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I don't remember meeting any particular people from any nation from Africa until I went to college-UMM. Before I begin, I want to inform you that Africa is not a "country", but a "continent". Many of my African brothers and sisters gets very uptight about this. Anyways, as I write this today (9.28.03), I can trace as far back in Middle-Junior High School when I began to learn about this continent. My teacher had us write to the well known past-current American Civil Rights leader, Jessie Jackson, on our concern of the independence of South Africa. This particular nation has changed since it was finally awarded it's independence.

At UMM, I began to distinct the uniqueness of each African nation as I began to meet an international student from various parts. As of today, I'm still learning....After college, I had the privilege to attend an African/African-American conference called Impact (my personal story) in Atlanta, Georgia. I noticed a slight difference of the African American culture there compared to the Midwest.

Western Imperialism and Africa As Seen in an Eye of Both Worlds By: Miracle Obeta Sophomore
Political Science Major
University of Minnesota-Morris
Thursday, September 29th 2005

Africa is the second largest continent on the face of the Earth with the most amount of natural resources, and houses a population of well over 900 million people. It is home to 52 diverse and culturally enriched countries with well over 752 languages. Born in Nigeria, a country located on the West Coast of Africa, I was exposed to and nurtured in the cultural richness of Africa for the first twelve years of my life. My family immigrated to the United States in 1998. Since then, I have educated myself in the history of America and critically analyzed the racial history, conflicts, and relations of this nation. Through the course of my education, I was greatly astonished by the linkage of African history with that of the Western World since 3000BC to 2004AD, and how much of what is currently occurring in the Continent correlate with events of the western world from the times of the Greeks to the colonial days.
Prior to Africa being known for its political and economic instability, Africa was home to one of the greatest ancient civilizations and kingdoms. Starting with the Egyptians, the great pharaohs of Egypt both Black and Semitic in origin, possessed economic and military power that was unmatched by no other civilization of its time for over 900 years until it was sacked by the Persian empire in the year 712BC and by Alexander the Great of the Greek empire in 525BC. Following the Egyptians was the Timbuktu civilization that took roots in Northwestern Africa and established an economic power that was equivalent to that of the Greeks. Apart from being a powerful economic and political ground, Timbuktu later became a breathing ground for Islam in Africa after it was conquered by the Persian empire. The Persians introduced Islam forcefully to the African civilization, and the teachings of Islam was slowly introduced to other great African civilizations such as Kush, Axum, The Almoravids, Kanem Bornu, The Forest Kingdoms, and the Swahili Kingdoms in later times. The Modern day Zimbabwean based ancient civilization best known as �Great Zimbabwe/The Mwenemutapa Empire was the only great African civilization that was not invaded by the teachings of Islam partly because they were too far from the Islamic influenced Northwest Africa. The Hausa Kingdom mentioned above took roots in the modern day Nigeria and Benin. Nigeria is currently a nation in which half of its population are Islamic and the other half Christian. The Hausa people in Nigeria account for most of the Islamic population.
Nonetheless, when most Americans think of Africa, they vision a continent full of political instability and economic woes. As an African who happens to be raised in a western nation (the U.S), I have noted that such visions from the American people comes as a result of the Western medias�s portrayal of the continent. This helped me explain why as a young African arriving in the U.S during the late 20th century, my first encounter with racism and prejudice did not come from a White person, but an ignorant American of my own race. The Media�s role in the portrayal of Africa is greatly influenced by the globally historic Atlantic Slave Trade that took place from 1440AD to 1870AD in which well over one hundred million Africans were enslaved and dispersed throughout