Operation World – Africa cont.

Trends to Watch

A few of the major international trends are given for prayerful attention. See under individual countries for more specific detail.

1 AIDS in Africa now overshadows the future of the continent — 71% of the world's AIDS cases in 1999 were in Africa. By 2000 a moderate estimate was of 25 million infected with HIV and 12.25 million orphans due to AIDS. Nearly 10% of the adult population of sub-Saharan Africa was infected. Lowered immunity has stimulated the spread of TB and other diseases. Life expectancies are dropping fast. Whole families, communities and economic structures are being decimated. Deaths by 2000 were estimated at 13.7 million; 6,000 were dying daily in 1999. Pray for:

a) The focal areas of infection. These are South-Central Africa with 20-25% of the adult population of Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland infected. Only 30% of Zimbabwe's 15-year old girls are expected to reach the age of 30. Malawi, South Africa and Zambia are not far behind. Other focal areas are East Africa, Congo-DRC and Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire. Only in Uganda has the rapid spread of AIDS been reversed. Pray that the leaders of African nations might be roused from lethargy, pull their heads from the sand and take all necessary action to stem this human catastrophe.

b) Radical changes in society that deal with the moral, social and spiritual deficiencies that spread the disease. Widespread promiscuity even among Christians, pernicious lies ('men become sick unless they frequently have sexual intercourse'; 'sex with a virgin cures AIDS') and the stigma of confessing to having the virus all contribute to this spread.

c) Mobilization of churches to tackle the causes and effects of AIDS. They alone have the belief system, moral authority and local presence to be effective in ministries of prevention and care. Most churches have long ignored the issue or run away from the implications of involvement. Pray that out of this tragedy may emerge a more effective, caring, relevant, attractive Church in Africa.

d) Deployment of Christian agencies and skills to empower the Church in this new realm of ministry. For decades, this will be a key area for medical missions as national health systems crumble under the effects of low investment and the AIDS pandemic.

2 The ongoing weaknesses of African democratic institutions. Despotism, 'kleptocracies' (rulers that rob the national treasury), tyranny and suppression of any opposition still plague many countries. Intercede for effective and peaceful change to accountable government and riddance of despotism in Libya, Kenya, Congo-DRC, Zimbabwe, Angola, Gabon, Togo, Liberia, Equatorial Guinea and Congo-Brazzaville. Pray that Christian politicians who are transparently honest, flint-faced against corruption and nepotism may be raised up and preserved in their testimony once in power. President Moi in Kenya, a member of an evangelical church, has lost his credibility and President Chiluba of Zambia, an active Pentecostal, is in danger of the same. Pray for Christian Presidents such as Obasanjo of Nigeria, Mkapa of Tanzania and Matthieu Kérékou of Benin that they may rule without favour and in fairness as they grapple with the serious problems of their nations. The rapid spread of mobile phones and the Internet in Africa can be one means of exposing sin, corruption and abuse of power.

3 The Muslim-Christian fault-line stretching from Senegal across the Sahel to Ethiopia and along Africa's Indian Ocean seaboard. The potential for widened conflagrations and confrontations is high because of increasingly aggressive Islamist movements and African Christian evangelism gaining converts from within Muslim communities. Only in Sudan and Nigeria has this led to war or mass violence, but Guinea-Bissau, Côte d'Ivoire and Chad are in danger of trouble in the near future.



4 Africa's deepening poverty and the right means to alleviate it in the long-term. Part is locally induced — poor health care, massive corruption, greed, war. Part is of foreign origin — inappropriate aid programmes, unfair trading agreements, short-term aid in crises without long-term development, use of foreign rather than local skills and cultural mechanisms. The overall effects are huge — distorted economies, a brain drain of African professionals, 40% of children not in school, degeneration of health care and communications.

a) The governments of richer trading nations need to implement a range of measures to ensure a fair price for African produce and realize that failure leads to raised need for aid. Dumping unwanted and inappropriate foodstuffs and medicines as aid can create more problems than it solves.

b) Secular and religious NGOs from the World Bank to the smallest Christian aid agency need a humble sensitivity to local culture and needs in the short- and long-term and avoid any appearance of neo-colonialistic control or manipulation because of the power of their money.

5 The continued power of African traditional religions. The low percentage of followers of the pre-Christian ethnic religions is not a true reflection of reality. Underlying both Muslim and Christian religious profession is a value system steeped in the old ways — fetishism, ancestor worship, idolatry, etc. Personal, tribal and national crises reveal this in reversion to the old ways. The terrible events in Africa which have so impacted many nations in recent years cannot be understood without realizing this. Pray for the powers of darkness to be bound in Jesus' name, and pray that Christian leaders and churches may challenge these powers and not succumb to them.



Pasted from <http://www.operationworld.org/region/af/owtext.html#5-3>