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THE RACE FOR
AFRICA by Loren Davis Copyright
2005 Loren Davis In 1988, my wife and I went to Africa and have been working
there ever since. When we first arrived there, we had little money
and lived meagerly in harsh, brutal conditions our first ten years.
From August 2000 to November 2005, through our generous partners, God
has enabled us to build 132 churches in unreached villages deep in the
interior of Africa, evangelizing them and providing them with competent
Bible-believing pastors. We have also preached 36 major crusades in
Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya where hundreds of thousands
have attended and have come to Christ. By
living so close to the people for so long, we have learned to love and
appreciate them. Some of the most intelligent people I have ever met
are African. Even the primitive people in the bush are very smart. I
would say they are bush smart. Outsiders could never endure and
survive in similar conditions. We have seen their sufferings first hand
and have heard them tell the stories about their lives. Most of their
lives are hard, but they desire to succeed and to make something better
for their families and themselves. Their
great faith and yearning to succeed has made them vulnerable though
to every shrewd scheme brought in to exploit them. Not only have we
lived among the different tribes for many years, we have read much of
the history of Africa, from slavery to colonial times, to now. We are
now seeing a bigger outside threat coming to Africa, perhaps greater
than has ever even happened in the past. No doubt about it—there
is a race for Africa. THE RACE FOR SLAVES So many nations were involved in the slave trade. After living
in Africa for I have seen the slave market places in Dares Salaam and Pangani, Tanzania. Many of the captured Africans had thick
ankle shackles and chains attached to them. They were force marched
from the interior great distances through dangerous disease-ridden jungles
to the coast of the Indian Ocean in order to be sold. Those who weren’t
strong enough for the walk would die along the way, left to be eaten
by the beasts and buzzards. After being sold in the slave markets, they
were put on the slave ships, a strange and terrifying experience. They
didn’t know where they were going. They suffered sea sickness, had no
toilet facilities, and were not considered regarding hygiene, medicines
for malaria, dysentery, typhoid, or their personal needs. They pined
for their families that they would never see again. These horrors were
unimaginable.
Celeste and I visited
Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania. We saw the small cramped
pits, about four feet high, where slaves were chained together like
cattle going to market. The stench must have been unbearable. They were
laid on concrete with no pads and no blankets. The physical and mental
sufferings were immeasurable. Then they were sold on blocks like cattle.
Can you imagine the humiliation? The people were nothing but a commodity.
If they died, the traders just captured other Africans.
Nations all over the earth raced to Africa
because they were economically motivated to obtain free labor and enhance
their personal wealth and quality of life. Slave trade prospered largely
through the cooperation of African chiefs who sold their enemies, neighboring
tribes, and those they did not care for to the Arab slave traders for
money or goods. THE RACE FOR COLONIZATION OF AFRICA In the 1800s, Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Portugal,
Italy, Spain, Their governments appropriated
lands to their citizens who were sent to tame Africa. What they didn’t
realize, or didn’t care about, was although it looked like this land
didn’t belong to anybody, African villages are very structured. Every
inhabited part of Africa was communal property of each tribe. The tribal
chiefs and elders allocated land to its people. The land did belong
to these people even if there was no paper work stored in some courthouse.
But like buzzards, the colonizing nations coveted the land, wealth,
and people (labor force) of the Dark Continent. They said they came to
civilize and modernize the Dark Continent, but they themselves became
the savages, committing genocide against many tribes, as they stole
their lands and dispossessed them. Most colonization efforts
used the state church’s missionaries to pacify the natives and open
the door for the political takeover of the African’s homeland. This
was a massive abuse of Christianity. I am sure not all of the state’s
missionaries intentionally were working with their governments to bring
in colonization, but intentional or not, they were used by their governments,
and they facilitated it. When the state church missionaries came, and
the colonists followed them, they always came bearing gifts and making
great promises of a better life to the natives. But their gifts were
only bait used to seduce them so they could take over their land, their
lives, then rule over them. This caused the African people to lose their
independence, self-rule, and freedom. Like slavery, colonization
was so successful because many chieftains cooperated with the wealthy
foreigners who came. They sold the land and freedom of their people
for their own personal benefits. The basic problem of Africa is that
many of its leaders care about their own welfare and wealth, and really
don’t care about their own people. The colonizers brought
with them their magistrates, police and their own administrators then
worked with native collaborators to implement their colonial ambitions.
Often the colonist governors even charged a hut tax that poor natives
couldn’t afford to pay. Imagine, foreigners coming in, taking your land,
and then charging you tax on your hut. There were severe penalties and
imprisonment if the natives didn’t comply with the foreigners laws.
At the same time, this
broke the relationship between the different tribes and brought enmity
among tribes who had gotten along in the past. The colonists would categorize
some tribes as superior and some as inferior. They would give preferential
treatment and better jobs to one tribe over the other. This stirred
up enmity among the tribes towards each other. After colonization was
driven out, this practice left the seeds that brought about events like
the Rwandan genocide where over ten thousand people were
killed every day for one hundred days. In the end, one million were
slaughtered. The history of the genocide in Rwanda shows
that some Catholic bishops stirred up the Hutus against the Tutsis.