the world by the Dutch, Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, Great Britain, British North America, U.S, and many other Western Nations. Following the Slave Trade came nearly two hundred years of colonialism in which all of Western Europe forcefully established colonies in the African Continent. Africa was exploited, oppressed, ethnically divided, and psychologically enslaved from the late 19th century to the late 20th when Africans began to gain independence from the Western World through rebellion in most cases. Some of those ethnic division was finally exemplified in the recent ethnic killings between the Hutus and Tutsis of Rwanda, Zaire, and Burundi in which the Belgiums played a big part of. Most African nations gained their independence in the year 1964. Out of all the African nations, Ethiopia was the only country that was not colonized by Western Europe. Although the Italians succeeded in separating the modern day Eritrea from the mainland Ethiopia, they never succeeded in colonizing the nation. In essence, while African Americans were being oppressed and psychologically enslaved by the White population in America, all of Africa was being exploited, oppressed, and psychologically enslaved by the rest of Western Europe.
After the end of colonialism in Africa, the Western media became a key player in helping to maintain separation of Africans living on the mainland from those enslaved in Western Europe and North America both psychologically and physically. One of the ways in which the Western Media went about doing so was to depict the African continent in the manner that it does today. To understand this concept, one must close his or her eyes and picture a commercial, movie, documentary, or scientific study exploring one�s favorite place to vacation. Now imagine if that concept is reversed, and whomever is in control of those commercials, movies, documentaries, or scientific studies does not want you to travel, vacation, feel culturally, racially, historically connected to that place, he or she will portray that place as being the worst place that one can ever be. The mainstream media only approaches regions of Africa with a crisis driven eye that gives people, specifically, African Americans in this country an unfairly biased, stereotypical, and often false visions of the African nations. This concept has and continues to be practiced by the Western media and Africans in the Western world continue to be psychologically victimized.
As much as this evilness angered me and continues to anger me, it�s more frustrating when your fellow classmates discover an article on Amazon.com that claims that some men in Africa are known to breast feed and find it to be the most solid fact ever presented and fail to challenge the legitimacy of the claim. Worst enough, you have your professor teaching the class that some men in Africa do breast feed, and in many cases that the HIV virus evolved from Chimpanzees in Africa while clearly this is not true. Africans have been living with Chimpanzees and other exotic animals for as long as Africa has been in existence, and no animal has been known to produce a viruses in human history. It does not occur to them that this theory might be part of the media�s role in its long history of degrading the African continent in the worst way possible. This is another issue that can be discussed, but if one is still convinced that Chimpanzees are the source of the virus, one should ask his or her self why is it that the first case of the virus took place in the U.S and how did it reach the African continent to later infect millions? Why is it that the U.S media never explores the origins of the virus? Why is it that the aids was first known as a gay disease in the U.S? Why is it that African Americans in the U.S have the highest rate of Hiv infections when clearly, every immigrant that wishes to enter the U.S is tested in his or her homeland and in the U.S for any possible illness? Why is it that the U.S government provides 6 Billion dollars to Africa every year to fight aids? To be friendly? Right. What other country had the capability of creating a virus of this magnitude during the 1970s? Where does the term �biological weapon� evolve from? Africa? The truth about the origins of the virus lays in America�s backyard, but as we know, �the facts will never be questioned or challenged because the U.S public is never deceived by the U.S government and media about an issue, and just because it�s published or thought in class it must be true.�

