Final blog - Global Competency and Africa

Our visit to Africa reinforced for us the complexity of our world and the importance of our university’s goal of improving our overall global competence through our “Quality Enhancement Plan” ( QEP).  Regent University's QEP is focused on improving the global competency of students, faculty and staff and help define what it means to be a Christian who is "fluent" in a cross-cultural, "flat" world. American students are often criticized for being ethnocentric, and Christian students are not immune from this tendency. What can Africa teach us about our God, our country, ourselves?

My mind drifts to the Battle of Actium (too many years teaching Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, I suppose), and how different our views of East and West would have been if Marc Antony and Cleopatra had prevailed instead of Octavian. Marc Antony was far more open to the influences of the East and Julius Caesar's 'dark' mistress (surely one of history's most unfairly maligned figures--a brilliant, accomplished queen) and the 'dark continent' she embodied. How different would Africa be today if Marc Antony and Cleopatra had ruled the known world? Would Egypt have been the gateway to Roman understanding, exploration and development of the continent? Perhaps more importantly, would their union have demystified Africa and allowed for greater acceptance of differences that have split the nation and the world?

So often misunderstood, still in the shadow of the pejorative label of “The Dark Continent,” today, Africa’s 54 sovereign countries look to define themselves beyond its colonial past, and beyond the instability, corruption and violence that is too often synonymous with this rich continent. In this land of more than 2,000 languages, I continue to be struck by how people often define themselves as Kikuyu, Maasai, or from some other heritage, but rarely as an African. Each of the three countries we visited (like nearly every one on this planet) are scarred by recent social divisions that have had catastrophic consequences. Will South Africa's legacy be one of post-apartheid reconciliation and prosperity? Can Rwanda, the "Switzerland of Africa," rise from the ashes of genocide and forge a future of hope? What impact will Kenya's upcoming elections have on the tenuous tranquility it now seems to enjoy? I will leave it to others to debate the answers to these and other critical questions. What we do know is that for our students to better understand the world around them, a clearer understanding of the forces that continue to shape modern-day Africa is crucial for them to effectively navigate the complex, international environment in which they will live and work. We can only ask that Christianity will be a powerful force for good in the days ahead, and that our students will bring hope, grace and a heart of giving to the remarkable land of Africa.