On the Issue of African Diaspora: A Prophetic Consideration

The word ‘Diaspora’ defines: a dispersion or spreading, as of people originally belonging to one nation or having a common culture. This word in its Greek meaning defines ‘a scattering’ (Source: Collins Dictionary).

I and my wife Zamo once visited one of the Castles in Ghana that was used as an administrative base for slave trade. As we went around the site we saw the door that was used as an exit point from the Castle into the ships. The door was written, ‘a door of no return’. I was thinking about why slave traders had to even write that inscription on that door, but then you realise that the inscription represented a ‘psychological decree’ that was used to establish the fact inside the slaves’ minds that they were leaving their families, friends and countries for good.

Now, the other side of the door, which is now the entrance point into the castle, is now written ‘the door of return’ – this is a political symbol now representing the efforts of the African Diaspora to try and re-establish relations and link with the land of their forefathers. What is clear therefore, as reflected in the inscription, ‘the door of return’ is that the African Diaspora is trying by all means to re-establish links but it seems there is no prophetic, legislative and institutional framework as yet that become a platform for the re-establishment of relations between Africa and the African Diaspora. Perhaps in one sense, there is an institutional framework already in that we are seeing African Diaspora conferences that are attended even by senior African government officials, e.g. our own SA Ministry of Foreign Affairs is participating significantly in African Diaspora conferences.

(a) King Cyrus: Laying a Prophetic-Legislative Framework for Africa-African Diaspora Relations

Cyrus represents both the apostolic dimension and a dimension of political leadership that we need to see in this age of development (Isa 45). In this context, we want to look at Cyrus as a portal into the mind of God that gives us access into how God sees this whole new development of Africa and African Diaspora relations.

Ezr 1:1  In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:

Ezr 1:2  "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: "'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.

Ezr 1:3  Anyone of his people among you--may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.

Ezr 1:4  And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.'"

Ezr 1:5  Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites--everyone whose heart God had moved--prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.

Ezr 1:6  All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.

Ezr 1:7  Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god.

What do we see in the mind of God through Cyrus?

• We will take the Jews in Cyrus’s empire (who were themselves the Jewish Diaspora) to represent, in this context, the African Diaspora.
• The decree of Cyrus represents clearly the mind of God to us that it is prophetically appropriate that Africa and African Diaspora relations be established.
• The decree of Cyrus represents the establishment of a legislative framework that creates a platform for such relations to begin to occur, i.e. Developed Nations must at this point look into the issue of establishing legislative instruments that make it possible for the Africa Diaspora to participate in Africa’s Development.
• We note that just as the release of the Jewish Diaspora was within the context of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the context and theme of Africa-African Diaspora Relations is Africa’s Development.
• It seems that there had always been people (Jews) inside Cyrus’ empire who had always desired to ‘go back’ and participate in (or initiate) the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Cyrus decree therefore activated these people and created a pathway for the Jewish Diaspora’s dream to be realised – so is the case with the African Diaspora, decrees (or legislative framework) must be formalized out of the current institutional engagement so that those persons who have always had the dream to participate in the re-building of Africa can do so.
• Verse 6 says, ‘their neighbours assisted them with articles of silver and gold’: implying that even the indigenous citizens of the developed world have a role to play here in terms of investing materially and financially in this process of development of Africa and the undeveloped world.
• Verse 7 says, ‘king Cyrus brought out articles belonging to the temple of the Lord’: implying that the developed world has an obligation to implement and finalise such issues as debt cancellation in order to effect global justice and achieve global equity.
• Cyrus operates under a prophetic decree, his motivations are not rooted in popular political opinion but on prophetic utterance: there is a need therefore that we (the people of the kingdom) record down the utterances of God and make them known to Cyrus. The utterances of God concerning His plan for 21^st century humanity must land on the desk of Cyrus. This is exactly what I am seeing as I write this, that we are in a time when God is facilitating for the distribution of our formal publications to key diplomats, so that they can in turn find their way onto Presidents’ desks – what happened historically to Cyrus (when someone delivered Isaiah’s prophecy to Cyrus about Cyrus) is repeating itself in the 21^st century. We need to therefore perfect our skill to write professionally and diplomatically; we need prophetic bulletins that are delivered professionally and diplomatically. We need Schools of International Politics to train prophets on how to communicate with kings.
• The ‘door of return’ in that Ghana Castle must mean to us that there is a need for an official prophetic decree that provides framework, context and purpose of the current on-going Africa-African Diaspora Relations if Africa and 21^st century humanity are to benefit from this new development.