African-American Outreach


Recommended Resources

Local-GoodnewsMorris

  • Alpha & Omega, history of the Christian fellowship group at UMM (MRC) that met Friday (1998-2001)evenings @8pm-till when the Holy Spirit told us we are finish!
  • State-GoodnewsMinnesota

    Articles

  • An African Perspective on Immigration, by Bruce Corrie (a former UMM staff-MSP-I believe?) from ethnic trends
  • Ethnic Foods

  • Akili Tea, authentic (east) African

  • *referred from Freeman, operations manager, whom I met (8/13/04) a the local Byerly's by my parents's home in St. Paul

    Ministries

  • African Christian Fellowship (ACF)

  • ".. is an interdenominational Christian organization committed to being a thriving Christian Community that models integrity, excellence, and compassion. ACF has grown to over fifty (50) chapters located in several states of the United States...

    Theatre

  • Mixed Blood Theatre Production: "Daughters of Africa"

  • "...has invited the global village into its audience and onto its stage for its unique brand of provocative, inclusive, and predictably unpredictable theater since 1976. With programming in its historic firehouse in Minneapolis, in satellite venues throughout the Upper Midwest, and in the national workplace, Mixed Blood leads audiences to a much larger world, using relevant and entertaining theater to spawn a ripple effect of social change. Winner of numerous awards for its human rights and artistic accomplishments, Mixed Blood pays positive attention to differences and champions access. The company annually serves 75,000 people through its mainstage season of new plays, a regional tour of 5–7 shows, and a series of customized productions addressing workplace inclusion."
    "Ruined" @ the Mixed Blood Theatre

  • 6:30pm Mixed Blood Theatre Production: "Daughters of Africa"-Alexandria, MN, ksax.com

  • WhenTue, January 24, 6:30pm – 7:30pm WhereAlexandria Technical & Community College, Auditorium Room 743-Alexandria, MN (map) DescriptionThe Diversity Resource Action Alliance (DRAA) along with a grant from the MN Arts Board is sponsoring this event. This event is a music-driven history of African American women celebrating their triumphs and accomplishments, fueled by the songs of Lena Horne, Aretha Franklin, Queen Latifah, and many more! FREE! open to the public!

    Nation-GoodnewsUSA.Info

    (African-American)

    Education

    English

    Story Tellers

  • African Safari Story Telling, (Kansas City Young Audience)

  • *Shared at Morris Public Library around June of 2004
    Contact:
    Milton Gray
    326 NE Cedar Court
    Blue Springs, MO 64014
    816.224.8733
    mgray88643@aol.com
    "Very educational, cultural (African-wore a Ghanan garb), and entertaining for all ages (young and old are very encouraged to be involved during storytelling) as he got the audience interacting"-Sal

    History

    -Books
    African Heritage Bible, w/ African Biblical roots
    *other stores: book close outs
    Ancient Africa's Black Kingdoms

    "How did the Greeks describe the Egyptians and where did they come from? Why did the Kush Nation decline according to Davidson and where did many of its population migrate to?. "

  • An African-American Resource Guide

  • *referred by Angela H. (Mar5th09)
  • Our African Heritage Bible, from book close outs ($15only)
  • Black Heritage Bible Lessons
  • Black and Christian
  • Black Samson, modern-day Samson
  • A Chronology of African American (Black) Missions
  • Collections, archives at Wheaton College
  • Conferences

  • Impact, making an impact one life at a time (my experience in 2000)
  • Internet Focus

  • African-American Web Connection
  • Culture

  • Inside Africa, Inc., "art and culture from the heart of Africa"

  • P.O. Box 4712; St. Paul,MN 55104 U.S.A.; tel/fax 651.646.7612
    *met Gladstone K. Natala at the Minnesota State Fair's International Bazzaar (cultural booths) on Saturday, September 2nd of 2006 through his friend at the "African" booth. I was introduced to him by another African "guy", who I chatted about a UMM connection from Zambia.

    Movies

    -Documentary

    The Obama Deception Part 11/12

    "HQ in one piece; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaQNA...
    The Obama Deception is the latest movie from Alex Jones, http://infowars.com http://prisonplanet.tv
    Please support Alex with a subscription if you like this "

    *see GoodnewsUSA.info USA Presidents: 44th (2009-present) Barack Obama

    GLOBAL

    "WE are THe World (with words)"

    We are the world
    We are the children
    We are the ones who make a brighter day
    So let's start giving
    There's a choice we're making
    We're saving our own lives
    It's true we'll make a better day
    Just you and me

    Send them your heart
    So they'll know that someone cares
    And their lives will be stronger and free
    As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
    So we all must lend a helping hand
    -
    written by Michael Jackson

    Related Links:

  • In the 80's
  • Culture

    -Clothing

  • Uju Fashions, based in Canada

  • *met at myspace on Sunday, June 18th of 2007

    Food

  • African Cookbook, from Africa Guide
  • African Food Staples
  • How to have an African Dinner Party, from congocookbook
  • Food of Africa
  • Fufu-The Congo Cookbook