Many Tutsis fled to the Catholic churches for sanctuary, but often the
priests and nuns called in the Hutu militias to slaughter them. The
Catholic churches became the main killing stations, although there were
some protestant pastors who also participated in this genocide. (See
Google: Rwanda genocide/Catholic priests) The government forces of Rwanda
also helped enforce the genocide. Scenarios like the Rwandan
genocide, in one degree or another, have left most of African societies
crippled since colonization, and they have never stabilized. Unfortunately,
many African leaders have emulated their colonial masters, and still
have kept their people down and without freedom to improve their lives. THE CATHOLICS RACE FOR AFRICA My wife and I have worked in Africa for many years in Tanzania,
Kenya, We have been astonished
to see large Catholic compounds deep in the bush in so many places.
The Catholic church owns much land and yields much power over governments
throughout Africa. THE PAGANIZED GOSPEL OF MONEY HAS
RACED TO AFRICA My wife and I have been appalled at what we have seen in
the African church,
particularly the Pentecostal Church. Much of what we have seen is not
the Holy Spirit or God. Many preachers and teachers from America and
Europe have come to Africa preaching the gospel of money. Because
of the great poverty in Africa, this gospel has really attracted the
Africans, particularly the pastors. Many of these visiting
preachers have intimidated the Africans declaring that they are prophets.
They have intimated to the African Christians that if they don’t obey
them and give them the big offerings they demanded, a curse would come
on them. The Africans are naturally superstitious, coming from backgrounds
steeped in witchcraft and sorcery, and are very vulnerable to this type
of manipulation. In offerings taken by these Western prophets,
many Africans have given almost everything they had. The Africans have
been told that if you obey the prophet, and give all you have, God will
make you rich. As a result, many visiting preachers plunder the Africans
in Christ’s name, and leave the African church and believers faith in
shambles. These preachers are nothing but neo-colonists, plundering
Africa in the name of Jesus. Thou shalt
not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not
hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7) The African pastors have
learned about the gospel of money from these Western Prophets,
and many of them now call themselves prophets and apostles. They have
learned to plunder their poor people mercilessly like their western
counterparts. Particularly in the cities, it is not uncommon to find
pastors living in mansions and driving luxury cars, while their people
grovel in poverty. What a despicable, heartless thing. People come to
church to find hope and deliverance, only to jump from the frying pan
into the fire. There is only a small percentage of preachers in Africa
preaching about Jesus, His offer of salvation through grace, keeping
God’s commandments, or about heaven and hell. These GET RICH QUICK churches
are drawing the biggest crowds in Africa, just like in America. They
are preying on people’s desperation and greed. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made,
ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. (Matt hew
23:15) THE TRUE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IS RACING
FOR AFRICA Thank God there are true missionaries and pastors in Africa
who have not RICK
WARREN’S PURPOSE DRIVEN CHURCH’S RACE FOR AFRICA Rick Warren and his Purpose Driven Church have come to Africa
like a This Purpose Driven movement
is an ecumenical, sociopolitical movement, where the church and state
are uniting again. Why are churches and state governments so interested
in his program? No question he has money. Governments and churches are
all interested in that. Take Rwanda for example. Rick Warren says he
is going to make Rwanda the first Purpose Driven Nation. If that
is the case, and he is the head of the Purpose Driven nation, doesn’t
that mean that he, a foreigner, will be running Rwanda? His organization
says that all the churches in Rwanda are now Purpose Driven churches.
So in essence, doesn’t that translate that Rick Warren is now the bishop
of Christianity in Rwanda. Rick Warren is bringing
in great numbers of people from Saddleback church to administrate his
program of transforming churches into centers for feeding the poor,
nursing and education. That is exactly how colonization started in the
beginning. It always followed the cross, then brought in administrators
to run things. Any way you look at it, this is neo-colonization, with
a foreigner running the country. First of all, he is changing the purpose
of the church from a place to preach the Gospel, into primarily a social
institution. I predict, that by joining the government with the church
in Rwanda, the separation of church and state is over. The state will
now be calling the shots for the church. Religious freedom will end.
When the church and state were united, it brought in the Dark Ages.
Rick Warren is reuniting church and state. Rwanda, he has declared,
is just a prototype of what he says he wants to do in all of Africa.
Believe me, he has already taken over much of Africa, in the guise of
his Purpose Driven Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan. AIDS Not only does Africa have material needs, but it is also
being ravaged by WHAT CAUSES AIDS?
