Yesterday I was thinking....
I was thinking about Africa. It is not a poor continent in fact it has great human and natural resources but where did it all go wrong? Africa is poorer now than 50 years ago and that was under exploitative colonialists. Why is it that African nations are worse off now being independent than when they were colonised? 50 years of humanitarian aid had hardly left a dent. Mind you Ethiopia is still hungry though not as much but people after a while become immune to the suffering and all these nations just sink into the background. Somalia is still fighting a civil war.Why is all this?
I can only point my fingers on greedy leaders. Mobotu Sese Seko has over US$ 4 billion inpersonal fortune and leaders all over have figures close to that amount. My question is why these leader who started as idealist fighting for independence and wanting a better future for the nation become like this and turn in effect their nations inot hell-holes by plundering its wealth insted of pouring the money into developing it? Why are they building great palaces have fancy costumes and massive showy and of course expensive parades and have a false support of the people when if they pour that money into development they will get genuine support. Have they never thought of posterity and how people will think of them when they die? Just becase they control the media and textbooks to wirte favourable things about them, it doesn't mean it will always be so.In the end the epople will see the truth about the emperor's new clothes and no longer be in awe of the leader's great palaces and ask questions why he didn't help them. US$ 1 billion is enough to drill 1 million tube wells to supply 1 million villages with clean water from the aquifers! Mobotu only had to give one quarter and he still have more than he can spend.But keep he did his wealth why? I cna tell that to have the one and only well named after you, you will live longer inposterity than if you have a million statues.
Anyway in case of a regime change people are less likely to tear it down. Are you crazy tearing down the one and only well in the village but people have no use for a statue other than for bird nesting. Look at what happen to Stalin, Lenin, and Saddam. Had they build wells it would still be there. But is it they cannot think of this idea. If only they were inspired by the second legendary emperor of China..I have said this once..he gave his all to serve his people..nofancy palaces, nocourtiers..everything that can be spent is spent on the people's welfare..he lived in a mud hut, dressed like a farmer and rode a buffalo...with such austere living no one really wanted to be emperor except those who really want to lead the people to a better life...then came the trappings of power and women and wealth in imperial life and everyone wants to be emperor...you still se this happening in Africa..leader from oppressed tribe rise up...took over nation...instead of learning from previous government's experience..start amassing wealth for himself..let some of it trickle to cronies..and further won to some tribes people to maintain loyalty at the expense of other tribes and set off tribal conflicts and civil war again..wehnwill they learn it is not as though they are uneducated and cannot read from history..
Then it struck who am I to judge for all humans are like that creatures craving for creature comfort. When most people graduate, they think about getting a high-paying job, buy a house, a car, get a wife, make a few kids, go on holiday, enjoy himself and if he can make a few extra bucks, he will, he will invest in the stock market and increase his worldly wealth....now given theopportunity as an African dictator with a personal army I will say he will do the same thing as that dictator will do amass for HIMSELF. The self...just because we are on the outside we criticise but given the same shoes we will do the same thng if we are not transformed in our hearts by Jesus and learn to deny oneself and take up the cross.
You may protest that you better than Idi Amin or Mobotu ubt if you look at your lifestyle you are just a mini version minus the 4 billion and the diamonds. Why buy a new set of golf clubs when your old one is fine...just because you want it isn't it..is not this self-gratification like those dictators? It is just only because you do not have that power.....a few hundred dollars from not buying those clubs can cure a malnourished child... I am not saying we should be saints but before we criticise those African dictators we should look at ourselves unless we learn to deny ourselves and we will be like them....the lust of the flesh leads to sefl-gratification and this lead to greed as many of our desires can satified with enough money and power.
Indeed until the world learn to deny oneslef and take up the cross..it will he hopeless but as Christians we must not give up and continue fighting...Jesus told us when the prostitute splashed expensive perfume on him...the poor you will always have....what does he mean...don't fight poverty as it will be a hopeless battle? NO...then why would he give the parable of the rich man and Lazarus? The answer He is telling the disciples that the time to do it is when HE is gone for then they will have plenty of opportunity to prove whether they are really thinking about the poor.