  • *tried this for the first time when my Ghanan housemates made this in 2001
  • plantains-congo cookbook
  • Humanitarian

    Selah-You Raise me Up

    "You most know this song by Westlive but this version is much better"

  • Stand With Africa, from ELCA World Hunger Program
  • Magazines

  • Gospel International Magazine
  • Gospel Today, An African-American Christian lifestyle magazine
  • Maps

  • World Atlas
  • Media

  • African T.V. Network, a new positive perspective of this beautiful continent of close to 1 billion people

  • *I found this site through reading the paper today (Sept 30th of 2005), which is an idea that I said "it's about time". After meeting many int'l students from this continent, I've learned to agree that the western world has "negatively stereotyped" this land/people.

    Ministries

  • African Christian Fellowship USA

  • African Christian Fellowship Convention 2010

    Miscellaneous

  • Society: Ethnicity: African: African-American: , from Best of the Web

  • *referred on Wed 2/20/08 1:41 PM
  • Africa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  • "...is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area.[2] With about 922 million people (as of 2005)[3] in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.2% of the World's human population...
    Etymology
    Afri was the name of several peoples who dwelt in North Africa near Carthage. Their name is usually connected with Phoenician afar, "dust", but a 1981 theory[6] has asserted that it stems from a Berber word ifri or Ifran meaning "cave", in reference to cave dwellers[7]. Africa or Ifri or Afer[8] is name of Banu Ifran from Algeria and Tripolitania (Berber Tribe of Yafran) [9].
    In Roman times, Carthage became the capital of Africa Province, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya. The Roman suffix "-ca" denotes "country or land".[10] The later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name.
    Other etymologies that have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa":
    the 1st century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (Ant. 1.15) asserted that it was named for Epher, grandson of Abraham according to Gen. 25:4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya.
    the Latin word aprica, meaning "sunny", mentioned by Isidore of Seville (sixth century) in Etymologiae XIV.5.2
    the Greek word aphrike, meaning "without cold." This was proposed by historian Leo Africanus (1488–1554), who suggested the Greek word phrike (φρίκη, meaning "cold and horror"), combined with the privative prefix "a-", thus indicating a land free of cold and horror. Massey, in 1881, derived an etymology from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, "to turn toward the opening of the Ka." The Ka is the energetic double of every person and "opening of the Ka" refers to a womb or birthplace. Africa would be, for the Egyptians, "the birthplace."[11] The Irish female name Aifric is sometimes Anglicised as Africa, but the personal name is unrelated to the geonym..."

    Missions

  • African Inland Missions

  • Reach Africa-AIM Ministries.

    "A video showing the missions work done by African Inland Mission International. A very moving presentation.

    Movies

  • Tears of the Sun, starring Bruce Willis

  • Related Sites:
    Wikipedia
    "Lt. A.K. Waters (played by Bruce Willis) leads a team of Navy SEALs in Nigeria when its democratic government collapses and a military dictator takes over. Their mission: rescue Dr. Lena Kendricks (Monica Bellucci), a U.S. citizen running a mission and hospital in Nigeria. Disobeying orders, they rescue a group of missionaries and villagers and find they are being pursued by the rebel forces. Eventually, it becomes clear that one of the refugees is the sole surviving member of the presidential family, whom the rebels wish to kill. The team and the refugees are forced to make for the Cameroon border, while being pursued by an enemy that will stop at nothing to kill Waters, his team, and the refugees."
    Reviews:
    Haro-Online
    "Somewhere within Tears of the Sun is a deeper message. This movie aspired to be more than the typical action movie, but could never quite figure out what it wanted to say. So it flounders around for a while, before succumbing to the temptations of mindless gunfire and explosions. It would have been interesting if the moral dilemma posited in the beginning carried through to the end, but that is probably expecting too much."
    *I highly reccomend watching the Special Features in the DVD to hear and listen to different personal stories from different individual African nations (e.g. Sudan, Nigeria, etc..)