It is a scientific fact that AIDS is spread by fornication,
adultery, and homosexuality. The source of HIV is sin! Of course the
consequence of these sins often comes on innocent children and women,
and also those who are infected by tainted blood that has the HIV virus
in it. What is astonishing and
irrational is that the world is looking for a cure for HIV without dealing
with the cause. I thank God for what science is doing to try to find
a cure, but their efforts are flawed. They are looking for a cure that
will enable mankind to continue in sexual sins with impunity. This is the epitome of
humanism and the New Age, man trying to save man without Christ and
God’s commandments. I thank God for what man can do, but man cannot
save himself without Christ and obeying His Word. It never has worked,
and never will. Humanitarian aid, science and money without Christ and
the Bible, by themselves will not save Africa. JESUS
IS THE ONLY ANSWER TO
CHANGE THE BEHAVIOR OF PEOPLE AIDS MONEY NOT GETTING TO PEOPLE It is astonishing what we are seeing in Africa. Untold millions
of dollars are
being given to cure AIDS, but from what we are seeing, the common
people are just not getting it. I’m sure much is going into research
which is understandable, but an inordinate percentage is being eaten
up in administrative fees. Many are getting rich off of the suffering
of the people of Africa. Hospitals are packed with HIV victims, with
little medicine to treat them. My wife and I have often wondered where
all the money is going that has been given for AIDS. Only the very rich
can get proper medicines in Africa, and the medicines they get do not
bring a real cure; it just eases the pain and prolongs life a little
while. In the cities, morgues are stacked with bodies
piled on top of each other of those who have died of AIDS everyday.
What’s amazing, Africans have been warned that a promiscuous lifestyle
causes HIV, but it has not slowed down their immoral lifestyles. It
is literally suicidal. There seems to be no survival instincts of self
preservation among most Africans. They are no different morally than
their western counterparts. Their behavior is totally irrational in
light of the ominous threat that faces them. Ever learning, and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth. (2 Tim 3:7) ROCK CONCERTS
AID FOR AFRICA One cannot help but notice all the attention that is now
being given to It’s interesting that
a huge rock concert in Europe, which was calling for finding a cure
for AIDS in Africa, never raised one dollar from those who attended.
A major TV network commented that if everyone there just gave a dollar
it would help. It was all talk and no substance. It seems to me that
they just used Africa’s problems as a promotional gimmick to get big
international press. AFRICA’S FUTURE Many are calling for the Western nations to cancel the African
debt. But I
stand amazed that all of this aid given to Africa over so many decades,
that the masses of Africa are still so poor and dependant on the outside
for survival. Outsiders see Africans as weak, as children, who can be
deceived easily. Most of Africa has tremendous
untapped natural resources. These resources are being coveted by many
nations and businesses. Actually, the African is playing the game with
the outsider to exploit them, and the outsider is playing the game with
the African to exploit him. But ultimately, the African always loses
this game, which translates losing freedom. The U.S., Great Britain, and the EU are
sending billions to Africa. Why? Is the motive behind this effort truly
humanitarian, and genuine compassion, or are they coveting the tremendous
resources of Africa as their ancestors did. Could it possibly be that
once more they are using gifts to get a foothold again in Africa? I heard a president
of one of the African nations plead, “Do not send aid to Africa when
we don’t have an emergency. You are breaking our economies. Our people
won’t work.” Celeste and I were in
Goma, Congo, two weeks after the genocide in Rwanda that slaughtered
one million people. We saw one giant cargo plane after another flying
relief in. This was amazing since they were feeding the fleeing Hutus
who were the instigators of the genocide. What we saw was that although
there were many innocent Hutus who were caught up in this, that many
of the fleeing Hutu militia men who were there, were standing in line,
getting relief, and then went back into training planning to return
to Rwanda to finish the job. The local population in Goma, Congo, quit
working and got in the relief lines as well. This totally broke the
economy of Goma. I believe in humanitarian aid when there is a crisis,
but when it is continuously brought in when there is no crisis, it breaks
the work ethic of the people, and they become totally dependent on the
outside for their survival. This is the foundation for the re-colonization
of Africa, which will virtually make the people no more than slaves
and puppets for their foreign masters. A member of Kenya’s Parliament
told his fellow Parliament member that no economy in the world ever
grew out of humanitarian aid. Economies grow when people work. Some
in Africa think that Africa was infected by AIDS to deplete Africa of
the black man, so Africa and its resources can be taken over. That seems
far fetched, but for sure the wealth and land of Africa are being coveted.
Some from other countries have coveted the rich farm lands of Africa
saying that they could produce incredible crops if they had the soil. Now like a storm Rick
Warren and his Purpose Driven Church are taking over African churches
of every denomination, while at the same time he appears to be joining
up with many African government leaders. He has taken over much of the
church of Africa and is greatly influencing Africa’s government leaders.
It is amazing that so many denominations and governments are becoming
Purpose Driven without thoroughly inspecting and understanding what
this really means. It appears because he has strong endorsements from
notable preachers that Africa and the world is going along with his
Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan, seemingly without really considering its ramifications.
It seems the assumption is, that since everyone is doing it, and peace
is a good thing, it must be good. There
is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the
ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12) |