(b) Nehemiah: Global Redistribution of Skilled Human Resource

Neh 1:1  The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,

Neh 1:2  Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

Neh 1:3  They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire."

Neh 1:4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.

There is a terrible thing happening in this Age of Africa’s Development and that is, Africa, finds herself without skill in a day of her development (ISa 37:3) and so plans of development are being frustrated, in the same way that Jerusalem’s walls were not rebuilt in the days of Nehemiah.

What do we see in the mind of God through Nehemiah?

• The Developed Western World must now be opened up so that there is flow of information concerning the true state of Africa. There are many people who have been prophetically configured by God, waiting for the day they will hear about the true conditions of Africa in order to leave all their privileged lives and come to Africa to participate in her development. Nehemiah was not called by God in a vision, he simply was moved in his heart when he had the news about Jerusalem (Neh 1:4), but later he did acknowledge that it was in fact God who had put a desire inside his heart to go and re-build the walls of Jerusalem (Neh 2:12). The citizens of the Western World (including the African Diaspora) have been ignorant concerning the conditions of Africa. Now is the time (demands God) that new platforms of information flow are built so that we balance People’s Consciousness of the State of the World and the State of the Developing World, that such balanced world consciousness will actually lead to people discovering new directions in God in terms of what they need to be doing. And so the world does not only need global economic equity but it also needs global information equity. Centres of information must be balanced, hills must be brought low and valleys brought up so that the global society can get to see without hindrance the true state of each other’s ranks.
• This balanced information flow then presents new opportunities for people just as it did to Nehemiah. Citizens of the Developed World will then be provided with an opportunity to come and participate in the development of Africa. Just as Nehemiah gave up his privileged job for a time; Nehemiah organized for an extended leave in order to go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Neh 2:1-6). I.e. Nehemiah was not deciding to relocate permanently; he actually had an agreement with the king on the time he would take to undertake his developmental project (Neh 2:6).
• So Nehemiah represents the redeployment of skill from Developed to the Developing World – firstly, by African Diaspora’s participation in Africa’s Development and secondly, by the general citizenry of the Developed World.
• Creating A New Platform of Interacting With the Developing World: It seems like there had always been human migration and or interaction between the citizens (or Jewish Diaspora) inside the empire of Artaxerxes (representing the Developed World) and Jerusalem (representing the Developing World). This interaction is represented by ‘Hanani, one of Nehemiah’s brothers who had come from Judah’ (Neh 1:1); but it seems like this interaction did not bring any value to Jerusalem (Developing World) except may be in people (the Jewish Diaspora - 'representing the African Diaspora') simply having pity for Jerusalem (Developing World). When Nehemiah was brought into the picture, interaction between (the Empire) Developed and (Jerusalem) Developing World took a new turn. This reformation generation (represented by Nehemiah) must bring an end to the old and obsolete Missionary Dispensation which did not profit the Developing World much. This reformation generation must seek to create a new context within which the Developed and the Developing World interact. Such a platform must be one of exchange of Resources and Skills.

So those who are at the forefront in terms of facilitating Africa-African Diaspora relations must consider these issues seriously:

• (1) That the context of this interaction is the development of Africa.
• (2) We need to formalise this interaction through creating a legislative-institutional framework.
• (3) We need to make it possible for human resource to flow from Developed to Developing world.