    Music

    Party In His Presence (party in His presence)

    "http://holywoodmusic.com Debut album from Kofi and Holywood. Praise and worship series combining contemporary, caribbean and black African gospel music. Twi or Akan is our local language. demolishing barriers, Liberia, Togo, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Somalia, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Lybia, Russia, Germany, London. can enjoy this new flavor. hiplife and highlife have a thin line between them, old kpalogo fused with pop music sometimes filled with Ghanian traditional drums with a lot of clapping hands, Pompo, Koby, Paapa, Ofosu, Kwame, Yeboah, megastar, Felix, Owusu. Dance Band in Ghana is also booming, this gospel sounds like African Pop gospel."

  • Holy Wood Music
  • Shanachie
  • Tinder Records, African artists
  • The Musical Traditions and Culture of Africa By Obinna Ekezie wakanow.com

  • *referred by Tracy H of Wakanow Travel Washington, D.C. Office on Monday, April 21st 2014

    Religion

    =>History

    "Philip and the Ethiopian
    26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[d]eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."
    30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.
    31"How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
    32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:

    "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
    33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth."[e]
    34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
    36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"[f] 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea."

  • What does history say about the first Christians of Africa?, Elesha Coffman | posted 8/08/2008 11:33AM (christianitytoday.com)

  • "The New Testament gives us one example: the Ethiopian eunuch evangelized and baptized by Philip in Acts 8:26-39. Ethiopia (the upper Nile region) saw vibrant church growth in the early centuries after Christ, and legend links this growth to Philip's convert.
    Egypt claims even earlier Christian visitors: Jesus and his parents, who fled to Egypt to escape the murderous King Herod (Matthew 2:13-18). Though no churches or converts were linked to this episode, it is remembered in the Coptic liturgy, which states, "Be glad and rejoice, O Egypt, and her sons and all her borders, for there hath come to Thee the Lord of Man." A 1958 quote from the Children of the Sacred Heart in Northern Rhodesia puts it this way: "When Jesus was persecuted by the European Herod, God sent him into Africa; by this we know that Africans have naturally a true spirit of Christianity."
    According to an ancient tradition, Mark was the first missionary to Africa. Early Christian writers Clement and Eusebius both report that Mark preached in Alexandria, Egypt; Eusebius notes that he was martyred there. The tradition is difficult to corroborate further. However Christianity came to Alexandria, it quickly grew strong. Alexandria was one of the three most important "sees," or church centers, in the ancient world, along with Rome and Antioch.
    Ancient African Christianity was basically confined to Northern Africa—Egypt, Nubia, and Ethiopia. Churches in these areas maintained close ties to eastern Christendom and made many important contributions. The tradition produced such spiritual giants as Origen, Antony, and Augustine. It also produced some variations deemed heretical by early councils, including Arianism, Monophysitism, Nestorianism, and Donatism. (Whether all of these schools of thought were really heretical is still debated.)
    Unfortunately, with the exception of the minority Coptic church in Egypt and a small Christian kingdom in part of what is now Ethiopia, African Christianity largely disappeared as Islam spread. Serious Christian missionary efforts did not begin again until the sixteenth century.
    For more on this subject, see CH issue 51: Heresy in the Early Church, issue 64: Antony and the Desert Fathers, issue 67: Augustine, issue 79: The African Apostles, and A History of Christianity in Africa by Elizabeth Isichei (SPCK/Eerdmans, 1995).
    To ask CHB editors a church history-related question, send an e-mail to cheditor@christianitytoday.com. Due to the volume of mail, we cannot answer all questions. Your question may be answered in a future "Ask the Editors" column. Do not expect a direct reply.
    Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian History magazine.
    Click here for reprint information on Christian History.

