theology tended to focus more on the Old Testament as a
model, rather than the New Testament.
For historical reasons the
Afrikaner community has felt itself to be an embattled minority struggling
to be obedient to God while faced with hostile forces and threats all
around trying to prevent it from doing so. This sense of threat supported
by liberal world opinion, has led the Afrikaner and its churches to
develop unfortunate exclusivistic responses to defend themselves against
those threats. As a result the Reformed Church's life and social attitudes
have also been deeply aligned with the tenacious culture.
Today the Afrikaner makes part of a minority group by being a total
of around 3.5 mil. within a total population of an estimate 65 mil.
in southern Africa. Over the last two decades an estimate 1 mil. Afrikaner
people found these hostile forces and threats too much and immigrated
to countries like New Zealand, Australia, UK, Canada and The US.
Because of the fact
that Afrikaners are predominently Christians and see themselves as obedient
people of God, our wish is that those who live overseas as well as the
Afrikaners still in southern Africa to be positively involved in shaping
a society according to Biblical, Christian principles.
5.
What is your Statement of Faith ?
We believe in God, the
Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. We believe in Jesus Christ,
God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born
of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died,
and was buried; he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose
again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the
Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
We believe a person can
only be saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. He is "the
way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
(Him)" and "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is
no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved"
We believe in the Holy
Spirit, a holy catholic church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection
of the body, and the life everlasting. We believe in the authority of
The Bible, as the holy and infallible Word of God. The Bible was fully
inspired by the Holy Spirit and it is the supreme and final authority
in all matters on which it speaks.
6.
Poverty and the Church in Africa:
Previously (in general) the
real life situation of people was often taken for granted, and a missions
only interest was to change people and not their circumstances. This
could sometimes happen when we put a too big emphasis on evangelizing
matters and forget about all other matters in people's lives. When our
objectives are to change people, as well as their circumstances, the
word "conversion" comes to mind. Conversion deals not only
with some "religious" transformation, but should rather transform
the totality of human reality. This mindset is especially important
in Africa when we have a long-term goal in mind.
To effectively work towards
conversion, it should not be forgotten that poverty is an extremely
existential phenomenon in the SWAM region. One may ask what makes Africa
any different from other poor parts of the world? In my opinion Africa
is at a crossroads. Sub-Sahara Africa is the only area in the world
heading backwards. The life expectancy is going down and numbers of
people living in extreme poverty are going up. According to statistics;
war, famine, and disease have robbed 40 million children in sub-Saharan
Africa of their parents.
Having looked at the above,
one should also raise the question about the causes of poverty and inequality.
This could of course be very controversial and has always been so. Even
in the Bible we find different lines of thought. In the wisdom of The
Old Testament the poor were usually regarded as being responsible for
their own situation - because of their sins, or their lack of wisdom
and industry.
It is not much different today.
It might also be true that some people are poor because they are lazy
and don't avail themselves of the opportunities presented to them. Also
it might be true that there are certain qualities inherent in the traditional
African cultures that seem to be causing a lack of personal responsibility,
which on its turn could discourage economic development. It is further
true that the poor usually have too many children, and thus cause further
social needs. But it is usually those people who - not because of their
own diligence, but thanks to their fortune of birth into a life of opportunities-
are relatively well off who regard personal defects as the main cause
of poverty. Those are the ones who are quick to blame the poor for their
own situation regardless for the bigger picture.
I belief that the main cause
for poverty in the SWAM region is structural. These structural imbalances
could run through from history and colonial days to current governments.
The history and whole system is in other words an important causal factor
for the relative poverty in some areas. As mentioned in a recent report
of the International Affairs Committee of the Presbyterian Church in
Canada: Poverty is not fundamentally caused by defects in the poor,
nor by the vagaries of fortune. Poverty also becomes endemic when the
greed of the powerful overrides the needs of the less powerful. Poverty
is exploitation, injustice and violence used to enforce the will of
the mighty and to deprive the weak of their portion of God's abundance."
Some of us reap enormous benefits, while others find our communities
and lands devastated by these forces. Some Christians reap enormous
benefits, while other find that these forces devastate their lands.
These disparities cut across our communion, and must be taken into account.
Having said all of this, it
does evoke some questions on how Canadian (and other) Christians, as
well as God, perceive poverty in Africa and the SWAM region. The challenge
is how to engage poverty in ways that reflect who we are as a communion
- as the body of Christ throughout the world - rather than in ways that
are driven primarily by our economic self-interests.
We know God has called us
(the church/body of believers) to strengthen the voices too faint to
be heard: the hungry, the poor, and the powerless. Our church bodies
also emphasis that we in Canada should experience and be more involved
in Christianity in poorer countries around the globe. However do we
really practice what these bodies preach? Louis Nizer, lawyer (1902-1994)
said…True religion is the life we lead not the creed we profess.
In a world filled with injustice, God calls us to the action of putting
things right. Isaiah 56:1 says, "Maintain justice and do what is
right." It is so easy to be comfortable and make suggestions like
dependency of our African churches. However the issue of sustainability
is not so often addressed. To be involved with projects or a congregation
for 2 or 3 years is wonderful, but what we really need is long term
commitment
The service we should render
need not be limited only to charitable service to the victims of sickness
(AIDS) poverty, disaster etc. Our mission as Canadian Christians should
also serve to correct the structural imbalances and injustices that
cause sickness, poverty, and oppression.
Therefor I listen with
a humble and understanding ear to the African Church leaders as they
so often request their brothers and sisters to partner with the indigenous
churches and other reputable faith based organizations to reduce poverty.
Indeed in Africa it is
time to see the Gospel and not hear it. We may also no longer speak
of them and us. It is God's children, and these brothers and sisters,
are dying of AIDS, famine and crime which is a result of poverty in
our region. Time for action is now more necessary than ever before.
Silence or inaction should no longer be an option for us. Poverty is
still unjust and a realization that one is completely dependent on God
to change the situation. Africa desperately needs people of faith working
together for change. This call to action could not be more clear in
the face of the devastation that poverty brings to individual lives,
families, and communities.
Conclusion
Nikolai A. Berdyaev
(1874-1948) said…There is no longer any room in the world
for a merely external form of Christianity, based upon custom. The world
is entering upon a period of catastrophe and crisis when we are being
forced to take sides, and in which a higher and more intense spiritual
life will be demanded of Christians.