  • Christianity in Africa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  • "Christians in Africa form one of the largest religious groups. The presence of Christianity in Africa began by the end of the first century in Egypt, and by the end of the second century in the region around Carthage. Important Africans who influenced the early development of Christianity includes Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen of Alexandria, Cyprian, Athanasius and Augustine of Hippo....
  • The Story of Africa, from BBC.co.uk

  • "Christianity first arrived in North Africa, in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. The Christian communities in North Africa were among the earliest in the world. Legend has it that Christianity was brought from Jerusalem to Alexandria on the Egyptian coast by Mark, one of the four evangelists, in 60 AD. This was around the same time or possibly before Christianity spread to Northern Europe.
    Once in North Africa, Christianity spread slowly West from Alexandria and East to Ethiopia. Through North Africa, Christianity was embraced as the religion of dissent against the expanding Roman Empire. In the 4th century AD the Ethiopian King Ezana made Christianity the kingdom's official religion. In 312 Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.
    In the 7th century Christianity retreated under the advance of Islam. But it remained the chosen religion of the Ethiopian Empire and persisted in pockets in North Africa.
    In the 15th century Christianity came to Sub-Saharan Africa with the arrival of the Portuguese. In the South of the continent the Dutch founded the beginnings of the Dutch Reform Church in 1652.
    In the interior of the continent most people continued to practice their own religions undisturbed until the 19th century. At that time, Christian missions to Africa increased, driven by an antislavery crusade and the interest of Europeans in colonising Africa. However, where people had already converted to Islam, Christianity had little success. .."

  • Sub-Saharan Christianity- A History of the Christian Church in Sub-Saharan Africa, bethel.edu

  • "The history of Christianity in Africa south of the Sahara begins in the fifteenth century, with the arrival of the first missionaries carrying the gospel from Europe. The story of these missionaries is equally Catholic and Protestant, is equally the story of Liberal Christians and Evangelicals, is equally the story of women missionaries and men; but the story of the spread of Christianity in Africa during the last five centuries is far more the story of African Christians spreading the gospel in Africa than it is the story of European or American Christians spreading the gospel in Africa.
    Unfortunately African Christians rarely recorded their stories, while European and American missionaries regularly sent letters to their relatives, mission boards and financial supporters in Europe and America. As a result we know far more about European and American missionaries than we do about the African catechists and evangelists whose role in bring Christianity all over Africa is far more significant. The least here on earth, they are assured of great honor in heaven.
    Modern African Churches can, for the sake of convenience, be divided into three main groups, though there are far greater differences within each group than there are between the three, and that there are very important continuities from the one to the other. ..

  • Traditional Religion and Christianity in Southern Africa, Ngonidzashe Munemo, IB Extended Essay, 1994.

  • "Introduction
    I grew up in a society in which the majority of young persons of my age believe that the Christian faith destroyed traditional African religion. My first idea was to write an essay showing how this is though to have happened and perhaps to give reasons why this occurred. However, from my present research I found that this belief of Christianity having destroyed traditional African religion is naive. This view is held partly because in most cases the Christian faith is associated with colonialism but fails to look at the traditional religion in terms of what it gave to the Africans and to ask whether the Christian faith does the same for the African Christian. It also does not take into consideration whether the belief of the traditional African was changed by the Christian faith nor what happened to their traditional religion...
    Aspects of Traditional African Religion
    ...In traditional African religion there existed a very strong belief in the supernatural. There were powers associated with all aspects of life and nature. For example, a large tree or massive rock had powers associated with it. Coupled with this was the belief in witchcraft and sorcery. The Africans believed that if supernatural evil, witchcraft and sorcery were absent, then all would be well. This supernatural evil was everything that destroyed life, strength, health, fertility and prosperity. ''Africans saw evil as all that detracts from or destroys life, illness, infertility, pestilence, famine and sudden or inexplicable death.'' [1] They believed that the evil came about when there had been a failure by the people to respect the living-dead, a regional deity or the supreme God. Envy, hatred, adultery or the disestablishment of the social categories among the people could invoke the evil powers. The evil powers did not just attack those who had done wrong but the whole society incurred their wrath. The Africans believed that through ritual and sacrifice to their living-dead they would be forgiven for their wrong-doing. There was a belief that the wearing of charms and amulets, mazango, would protect them from the work of witchcraft and sorcery. Also there was a belief that the burning of herbs, mushonga, in the home protected the household from the evil of witches and sorceresses....
    From Traditional Religion to Christianity
    ...Christianity also provided Africans with a way of confronting the problem of death that they approached with such fear. The concept of an eternal life for all, regardless of their social position, was more than appealing to Africans. They saw in it a home for their living-dead whom they now perceived to have entered into life eternal. Christianity taught the Africans not to fear death, it brought them a way of seeing death as the means of passing into eternal life that the traditional religion had accorded only to those who had a family to perform the reviving ceremony. This concept brought with it a tremendous amount of freedom for the Africans: ''... the value placed by Christianity on individualism and self-reliance is a fillip to achievement. All of this has opened the door to Christianity and rendered it attractive,'' [6] especially to women who had previously been very restricted in their position. The Christian faith taught the Africans to treat all as equals in the eyes of God. The freedom accorded to women has resulted in there being to this day more women who are Christians on the continent than there are men....
    The Adaptation of Christianity
    Another reason that the adoption took place quite easily was that traditional religion itself was tolerant of new ideas. The tolerance of the Africans' traditional religion enabled them to some extent to take up the Christian faith. The connection between the people's religious beliefs and the political structure played a role, too. Traditional religion used to change with the coming of a new ruler, so with the arrival of the Europeans the political power shifted to them, and this was followed by a corresponding shift in the religious beliefs of the Africans. But they did not just embrace the Christian faith as it was brought to them, but from the start they picked up certain parts of the it and dropped those parts of the traditional religion that were no longer suited to the new life. Anyone who argues that the Christian faith destroyed traditional religion fails, I think, to see the point that the Africans passed the Christian faith through a filter in which it was selectively adopted and combined with traditional religion....

    Social Issues

    -HIV/AIDS

    The AIDS Crisis in Africa

    "This video shows various scenes of death and sickness caused by the AIDS epidemic in Africa, as well as the statistics that show the dire circumstances of this entire continent. A song by DMB is playing for the soundtrack."
    Don't Give Up Africa- Hope 4 Kids international

    ' Nearly half the population of Africa, close to 300 million live in extreme poverty without access to clean water. More than 12 million children in Africa are orphaned by the AIDS epidemic along with Malaria and Measles which are all treatable and preventable diseases. Hope 4 Kids International is committed to providing relief to the global AIDS crisis by delivering medicine throughout local communities affected by extreme poverty and disease. Urbana 06- Focus on HIV/AIDS

    "HIV/AIDS is ravaging Sub-Saharan Africa, leaving millions dead and many more orphaned. Urbana 06 has a special track devoted to tackling this problem. Visit www.urbana.org for more information."

    -Poverty

  • UN alerts the world to the 'Triangle of Death' in Africa, Posted: 21 July, 2011 mnnonline.org

  • "Somalia (MNN) ― The United Nations is calling the regions of Somalia, Ethiopia and Northern Kenya the "Triangle of Death." Due to their proximity to one another, these countries are all dealing with similar severe drought and food insecurities that could impact up to 10 million people throughout the region.
    Somalia appears to be worst hit. The United Nations has formally declared a famine in two areas of southern Somalia. Refugees are straggling cross the borders to see if there is better access in Ethiopia and Northern Kenya which are also trying to cope with the emergency.
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. will provide an additional $28 million in aid. On the surface, the issue seems to be lack of food. However, for those groups trying to help, the issue is more the lack of access to food which is available.
    Declaring an actual "famine" brings to mind pictures of starvation and emaciated children. It strikes the emotional heart of a donor to try and alleviate suffering. Aid groups therefore are careful with their use of the word because of potential desensitization to the crisis.
    Once that bell has been rung, though, what is clear is that for those starving, defining "famine" or "food emergency" makes little difference in living through the day. Finding sustenance is all that matters.
    That's where Food For the Hungry comes in. Shep Owen with FH says they implemented some long-term livestock programs in Northern Kenya two years ago because of the cyclical nature of drought. Other programs covered livelihood development, and water and sanitation.
    These programs had time to mature, and they could respond to the coming trouble. "The reality is that the famine has been coming in Somalia for a while. I mean, there were pretty clear signs, even six months ago, that it would likely move this way."
    Sales from those were reinvested in the local economy and the funds served as a coping mechanism to keep food access open for these communities. As a result, says Owen, "The investments from U.S. AID over the last two years in northern Kenya have allowed the communities that we've been working with to withstand this drought in ways that they wouldn't have been prior to that work." Owen adds that it proves this approach works. "It's possible to address immediate lifesaving needs with long-term approaches that don't undercut the development of the areas."
    Seeing that success duplicated during an immediate crisis might be a challenge. Somali insurgents are still causing problems for those trying to help, despite promises to allow foreign aid groups in. The *Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab's policies have kept lawlessness alive. That, in turn, prevents humanitarian programs from getting started. Owen notes, "Our team had asked us as well if we were contemplating opening programs in Somalia again, and I indicated that unless you are a really massive organization that can provide security, it's a very perilous place to try to implement programs." Al Shabaab has also been wreaking havoc outside of Somalia's borders, which creates more hesitation, says Owen. "Even in Kenya, we've had staff that were in our consortiums that were abducted in northern Kenya by the same group."
    Pray that God would continue to use Food for the Hungry's multiple outreaches to bring relief, hope and the right kind of help to vulnerable children, families and communities. Pray for wisdom and strength for their Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and staff in affected countries. "Jesus would ask us to be right there with the widows and the orphans--those who are hungry. This is doing what the Lord would have us do, and through God's sovereign grace, we trust that His will is seen and done."
    There's more here. "


    Ethnic Focus:

  • Algerian
  • American
  • Angolan
  • Benin, a Morris church connection
  • Botswanan
  • Cameroonan, UMM student connections
  • Djibouti, a local company humanitarian connection
  • Egyptian, UMM student connections
  • Eritrean
  • Ethiopian, UMM student connections
  • Gambian, UMM student connection
  • Ghanan, UMM student connections
  • Ivory Coast, a UMM (05') student connection
  • Kenyan UMM student and Minnesota resident connection
  • Liberian, a UMM student I met several times and a humanitarian connection
  • Libyan
  • Madagascar, a Morris resident's experience
  • Malawian, a UMM student connection
  • Moroccan
  • Nigerian, an temporary U.S. Soils Laboratory-Agriculture overseas worker's experience
  • Rwandan, movie link
  • Senegalese, met through the computer
  • Sierra Leone
  • Somalian, a UMM student connection
  • South African, a couple of UMM connections
  • Sudanese, a Fergus Falls student connection
  • Tanzanian, a UMM student (2005) connection
  • Tunisian
  • Ugandan, an e-mail visitor and UMM student connection
  • Zambian, a former UMM experience
  • Zimbabwe, a "junk-email" sent?

  • African Connection News Update

    PLEASE COME AND PRAY FOR AFRICA WITH AFRICAN
    CHRISTIANS IN THE TWIN CITIES AT:

    AFRICA DAY OF PRAYER 2003
    ON
    SATURDAY OCTOBER 18
    AT
    CENTENNIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
    1524 W. COUNTY ROAD C2
    (OFF SNELLING AVE)
    ROSEVILLE, MINNESOTA

    TIME
    2:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M.

    In the midst of many difficult challenges facing Africa, God's promises remain true: "If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sins, and heal their land".

    FOR INFORMATION CONTACT SAM OGBONNAYA, PRESIDENT OF AFRICAN CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP, TWIN CITIES AT SamOgbonnaya@aol.com

    Thank you for visiting GoodnewsEverybody.com! Please feel free to e-mail me (Sal) at info@goodnewseverybody.com on any comments, suggestions (e.g. any new websites),complaints, or anytype of feedback to improve this website or leave a comment on my blog.

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